You should know better than I, but, from what I can tell, if a horse dies
at an AERC endurance ride, the vet makes out a report, this report is forwarded
to and looked at by the AERC Vet Committee, and they make a statement which is
posted once a year in Endurance News. I guess this can be called an
investigation, but, I was hoping for a little more. Hope springs eternal
and my hope now lies with the Welfare of the Horse Committee.
Of course, anyone can file a Protest with the Protest and Grievance
Committee when a horse dies at a ride, if that's the protocol you were referring
to. They P & G Committee also handles cases which include
things like riders cooling off their horses with a water hose via the anus (an
interesting concept and I never did find out the final decision of the Protest
Committee), riding a horse that's not the age the rider said it was and stuff
like that. And, yes, they do handle some very serious incidents but, my
point is they are required to look at anything presented to them with the
100 dollar filing fee. You could probably file a protest against me for
talking too much on Ridecamp and that other site, if you were so
inclined (if you want to file the hundred bucks). Wouldn't it be nice
if you didn't have to include the one hundred dollars if you thought a rider's
negligence had caused their horse's demise at an endurance ride?
Please, correct me if I'm wrong here. Isn't that what occurs, as of
this moment, in the case of a horse death at an AERC ride? Is there a
protocol of investigation I've missed? I've read all of the minutes from
the Convention to now and haven't seen anything else added as of this
date. I do believe the ball is rolling on this one and that's where my
hope lies, but, what, exactly, are the protocols, within AERC, that are you
referring to?
I do believe the current head of the VEt Committee, Jim Baldwin, DVM,
has stated that the report procedure will change and I look
forward (poor choice of words there, Howard, someone please jump on me
for writing that) to reading this year's Vet Committee reports on equine
deaths at endurance rides. I'm just wondering if I'll have to wait a year
for it to all come out in the end of year report, from the Vet Committee, in
Endurance News, or, if there will be a way to see it a little sooner.
At 08:19 AM 10/27/2003, Howard Bramhall wrote: > I
do think a horse death should be investigated, automatically, if, for
nothing else, > information and vindication of the
rider. Because, without an impartial jury, the > rider
will be found guilty of all counts in the Her Majesty's Court, Rumor and
Innuendo.
I think AERC and AERA and FEI all have protocols for
investigation and reporting of equine fatalities. I don't know about the
European or middle eastern federations though. I'm confused as to why a
major point is made concerning the need for investigation when these
protocols are in place.
Now it may be that these protocols may need
refinement. If this is the case, then the specific organizations each have
lead points for the definitions of these protocols, primarily centered
about the veterinary dicipline, but also, in the case of the evolving AERC
Horse Welfare Committee.
At any rate, it seems that a broad call for
investigation is a bit late as the mechanisms are already (being put) in
place.
