Re: LD Rule change--Long (and intense!)

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-09-17 15:27:23 EDT, tobytrot@bigfoot.com writes:

<< Yeah, right.  How many horses are being run to death now, without
 sanctioning pleasure rides?  Does anyone seriously believe that the same
 vets and ride managers that oversee the welfare of the 50+ horses will
 allow a horse to be abused in front of them, just because its distance
 isn't sanctioned? >>

As a ride vet, I know I take just as much time and care of the non-sanctioned
distance's horses as the sanctioned ones.  The time when horses were run to
death on 25's was when they were fully sanctioned for career points and miles.
We simply couldn't see them often enough to stop them before damage was done.
Are we going back to those days?  We learned a lot from that experience, but
there are few of us left who remember, I guess...

Heidi Smith, DVM