Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Rick,
  At rides, I have seen both vets and riders that do not see that the horse is lame.  In fact I can name three different rides where I saw this occur and they were all in the PS region.  


  A perfect example of how a horse can compensate when lame in more then one leg is this example that has happened to me.   In fact, I am one of those horse people who has at one time or another not been able to "know" which leg/legs are/is the problem. On these occassions,  I have taken the horse to my veterinarian for a complete lameness evaluation because the horse may feel slightly off and/or not quite right and I am not sure where it is.  It is amazing that when a leg is completely blocked a lameness in one of the other legs will show up definititively and the horse will be grade 3 lame at the walk.

Just as a rider assumes responsibility for their horse and what is best, ride managers are allowed to add rules for their particular ride if they feel it is in the best interest and for safety reasons for the horses entered and their ride.   The last ride Kat managed was the Main Divide 100.  I rode that ride and I feel it would have been very irresponsible for her as a ride manager to allow horses barefoot.  

Kim Fuess
AERC #6648




In a message dated 08/07/2008 3:19:27 PM Pacific Standard Time, am2aracehorse@xxxxxxxxx writes:

> It would be lunacy for me to say ALL endurance horses MUST have hoof protection just as it would be to say NO rides shall be held that don't require it. My concern is that Kat said that "she doesn't trust any rider or vet to pull a footsore horse". I would and do trust the vets to know what they are doing and be able to stand up to the arguementative riders. That is what they are paid to do. Most riders will know if their horse is off even if it is on all four.
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> The PS region where she has her rides are some of the best terrain for a well conditioned barefoot horse. I believe if riders are given the choice of hoof protection rather than it being mandated we might see more responsible ridership. But then I am not doing this for the points either. I may be "all wet" when it comes to the highly competitive people. Most of them are using some form of hoof protection and they are the ones pushing their animals to the limits.
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> Rick
> As for me and my horse, we shall serve the Lord. Gallopin' 





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