While I agree you need
to know your horse and be able to judge their condition and pace without a
HRM, I do not agree that low tech is necessarily superior.
Several years ago
riding with a HRM probably saved my horse?s life.
I was entered in the 75
at a ride on Lolo Pass in Montana. My horse was
experienced, as was I. He felt great all day, nothing unusual,
really doing his normal ride. At the 50 mile point, 1 mile from a vet
check there was a river to wade across. As it was hot, we all waded in
and let the horses stand and drink and we sponged them to get them ready for
the vet check. At that point, I noticed Amigo?s heart rate didn?t drop as fast as
it normally would have and it appeared to be ?bounding??.going up and down
irregularly.
After watching this pattern for a few minutes, I waded
him out of the river and checked my equipment?no loose wires/dry electrodes. I walked into the vet
check and told the vet what I had observed. He vetted through, passed
his CRI and I was told we were good to go out on the last 25
miles. I untacked him for the hour hold and used an ace bandage to keep
the HRM hooked up to him so I could observe his pulse. I started double
checking the HRM with my stethoscope. His pulse continued
to ?bound? up 40 beats up and
down. His heart rate never dropped to his normal recovery rate and held
there? he, in the meantime, is acting totally
normal?eating/drinking/peeing/pooping?cheerful? I decided to
pull?it didn?t make sense to me
to continue with this weird pulse?I was getting
really worried. Everyone thought I was nuts?he looked great and the vet said he could go. Two days
later, at home, he started coughing?he became a very,
very sick horse (he was one of several horses that got sick that year having
been exposed to a coughing horse at a ride two weeks earlier). That was
his last ride that year?it took 3 months
before he was well enough for me to go on walking trail rides with him.
He did recover and went on to have a good career (was actually
11th in the North Americans with Ruth
Carlson riding him for Canada West).
I guess my point is, I
would NEVER have seen that weird pulse going on had I not had a monitor on
him. Nothing caught it, not his trot out for his CRI,
nothing? I always wondered what the extra stress of another 25 miles
on a very hot day would have done to him. I am grateful I
didn?t have to find out.
A HRM is a valuable
tool, one of many that can be combined with low
tech methods to protect your horse?s welfare.
Can you ride without
one? Sure
Can you be successful
without one? Sure
Can you take good care
of your horse without one? Sure
Might it provide
information that helps you take better care of your horse? in my experience ?
SURE
There is nothing wrong
with high tech as long as you use it as one tool in your bag of
tricks.
