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Re: [RC] Pulse Criteria - Joe LongOn Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:57:29 -0500, "Cynthia Eyler" <eylerca@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: I do not understand why AERC allows more than 30 minutes for a horse to meet pulse criteria at the finish. We swear up and down that we believe in 'fit to continue' at the finish as well as at vet checks along the way, but then we award completions to horses that take > 30 BLT 60 minutes to pulse at the end. If a horse takes more than 30 minutes to come down, doesn't that indicate that the horse was raced too hard for its conditioning? Is it really fit to continue? I just covered this to some extent in another post. There are significant differences between a vet check on the trail, and the finish line. If you watch any long-distance race, human or animal, those competing for place run aerobically most of the way, but anaerobic on a sprint to the finish. This creates oxygen defecits and toxin loads that take longer to recover. This is not harmful, and does not mean that the person or horse is not fit to continue (back at an aerobic pace). We are more conservative at vet checks on the trail than at the finish also because the horses at vet checks are going back out, having additional stress, and going far from vet help if they get into trouble. None of this is true at the finish line. It's a matter of safety. To put it another way, a horse that takes 50 minutes to recover is not necessarily "unfit" to continue (at a reduced pace), but it would clearly be unwise to risk his continuing. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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