The November Endurance News education column put forth the proposition that we in AERC need to take action in these areas to protect our horses and protect our sport:

1. Better education

2. Better understanding

3. Better governance

The coming of the new year was an appropriate time to assess where we have been and where we need to go. In this column we will discuss some of the positive actions AERC is taking and what we as members can do to help.

Better education

This year AERC has greatly increased the production and information available to AERC members concerning the protection of the welfare of the horse, the risks in our sport, and what we can do to mitigate those risks. The Education Committee, the Welfare of the Horse Committee, the Veterinary Committee, the Ride Managers Committee, the Technical Committee, and the individual efforts of many members have made this possible. The education and veterinary committees are jointly sponsoring an "Ask the Vet" column. Please read the first installment on colic in the endurance horse by Dr. Jeannie Waldron on page 11 of this issue.

AERC provided many articles in Endurance News on proper management and care of the endurance horse before, during and after a ride. We created a new revised version of the AERC Rider's Handbook that is sent to all new members, available to any member by calling the office, and is online. We sent the one-pager on "Preventing Treatment" along with the veterinary letter to all members last spring. For those in the online world, AERC created a new website where the articles in EN are available. We also created the AERC online discussion group, which, together with RideCamp, is a powerful means for exchanging information, debating ideas, and perhaps occasionally flaming. We have also created a list of mentors.

Over the holidays I viewed the draft of the new videotape AERC is producing to introduce vets to our sport and illustrate how to vet a ride. This tape, sponsored by the Ride Managers Committee (thanks Connie Caudill), the Vet Committee and the Education Committee, stars Dr. Todd Holbrook and will be given to all vets and is available to all members at a fee to cover the cost of reproduction and distribution. The tape is designed both to help recruit new vets and be help improve the understanding of both vets and riders as to how to use the vet checks to protect our horses.

I also listened to an audiotape on the AERC Veterinary Handbook that the Vet Committee is producing. This tape will enable ride vets to refresh their understanding of rules, procedures, and best practices by listening to an audiotape while driving to the ride.

Where do we go next? The Education Committee just agreed on the following set of priorities for the coming months.Õ - Continue the dissemination of information through EN and online that builds on our theme of "the protection of the welfare of the horse." For example, please read the article in this month's EN by Lucy Chapin Trumbull on "assessing your horse at checks."

- Create an updated online bibliography to supplement the rider handbook.

- Revise the new members packet with new material focused on protecting the horse.

- Create seminar material for use at rides, local conventions, trade shows, etc. Ideally we will have a set of seminar packages available (e.g. an introductory seminar for new riders, a seminar on "moving up" safely, a seminar on successfully doing multi-day rides).

- Revise the Education Committee website to include more material and better links.

- Develop material for mentors and a more extensive program for educating new members.

- Make seminar information from the convention available to all members by capturing it on audiotape and/or in written notes.

So what do we as members need to do in this effort to protect our horses and improve our sport?

- First, digest the information available and incorporate the lessons into our equestrian lives.

- Second, help in the efforts by volunteering to produce new material, give seminars, mentor others, and/or participate in the online discussions.

- Third, provide the Education Committee your ideas on the most effective ways to educate. How do we reach you? Realistically many articles in EN are never read, many members are not online, and many members do not go to the annual convention. Will mini-seminars before or after rides be well attended? Are direct mailings like the letter from the Vet Committee with "Preventing Treatment" an effective use of funds? Would a quarterly electronic newsletter be effective as an alternative to those members who have provided AERC with an e-mail address? Let's hear from you on how we can best "get the word out."

Better understanding

The September Education Update entitled "We just don't know--a call to action" identified that a major challenge facing our sport is that we just do not know enough about physiological effects of our sports, the best early indicators of undue stress, and the proper preventive steps. The first step to solving a problem is admitting there is a problem and gathering information about the problem. We are no longer hiding the fact that horses have died doing our sport so we have taken the first step. Please read the article in this EN from the Welfare of the Horse Committee on the deaths in 2003 including the assessment of risk (page 8).

Now that we are facing this problem head on, we are taking steps to solve the "we just don't know" problem. The Vet Committee is investigating all reported deaths to see what lessons can be learned to prevent future occurrences. The Research Grant Committee is evaluating proposals for research on endurance equines and has just provided the funding for one proposal. However, learning what we need to know will be a journey of many years.

At the AERC convention Dr. Jim Baldwin is devoting most of the continuing education course for vets to doing a better job of collecting and analyzing information related to horse deaths. Ideally we strive to prevent any such occurrences. To do so we realize we need more factual statistically valid analyses related to rate of completion, reasons for non-completion, rate of treated horses, reasons for treatment, etc. so we can understand cause and effect.

The volunteer efforts of people like Truman Prevatt and Bob Morris in examining the data we have is providing new insights. We plan to publish these insights in EN. Please see the article by Truman in this issue on the analysis of pull rates from 1996-2003.

Perhaps more importantly, we know we do not have much of the basic data we need. An examination of the veterinary post-ride statistical reports by Bob Morris was revealing for both what is available and what is missing. The good news: based on the data reported, the treatment rate appears to be under 1%. The bad news: some rides, including rides that are believed to have the highest rate of treatment, are not reporting. So a group of us plan to get together at the convention to define the key questions that need to be addressed and the data that needs to be collected to address those questions. Then we have to ask the hard question of whether we (riders, RMs, vets) are willing to collect the data and who will analyze the data.

Regional organizations and local rides can help AERC tremendously by doing experiments that collect and analyze data, try out new ideas, etc. For example, the Southeast Endurance Riders Association (SERA) is to be commended for two efforts. SERA has a set of scales that moves from ride to ride, allowing riders to weigh their horses before the rides, at checkpoints, and after the ride to assess equine weight loss, which can be an important indicator of the hydration level of the horse. Riders can record this information for their own use. SERA works with vets to collect and analyze this data and correlate it with performance. SERA collects exit pulse rate data at certain rides to see if this information can be meaningfully correlated with performance and successful completion.

So, as members, what can we do?

- First, we can support the collection of data needed for treatment reports, studies, etc.

- Second, volunteers at the local level can do controlled studies to develop our understanding. I would recommend that these groups work with the appropriate AERC committee to carefully define the study and the questions addressed.

- Third, we need to undertake an effort to learn and document what we can from other organizations around the world. Any volunteers?

Better governance

AERC has a philosophy that first and foremost the owner and rider are primarily responsible for the welfare of the horse, that is, we believe in individual responsibility and accountability. Moreover, AERC has tried to keep the rules to the minimum needed to protect the horse and insure fair competition. Many of the steps we can take to protect our horse do not need governance changes and new rules. These latter changes are controversial, should not be made lightly, and must be made with due deliberation.

Actually, if we were all sufficiently knowledgeable, observant, and responsible, then no new rules and in fact far fewer rules than we now have would be needed. In reality, we do need some rules to protect us from our ignorance, inattention, and occasional irresponsibility.

Many ideas for governance changes have been put forth and discussed recently on the AERC member discussion group and on RideCamp as well as over campfires at rides, etc. The AERC board of directors agreed at the last board conference call that the Welfare of the Horse Committee would take the lead in considering proposed rule changes, synthesizing ideas, evaluating them, and then proposing any changes to the BOD. John Parke, chair of WHC, has announced he will host sessions to discuss these ideas at the convention in Reno.

So, as members, what can we do?

- Share your best thought and ideas with the AERC board. The best way to do this is to submit the ideas in written form to the Welfare of the Horse Committee. These can be sent to aerc@ foothill.net. Synthesized input from many is frequently the best approach. (As an aside, note that the AERC member discussion group is just that, a discussion group. It is not intended as a way to submit formal proposals.)

- Attend John Parke's sessions in Reno. Based on his sessions at last year's convention, I highly recommend this as worthwhile.

- Provide your board representatives with your input.

In closing, best wishes for a healthy, successful and educational year for you and your horse.