Re: RC: P&R vet chek treatment

[Lynne Glazer <lynne@glazer.org>]

At 10:45 AM -0800 11/27/01, guest@endurance.net wrote:
>margie margie@ffww.com
>Well I'm going to stick my neck out again on Ridecamp, but after this
>weekend I feel it is warranted.

Me, too.

>
>My friend and I, for the last 10 years for me and more for her, have been
>volunteering at an Endurance ride in our own backyard. We have both ridden
>many rides and feel it is a way to give back to a sport we truly love.

Margie, I appreciate your efforts and do the same.  Not only 
volunteer at rides, but manage one too.

>
>After this weekend we may both, I am sorry to say, not do this anymore.
>
>We are selected to follow the top riders and do their P&R's. Over the
>years we have found that it works best having fast, competent people who
>know the sport doing the top riders. The Pulse and Respiration was set at
>60 with no inversion. We checked the first  3 riders and there was no
>problem with their horses. They meet criteria on pulse and respiration
>then the other riders came in. I can't tell you how many of them came to
>us with their horses obviously inverted. They not only asked me to check
>their heart rate with their horses inverted, but insisted that it didn't
>matter. They would stick their heart rate monitor over top of my watch so
>that you couldn't see the watch to get the 15 seconds. This was to show me
>their horse was "down". (We are always told to check by watch and
>stethoscope.) One rider at the 4th vet check came in and said "Oh no! Not
>you two again".
>
>Two or three horses respirations were hanging and took 15 mins at each
>stop for the horses to reach criteria, but at each stop each of these
>riders insisted that their horses were down and ready for their time. At
>one point these people were so rude to my friend and I, I got upset and
>wanted to leave but she talked me out of going.
>
>Now I know I probably need to get a tougher skin and not let these people
>get to me but if one more person said to me "My horse is a panter" My
>answer is SO WHAT!
>The reason your horse is panting is the point here, isn't it. I didn't
>hear the vets say at the ride meeting "60 with no inversion, except if
>your horse is a panter". Perhaps the reason your horse is panting is the
>problem, not the fact that we check the respiration. Could it be
>conditioning? or the ability of this particular horse? or .... over
>riding!?
>
>I showed 2 riders an accupressure point that immediately showed results on
>each horse and they met criteria and were given their time. I never
>received a thank you.  Each and every rider was treated with the same
>criteria at each check that my friend and I were at. There were no
>exception to the set criteria.
>
>One person kept telling us "This is the only ride that checks
>respirations".

As a ride manager in your region, I will say that there has not been 
a ride that I have attended back to 1994 that has had volunteers 
check respiration.  None.  The vets do it.  That is why I questioned 
you, when you checked my horse at Vet 2 (basecamp).  The "R" in PR 
has been missing for a long time, and has been a joke--"we're all 'P' 
people".

I encountered no check for inversion at Vet 1, 3 or 4.

I'll bet that a big factor was that a whole bunch of us were told 
that the ride meeting was at 7, by ride mgmt.  When we arrived there 
at 7, the meeting was over.  We asked for a summary of stuff like 
hold times and criteria, and got that.

I've never missed a ride meeting, ever.  So I never heard about PR 
people being told to check for inversion, that's why I questioned you.

(As a ride manager, I have to be very familiar with the AERC rules. 
That includes stuff like time to get completion for limited distance 
riders, which by AERC rules is only 30 minutes.  Remember me now? <s>)


>
>Is this true?? I don't ride my horse into vet checks in this condition so
>perhaps I don't know!  The Ride Vet set the criteria. We went back to him
>many times and he reiterated NO INVERSION.
>
>Do riders not understand what inversion means???

Some of them were probably as stupified as me.  I walked my horse 
into the check, and was surprised that despite her pulse being down, 
her respiration apparently wasn't.

>
>P&R people are there only to keep the horses healthy. This ride is known
>for being tough, hot, and we have had to treat horses in the past. This
>year we had no horses treated.
>
>It's been suggested that a horse brought to a P & R person which was one
>beat over criteria with pulse or respiration
>resulted in an additional 10-minute hold.  That might be excessive, and
>puts the P&R volunteers in an already sticky situation. I sure hope that
>doesn't become necessary, but it is certainly an option.
>
>My friend and I are there on our time off, to have fun, and give back to a
>sport we love. We feel that if there were no volunteers there would be no
>sport. After a week of racing home, marking trails at night in the dark,
>taking time off unpaid from our jobs and letting our horses go unridden,
>it wasn't the kind of treatment I thought we deserved or were expecting.

I'm really sorry that you took the brunt of the criticism, Margi. 
Truly.  That was not fair.

>
>Fortunately most of the riders are kind and greatful for our help, but
>perhaps these other riders need to get off their horses and do some
>volunteering to the sport that has given them so much!!!
>
>Just a note to let off some steam. Thanks
>
>Margie


A good issue to expose.

Lynne