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RE: [RC] Goethe - Laurie UnderwoodHi Beth: My horse was Grade 1 40 miles into our first 50 ... and I had plenty of time to walk that last 10 miles. God bless Kathy Eichelberger. She left the decision up to me, a very green and wet-behind-the ears rider who wanted very badly to complete her first 50. I hemmed and hawed, but when I finally asked her if she would take her horse back out Grade 1 with a very rooty mountain 10 miles to go, she said "no". Turns out I had a shoeing issue which was causing a sore suspensory .... going back out might have gotten me completed or might have gotten me a lame horse for a long time. And I learned a valuable lesson -- always put your horse first. The bottom line is this: if your horse is off, you need to do what is right. Sometimes the vets don't see what we see because they only get about 5 minutes with the horse. But you know your animal. Sometimes we *see* things that aren't there ... but it still all boils down to your gut instincts and judgment as to whether or not to continue when the vet says we can. I can't speak to the condition of the horses you saw at Goethe because I wasn't there. I can tell you that IMO we have some of the finest vets here in the SE and they are a very conscientious group. I've learned so much from them, both as a rider and as a scribe. Laurie Underwood -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ridecamp Guest Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 12:01 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Goethe Please Reply to: Beth Thorne thornebug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== First I would like to say the Goethe Ride was once again wonderful. Thank you to Pat Thomas and all of her volunteers to a job well done! That was the most 100 mile riders I have seen in one place yet! For the first time I had to pull from a ride. I had completed the first loop, went through the vet check with all A's. After the hold time I went to leave and at a walk everything was fine at a trot Joker was lame on the right front, I checked for a rock or something and could'nt find anything wrong so I turned around and went back. I had Michael Porter check him and he did a flexion test and thought he had hyper extended his ankle. Anyway, We put liniment on it an wrapped it for support and Michael looked at him again an hour later and he was only slightly off. No riding for 2 weeks but at least he is okay. I'm not sure I understand the pulling for lameness thing. I know there are 1 - 5 levels of lameness, and I thought if there was a level 3 they must pull. I sat there and watched the vetting area and I was very supprised at the number of lame horses that went through and were not pulled? At what point should a horse be pulled? There were a few that were so bad there is no way I would have ridden off on them with a clear conscious, much less understand how the vets let them go. I pulled my horse because he was off and he was not nearly as bad as these others were. Can anyone explain how these horses received completions? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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