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Re: RC: re: RC: Biltmore Blues





JOHNP@ANRI.barc.usda.gov wrote:
> 
  Heart rate monitors are not
> infallible, nor necessarily the same from horse to horse, manufacturer to
> manufacturer.  It depends on how they are put on or positioned, how much
> hair, how well the contacts work, and an erroneous reading on a resting
> horse is going to be low.  If there were a chance it were going to be
> high, you'd never be agruing to use it.  It is not real time, it is an
> average, which in fact may not be to your advantage if the pulse is
> dropping.  But I doubt this is the reason for the rule.  First, you
> should not be entering P&R until your horse's pulse is down.  If it is
> down you do not need a monitor, and it gets in the way of the pulse
> taker.  Second, IMO, it is not the PULSE TAKER looking at the reading
> that is the problem, it is you!  If you see a reading on your electronic
> device that disagrees even slightly with the pulse taker, you are going
> to waste everyone's time agruing and trying to influence the pulse taker,
> hopefully to no avail, because the stethoscope is the most fair and
> accurate instrument.  If monitors cannot be used in the P&R area, there
> is no disagreement.  This isn't so important at an AERC ride, where the
> ride manager is going to tell you to move along, but at an FEI ride they
> have a ground jury that must take all complaints seriously.  It's fair to
> all to leave them off inside P&R.  I heard no complaints about the
> quality of P&R at Biltmore, and I doubt you will at any FEI ride.

The heartbelt does NOT get in the way of the pulse taker.  At Biltmore,
tack was not required to be removed at all checks.  If tack doesn't get
in the way, then certainly a two inch wide heartbelt doesn't. I use my
"elastic" heartbelt to hold the front of my rump rug on, not to badger
the pulse taker and I ALWAYS remove my tack to help the pulse taker with
an accurate pulse and the vet with a thorough examination of my
horse....AND I train my horse to have good ground manners and stand
quietly for exams.

Pulse takers are not infallible either, especially if the horse is
moving around. Heart Monitors will generally read HIGHER than the
stethoscope pulse if the pulse is dropping on a quiet horse, LOWER if
the pulse is fluctuating on a fidgety horse. Even if there is some SMALL
differences between manufacturers, the average pulse it displays is MUCH
more accurate than listening to the heartbeat for 15 seconds and
multiplying it by four. That's also an "average". The stethoscope is a
"fair" instrument only if you assume that all pulse takers have the same
skill and experience and all horses will stand quietly for their pulse
to be taken. The "fairest" method would be to have all pulse takers use
hand-held heart monitors from the same manufacturer that had been
calibrated identically from a standard. A two week training course for
all pulse takers on its use should be mandatory. Sounds like more FEI
nonsense to me.

> 
> It's true that the need for security at Biltmore is minimal, no one is
> likely to steal or doctor someone's horse.  There will be no fire where
> there is no stable.  But the same regulations apply to the $! million
> Grand Prix jumper stabled in Belgium and the horses that will be
> competing for a $100,000 purse in reigning.  We had international riders
> competing at Biltmore, and just like a McDonald's in France may be
> expected to resemble a McDonald's in Georgia, all FEI riders should be
> able to expect international rides to follow the same rules and things to
> work recognizably the same. You don't have to eat at McDonald's if you
> don't want to.  You didn't enter FEI, you didn't have to surrender your
> coggins papers until your horse was released by the vets, or park you
> trailer within the control area.  Maybe next time you'll park closer than
> the FEI riders, it all washes out over the long run.

I don't think McDonalds is a good analogy. The "environment" inside
every McDonalds is basically the same. You could pick the building up
and put it on a barge...or the space shuttle and it would still have the
same configuration.  Not so with Endurance Rides. I don't think you
would find anything like Biltmore in the UAE. And I don't eat at
McDonalds. I didn't enter FEI either, but still had to follow FEI rules
and "eat their hamburgers" anyway.  Gave me indigestion.

Jim and Sun of Dimanche



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