vet cards

[guest@endurance.net]

Kerry Dykes kerrrydykes@yahoo.com
"What about a system of comparing vet cards from ride to ride on
LD's...those
showing an improvement from previous rides would gain points or be
recognized somehow.

I think people who want to 'compete' against others at their own level of
experience should look into NATRC or CTR rides.  LDs are
conditioning/training rides only and even endurance rides one should be
competing against their own Personal Best."

Because the vet cards are records of a particular vets' subjective opinion
and
are not in the least uniform, even for the same ride, let alone a
subsequent ride.
I've been at rides where one vet has rated my horses all "A's" - at the
next vet check
I get a different vet who may rate as low as a "C" -- at the next vet
check get the
first vet back again and "viola'" -- all "A's" again.  You can imagine the
legitimate
differences that occur from ride to ride due to environmental factors ---
if you did
a ride in February and got A's throughout, and did another in July -- it's
pretty likely the
heat will be a factor in dropping your vet score.  Does that mean your
horse has gotten
worse?  Nah!  Just means it's tougher riding conditions.

Kerry