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[RC] re: Endpoint of an endurance ride - Teresa Van Hove

There must be an end-point to any competitive event, and I believe our
end-point should be the one that best benefits the horse.  I believe
that is what we have now.


I'll agree that the end point of an endurance ride should be when
the horse passes the final vet check.  BUT with this as the rule
no one should be able to present right away. & I do recall hearing
some tales of horses being presented for their trot-outs before
meeting the end of ride pulse criteria. This should never happen, & 
in fact we all know that sometimes horses are still running on
adrenalin and seem fine even when they have (ususally just)
recovered to criteria. That is why Heidi would like to see all
exit checks at vet holds is it not?  SO IF there is any need
to tighten the "fit to continue" criteria for completions 
(AND I'm not sure that there is)  then instead of advocating
for a shorter time to meet the final pulse criteria; or saying a
horse cant need to be treated within an hour of crossing the 
line or anything like that, the thing to do would be to require 
a lower pulse rate before the horse can be presented for its 
completion exam.  Then if the horse was starting to feel a leg
injury or a metabolic problem as it came off its 'race high'
it would be much more obvious and the chance of old HIGH HOPES
getting a completion, then crashing and needing 'serious
treatment' would be reduced.  AND there would be a higher
chance of the ride vet knowing that old HIGH HOPES needed
to be observed critically, rather than HIGH HOPES being
sent to the trailer with his completion and the rider, &/or 
other riders around having to catch symptoms of any crash and 
get him back to the vet or a vet to him if he did indeed start
crashing. 

my opinion 

Teresa Van Hove (M17317)

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