> VOLUNTEERED skills. Many a good vet has politely had to deal with a
> concerned or irate rider with a "marginal" horse at a vet check or the finish
> line. ADD MONEY and you have vets who either pull everything marginal
> without conference (concerned because the rider is and wants to stay "in the
> money" and a horse may drop dead and THEY will be held responsible) BTW, how
> much do vets pay now for mal-practice insurance?? Will be have to pay them
> more to compensate them for the greater responsibility?
I must take issue with this. The vet is NOT responsible for the condition
of the rider's horse. I am reminded of something that Dave Nicholson (aka
"The Duck") said at last year's Silver State Point to Point. ANd here I
quote, "I have never lost a horse at an endurance ride that I vetted, and
I never will." He wished to emphasize that it is riders who lose horses
at endurance rides, not vets.
Under no circumstances should we let anybody get into their head the
notion that it is the vet's responsibility to ensure the health, welfare
and safety of a horse at a ride. The vet's reponsiblity is to determine
whether the horse that is presented to him (at the moment it is presented
to him) if the horse is "fit to continue." Which is all he can do. The
hope is, that horses that are fit to continue will not die along the way,
but it is the rider who is responsible for making sure of this...not the
vet.
Vets do not keep horses from dying at endurance rides (or after the ride
either for that matter). What keeps horses from dying at endurance rides
is riders who care about and for their horses. The best vet in the world
cannot "protect" a horse from a foolish rider. The horse and rider spend
too much time out on the trail alone...and the rider gets to make too many
of the decisions. Vets are not allowed/supposed to pull horses from the
ride because they believe that the rider will not properly care for the
horse (although I imagine that some do).
A vet may tell a rider that the horse will probably not be able to
continue to perform at the same level, and that he should back off or
slow down, but the rider is the one who gets to decide whether to do this
or not.
Volunteers are not responsible either, ride management is not
responsible, the pit crew is not responsible, other riders in the ride
are not responsible....
kat
Orange County, Calif.
p.s. It is for this very reason that I oppose the awarding of high value
prizes at endurance rides. Not because $ will turn us all into money
grubbing lunatics, but because it will attract a different class of
rider...ones who are perhaps more interested in the money than the horse.