The Endurance Riders Association of British Columbia recently had the honor and pleasure of organizing and hosting a clinic for vets new to the sport of endurance, featuring Jim Baldwin DVM as an instructor and keynote speaker. It was such a success that it bears sharing the experience with those interested in setting up a similar event in their area.

The motivation behind the clinic was the shortage of vets ready, willing and able to judge and treat at rides. In addition, one of the veterinarians in our area has expressed an interest to do more riding and less vetting for some time and it just wasn't happening. (Sound familiar, vets?)

Several veterinarians over the years have expressed their frustration over feeling unsure of the details of their role and responsibilities at their first rides. The experience of, "Hi, Doc, this is your vet sec," (vet what?) "There's the trot-out area, and thanks for coming!" followed by an impatient line-up of well-meaning riders inundating poor Doc--as he is still wondering what BC stands for-is all too common!

CEU a plus for vets

It was decided there would be no cost to the vets to attend this clinic. Continuing education credits were applied for from the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association and the seminar was approved for seven hours of continuing education credits. The CE credits were a huge factor in getting vets to attend.

Potential attendees received a letter of invitation and follow-up phone calls. Those we thought would be interested were every equine vet in the area not already involved in the sport and some small animal vets as well who we had been directed to on an individual basis. One-third of the vets attending did not come from an official equine background, according to the vet directory, but were certainly qualified.

Twelve vets attended from all over the province, which was a good number allowing lots of hands-on experience and attention to individual concerns and questions.

One of our riding club members, Elroy Karius, generously donated his home and property, which backs onto lots of trail, as the venue for the clinic, and members eagerly volunteered to P/R, time, ride and organize coffee, lunch and dinner.

Plan out a schedule

The organizing group decided on a format using the AERC's "Veterinary Judging of Endurance Competitions" booklet as a guideline. The day started at 8:00 a.m. with an introduction to the sport of endurance presented by Daphne Richards, one of our local heroes who recently returned from a successful World Championships in Dubai, UAE.

The rest of the day was team-taught by Dr. Jim Baldwin and myself (I do quite a lot of vetting at endurance rides in British Columbia). This worked well, giving two perspectives of many aspects of the sport. I was able to fill in particulars unique to Canadian rides and played sidekick to Dr. Jim's sense of humor!

Jim and I organized our teaching sessions on the structure of an endurance ride. The first session was about the pre-ride vet check, the vet card, and the pre-ride meeting. Then it was off to vet in our volunteer riders prior to the beginning of the mock ride organized for the day. Jim and I took the vet participants on a one-on-one walk-through of the vet exam.

The horses headed off for a 12-15 mile loop, while the vets went back to class and discussed the purpose and logistics of holds and the associated vet checks, and defining and explaining terminology such as criteria, P/R and in-times, etc.

During the lunch break everyone watched the video, "Judging Endurance Competitions," produced by the AERC.

Lunch ended with the cry, "Riders coming!" and everyone was outside again to the first hold vet check, with the same one-on-one format. Jim and I stood back and observed and offered suggestions such as how to better evaluate a certain parameter, increase efficiency and safety, and handle difficult horses. The students also acted as vet secretaries/scribes when they weren't vetting, which was very useful in increasing understanding of the whole process.

Then it was back to the books! While the riders completed a second loop, the class covered the completion vet check, criteria for elimination, and judging BC.

A quick break was followed by the first horses arriving. Completion exams were done, with CRIs, then all the vets judged for best condition together.

The formal part of the day ended with a last session on the role and responsibility of the treatment vet, and common metabolic and injury-related problems encountered in our sport.

A very high-end potluck dinner with fine Okanagan wines followed, with an informal panel discussion in the evening. The general ERABC membership was invited for the evening. This proved to be a lively interchange between vets and riders, and worthwhile and entertaining for all present!

There was also good discussion on the reasons vets are reluctant to get involved. The primary concern was lack of knowledge and/or misperception about the sport. Financial issues were important also. For sole practitioners, the time away from practice and costs incurred to be away were important factors.

The big take-home message from this day was the number of questions the vets had regarding all aspects of the sport. This is information that vets badly want to know before they get involved. What seems common sense and second nature to those involved in the sport for some time is not necessarily so for vets new to endurance.