SafetyTEC - medical coverage at equine and other special events in Kentucky - Training :: Emergency Services :: ASHI :: CPR :: AED :: First Aid

View from the Corner

7-12-10 We made it through a very busy week and weekend last week. The corner was pretty quite this past week, we wasn't able to be there since we had 3 events going on at KHP. We had to be in the area each event was located at to cover each event. We will only be stopping by a couple times the next 9 days since we are off till Breyerfest. Then after that we will be there just about every day till Aug 22. I will try and keep updates better for you.

7-2-10 It has been a long time since I've been on here, sorry for that. I will try and keep up a little better. We have been doing some changes with our web site and there are more to come. That is NO excess and I know.

The first half of the year has been pretty uneventful with just the standard injuries and nothing really major. One thing that has given me cold chills everytime I talk about it is a call we had last year. Long story short we didn't know if this lady had lived or not until the May show when she came by and thanked us for saving her life. At a June show she did the same thing every morning and brought doughnuts to us. Just seeing this lady and her stopping by saying Hi and thank you was all we needed. This is what our job is at these events, to make a difference in someones life if we need too. In this ladies life we made a big difference and her family and friends have more time to spend with her.

12-2-09 Guess I can only saw "the change is good" here on the corner. New black top, dranage seems to be a lot better, and there is parking! The staff at the park has done a great job as well as the construction folks. I've heard from all 3 sides and it didn't seem like anyone got too upset with anyone with all the work going on and not missing any show dates!

10-2-09 This year on th corner has been very interesting. With the construction going on and all the shows and we can't forget about the folks driving different types of transportation. We have seen a few crashes and accidents this year and I have to say it was not due to the construction. One was some folks in a place they were not suppose to be in and one of their horses got loose and the others were folks not paying attention. Just do not think people will learn.

6-14-09 We have noticed several kids and its not just at the pony rally, these kids are riding their bike down the hill by barns 5-7 in the culvert on the side of the road. They have almost been hit several times by vehicles as well as horse when they come out of the culvert. We have gotten on them a few times, but seems like they just don't listen.

6-12-09 We have made it almost through Country Heir show. Next week we look forward to dealing with the kids from Mid-South and their pony rally. Should be a small change in pace with them.

6-8-09 The weather has been crazy and has kept things slowed down at the corner. Looks like folks are getting to understand how things should be done at the park. The one thing they need to do now is to keep the horses off the road unless they are crossing at a designated spot!

6-5-09 The new out door stadium ring has been going good. We are still trying to figure out the best way to respond to calls there. We might ask the location of the patient in the ring so we will know the best way to come in.

6-3-09 We are back out and ready for the next several weeks out here. We expect the corner to be active during the next few weeks. We'll keep you posted as much as we can.

5-26-09 It has been too long since I've posted on here. It has been a very busy start this year with things going on all over our coverage area. On the medical side things have been some what slow for us. This is a good thing, but in our little corner we see a lot of stuff. Horses on the road getting spooked and slipping and sliding. Near misses with golf carts as well as cars. Life is short enough so lets stay on this world for as long as we can! Be safe out there!

4-16-09 Sorry I haven't added anything on here for several months. But I'll try and catch up today.

The new outdoor arena at KHP is set for an opening on 4-22-09. If you haven't seen it, I think you will be very pleased with it.

For those of you who may not be aware of some construction going on this year. Nina Bonnie will be redone this year starting soon after Rolex. Guess this is one way to keep the horses off the road way! I would bet this will take most of the year if not longer to finish up.

I was able to take a tour of the New Indoor arena last week. That too is a great asset to the park. Looks like they are starting to book this already and with luck maybe we will be able to get some of the medical coverage for the new events coming in.

Just over a year left before WEG 2010 and I would say the park is getting ready to be at CRUNCH Time to make sure things will be done. Also remember the small outdoor arena that will have to be built behind the campground on the polo field.

1-5-09 Depends on which way you look the view could be disturbing. If you look east towards the new outdoor arena, man its a mess! But if you look any other direction its a wonderful place. Just got back from out there and I just can't wait till its show time. But soon after that I'll be saying I wish this was over! Think this year will be exciting with the new in and out door rings.

12-2-2008 I know if I have said this one time I've said it a million. Think I should mention it everytime I can and will. What I'm talking about is staffing. We have done so many shows who only want one person and then something happens. The one person can only do so much to take care of the patient. As I have stated before "we will not try to move an injured patient with only one staff". This puts way to much liability on us and is out of standard practice. We can't allow anyone else we are not use to working with help since we DO NOT know their level of training or care. If something happens and it would go to court it would be a bigger mess and my insurance would not cover us. It would be great to have at least two people at your event so we can do our job the way it needs to be done.

11-12-08 How many of the show officials would like to attend a training session for an over view for medical staff? I'm looking at putting my folks through a day of training first of next year so we can have some training and thought about inviting you organizers to see what we do. If you are interested email me and let me know when would be a good time to do this for you around April and I'll see what I can do. I'm looking at something for protective vest, helmets, as well as removing riding equipment from the rider.

If you need any information over the winter do not hesitate to contact me. Or if your group is getting together and would like for us to come and speak let me know. We've done this in the past for a few and love to do it. We haven't charged for this and still plan on not charging unless we have to travel very far for it. So let me know.

9-2-08 Enjoying time in the office today. Catching up on paperwork and all of that fun stuff. So who knows what is going on around the corner.

8-28-08 Working these large hunter/jumper shows these last few weeks and having the responsibility they have put on me is kinda stressful! I would be lying if I said I didn't like it, but not for sure where my bounderies are? At times I feel like I'm pushing them and then other times I feel like I'm not doing enough. Most of the shows hire us to provide medical coverage. The last 5 weeks I over saw all emergency responses that happened to human or equine. You know what I like the idea of having a emergency coordinator. That way there is one person in charge and can handle the situation and manage it when and if it happens.

8-19-08 Couple things here I'd like to just touch on. First is riding helmets, I've seen in some show bills that riders must wear helmets when mounted. It doesn't seem like this is enforced! What will it take to enforce this so folks will be safer when riding a horse and they get bucked off. Second is the amount of people riding on a golf cart. I have counted 8 on a cart at one time. Don't know how the driver could see where they were going let a lone if someone fell off. The way people drive these carts scare me to death. The state law says golf carts are to be treated like automobiles. Maybe it will take the police to ticket some folks to understand or worse case is one cart that is over loaded wrecks and several folks are hurt seriously and this might open someones eyes.

8-14-08 This one goes out to all the nurses, off duty EMTs, Paramedics, doctors, and anyone else in the medical field who may be on the show grounds. Check to see if your malpractice insurance or anything might cover you if you provide medical advice or procedures out side of your regular duties.

Had a run in with a doctor and it was about to get heated. But he was convinced to step away and let me handle the patient. We are covering events and if you have medical training that is great, if your there pass that on to us. But if someone is hired to provide coverage for an event it is their job and responsibility to provide a service to that event. The amount of hours our staff put in at these shows our tempers could be short and we don't mean to step on anyones toes, but being tired and then having someone trying to tell you how to do your job isn't a good combination.

8-10-08 Looking at next week and I want to run and hide! Thinking of all the kids and parents that will be running around here. Its going to be interesting to say the least.

8-6-08 We had a transport the other day. When the mother of the transported patient decided she would drive to the hospital instead of riding with them in the ambulance. We gave direction to the mother and suggested that she go ahead and leave. Told her that the ambulance would more and likely go with lights and siren and it wouldn't be safe for her to follow right behind the ambulance. Its against the law! I had another lady come up and tell the mother to just follow the ambulance and not worry about it. Of course the other side of me (nasty side) almost came out. Its bad enough that some of these riders, trainers, or whomever they are think they are above rules and regulations at horse shows but now laws. I have driven in Lexington with lights and sirens and without. Let me tell you these Lexintonians are always in a hurry. If a car is following behind an ambulance which goes through a red light, the cars which are yielding to the emergency vehicle expect the car behind it to stop. When you do not stop at the red light, you are more and likely going to crash. Guess what, YOU WILL be the one at fault. Not only are you not going to get to where your going, you could face other charges and or jail time. I assure you if I hear of someone going to follow behind an ambulance from the show again, I will make the call to the police to have them pulled over!

8-4-08 This past week I've seen the show do something for the safety of the riders and horses. Crossing Guards have been put in place. As I've watched this it seems several really do not care that these folks are doing their jobs. The girls at the designated horse crossing spots are there for everyones safety. But they get NO respect from the riders at all. I know there are a few that thanks them, but for the most there are those that just do not care. Like us here at Safety TEC we are there to make things a safer place give the crossing guards and hopefully Safety TEC Staff a little respect.

8-2-08 We didn't see this from the corner, but it is effecting the corner. Looks like a freak accident happened yesterday and continued on today. We treated a lady who broke her leg in the barn area and passed away this morning on the OR table. This has put a darken cloud over the corner and has sadden us here at Safety TEC. As I've said before on here, we are effected when something bad happens to you folks here at the shows we cover. We too feel the pain and soar.

7-31-08 The hunter/jumper folks are back and things are going pretty good. For the changes that has effect them they have been good with change. Now if we can get them to understand golf carts and dirt bikes are like cars and they need to drive them as such it would be better. Seen a lot of close calls and near misses here at the corner. When traffic is stopped, the ones on golf carts and mini bikes think they can go right around the stopped cars. One of these days something serious is going to happen.

7-28-08 Rumor has it that the round about is opening up and then cigar lane will be soon after. This is going to be interesting to watch. Bet I'll be the first one to get stuck in the middle and can't get where I want to. Better watch out when I come through there folks!

7-27-08 Didn't get to see much from the corner this last few days. We were stationed in the indoor so the view from the corner wasn't good at all.

7-24-08 Reining has moved in to the indoor arena for the next few days. Nice to see the horses go round and round, just don't know how they stay on those things. We should be back at the corner next week watching all the fun stuff going on.

7-19-08 Breyer is under way and I thought real horse folks where bad when it came to parking. Try to explain to the Breyer bunch that they can't park somewhere and they will tell you half million ways why you are wrong. If you want to be evil, guess we can laugh at the ones who had to be pulled out of the water way below the walnut ring. Heard the same thing each time, should have known that tall grass meant something.

7-15-08 Nothing going on right now other than construction and Breyer getting ready to move in. I'm in class and can't see the corner.

7-12-08 If things go good we'll finish up two shows today with little action here at the corner. Something we have seen often is the horses scared of the minis? Just can't understand this at all and the other thing is the minis owners do not know the bigger horses are scared of them. This is one of those things that make you go hum.

7-11-08 Back to a crazy time with shows going on all over Lexington and we are covering like 4 of them right now. With a good staff you can make things happen. Want to say hats off to my folks for going way beyond the call of duty this week. Thanks for working together!

7-9-08 Things have been going great. Haven't seen much at the corner, but at the Red Mile things are good.

7-5-08 We have been away for awhile so there hasn't been much to see from the corner. We get started back this weekend so I'll keep this as up to date as much as possible.

6-30-08 I want to say thanks to the folks that worked with us yesterday on the last call we had for the show. We tried to get a patient to go to the hosptial and she did not want to go. She was hard headed, so we worked something out and hopefully made it home fine. It takes some of their own to talk them into doing something they should do.

I had folks come up to me and say she needs to go to the hospital. I knew this, but she was answering things the right way and there wasn't anything we could do to make her go. Once again thanks for those who helped out.

6-29-08 We didn't have much go on this past week. Several falls and a very lucky lady with a very close call. This is what I heard after the fact, when I got on scene, thought I was going to have to do some work. But she was lucky! Then there was the one who needed to go to the hospital and didn't!

I'd like to touch on something for just a second. When we get called to take a look at someone we are there because we want to make sure you are OK. Truth be I'd rather just sit around and get paid for it, but we really do not mind taking a look at someone who might be injuried. At times folks treat us like we are something lower than dirt. I know I've said this before somewhere, but I'm going to say it again. Once we make patient contact we have to go through our spill. Then if the patient is under age (18) there is more to that spill. I hate it when someone else comes up to me and trys to tell me what I need to do. I've been doing this stuff for 15 plus years. I know what I need to do. Like the lady who stepped in the other day., I was trying to make arrangements for the girl to ride and be checked out so she wasn't furthered injured during the ride. I think she was checked out and rode. If someone wants to interfere, I'll recommend to everyone that the person not ride anymore till they bring documentation from a doctor clearing them!

6-27-08 Its nice being able to slow down for a while. I like doing the Pony Rally because it seems like they try and teach them to have fun and be safe. One problem I just gave up on is trying to figure out the different stages of the show. I know it deals with different riding levels or something and as long as I think I know something about it, I'm happy.

6-24-08 I've decided to change the heading on this. Since most of the time we are at our corner when we see a lot of the crazy stuff. Some of the folks who stops by points things out to us.

6-23-08 It is a monday and I'm playing catch up on paperwork. Seeing what I need for this week to get us taken care of so we can be ready for the kids! Wish all the rules where enforced like they will be this week. Man I like it when there are monitors around to make sure things are going right! If you want to see night and day between shows, come spend a week with me next week and then come back at the end of July. Well that is all I have to say about that. Got to keep the kids hydrated this week!

6-22-08 The donkey races was wonderful last night. I had a good time until after the races. Someone reported to me that one of the wonderful show folks enjoyed themself a little too much and drove a vehicle through the fence on the pond dam. Of course they have yet to be seen by the law enforcement at all. Had a good report on the vehicle, but we found out that the report might be false. Not very smart helping out a friend (if it was false) by reporting the false info to the police. There could be a few laws this person broke if he did hamper the investigation. We didn't see the vehicle all day today, the one thing they did was not drive it back after it took out about 5 post!

6-18-08 As some of you may know Safety TEC works very close with the KY Horse Park Staff. Because of this I think we can offer a great services since we know what is going on when, where, and other things that may effect your event. With that said when the new law goes into effect about the golf carts next month we will have to notify the park police on anyone we treat involved in a golf cart accident that we treat. This is just like any dog bites, we have to report them or we get in trouble if we treat someone and do not notify the proper authorities.

6-16-08 A day off between shows to go do some running around. Know what I mean when you spend so much time (not as much as my staff) at the park. I've got to give a couple my folks a pat on the back. They always are there on time, never complains (wouldn't say if they did) and ready to respond at a seconds notice. Thanks to them we have a terrific name out there in this industry and I just wanted to say thanks to Tim and he is teaching Tammy pretty good. I just have to find a shovel to fit her hand! But she is a good cart washer!

6-15-08 A lady the other day asked me if we over saw the safety at the show. I said NO we are there for medical situations, notice I didn't say emergencies! We see all kinds of things when we cover the shows. If you would like for us to help enforce some rules on safety let us know. This way we can get some ground rules set up and things you would like for us to enforce and we'll be happy to help out. I'd rather be proactive instead of reactive.

6-11-08 We have two events going on today. Hunter/Jumper and cross country scholling. With the area under construction by the steeple chase barn, this should help keep the two seperated on the road side. But with the opening by the slow water fill station and up by the tower, the hunter/jumpers will find a way to get out on the course to ride.

6-7-08 Haven't seen anything lately! We have had the week off and today is the first day we have had any shows. I'm just going between places to make sure things are going good. Looks like it will be pretty warm this weekend and possible next week. Lets encourage everyone to drink and not too many alcoholic drinks either. Those will give you problems drinking to many of those in this warm weather.

6-2-08 I've been doing shows now for about 10 years and over those years along with working the fire department I've see a lot. Haven't seen it all, those people who say they have seen it all, well I RUN away from them as fast as I can. They scare me! One thing I've seen at horse shows are under aged kids/young adults. When dealing with some of these folks I've asked them where mom/dad is, the answer at times is another state. Some trainers may or may not have the right paperwork to refuse treatment. Then there is the "life long friend" of the family who thinks those magic words will work to refuse treatment. I'll try and put it nicely, "wrong anwser". What these folks need to understand is that we could think your trying to interfere with our patient care and call our friends with handcuffs to help us out. I'm sure there is a standard form out there on a web site that can be printed off and filled out to send along with the adult with the under age folks. This doesn't go for riders either, if you are taking another persons kids who is under age with you, just in case something happens you should have documentation saying you can or can not get treatment for said individual. Have fun and enjoy the weather!

6-1-08 Sorry I've slacked off the last few days. Can't you tell when I do not have anything going on I try to relax some. I've been working on a couple expansion projects as well as catching up on yard/house work. I'll try and do better.

5-27-08 Did the family thing yesterday since we all had the day off! Today I'm playing catch up on paper work and updating the web site. Think the last weekend went well. I didn't hear of any serious injury while we were at the park covering an event. Looking forward to the cross country schooling day this weekend so we can get the first month behind us and get moving on into the summer. Just wonder when and if it will warm up. Our pony club rally coming up, if we can keep this warm weather things should go really well. But like anything else, the weather will turn off hot for that week. Remember to drink lots of water and eat some food!

5-24-08 I was at KHP yesterday since we have two different shows going on and its a crazy/busy weekend at the park so I could help out if I was needed anywhere. I had mentioned earlier that the roads could be a problem and that there where set up crossing locations. Show organizers if you could post and/or put about keeping the horses off the roads would be great. I sat and watch a girl get tossed off her horse when a container truck went by made a loud noise and on the second loud noise it wanted to run off. Lucky the girl had a helmet on and no serious injury happened. But could you have imagined if she didn't have a helmet or one of the helmets that doesn't have a strape? The traffic on Nina Bonnie is bad right now due to Cigar Road being worked on and will be this way until the road is completed later this year. I'm trying to use the web site to be proactive with stuff I see here at the park and get the word out. I'm out here covering a lot of events and see how different events do things and if it works good I pass it on here. I pass things on to show contacts to pass on the liability so to say. If something is passed on to us and we do not pass it on and something happens I feel it would be our fault. That is why I do this, its not because I want to be a problem. The park is working on horse paths and if we can get them using those locations now and train the folks to get off the road it would be wonderful and the traffic even flows better. Then we'll have to work on the golf cart driving!!! haha

5-19-08 We had some confussion the other day at an event and I hate when things do not go smooth and we are shooting from the hip. We try not to change anything from one year to the other unless there has been something that needs changing or the client wants a change. Sometimes I can't get to a location to check up on any changes from the past year. If you our clients know of changes you are going to have for us please let me know. I would like to make sure we are on the same page BEFORE something happens and not during and emergency or incident where we are needed. It slipped my mind the other day to pass on to my folks to listen for the words trainer at an event instead of medic or EMT. So I'll have to take the blame on that one. Sorry! I went over where things should have been set up and they were changed and we didn't know about it till we got there. We did what we do best is adjust and over come and things went fine. Also remember that with a certain level of staff we can only handle a certain amount of emergnecies at a time. If there is a concern or problem give me a call and we can get it taken care of quickly.

5-17-08 Today has been a wonderful day. So far the weather is working on our side if there is any such thing! It still amazes me how some folks treat others. Hopefully one day the will learn everyone is equal and no better then anyone else. I like it when they treat me like I'm not worthy and then they want to get some information about a friend and I pull the sorry about your luck I can't talk about it.

5-16-08 Yesterday during the Grand Prix we got a big head start on controling the parking around the indoor. We got Haygards Equine Ambulance parked and limited the parking in the area. Everyone was not upset about this. I tried to accomidate folks, but with limited parking in the area you can only do so much. Once again we made it through the event with no problems and with the competitors cooperation the area was kept clear for any emergency situation that might have happened. As I always say I look at this as a teaching chance to talk with the folks about safety and try to get that to the front of their minds so they can enjoy and be at ease during the show. I would like for them to know that the Safety TEC staff and myself are there for their safety and the things we do is for their safety and no other reason.

5-15-08 For the start of the second week of this show things are going pretty good. So far no major problems other than lots of water. I think show management has everyone possible looking for the shut off valve to get it turned off. Maybe it will clear up soon? Seems like everyone is keeping a pretty good attitude towards things. The horse crossing areas are a big plus! The folks working them would rather it be sunny instead of rain, but that is life.

5-13-08 I'll be a little tied up this week with the home life. I'll try and up date this when I can.

5-11-08 As I have said before I take my responsibility VERY serious. Over seeing and providing the medical coverage at your event is a little stressful. I mentioned yesterday about competitors parking wherever they want. Today I had enough of it and with the help of Park Police, Oliver, and Lance we did get the word out and the blocked access to the KHP Indoor arena was opened back up again. Thanks to the competitors who acted quickly and moved their vehicles. I try and think ahead and keep an eye on access points to areas on the grounds and if something is hampering or could hamper our response I try and solve that problem so if an emergency happens we are not trying to find a driver for a vehicle during the emergency. By using the threat of towing and ticketing the vehicles got moved. I would like to ask if you would put something in your show bill about emergency response access to the show area. I'll come up with something here and with your help maybe we can have a little better parking setup soon. Please do not laugh to long on that. Lets be proactive and not have to be reactive during an emergency. I will also work on using some rope I purchased last year to block off an area if you the clients will let me to have better access to areas on special occasions. Today with the weather no one wanted to walk to far in the rain, but there are only so many spots to park close to some rings.

5-10-08 This weekend we have had two shows going on. The big hunter jumper 2 week show at KHP and Sayre School show at Masterson Station. One was uneventful while the other one had a lunch break that was interesting. I made my rounds at both shows and missed the lunch time entertainment, but everything went well from my gathering of information. One thing I have noticed is the way everyone just decides to park wherever they feel like it! Any suggestions on how to solve this?

5-8-08 Think I can talk about this every day there is a show going on. I just think when some people get in a golf cart their commons sinse forgets to get in with them. I step out of one of our carts and was almost hit by a guy on his cart. When I told him if he hits me I get to hit him he looked at me like I was crazy! Guess he has realized that crazy people live in KY also!

5-7-08 Your help! If anyone has a good map of the horse park on their computer that I can get sent to me please email it to me. I'm looking for a good map that has the show area and cross country area on it so I can get the jumps labeled and have them for us. I've heard some weird names of some jumps and do not know what they are. This way I can have a map and print it off when we need them. I keep trying to do this, but it keeps getting pushed down on my priority list for what ever reason.

5-6-08 During the day when the traffic is bad, you might want to thinking about having a cross walk marked for the horses to cross Nina Bonnie. Guess this depends on what rings you are using and how many horses you have. The first big hunter jumper is going on as I sit here looking out over barn 7. Of course some of the folks driving the golf carts are not thinking and driving like idiots. I've already decided that there is no way to change this. We are just going to sit back and enjoy the sun till the rain comes in this afternoon.

5-4-08 The show season has officially started! I'm just wonder how fast it will get over? But as I've been told its another day closer to November! Since this past weekend has left a lot of eyes looking at the equestrian industry and the safety of it, I encourage all show managers to be prepared to see media on the show grounds. I will be more and happy to see what everyone needs and get it to you so you can have it ready if the media shows up. I will also be happy to field any questions for you as well that deals with emergency response. I would like to make sure we are on the same page before this happens if it happens. I do not want to say something that goes against something you have said.

5-3-08 On this Derby day I just wanted to mention to our show contact to please share emergency procedures with your show committe and staff. As we have stated on our ERP that we will check in with our show contact. When we do this we figure there has been communication between the show staff on how the medical coverage works for your event. Remember that KHP does not have EMTs, their Police are trained in first aid only and can call 911 for you to get you an ambulance.

4-30-08 I wanted to write a letter expressing my thoughts about injuries at events. The Rolex incident is getting a lot of coverage and I think its a terrible thing for them to take a few accidents in the last few months in the sport of eventing and kinda try and trash the sport. But if you look back when something bad happens that is when the news is there doing they're work. Hope this letter makes sense to you all. You can check it out here. Let me know your thoughts.

4-21-08 One thing we are going to try this year for cross country is to have the medical staff to wear a safety lime-green vest when they are on the cross country course. At one of the events we covered this month Tim and myself had on a coat that we could be seen at a glance. They stand out and folks knew (well hope they did) where the medical staff was. I had thought about going to a standout color for a shirt for the medical staff, but decided against it. I think when we do the cross country stuff it is better for use to stand out during that event then other part of the show. Most of the time we are sitting in a certain spot next to a ring on the golf cart with our equipment. This way if we move on the cross country course the control and others will know or should be able to see we are moving and keep everyone safe. If you have any other suggestions let me know.

4-20-08 I have seen where there are two or more events being held at the horse park and each show has their own medical coverage. With that said at times they have some things duplicated and I feel it is a waste of your money and tieing up resources when they do not need to be. If we are covering your event and other events talk with me on how we can cover your event with adequate medical coverage and save you money at the same time. We all need to work together since we share the park and make it an event everyone wants to come back to the next year.

4-17-08 I'm all for a minimal staffing for medical staff. That is why I started a floater position for this year only for some shows. It looks like a couple weekends I've got several shows booked with the coverage they want, but it may not leave me to provide a floater person. If I have a floater for those days I will mention it to show organizer. If I do not, if something serious happens one of the other staff may go and help out the other staff. Rest assure there will be folks there to take care of your show if something happens. I will try and be there myself, but at times I might be responsible for a show myself. If this is a problem let me know.

4-16-08 Won't some of the organizers thoughts on this. I have talked about getting something that will make us standout a little better. So we have obtained two lime-green coats and have been wearing them. I think they have been working out good. We talked about going to these type of t-shirts, but decided not to and to stay with the navy blue t-shirts. One thing I'm looking at doing it purchasing several lime-green vest for cross country days. That way it will be easy to look across the field and locate medical. For other events I really think the way we have done it in the past. We are also considered having the carts or new transportation marked better. This is still in the works since we are looking at making some changes with our vehicles.

4-15-08 Do not shoot the messager, But today is the dreaded Tax Day! Get those taxes in!

We finished up the first horse trials of the season. Everything went great. We didn't have to treat anyone not even the crazy girl wearing shorts all day long! I went to my first round table meeting Friday night and got to see what the show officials think about before the show. I was happy to advise how we would handle medical calls. I'm going to post that on the web site later so you can print it off. Show organizers if you have any input or information you think would be good for us to know please pass it on and I'll put the word out to my folks so we are all on the same wave length.

4-11-08 Just wanted to drop a note about things from last year. We have seen several folks riding without helmets and noticed in the show bill that it requires them to wear a helmet. Who is suppose to enforce this? We hate to say it, but that is job security for us. We look at things in the sense of "WHAT IF" something happens and this person gets hurt. We don't know a lot of the rules, but when we use common sense, we wonder why folks do some of the things they do. Think it is time for everyone to think "What would I do if" something goes wrong or my horse is spooked! Who will the folks point the finger at if they are hurt seriously? One other question is "Why are they there?".

4-10-08 I'm going to start something today and see what type of feed back I get. Send your thoughts to me on what you read here. I'm going to try and keep things that I see that is going on around the show area that could be helpful.