Hi Everyone,
This is getting somewhat off subject, but I just wanted to comment on
Linda and Truman's excellent suggestions about money going for endurance
research. I think I'm fairly qualified because I have done
anumber of research projects on various equine physiology things,
including my Master's thesis which was specifically on factors in body
condition that affect endurance horses. When I chose my thesis project,
I had the choice of a project which was fully funded, but had nothing to
do with endurance horses (directly, anyway) or doing my own thing and
trying to find my own funding. Well, I picked my own endurance project,
but there was NO FUNDING AT ALL. I still find it amazing that money
exists to find out why horses don't get altitude sickness at 10,000 feet
but no money is available to help endurance horses get down the trail
happy and healthy.
Most of the funding available for equine research comes from either the
racing industry or the pharmaceutical manufacturers and the projects
they fund almost always boil down to "how do we make racehorses run
faster/not break down/stop bleeding/heal faster", or "does this drug
work and what are the side-effects". No one's interested in finding out
how to help a horse go 100 miles unless it'll also help a TB
gofastturnleft. I ended up spending around $5000 of my own money to get
my project done (I keep equating it in how many rides I could've gone to
instead), because I was too damn stubborn to give it up, and because I
REALLY wanted to do a project with some "take home" information derived
from it. I came up with some great results for 100 mile horses and the
next logical step would be to confirm results on 50 mile and LD horses,
but there's still no funding available and I'm too poor to keep paying
for it myself. This IS NOT a hint that Cosequin should fund my personal
research projects, just a comment that there isn't much money available
right now for endurance research. And there should be.
Having read 99% of the research that has been done on endurance horses,
I can tell you that researchers like studying endurance horses because
they push the envelope harder than most horses in many ways and so
they're interesting to look at. Alot of neat stuff has been found out,
BUT very little of it is reported in a form that will help the average
rider get down the trail better. The results usually get published in
the research journals which most endurance riders never see.
I am absolutely ALL FOR money being channeled into research on endurance
horses, but (and this may be looking a gift horse in the mouth), we
should try to attempt to make sure the research is such that it will
benefit the endurance community, not just the research institution.
Cosequin is in an excellent position to provide funding for projects
that will benefit both themselves and the sport, and I think they should
be strongly encouraged to continue their interest in the endurance
community in a more appropriate way than handing out ten big checks to
the rhot rods. Absolutely we shouldn't make them feel as though they've
done something wrong, let's make them feel as though they're the answer
to our prayers and now let's just point it in the right direction,
whether that be research, trail funds, whatever.
Finally, I agree with Teddy that Cosequin will get more respect and
appreciation and good PR if they spread their money around in a way to
benefit EVERYONE rather than the Chosen Few. How many names of lottery
winners can you remember? Not many? Sure, because it wasn't you. How
'bout the names of someone who's done something nice for YOU? I
remember people who did me a favor thirty years ago. 'Nuff said.
Susan Evans
Rebel Researcher
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