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RE: [RC] Pull Codes - heidiSo...if you meant your above reponse as a joke, then you didn't answer my original question. Which of the current AERC pull codes should be put down when a rider withdraws from the competition because the horse isn't having fun? You answered it yourself. You suggested perhaps RO-M. I wasn't on your horse that day, so I can't tell you whether a RO-M is closest to telling the story, or whether it should be RO-L. My junior rider recently pulled with the same general feeling--the horse just wasn't having a good day. She chalked hers up to possible ouchy feet, and opted for an RO-L pull. I think she made a good choice. If the horse is just feeling punk, though, RO-M would suit better. I've discussed this choice with riders and have helped them decide, based on what the horse seemed to feel like. I suspect we may sometimes make the wrong call here, since the horse can't talk--but still, usually the rider can talk it through and come to a rational decision of one or the other. This time, tell us what you really think, instead of just making a joke. I didn't mean the question as a joke, it is a perfect example of the many times that I have withdrawn my horse from a ride, and it is why there are so many RO pulls in the AERC stats (which is how this whole discussion got started). And as you also stated, these pulls should not be RO pulls. I will agree that very few of the RO pulls listed in the stats are truely because there is something sufficiently wrong with the rider such that the rider is unwilling/unable to go on. Well, so far this year I've had two genuine bona fide RO pulls. One, I was sick. Vet talked me into pulling myself because he didn't want to have to send an ambulance out for me in the dark. He had already cleared my horse. The other, the horse fell, I smashed my helmet, got a pretty good crack on the noggin, and had no business getting back on a horse any further than getting back to camp. Horse was fine--hubby presented him to the vets for me. There are a fair number of such pulls. Had multiple genuine RO pulls at one ride here in Idaho a couple of years ago where the trail was REALLY tough and the weather was REALLY hot, and several folks just flat didn't want to go back out. They do happen with some degree of frequency--but I agree, there are cases where the vets are not following up and are listing pulls as RO as a catch-all. And I don't think vets should be doing that. Kim seems to think that it is the riders doing it, but that is not my experience, and if the vets were following up on these horses, the riders probably would not push the issue. As I stated previously, I have one RO pull on my record that should have flat been a L pull. It wasn't even close to questionable. But since it happened out on the trail and I turned around, came back to camp, and handed in my card, that is how it was listed, even though I told the vet the horse was grade 3 lame, what the injury was, etc. I was camped next to the vet--he saw me walk the horse back to his pen. And since the horse did NOT go on, nobody ever had a chance to find out if/whether there really was something wrong, or what it was, since most of the time the horse is back to its normal self within a few hours (which is what happened in the instance with my horse that wasn't having fun, a few hours later she was doing arabesques tied to the trailer desperate to go some more). It is up to the vets to examine the horses at the time of the pull and query the riders. Additionally, there is no "RO-OT" and I have on many occasions seen people pull their horses from the competition, not because they were over time at that particular vet check (if a vet check doesn't have any official cut off times, then the only place a horse can be pulled by the officials for being over time is at the finish), but because they were far enough behind schedule that they knew they couldn't ride responsibly and still finish under time, so they withdrew before the finish. No joking aside, I don't have any problem with that sort of a pull being a RO pull. The horse is fine to go on, but the rider opts not to do so. It is time for the AERC to go back to what I suspect was the original way that pull codes were handled, before they started publishing them. If a horse is pulled by the officials, then the reason is M (metabolic), L (lame), OT (over time), DQ (disqualified for breaking some other rule). If a horse is cleared by the officials to go on and the rider OPTS not to go on, for whatever reason, then the reason given is RO (rider option); however, since having "rider option" as one of the codes leaves the impression that riders who were pulled by the officials would have opted to go on had they not been disqualified, I suggest that RO be changed to W (withdrawn). I like your suggestion of W when there is nothing wrong with the horse. But I do think that RO-M and RO-L are valid, and can be used in a valid manner if vets do their jobs and follow up with the riders who opt not to go on. 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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