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Re: [RC] Rest rule, was Re : Analysis of pull trends - Joe LongOn Sun, 19 Oct 2003 07:02:52 -0700 (PDT), sharp penny <penelope_75647@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Leonard wrote: For the horse, after 3 consecutive pulls any reason, he must go 'on rest' for , not sure, 6 months. Okay..so lets consider this scenario: I pull cuz I tried a 100, went too slow and knew I would be over time. Next ride my horse stepped in a hole, slid on his knees and nose to *save* himself, ended up with a bad sprain and pulled for lameness. Next ride he just isn't acting right to me, three vets all say he is okay, has all A's at previous VC's but I pull cuz I know my guy and something just ain't right. Now I have 3 consecutive pulls that have fallen under the s@*t happens catagory. ... A worse scenario than that: a rider in that situation has several important rides coming up 3-4 months ahead. So even though he'd rather pull, he decides to try to finish (slowly) so that he doesn't end his season ... and a minor metabolic problem turns into a major one. It is a simple fact that draconian penalties for pulling your horse is a disincentive to pull your horse, and a powerful incentive to try to "make it through." This is the kind of thing that creates an adversarial relationship between ride vets and riders, rather than a partnership. Hmmm ... a way a reckless "hot shoe" rider could get around this: he has two consecutive pulls, so before his next planned event he goes to a 50 he didn't intend to ride, just to trot through and get a completion to "reset the counter." If it's only pulls on the horse that count, he may even get someone else to ride it on the "reset" ride. Then he goes to his next major event and blasts away as usual. I hope you get the picture: measures like this sound good but are only panaceas, that don't address the real problems and can actually make things worse. We need, instead, to be looking for ways to improve the quality of trail/vet check layout at rides, vet check procedures, rider education, and tuning rewards for rider behaviors. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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