> I've only had occasion to see one other situation where a rider was
> pulled. This was during the Race of Champions a few years back.
> The rider came into a vet check coughing blood. He had pulminary
> adema (blood in the lungs). He insisted on continueing. When the
> vets wouldn't let him, he asked that some one else ride his horse
> to finish. Ride management vetoed that. He was taken down to base
> camp and then on to the hospital. Base came was at about 6,000 feet.
WHOA, there!
I am the rider you are referring to, and it didn't happen quite the
way you told it.
It was the 1985 Race of Champions held near Castle Rock, Colorado.
My first sign of trouble was just before the ride when I suffered
mild diarrhea. At the 50 mile point, I suffered stomach cramps and
nausea; I can be heard puking my guts out on a video made of the ride
(thankfully off-camera). At this point I was two minutes out of
first place, with a horse known to be a strong "second half" horse,
and I did indeed insist on continuing.
I was deteriorating rapidly, though, and could not walk or tail any
longer -- we came in to the 65 mile vet check 15 minutes out of first
place. I could not take anything in except to sip about four ounces
of mild electrolyte solution. People at the check tried to talk me
into pulling but I was still determined to finish. This was the
"Triangle" vet check at 9,000 feet elevation.
While mounted waiting to leave, about 30 seconds before being
released onto the trail, I vomited again -- from the saddle -- and
leaned out to avoid getting it on Kahlil. This is were I tore my
esophagus and began to vomit whole, red blood.
At that point I dismounted, announced "I'm pulling from the ride, get
me to a doctor!" (Not my exact words, but close enough.) I wasn't
sure how much danger I was in, but I knew something was seriously
wrong (I later found out it was life-threatening). I asked if
someone could take care of my horse, and was told that it was very
difficult to get a trailer to this check, but base camp was not far
by trail. Ride management offered to have someone ride Kahlil back to
camp for me, and I eagerly accepted. There was never any question of
someone "finishing the ride" for me.
It took an hour and a half to get me off the mountain to a clinic,
and at the clinic they sent me by ambulance to a hospital in Denver.
BTW, they put a tube down my nose into my stomach; I *know* why
horses hate that so much!
Did I use poor judgement in continuing at 50 miles, and wanting to at
65 miles? Well, yes. But, people who ride 100 mile rides tend to
have that kind of drive and determination; I'm not ashamed of it.
But I can tell you, when you're dry heaving and then suddenly see red
blood shooting out of your mouth, it tends to reorder your
priorities!
This is a perfect example of why you need to be cautious of stories
you hear about events that happened at a ride. I intend no
disrespect to Wendy, but the situation was a bit different than she
remembers it.
--Joe Long Rainbow Connection Arabians PC/LAN Manager home of Kahlil Khai Calhoun Community College AERC Hall of Fame horse jlong@hiwaay.net 11,475 miles completed