Vetcheck question, maybe dumb, definitely somewhat picky and long

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <maryanne@ratbusters.net>]

I realise that this seems like a really minor point to people who have been
designing vetcheck sites and running rides for years, but this really is a
very hot issue here. We are all novices, with the exception of the officials
that occasionally come by from the UAE.  So far, we have been restricted to
one competition area by regulations of the various gazillion authorities for
antiquities, security, the military and also by logistics of soft sand, no
roads and so on for getting water and other items out into the hinterlands.
For example there aren't many more than 12 two-horse trailers in Egypt and
maybe twice as many horse trucks available....most of which will carry maybe
four horses and can't drive off an asphalt road.

So we are working in one area for the competitive rides and as I noted
below, our first model was the FEI model. When I went to Vermont, it seemed
that things moved SOOOO much more smoothly and that part of that smoothness
was due to the physical set up and part to the practice of having a horse
pulse in and then being able to go to the vet at relative leisure. Now if my
observations are not right, I'd really like to know, because people keep
asking me how to improve the rides and I believe that the system we are
using makes a bottleneck. The way they are setting up is that the rider
swipes in to the vet check, but then may be waiting around for a vet to
check the horse. There isn't a pulse check immediately sometimes because it
gets so crowded.  The all-important number is that swipe-in time because
that stops the clock, so everyone rushes to swipe in. We do get a figure for
how much time is then spent inside the vet check but the out time is based
on the vet in time. I've puzzled over these figures for a week and still
find that the time inside the vet check varies from 4 to 25
minutes....that's a lot of variation.

For Ridecampers who have experienced the computer systems before, does this
seem right? Are we doing something wrong here?

For others, what do you do (Aside from importing Nancy Gooch, Angie) to move
things smoothly and fairly? I hear about waiting for vet checks on ride
reports, but what does this really mean? Have the horses pulsed in and can
go to the vet after a snack if there's a line or do they have to wait in
line to pulse in?  Or what? Think of explaining a vet check to a Martian,
please. Until I can scrounge up some more money and time away from work, I'm
not likely to see for myself.

Thanks,

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net
AERC #M22292


"For whatever reasons, our vet checks have always had lanes marked off and a
rather narrow entrance to the vet check area. The Pan Ams had wide open
spaces and the checks seemed to go much faster and more smoothly. The card
system that has been used here courtesy of the UAE gives the start time, the
arrival time, the vet in time and the time in the vet area as well as time
out, average speed and all that...the wonders of electronics. But it seems
to me that there are huge discrepancies in the amount of time actually spent
in the vet check, possibly due to crowding.
Maryanne"

<<I've been arguing for a different system to be used at our
> races from the one we've been using for the last couple of years, and this
> could make a difference.>>




Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net