Re: RC: How I may have killed Bucky

[Truman Prevatt <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

Vincent,

I have not met you but I can say from you post that you didn't kill him.
As Angie points out things can happen and they can happen fast.  You are
the third person I know of this year that have had a major crash which
was not of their doing.  I was  crewing for some folks at the Biltmore
this year. One was doing the 50.  The horse was going great all day. 
When she took him up for completition, he literally went down thrashing
at the vets feet. It took them three hours to get the horse stable.
There were no obvious warning signs.  

At Million Pines, a horse finished and looked good at the finish.  It
started to thump but stopped.  She was doing fine.  It tied up in the
trailer on the way home and is now being treated for laminitis.  Both of
these people were experience horsewomen and didn't recognize the signs
and neither did the vets.  In humid conditions a sight imbalance can
cascade into a major crash at a rate that is scarey.

On the Old Dominion in 94 we were trucking along fine.  We were on pace
to make it over Sherman's gap before dark.  But it was a very dry year
and there was virtually no trail water. A mile out of the 70 mile vet
check my mare just stopped in the middle of the trail - which happened
to be a gravel road at that point.  She wouldn't move. I was stuck.  I
felt her and she wasn't tight but I didn't know.  I sat in the middle of
the road for what seemed like an eternity until another rider came
along.  I told him to send my crew out. 

About 15 minutes the head vet shows up along with my crew.  The mare
drank about 10 gallons of water, walked over to the side of the road and
started to eat grass.  I pulled her of course.  By the time she got back
to base camp she was her usual alpha mare self.

I asked the vet the next morning "why did she stop."  His comment was
interesting.  He said in his experience a mare is more likely to take
care of herself than a gelding is to take care of himself.  She didn't
feel right so she did not go on.  

In some respect your horse did not tell you the truth. He was going on
no matter what.  Do not take it out on yourself.  We are all behind you
and pulling for your horse.   

Truman

Rides 2 Far wrote:
> 
> As I type,
> >he stands in a sand and sawdust stall at the Large=
> > Animal Hospital at the University of Illinois.  There is a distict
> >possibility that Bucky will die, be unservicable for =
> >life, or just permanently mamed.  If he does die, I  k i l l e d  H i
> >m.
> 
> Dear Vincent,
> 
> You are wrong.  Things happen.  It's horrible that it happened on your
> first 50...but you were more prepared than I have been on some 50's.
> 
> If you were as you say:
>  >"a bull-headed novice rider with a poor understanding of what
> >conditioning =means and an even poorer capacity to recognize >the signs
> of a horse in trouble."
> 
>  You would be walking around right now mouthing off to everybody that
> something was wrong with that horse and it had nothing to do with
> you...not replaying what you could have done in hindsight.  The sort of
> person who ignores obvious signs does not reflect on what they could have
> done if they'd only thought.
> 
> Hind sight is 20/20.  We all learn something new in every race.  I feel
> terrible that this happened to you.  I don't remember your horse from the
> race but I do remember you from the ride meeting and there was nothing
> cocky  or over confident about your behavior.  You were humble, grateful,
> and I told you, "THIS MEANS IT'S TIME TO MOVE UP".  So, add me to the
> list of people who killed him.
> 
> The vets were experienced vets right?  Were they able to detect a
> problem?  Did you intentionally hide anything from them?  There have been
> many rides I've had a bad feeling about.  Last year at Liberty 100 Kaboot
> got a mild colic at 80 miles and I pulled.  Then at Longleaf 100 he
> stopped eating at 80 and looked funny.  I hung around an extra 40 min.,
> he started eating a little and I gave him electrolytes, took off with
> some of the last riders that I could team up with in the dark.  He came
> back on me immediately, ate like a trooper, and looked so good at the end
> that the vets said, "He just looks *different* than the other
> horses....he looks... wonderful!"  His Vet Score was practically all
> 10's.  Now.....I took a calculated risk and came out smelling like a
> rose....  What if something horrible had happened?  Would I have been a
> murderer?  I probably would have thought so, and you probably would have
> explained to me that we're all gambling every day.  It's a tough sport.
> All we can do is our best.
> 
> The line between "O.K." and life threatening is incredibly thin with
> horses.  It's more like flipping a switch than a long gradual transition.
>  For your sake more than Bucky's I hope he's O.K.  If it's any comfort,
> it seems that in most cases where I've known things like this to
> happen...there was a reason...elevated enzymes of some sort showing there
> had been an infection, or a weird heart, strange things that there's no
> way we could have known about.  Go easy on yourself.  It's obvious from
> here you're an O.K. guy.
> 
> Angie
> 
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-- 
Truman Prevatt
Mystic “The Horse from Hell” Storm 
Buck's Mystic Karma
Rocket a.k.a. Mr. Misty
Jordy a.k.a. Bridger (when he is good)
Danson Flame - hey dad I'm well now and ready to go!

Brooksville, FL


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