Ten to twenty per cent is not as far fetched as you may think. The
horse does not have to be hooked up to an IV bottle for it to be in
trouble. Take a good look at our rides and their completion rates before
you go and say I'm totally whacked out here.
The thing is, we're not even getting accurate data on the number of horses
that are treated at AERC rides. Why? Because the information is not
being turned in like it should.
Let's take a look at the Pan Am rides held this year. 89
starters. One death. At the end of the day, 14 on IV. That's
not even counting the number of total pulls. Sure seems like ten to twenty
percent of those horses experienced some sort of problem that I'd would say met
the definition of "trouble." And, these are supposed to be our best
endurance mounts in the world!
Just this late summer to early fall: One horse died in Vermont
(metabolic); One horse died at the Pan AM ride (metabolic); Maggine's horse at
the National Championship Ride (metabolic and very close to not
surviving). Wasn't that like a six week period? Ya'll aren't upset about
all this? You don't think it's time for some changes? You've got to
be kidding me here! What on earth does it take?
I believe that what gets some of us upset
in this discussion is that a figure gets quoted and is taken for documented
fact. Like the ten fatalities now attributed to metabolic problems. No one has
ever established the facts or complete cause of these fatalities experienced
this year but I can feel assured that they were not all metabolic. Yet this is
what is being spread by some accepted authorities. Just take Howard's "that
ten to twenty percent of our horses get into trouble at our rides." That
figure has no basis at all but will be bandied around for some time to
come.
I still ask for a definitive study of the
proximate cause of our problem and to have it well defined on line. I am
willing to work with anyone who has all the facts to get this in the open and
to stop the speculative rumor mongering. If we can get the facts we can
intelligently promulgate mitigation methods. But with out the facts we can do
nothing worthwhile.
Bob
Bob Morris Morris Endurance Enterprises Boise, ID
-----Original Message----- From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Jim
Holland Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 4:00 PM To:
Heidi Smith; Howard Bramhall; Ridecamp Subject: [Fwd: Re: [RC] New
Poll up]
Heidi, no offense, but this "I've been doing it
for 30 years and I know more than the rest of you" is getting a little
tiresome. I personally don't care if you have 50 years or 1 year in
Endurance...your opinion is of no more value than any other member. One
person, one vote, majority rules, and your opinion doesn't count any more
than mine or anybody else. If you're not part of the "horse death" solution,
you're part of the problem.
In fact, IMHO, one of the problems with this organization is that the
people making the decisions have been doing that for too long.
Sometimes, as I found out with "30 years" in the corporate world with
IBM, longevity leads to stagnation.
Sorry...again, no offense, nothing personal....just had to vent on this.
:) (Lack of time in the saddle, I think....)
Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic
>And, I
do believe your numbers are incredibly off. It isn't that .001% of our
members consistently do the wrong thing, it's that ten to twenty percent of
our horses get into trouble at our rides. Huh??
And where do YOUR numbers come from, Howard? Darn sure not from
anywhere I've been participating for the last 30+ years... Heidi
