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Truman, you may be right that there is no correlation between pull rates and whether the pulse criterion is 60 or 64, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter one way or the other.  What DOES matter is the wear and tear on the horse over time.  Horses that are pushed to the point that they do not continue to recover are being pushed too hard.  And having done exit exams instead of entrance exams for years, one of the reasons I insisted on a 60 pulse when I was head vet at rides was because when we ran at 60, the exit pulses would be much lower, but when we ran at 64, a fair number of them hung at 64 and didn't continue to recover.  And that is a sign that they are running on the ragged edge--not something that is good for the horses.

 

Riders are in general a pretty savvy bunch--they know how hard they can ride and "get by," and when the pulse is 60, they ride accordingly and take better care of their horses.  And one of the things that AERC veterinarians can do to look after general horse welfare is to set criteria so that riders have to take care of their horses in order to meet them.  It's as simple as that.

 

Heidi

I think Angie is right on. There isn't any quantitative data that I know
of to justify a 60 pulse over a 64 pulse. There is also not data to
justify making the finish time 30 minutes at the end instead of an hour.
While these might make people feel good and some think "they might help"
I don't see much of an issue with the current rules.

If someone would tell me the rides with 60 pulse and those with 64 I
would be happy to look to see if there is any correlation with pull
rates later in the ride. I doubt if there are but you never know till
you look.

Truman

rides2far@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> O>        9)  There has been a steady decrease in pulse criteria, now
>  
>> most
>> commonly 60 or even 56.
>>    
>
> I have only seen it dropped to 60 maybe once?? Never 56. I was thinking
> I'd read that getting any lower didn't really help. To me time taken to
> hit that lower criteria before I can vet through is just less time that I
> get to let him eat since eating raises pulse. I really would not be in
> favor of dropping it below 64 for most cases or giving the vets the
> *option* of calling for lower if they had extenuating circumstances.  
>
> On the switching from 1 hr. to 30 min. at the finish...I dunno. Do we
> have a problem with horses getting in trouble that take between 30 and 60
> if raced? I've certainly never run that hard but I'd like to see good
> reasons to tighten up the requirements other than "It'll feel like we're
> trying harder".
>
> Angie
>
>  


--

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also
into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil


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