Seminar Notes – Colic
| March 10, 2014 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
AERC convention 2014 – Atlanta Georgia
For this and all the posts that concern seminar content, the information presented is my best recollection based on my notes taken during the seminar. I try to be very clear where I am editorializing and deviating from strict reporting of what was said and presented. Any errors/differences from what was actually said are mine alone, with apologies to the presenter.
Dr. Kira Epstein (with a bunch of letters after her name!) lectured on colic. First off I want emphasize that she was a really good lecturer/educator. Definitely a presenter to put on your list if she’s appearing at a conference near you.
Unfortunately, the colic seminar was a basic overview of colic in general, and not necessarily specific for endurance. She warned us up front that this session was going to be a more general overview about colic because not much is known about endurance related colic, although we would talk a little bit about it near the end.
So….for those of you that voted for this seminar I have to admit….I failed you. I left early. The overview was so basic I think most of you actually already have the base knowledge that was being presented.
I just couldn’t justify sitting through 1 1/2 hours for a small 10 or 15 segment near the end.
This seminar was in stark contrast to the one presented the next day on groin and pectoral muscle pulls. That presenter gave us (general membership) the same presentation that he also gave the vets in their separate continuing education seminar, saying that in his experience endurance riders are some of the best educated horse people, and that he is able to talk to us at a level even beyond his vet students. What a HUGE compliment and a testimony to how hard we work as endurance riders to understand the intricacies of equine physiology and medicine so that we can be better partners to our horses and race to the finish line for fame and glory (just kidding. Very little fame and glory to be found here! Read this article if you don’t believe me – link Tom’s article)
The take away message that she presented in the beginning was that horses colic. Horses at rides, horses not at rides. Horses that do endurance, horses that do not do endurance. Your horse may colic at a ride because of the same factors that may result in colic at home – stress, dehydration, or just because. Obviously at a ride these factors are amplified.
Onto the next seminar!
Obviously forgot to link the article on tom. Will rectify this when im out of classes!
Link?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140396/1/index.htm
Here you go.
Thank you!