Re: [RC] [RC] Preventing Treated Horses - Heidi Smith
>I have been sharing this thread with John
and he asked me if any horse that has died at a ride had an autopsy done. How
would we know if a horse had a pre-existing condition without an autopsy?
Is a horse checked for drugs in the case of a death? Can that be checked without
an autopsy? Have drugs ever been considered a possibility? I can't recall ever
seeing a report from any committee reporting on drug testing. In eight years, I
don't think I have ever been to a ride where I have seen horses being tested for
drugs.
Indeed, the horses that died of tumors
that I mentioned were autopsied. The one with the ruptured aneurysm didn't
get a complete autopsy but did get sufficient field examination to determine
that she had bled out internally. The horses I've dealt with that
were euthanized due to fractures were pretty obvious--and the circumstances
were such that drug use was not suspected. At least one of the two horses
that I mentioned that died in the 1987 episode was quite thoroughly autopsied,
as it died at Oregon State University at the veterinary hospital. Complete
autopsies are sometimes not feasible due to location, but in my experience, most
owners/riders DO want an autopsy, particularly those who have been trying
their best to do a good job with their horse and are mystified as to why the
death occurred.
As to drug testing--I've only been to a
handful of rides in the past 2 years, but prior to that I've been at a number of
rides where the vet assigned to drug testing for our region has showed up
unannounced and has taken samples. I've also seen reports to the
veterinary committee that indicate that random sampling has not uncovered
much of anything in the way of drug use during those years. I've not heard
that the drug testing program has been discontinued, so I suspect it is still up
and running--but perhaps someone with more recent experience with it can
comment.
