Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

No one will be injured by the truth and having good facts on which to base
policy might just save a horse some day and save some rider from having to
deal with the emotional trauma of a dead horse. For that reason alone it
worth the effort to collect accurate data for treatments and deaths and striving
toward a sport with zero fatalities. As they say the truth will set you free.

Truman

Bob Morris wrote:

If we knew the facts, as facts not hearsay, we would be capable of determining the seriousness of the matter. I have taken some non-official facts and come to the conclusion that rider induced horse fatalities constitute one onehundreth of one percent of all entries in endurance rides. Yes it is not zero but damn low figure. But then remember we do not have facts just conjecture.

 

Now, we can come up a level form dead horses that do not need to be flogged. We can examine the metabolic pulls. Looking at what data we have gathered that figure runs about two percent of the entries. good but not bad considering the physical effort made by the horse. However, the qualifier that must be made. These are incomplete data as evidenced by actions of certain ride managers and by a cadre of competitors who decline to admit that a horse may have metabolic problems by calling it "Rider Option".

 

Nothing less than non-entry will guarantee a ZERO FIGURE. We can however, strive towards that figure by having full, accurate information and the capability to disseminate it to the membership as an educational factor.

 

Bob