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RE: [RC] Pull Codes - heidiheidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:Please, again, enlighten me as to how riders skew pull codes, on a properly run ride.Hello, duh, they just don't present. If a rider just packs up and leaves, there's not a damn thing the RM can do about it, primarily because the RM learns about it after the fact. Not saying it's a lot of riders, probably a number that would qualify as Truman's "pimple on a flea's behind" but still at many rides that I've volunteered at there are riders who quit or just leave without telling anyone. The drag riders come in and the total through the VC is short from the numbers called out at the start so ride management has to determine which numbers are missing then try to verify that they are not still out on the trail, possibly injured. So someone comes into camp for lunch, knows the horse is lame and just packs up and leaves. The vet can't give a pull because s(he) didn't see the horse and the only code an RM can give is DQ. THAT's how a rider can abuse the codes. A lame horse gets DQ. But how often does this actually happen? I've maybe seen it once or twice in the past couple of decades. More often, what happens is that the rider comes up and hands in their card, and says, "I'm not going on." At that point, it is up to the RM and the vet to remind that rider to come present their horse for examination, and then to make sure that that examination gets done. That is not "abuse" by the rider--it is lack of follow-through by the ride vet and/or RM. AERC Rule 2.1.4 reads in part: Each equine will receive a substantive physical examination of metabolic and mechanical parameters before the ride, at control points within the ride AND AFTER THE RIDE. (Emphasis mine.) This applies to pulled horses as well as to completing horses. RMs and vets need to keep the above in mind, and to follow up on pulls. Additionally, it needs to be impressed upon new riders at the briefing that they need to check in even if they plan to pull. And if riders pack up and leave without doing so, as you mention, that could well be cause to refuse them entries to subsequent rides. 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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