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[RC] treatment at competitive trail rides - beth glover


In all the years that I have ridden in NATRC, I cannot remember one instance of a horse being on an IV and then dying as a direct result of the ride. I can remember one horse being on an IV, a novice that colicked. I remember a couple getting shots of banamine. A few have had thumps.

It seems like most of the "heavily muscled " breeds are in the novice and CP divisions. When you get  real competitive in the Open divisions, Arabs outnumber all other breeds. I know a couple of Foxtrotters that have done well in Open, and one rider with Foxtrotters that also did a couple of Tevis rides with the same horses. I do know a few people that have become so enamored of the sport, that they got an Arab, and or talked about getting an Arab, for open. My poor friend with Morgans had a lot of trouble in the open division with her one black mare. She would have too high of a pulse, sometimes get a hold, but always lost points and was always frustrated when she'd be out of the running.  But a lot of people with all kinds of breeds enjoy the Novice and CP divisions, and they are slower.

Someone mentioned about the pulse criteria being 48, and yes, I agree that riders in Open are very intent on keeping their pulse rates down at checks. After a rate of 52, you start to lose points. In an IAHA (AHA) ride, one point can mean the difference between first and second place. If you have a sweepstakes horse, that can mean the difference between a nice payback, or not. Which is a whole other topic, so lets not get into that. But the focus is really on the lower heart rate. So as a rider, if you are used to having your horse pulse down to 40 all the time, and you go to an endurance ride and they say " criteria is 55 " or 60 or whatever it is, can you imagine the pressure that is off? I think to myself, "yippee! All I have to do is stay below 55 or 60 and I can go? No points off or nothing? wow!" ha ha  Open riders get kind of cagey and try to know where the P&R checks are, so they can go easy into the checkpoint. Sometimes there is a mandatory trot, into the P&R so that the horses are equally stressed. A lot of riders will rest the horses and water them if possible before beginning the mandatory forward motion, in an effort to keep the horses a little more rested. At endurance rides, when I see a vet check, I'm all happy, its no secret, there it is, and I can get off and walk and stretch my legs and the horse pulses down nice.

Oh, Angie, I have noticed that here in So. Calif. region 2 of NATRC, a lot of the vets at NATRC are also at endurance rides. I think there may be certain emphasis on a slightly different exam of a NATRC horse, because the horse will get points off for sore loins or back, or girth sores, so if it is getting close to the finish and the horses are looking very tight in the competition, a loss of a point on a sore back, can mean the difference between first place and a different place. Its basically like every single horse is in the running for best condition. I have seen a few Tevis vets at some of the NATRC rides. Dale Lake comes and  is a judge some NATRC rides, he came to Chino last year. My personal vet does both kinds of rides.

yours,

Beth Glover


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