Endurance Riding...the Last Frontier
Topic 2) Within the endurance industry, much talk is being focused on subjects such as..."Protecting horses, protecting our sport" AERC Nov03 issue, and "Decreasing need for treatment is the goal" AERC Jan04 issue. Nobody wants to see a horse in need for treatment caused on a ride. We all want to protect our horses and our sport, so...what is the answer? Some of the currant issues demanding AERC attention are completely necessary, and some of these issues are completely ridiculous.
I feel like John Stossal at 20/20, "give me a break!"
I really appreciated the article written by Melissa Ribley, DVM, "Decreasing need" Jan04. I wish more people would be so informative. As I read this article, I couldn't help but say "here...here!" Thank you Melissa for writing it! I so agree that "In the interest of the welfare of endurance horses, the stigma associated with treatment needs to be abolished." What more can I say, it would only repeat this article.
Now this leads us to protecting our horses and our sport. Stagg Newman wrote this article, and is only addressing a very large issue at AERC. Although, I can only agree with 2/3's of his hypothesis. 1. Better understand the horses at risk, ya, ya we got to do this. 2. Better educate the riders, ya, ya we got to do this. 3. Better govern our sport through additional controls....WHAT...No, No we don't need to do this!
Give me a break! I have heard much talk, things like "turning in your neighbor." WHAT, how will this work? I only see this process deleting riders in favor of the "all popular group". Join them, or be deleted!, No Thanks. I march to my own drum thank you and don't need someone else telling me how to bang it. I also find the "being pulled on rides more than X amount of times" will equal to being on probation, or worse, being kicked out for the rest of the year. So, if you suffer a bout of bad luck, it will put you on the list (what about the American view of being innocent until proven guilty?) for everyone to gossip about. And the one we are seeing right now, continuously lowering the PR. This is eliminating horses that do not have low resting pulses (and/or breeds other than full Arabs, or large horses over 15 hh.s) more than slowing down riders. This does not always work!
So now...In My Opinion...I say this
I am not talking about stupid people, but the normal rider. Again, do all riders suffer for the mistakes of the few? This is not the American Way! I don't need someone telling me how to ride my horse, but maybe some people do? I think what people love the most about endurance riding, is the lack of political platforms, which are present in most sport horse competitions. But we have a problem, horses are dying... and I have only heard of "Control" type or reactive answers to the problems. What about a proactive ones?
Yes, I have been one of those riders that needed treatment for my horse, and I have sought out that treatment too! I don't care what people say, my horse is my team member, and I value him/her. I have seen horses that needed treatment stuffed around the corner for no one to see, or trailered out before anyone noticed. High impact sports will cause an increase for risk! Accept that or don't compete. So, why not do a mandatory post vet at 2 hours after completion? Wouldn't this point out the horses with metabolic issues? Wouldn't this cause people to ride more conservatively if there was a chance they might get "post-pulled?". I swear nothing is worse than doing the whole ride and not completing!!
OK, I think this might help in regard to fast-starts. Common sense says, what is a race, but an element of time. Eliminate time, eliminate the human desire go faster and win the race. Why not put in a set 15 min vet stop hold for "PR and quality movement only" at the five mile mark? This would help display the horses that are most apt to tie-up. If there is a set time, no one would be upset as it would be the same. And, the most important, it would give the horses a chance to get out of "herd mentality". It could lessen the "rush of adrenaline" that disguises potential health issues that lay dormant until the first vet check (approximate. 10-12 miles) when the damage is already done.
OK, no vet wants to be at the 5 mile mark, and everyone hates the getting in another line. But...Why Not! If we truly want to eliminate the problem, we need to be proactive. Anyhow, I doubt we will see this; it would over-tax the ride management. Although, it would be nice to see on "Big Rides" such as Breeders Sweepstakes, Championships, CEI and FEI rides.
To bottom line this. If more control is the answer, I must demand vets get this control. Not the ride management or the Associations by writing out ridiculous rules. Let endurance riding remain the true last frontier. Lets not become a "label world", or a "platform sport". As a good person once told me, "Keep it simple, stupid!"
Holly Fleming Feb 2004
Endurance Riding Is Getting A Bad Rap.
Topic 1) It's been said " We endurance riders ride too hard! ".
Yes, it's true we ride for up to 100-miles and have 24 hours to complete this but, please keep in mind all rides have several breaks with Vets recording all vitals on the horse. If a horse is deemed "Unfit to Continue" this horse is "Pulled", end-of-story.
Some times the system messes-up! And there are always "those individuals" in any sport who are competing over their horses capabilities and the horse may get injured or perhaps killed. This is America, we value our freedoms, lets have a little control over ourselves, not each other.
Negligence can come in a million disciplines. Tieing a horse too short, too long; saddle ill fit; bit ill fit; jumped too much; ran too much; barn sour; over stalled; never stalled; too much exercise; no exercise; poor hay; too much hay; missing supplements; poor fields; no fields; abusive training; no training; skinny horse; fat horse; no blankets; too many blankets; poor shoes; no shoes; no Vet care; no vaccinations; no worming (the worst!). Gez... the list can go on-and-on. Every one of these is a prime candidate for injury or death with the horse.
Come on! ...We all know that horses are high-prone accidents waiting to happen! Yes! we try to do the best for our horses, but lets be reasonable. As a good person told me (Myra) "horses are like children, and you would never tell another parent how to raise their kids now, would ya?"
What we are talking about is ignorance and everyone who has worked with a horse has had it at one time. I don't say condone, I say have some patience and help-out another before you condemn. The experienced rider/trainer knows when to say when. Pass on the gift, not the @#$#! attitude.
Horse people need to stick together; we are the same underneath, we love horses.
Holly Fleming DEC 2003
