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[RC] 30 minutes - not workable for many rides. - rides2far

Much in reference to racing relates to the conditioning of the horse 
when > the race happens.  Ranger won my one and only race by a nose at

the 

end of a > 60.  


I think heat has a *big* affect on recovery time even on a fit horse.
They're going to keep pumping that blood to the surface to *try* and cool
it and in the sun it probably just gets warmed up more.  On a hot day you
may have a horse that drops to 64 or 60 easily, but if you walk out of
the shade to the vet check it will jump back up. In Arizona Bruce kept
expecting me to feel hot. I felt hot on my skin, like it was going to
burn, but I didn't feel hot inside. Sometimes here you feel like you are
the source of heat and can feel it radiating *out* of you.

I watched some people at a ride trying to get their 25 mile horse down
for completion. It was a fairly fit little mare that had been ridden
reasonably by a junior on a very hot day. It was close to "down" and they
had it near the vet check really pouring the water on and fanning, but
they didn't want to go away from the check and find shade. It didn't come
down that extra beat though it was wanting to eat and looked fine. I've
seen that a couple of times down here. We get little or no evaporative
cooling and the direct sun will keep that pulse up. That's why Biltmore
is known as "tent city". It's almost a requirement for completion there
on a hot day.The thing about Biltmore is that almost the entire trail is
in the deep woods and it's not hot there. The horses will be just
cruising down the trail and really not be hot, then you walk out in that
sun and boom, they get hot fast. I'd rather ride there than crew any day.
Much more pleasant in the woods on a hot day.

I'm just not convinced *yet* that shorter recovery time is automatically
better. I hope that the decision makers will poll the ride vets (not just
the committe vets) to get a wide base of experience before changing
something this major. I'll go with what they say is best.

Angie

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