Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> After the last thread regarding trying 100's, I
> thought I'd try one in 2 to 3 years, now after the horse death and
treatment
> threads, I don't know if I'll ever feel confident enough in my knowledge
to
> 'risk' my horse's life.
Anna, I WILL say that of the horse deaths I've seen at rides, they pretty
much break down into three categories--flat-out over-riding (the one issue
we CAN try to address with veterinary management), pre-existing conditions
(things that would have killed your horse at home in the pasture and just
happened to happen on ride day), and accidents (which can happen any time,
anywhere, but at least some can be addressed with good course design and
smart riding).  If you lose sleep over the possibility of oddball accident
or the fact that your horse may have some problem (aneurysm, tumor, etc.)
cooking that you don't yet know about, you'll not even OWN a horse!  The
other situations are pretty much within your control as a rider.  So don't
let the odd cases and the bad horsemanship of a few stop you, if going a
longer distance is truly what you want to do.

I've had more fractures at home in the pasture in the last 30 years than
I've seen in my entire involvement with endurance riding, both as a vet and
as a competitor.  Likewise, I've seen a handful of deaths at rides due to
tumors that have ruptured, aneurysms, etc., that would have soon killed the
horse at home in the pasture as well.  And nothing we can do (short of not
riding at all) will eliminate those sorts of deaths.  But the reason we need
to study deaths at rides is to determine how many of them actually ARE
unavoidable circumstances such as those, and how many we might still be able
to prevent by improving vetting.

Although I agree philosophically with the concept that all riders need to
take responsibility for their own horses, one of the main functions of the
veterinarians at rides is to make people aware of WHAT is happening to their
horses, if they do not have the skill level to determine themselves when
problems are brewing.  And MOST riders are quite willing to take advice from
ride veterinarians regarding the need to slow down, change management
strategies, or pull from the event.  Meanwhile, there will always be those
few with the "car racing" mentality--and who really couldn't care less about
their horses.  And given that these people will always exist, even if only
in small numbers, the veterinarians are also there to protect the image of
the sport by intervening with such people.  And I'm not willing to
jeopardize the future of the sport by simply stating that the horse is the
responsibility of such people, and letting them take the consequences--or
rather, letting their horses take the consequences.

Your caring attitude is evident in your posts.  Barring the pre-existing
conditions, odds are you will ride your entire career without ever having a
horse treated, if you ride with the same care and concern that you write.

Heidi


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