How do we make sure this never happens again?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Riot

I dunno. The regular vet sent someone to euthanize the horse as soon as notified.

When a horse colics seriously at 2:00pm, and a trainers private vet isn't physically on track, we blame the vet then too, right?

So your argument is that any private vet who works a race track has a responsibility to have a physical presence on track ... when? During training hours? Training and racing? 12 hours a day? 24 hours a day? What about tracks that run at night, does the vet have to be there 4am to ... when? Get specific with your answer for us.

A vet has a responsibility to be at the track when horses are racing or training. IF they can't physically be there then they should have an associate/another practice/another private vet that will cover for them during those hours. A vet also has a responsibility to provide emergency care or in their absence provide an adequate replacement. Every vet I know with a racetrack practice does this.

Do they have to be standing at the ready? No but they need to be there a reasonable time after an injury occurs which happens not to be the case in this instance at Penn.

For tracks that run at night they have a responsibility to see that they are there or someone is covering until after the last race is run.