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[RC] Pulse - Punishing the non-Arab breeds -- the problem - Flora Hillman

I've been reading the responses to this thread, and during this past year I've had lots of opportunity (during endurance rides) to talk to a great many riders along the trail about this very same issue.
 
Without fail, all those riding breeds other than Arabs (and some who do ride higher-pulsed Arabs!) already feel they have been handed  the raw end of the deal with the current standards -- i.e. the vets now seeming to push the limit of imposing the lowest pulse rate possible, irregardless of weather, et al.
 
Coming myself from the competitive world of eventing, dressage, foxhunting, and driving -- and having done so with many different types and sizes of breeds -- I listened to these endurance riders say that they felt many of the great endurance horses of the past -- those that were non-Arab -- would NEVER have been able to compete AND WIN with today's standards.  The original pulse of 72 allowed ALL TYPES and sizes of breeds to shine .. and more importantly... to win.  Were these early riders so bad, and the stats for metabolic problems that horrible, that the lower pulse criteria found an way to sneak in and eliminate many of these "higher pulse" horses... and ponies... to be effectively and very successfully, thrown out of the competition?
 
Did it help??
 
I wonder.
 
Pulse is not the "be all.... end all".  It's only one measure -- and like shoe size, it differs from horse to horse, breed to breed.   I pulled out a few rider cards from my past rides, and found that three actually did record a resting pulse of my Welsh/Arab pony (he is ASHA carded at 14.1h) at the time of the vet in.  They were 45, 48, and 48.  I also know that my pony was relaxed and mellow at the time, already settled in from having arrived several hours (to a day) beforehand.  I've checked this data against my own observations at home (using a heart monitor) while he is standing in the aisle, hind foot cocked, half asleep, and I get only a slightly lower reading -- about 42.
 
I have been told by many riders and vets that Arabian horses are genetically predisposed to have a pulse that is down in the neither zones -- far and away lower than any other breed.  So what did the AERC lower pulse criteria do?  Did it "solve" any problems?  Apparently, from what I've been hearing, I don't think it did.  I think it just lowered the bar and eliminated a vast majority of other breeds (who have genetically higher pulse rates) from actually being able to compete and win, and left the field solely to the lower-pulsed Arabs who are still being over-ridden, and suffering the metabolic problems.
 
The solution may be more simple than we think.
 
...continued.....