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Re: [RC] Preventing Treated Horses at Rides - Ideas Please - Heidi SmithWE AS RIDERS SHOULD TAKE THE HORSE'S PULSE JUST BEFORE LEAVING A HOLD AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. Rationale: I believe one of the best indicators of how a horse is doing is the pulse at the end of the hold period. My belief is the pulse of the horse that is doing well should continue to decline during the hold period. If at the end of the hold period the pulse is down into the 40s then the horse is not likely to have metabolic problems on the next loop. On the other hand if the horse's pulse is hanging at 60 or has gone even higher than at the vetting in, that is a red flag the something is wrong. A few rides have tried exit checks at some holds and they do seem to find some horses that are starting to have problems. But we as riders do not need to rely on ride management. We can check the horse's pulse and then if we are concerned check with the veterinarians, slow our pace, and/or withdraw. Stagg, I fully agree, but would take this one step further--THE VET CHECK SHOULD BE AT THE END OF THE HOLD, not at the beginning. An exit check is all well and good, but why duplicate the effort? If vetting is efficient, it is not all that difficult to avoid lines and delays--simply send riders straight from PR's to their crew areas to start eating, cooling out, etc., unless they have a specific problem that needs to be addressed. By vetting at the end of the hold, a ride vet can see and appreciate the horse as he is actually expected to go out onto the trail again, not what he looked like 45 minutes earlier. I've worked rides this way for years, with treatment rates quite a bit lower than what I hear of elsewhere--and I can't help but think that this is a large part of the solution. It didn't really hit me until I started attending rides in other areas as well as FEI rides and seeing how bad some of the horses looked back in the crew areas, after passing their checks with flying colors. These horses were not yet in need of treatment, but many were treated at the following checks, having done one loop too many. Had the vet checks been at the ends of the holds instead, the very same horses would not have gone back out for the loop that pushed them clear over the edge. We will never eliminate ALL treatments, but I applaud your effort to cut down on the necessity to treat as much as we possibly can. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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