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Most people at least in the SE are through as soon as they can get 
through. Why chance the horse getting stiff? As far myself I rather the 
horse get through and then the fat lady has sung. His time is his own. 
No "going back to the vet." While there may a few that take longer then 
30 minutes I doubt if there are many on this coast.

I've ridden rides with the finish a mile away and by the time we walked 
back we walked right in - it was less than 30 minutes. The same finish 
line was used for LD's and all they did was to have pulse takers at the 
finish. I am sure someone could conjure up a situation where a rule 
change would impact a ride but on the other hand I also expect there are 
ways to deal with it.

The FEI uses the 30 minute criteria at the end. Not that is good or bad 
but many FEI riders are in fact racing and it doesn't seem to impact 
them. The 30 minute limit will bring the finish in line with the rest of 
the checks - isn't that fit to continue?

Every one from riders who don't want to change their protocol to ride 
managers that fear change will chime in - there is one individual that 
doesn't get to input to ridecamp, our horses. If a 30 minute criteria 
would benefit the welfare of our horses - then 30 minutes it should be.

Truman

kimfuess wrote:
> I think that Lynne brings up a very good point in her post. 
> Conceptually, I agree with a 30 minute recovery time at the finish. I 
> like the idea that the "fit to continue" criteria is consistent 
> throughout the ride. If we believe that "fit to continue" is meeting 
> criteria within 1/2 hour at every vet check it seems that meeting 
> criteria in 60 minutes at the finish is a completely different 
> definition of what is "fit to continue". To me, it is so silly that 
> you can have a vet check 1 mile from the finish line and the horse 
> must meet criteria in 1/2 hour and then after going only one more mile 
> that same horse has an hour to meet criteria. Ideally, I feel that the 
> vet check criteria and finish line criteria should be the same. But 
> some changes at the ride management level need to be in place to make 
> this work well if it is put in place.
>
> The problem I see is not only that there is added hassle to the rider 
> (which there will be at many rides and for many riders) but that ride 
> management will have to set up the finish line and final vetting area 
> just like they do at a vet check. No more finish lines 1/2 to 1 mile 
> from basecamp for safe finishes. Ride managers may need to set up an 
> "extra check area" with water & feed near the finish line/final 
> examination area so riders can leave a crew bag, cooler, etc. if 
> basecamp parking is very spread out. Also, perhaps vets will need to 
> be more flexible about vetting horses through tacked just as they do 
> at some vet checks so riders aren't spending their entire 30 minutes 
> walking backing back and forth from their trailer.
>
> I can think of at least three or four rides in the PS region that 
> would have to move their finish line because it takes a long time just 
> to get back to base camp from the finish line. I can also think of a 
> ride where the basecamp is located quite far from where the vetting 
> and ride management is set up and another one that has base camp 
> spread out all over a large area.
>
> As with most rules that tighten pulse criteria or time frame for 
> recovery, the rider with crew will be gaining a greater advantage than 
> the rider who has to go it alone. In FEI, every rider has a full crew 
> in most situations so this factor was probably was never a 
> consideration. There is no question in my mind that I would race in 
> differently knowing that I had a full crew to help my horse recover, 
> have water and food and a cooler, at the finish line than if I knew I 
> had to drag my horse back to the trailer to untack etc. and that was 
> going to take an extra 15 minutes of going back and forth. Me racing 
> differently would have nothing to do with the condition or fitness or 
> welfare of my horse but with the logistics of the finish line/vetting 
> area and if I had crew to help me at the finish line. But as was 
> mentioned before, this rule is not being considered to make a level 
> playing field.
>
> I like to see consistency in rules and feel this would make the "fit 
> to continue" concept should be the same for the vet checks and for the 
> finish line. I do want to think that horses that pass the finish 
> criteria are as fit to continue down the trail as those that pass a 
> vet check during competition. But, there are some real logistics that 
> need to be worked out if we adopt this new rule and unfortunately, 
> these will fall on the individual ride manager. It certainly will not 
> be reasonable to have a rider walk 1/2 mile from the finish line to 
> the vet or basecamp and expect the rider to do a reasonable job caring 
> for his horse and having him ready for a final check in 30 minutes. If 
> 6 riders come in top 10 and have to weigh at the finish line there 
> will be precious time lost to horse care if these horses must be 
> presented within 30 minutes.


--

“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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