Re: RC: hot weather rides

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

It's not just a "runners high" for the horse, but it is for the rider as well.
After even a short rest, and reality sets in, more riders, I believe, would be
more objective in observing their own horses' condition and know BEFORE they go to
the vet what is happening with their horse.

For instance...how many times have you seen (or had it happen to you) that the
horse seemed perfectly sound on trail, only to rush to the pulse person and then
the vet - ALL at a walk - to find out your horse is trotting out lame?  Sometimes
they are just  bit stiff, sometimes it is correctable.  And, how many times has a
vet said grade III and not given you the chance to represent?  Often a muscle
cramp can be worked out..more times than not, slow guts are significantly
improved.

And, yes, Heidi is right, the vet can make a smarter evaluation when the horse has
had even a short rest.  Vets are there to HELP, NOT to FIND out how to eliminate
you.  I, for one, want to KNOW EVERYTHING about my horse.

Teddy

CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 9/20/99 12:13:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time, DVeritas writes:
>
> << Heidi,
>      What you describe is, for some, difficult to do.  And I don't mean this
> in a mean way, but putting the horse and his/her/its welfare FIRST can, for
> some, get lost in the hubbub of a vet check (where THE concern should be
> first for the horse, not for the timer...).
>      I have witnessed (and even on occasion been guilty of) good
> horsemanship, i.e., going to the Vet and relating what may or may not be a
> problem and, on occasion, given up the completion and started caring for the
> horse, nonjudgmental victim to my "competitive lust." >>
>
> You are right, Frank, but I was not referring to giving the rider a choice if
> I, as the vet, feel that there is a problem.  My whole point was that many
> problems manifest while the horse is in camp on his hold, and by not
> examining him until near the end of the hold time, I can pick those problems
> up.  When I made reference to catching minor problems and slowing the rider
> down, I am referring only to things that in my best judgment would still get
> to the next check ok even if the rider does NOT follow instructions.  I
> actually think the "completion lust" is worse the way it is now--the horse
> vets through on his "runner's high", and when problems develop back at the
> trailer, the rider does nothing about it (if, indeed, the rider even
> recognizes the problem), because, after all, the horse has already been
> cleared by the vet as being ready to go.  I feel that we miss a LOT of
> problems in this fashion, and that by the time they reach the NEXT check,
> they are no longer simply pulls, but have become major treatments.
>
> Heidi
>
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--
Teddy

AERC# 139422 - Member since 1974
6000+ career miles
Running Bear Farm, Inc.
Teddy Lancaster
1348 Township Road 256
Kitts Hill, Ohio, 45645 USA  -  http://runningbear.com/
USA East co-chair. Webmaster for USA East website: http://runningbear.com/ETZ
1-800-533-2327
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