Bulletin Board: 01/01

Equine Rescue Courses
Courses that deal with the special techniques and equipment needed to rescue horses from trailer and trail accidents are being offered and attended by non-horse rescue agencies as well as horsemen.

A 1996 trail-riding accident where a rider was saved but the horse died spurred the Felton Fire Company, in Felton, Calif., near Santa Cruz, to develop a curriculum on dealing with horses in rescue situations. The company has prepared three courses on equine behavior/handling, trailer accident/uplifting and trail rescue. It is currently developing a manual and video training tapes.

Trail Riders of DuPage (Ill.), or TROD, has prepared its own course on equine rescue techniques in response to a 1994 trailer accident in which two horses died. Last fall, the course was attended by 90 people, including volunteer firemen. It focuses specifically on emergencies with loaded trailers in traffic accidents but also includes techniques useful in barn fires and escape situations.

For information on the courses offered by the Felton Fire Company, write to 131 Kirby St., Felton, CA 95018. For information on the TROD course, write to PO Box 616, Warrenville, IL 60555.

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AHSA Web Board
The AHSA now has a moderated forum called Issues and Answers Bulletin Board on its web site (www.ahsa.org). The site will answer questions pertaining to AHSA competitions, rules, services and other areas within the AHSA. Staffers will monitor the forum during business hours to answer questions promptly.

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NBC Olympic Video
NBC released an equestrian video as part of its “Quest For The Gold” series from the 2000 Olympics. There’s a highlights video plus individual videos for most Olympic sports. Although priced at $19.95, each tape is $16.99 at www.amazon.com.

Be sure to scroll down from the page for the highlights tape to find the equestrian tape, or you may find you’ve ordered a lot of footage on swimming and track events instead.

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Settlement Benefits NARHA
Nutramax Laboratories, Edgewood, Md., donated $15,000 from a legal settlement to the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. The funds were the results of a suit brought by Nutramax against a company that issued a press release stating it had a licensing agreement with Nutramax, makers of Cosequin.

“Legal action was necessary in this case, not only to protect our reputation but most importantly to ensure consumers, especially in the equestrian industry, were not misled,” said Ed Sharbaugh of Nutramax. “The suit was never about money . . . so Nutramax decided that the proceeds should directly benefit the equestrian community.”

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FEI Faces Eventing Safety Issues
The FEI Eventing Committee spent much of the past year studying safety issues. Rules concerning stricter qualifications, elimination after first fall of horse or second fall of rider on cross-country, penalties and concept of “dangerous riding” were ratified at the November FEI meeting to take effect Jan. 1, 2001.

The committee will continue to investigate endurance requirements on all four phases of cross-country and work to establish a database on statistics of accidents and falls worldwide, plus other issues. An open forum will be at the April FEI General Assembly meeting.

The FEI also announced that new Grand Prix and Intermediaire II dressage tests will be introduced in 2001 and that the International League for the Protection of the Horse (ILPH) will act as its official welfare arm.

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