Re: [RC] Pulse - Punishing the non-Arab breeds -- a suggested solution to the problem - Heidi Smith
>A number of us (meaning our local cadre
of endurance riders) have talked about what can be done. We've
discussed asking the AERC to have the vets take individual parameters for the
horses as they check in for their pre-ride vet check -- incorporating a
special "hold box" where the rider and horse would have to sign in and wait and
relax for 10 minutes (to prevent those who would jog their horses around, or get
them jazzed up to elevate the heart rate), and then have the vets taking a true
resting pulse. If it failed to be lower than... say.... 54
(or whatever), the horse had to wait another 10 minutes before having a pulse
check. If the horse was anxious, or looking for a buddy, or
something else was happening internally that wouldn't all the 54 criteria (like
the horse had to pee.. and wouldn't) then the rider would be assigned the meet
the standard 60 or 64 beat per minute at the holds. That would
prevent cheating -- specifically those who would attempt to manipulate their
horses hear-rate prior to the vet-in in order to get a higher pulse
criteria. All others who met the resting pulse criteria would have a
recorded hold criteria of 20 beats above the resting, not to exceed
72.
Unfortunately, this solution
doesn't fit with clinical patterns. This has been suggested before, but as
I already stated in an earlier post, even with a horse with a low resting rate,
the 40's STILL represent a "clinical normal" range.
And why do you think this is
a breed problem? Quite frankly, MOST of the horses that have problems with
lower pulses are really nutsy Arabs that jolt themselves with adrenaline!!
I've vetted QH's, Appys, TB's, various gaited breeds, draft crosses, etc.--and
NONE have had difficulty meeting lower pulse criteria, on the whole. At
one ride in Germany, I vetted Friesians, various warmbloods, and big
heavy breeds that I didn't even begin to recognize--and NONE had
trouble meeting pulse criteria. One year at the Lost Wagon Train
multi-day, the overall fastest time AND the overall BC was won by an Arab/draft
cross--heavy-body and all. That horse came into checks and his pulse
dropped like a rock. I'd refer you to the post from Dot Wiggins--who
stated that she had logged over 4500 of her AERC miles on QH's and had never had
any problems meeting pulse criteria. The concept that the lower pulses are
discriminatory is a MYTH--pure and simple.
