Re: Horse death/leaving

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

>I am against leaving before a ride too. 

Aren't we all?  :-)  (proof read that line Samm <VBG>

Samm, I apologize for any details I got wrong.  I know this is a very
sensitive issue and I tried to point out when I was just "repeating hear
say".  

I had yet to mention this incident to anyone who had heard a word about
it, and felt it had sort of been swept under the rug.  It's embarassing
and tragic, but I guess I just wanted to make sure we were going to learn
from our mistakes as a group, not just one rider at a time.

When you're in a big sleeping camp, it's hard to know who's local and
might could help.  All I knew was that you were from Auburn, AL and we
were a long way from there.  10 miles or 50 wouldn't have made a
difference since we didn't know where they were.  This is not condemning
management or placing blame.  I've managed many rides, and I've never had
a contingency plan for an event like this.  Now I plan to.

Same thing on the camp manager 100 yds from camp.  Who knew?

.  *I* 
>was
>in camp, with a cell phone and the ride managers number,

Same thing.  I had no idea you were part of management.  It was very
late.  We looked for someone that we thought might have the most medical
knowlege.  I don't even know if I knew you were still there. 

.  It's not the fault of anyone...rider, ride
>manager, or vets leaving early. 

Fault isn't the word I'm looking for.  I'm trying to figure out how to
arrange my vets duties in such a way that I'll still have one on the
payroll Sat. night as a service to the horses and riders.



>The guy with the backhoe is the man who owns the campsite and he lives
>right there, that's why he got there quicker.

Just a comment on the kind of response time we should expect when calling
the local vet.  I think it was about 9:00 A.M.  about 6hrs late.
  



>not, but this has struck a nerve with me.  I guess because I was smack 
>in
>the middle of this, and it has been brought up so many times by 
>several
>people,

Like I said, I had never heard it addressed.

>According to all the rule books, the vet only has to be there 1 hour 
>past
>the last horse finishing.

That's the rules.  I think I want to provide a little more at my ride,
and have a contingency plan for what I'll do at other rides.  Like I
said.  I've never thought of asking for an emergency number for the night
after.  Maybe managers should provide one in their rider packets.  When I
plan a ride, I always find out the nearest rescue squad's number and
inform them of our event and where it will be.  This is just one more
thing I'll consider.   

 However, there are some rides 
>that
>can barely afford to hire the 2 vets that we already require--THE SE 
>has a
>2 vet minimum rule--and to require the RM to pay a vet to stay 
>overnight
>on Sat would be a shot in the head for some of those rides whre they 
>only
>have 20-40 riders. 

Haven't seen a ride with 20-40 riders lately, but the key word is "on
call".  I think if a local vet was informed that the ride was being held,
and that his number would be posted as an emergency number...it wouldn't
be such a "cold call".   
.  However, I also see 
>many
>of the top riders in this region do that and they win ride, after 
>ride,
>after ride...when they are riding


I know one that's sworn off of it.

Angie

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