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Re: [RC] Is my horse off? When vet opinions differ... - rides2farhe asked if I knew my horse was off behind. I said "No, he felt fine all day." When my friend who was standing there offered to trot my horse for me so I could watch as well I was told by the vet, "I wouldn't do that. Just take your completion and go." I was TOTALLY FLOORED! Wow! That just seemed so rude. That's not rude. That's called, "I don't want to pull you at the finish". I have no idea about your horse, but I love a vet who sees 8 good steps and turns his back at the finish. There was a time when AERC did not have a "fit to continue" rule. Someone could run their horse into the ground the last loop and if it could walk sound it got a completion. That was bad. So, we started "fit to continue" which is good. However, if you ever manage a ride you'll see concientious riders who have done a good job all day, finished with a perfectly sound horse, then it stands in the vet line, gets a little hitch and doesn't trot out very well at the finish. Just a muscle tightening up...they'll look great in the morning but it's enough to lose your fit to continue. What I hate is a vet who asks someone to trot twice for completion because they're not sure...but they think they *might* have seen something. Come on! If you're not sure, give them the darned completion. The point of "fit to continue" was to protect the horses, not to cut down on the number of finishers. My favorite vets are the ones who look carefully as the horse trots away, see him give a good step on each leg, and immediately turn their back to fill out the card. You know they have had to pull someone they didn't want to pull at the finish before and they want to do their job, but not pull if they don't have to. On the vetting thing. Jim Baldwin was at Biltmore one year and told my friend her horse had a problem with his hocks. This horse had never had a problem, was going *great* winning rides & getting BC. No vet had ever mentioned *anything*. I honestly thought it was the "too many good vets in one place trying to outdo each other with what they see" syndrome. Not long after that her horse started getting a sore back. After trying to figure out why the saddle he'd been wearing was becoming a problem her vet finally figured out his *hocks* were sore. Hocks got injected, back got OK. Jim Baldwin...you can say "I told you so". >g< Moral is...if it was a good enough vet, just keep what he said in the back of your mind and if there's a problem later, that's a good place to start looking. Don't mention what he said to other vets you want to ask about it until *after* they watch your horse so they're able to judge without predjudice...then after the first impression, you could mention what he said and see if they know any tests to check for it. I've had vets be right *and* wrong. I had a Walking Horse Vet swear Kaboot had stifle trouble because he was swinging his hind leg wide rather than up and forward, but it didn't react to any flexing. Chiro adjusted his hip and he quit. I guess stuff like this is what makes this sport interesting. Angie McGhee Wildwood, GA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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