Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Patti made a good comment the other day that we all seem to be talking a lot
about punishing riders whose horses fall off the edge, when a lot of the
time we don't even know where the edge is.  Even the vets and researchers
and people that have been doing this sport forever don't know exactly where
it is.  Or why the damn thing keeps moving from day to day.

I agree that AERC needs to have some teeth in disciplining riders that
blatently abuse their horse, but I also think that WE (governing body and
grass roots) need to work a lot harder on educating riders about where the
edge is.  Much as it pains me to admit it, SERA works really hard at getting
as much education out as they can.  Most of the regions do at their annual
conferences too.  It would be nice if the entire membership could be shipped
to the annual conventions for seminars, but that ain't gonna happen.  Maybe
we need to think and work towards additional educational venues/methods that
drum basic physiological principles into riders heads---like how the gut
works, what dehydration does to the body, what kidney failure is, how muscle
fatigue occurs.  I'm not entirely sure how to do that beyond what's already
being done, but it's something to consider.  It's a lot harder for a rider
to say, "but I didn't know peeing coffee is bad" if the overwhelming
informational material to the contrary is being thrown at them.

Just a thought.

Susan Garlinghouse DVM



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