When managing a ride the worst thing that could possibly happen is to have a horse or person get in some kind of an emergency situation. We do not even want to think of anything going wrong when making plans for a ride, but it can and does happen on many of the rides. We must prepare for the worst.

Horse emergencies

Ride managers need to make sure they have a confident treatment vet at their ride, but must remember that the ride site is not an equine hospital with endless supplies of medication or equipment. Be sure to call the nearest equine hospital a few weeks ahead, explain to them the ride dates and details, and ask them if they would be available if needed.

On the ride date, have the equine hospital's phone number available to all the veterinarians, with directions. This should be given to the driver who takes the horse to the hospital. The ride veterinarian should contact the hospital to explain the emergency situation in detail.

It is great if the ride management has a stock trailer available to use for transport as many times the rider would have to break down camp in order to use their own rig and this takes a considerable amount of time.

Human emergencies

The first choice in human emergencies is to have a trained EMT or physician on hand. Many rides have them on standby throughout the entire ride. This is not always possible, so we must prepare for the next best option. Find out where the closest hospital is to your ride site. Have the phone number and directions written down so they may be passed on to the driver of the injured person. Have this available through several people, so that if a situation should arise, it would be handled without tracking the ride manger or just one certain person down.

Have a person designated ahead of time to drive any injured person to the hospital if they came alone to the ride. Remember in urgent cases to call 911. If no land line phone is available be sure to know where to go to receive adequate reception on a cell phone.

Important: Be sure to have riders list an emergency contact name and phone number on their ride entry form. In case of an emergency, phone the contact person to inform him or her of the situation.

Avoiding emergencies

Ride managers should design the trail layout as safely as the terrain will allow. Starts and finishes of the trail need extra attention as that is where most accidents seem to occur. Try to have the finish line in an area so that limited distance riders will not be in the path of a "race off." Do not have the finish line going through the center of camp and keep the finish away from areas where spectators could possibly be run over.

It is best to not have two-way traffic (riders coming in to camp with other riders leaving camp on the same trail) on your finish line pathway. The start of the rides should be safe as possible. If you need to start down an asphalt road or an unsafe trail be sure to have a controlled start until the trail opens up to a safe area. Always be looking at start and finish lines with safety in mind first!

All ride managers need to answer these questions right now:

1. Where is the closest veterinarian hospital to my ride that has facilities to keep and treat a horse? Do I know the directions?

2. Where is the closest hospital for a human emergency? Do I know the directions?

Most people would think this article is just using your common sense but many of these lessons have been learned the hard way during an emergency by many ride managers.

ATTENTION ALL RIDE MANAGERS: THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENCED HEAD VETS

The importance of having an experienced head veterinarian -- one who has worked rides before -- cannot be stressed enough. It is crucial! An important job of ride managers is choosing a head veterinarian for their ride who is familiar with the AERC rules and ride procedures. We must remember that they set our pulse parameters and other criteria such as hold times. Management should never hire as their head veterinarian someone who hasnŐt worked a ride. Veterinarians with no endurance experience would have no idea if they were qualified or not and may not realize how deep over their heads they were getting into and may jump into the job innocently if asked by a ride manager to work their ride. On the other hand, some vets with a little bit of endurance experience would know that they may not be qualified and would decline the job as head vet.

Melissa Ribley, DVM, chair of the Veterinary Committee, recently wrote an article for Endurance News on responsibilities of the head veterinarian because she thinks it is vitally important for head veterinarians to know what they are getting into and what they are doing. After writing the article she realized it all hinges on the ride manager and whom they desire to hire so she wants the message to get out to all ride managers about the importance of hiring experienced head veterinarians. It is not as important that other vets hired for the ride be experienced as long as the head vet is. When the head veterinarian is very experienced at vetting endurance rides it is great to hire at least one new veterinarian per ride to introduce them to the sport and get them started on the right foot. (Be sure they get their free copy of the educational veterinarian video from the AERC office.) Choose your head veterinarian wisely and know what is meant by this statement.