just read the 15,000 miles part - maybe they are suffering from DIMR.
On Apr 21, 2009, at 7:21 PM, Molly Herlong wrote:
I've been reading the ridecamp digest for a while now, never posted anything before, but I'd like to know what you guys think about something.
I rode 50 miles at Million Pines last weekend. 40 miles out, one of the girls I was riding with pointed out that my horse's mouth was bleeding. Of course I freaked out and dismounted to find out what was wrong. Because we were on a single-track trail, I pulled over and announced to the folks behind me that they could pass. Three or four riders went around, but the two girls that I had ridden with all day stayed with me. As these other riders were passing, one of them commented that, "There's nothing you can do about it now, anyway"- of course I imagine you won't take this as quite as rude as I did when you read this because you can't hear the tone in which it was spoken. I thought nothing of it at the time, because I was trying to figure out why my horse's mouth was dripping blood and wasn't at all concerned about anybody or anything other than his welfare. After I rinsed his mouth out with water, the bleeding stopped and I could find no obvious source. I lowered his bit some so it wouldn't put pressure on any sore spots and got back on. I was riding with a vet, and after discussing it with her, I decided to continue on. His mouth didn't bleed anymore after that, so I'm assuming it was a superficial nick, but will be getting his teeth checked soon in order to rule out anything like that.
In my opinion, the comment made by the passing rider was quite flippant and showed disregard for my horse's welfare. Now, I am quite familiar with the first ammendment, however, I would expect that endurance riders should have the utmost regard for a horse's physical condition and should refrain from making dismissive comments about an obvious health concern like the one I described. If anything, I would have expected other riders to offer to help if I needed it. I might be less irritated by this situation if the person who said that was a new rider, probably not, but maybe. It just so happens that this person has over 15,000 miles and is someone who should serve as a role model to those of us who haven't been in the sport as long- that's what makes me mad... that many endurance riders look up to this person, who should in fact set a good example for others in this sport.
Maybe I'm making something out of nothing. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
Molly Herlong
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