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RE: [RC] Rule Change Proposal - heidi

But often enough, too excited to meet criteria in a green horse also means
too excited to eat, drink, rest, etc.  And thus, still more likely to get
into trouble, need treatment later on, etc.  Adrenalin from excitement and
'fight or flight' still decreases blood flow to the GI tract, and thus makes
those horses more prone to colic than a more experienced horse.  Sometimes
the horse would be fine if the green RIDER would stop a minute, get their
panties untwisted and leave their horse alone for a few minutes to get some
hay and water.  Either way, personally I'm fine making those meet a stricter
criteria, even if it means they can't meet it and don't go on.  If the horse
can't meet a reasonable criteria, why is the best solution to that to shrug,
say 'he's just excited' and let him continue on down the road being excited
and still at increased risk?  Rather than keep him at the check long enough
until he does start to get a clue that it's not all that riveting after all
and hey looky, there's hay over here?  If a horse can't reach a reasonable
criteria within 30 minutes of coming in, excited or not, then either a) the
rider needs to do more schooling and socializing, and here you are at a
great place to do that (because you're not going down the trail anymore
today, friend), or b) he's not well-suited to the sport, at least not today.
Sorry if that seems exclusive and elitist, and is unnecessarily hard on the
heavy-muscled breeds that can't come down, but better that than treating
horses that were just too goofy and went on anyway because we want to seem
like nice people.


Standing ovation!

There is no such thing as "just excited"--horses on an adrenaline high are just 
as stressed as if they went out and ran the course.  If the horse can't control 
his adrenaline high, he doesn't need to be out there.

Endurance horses need to have their brains trained as well as their bodies--and 
if their brains are stressing them out, it does them a disservice to make 
excuses.

Heidi

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