RE: [RC] protecting the horse - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM
>When I
was riding lots of endurance, I expected my horse's pulse to reach criteria
within 10 minutes of arriving for P&R. If my horse's pulse did not
come down >within 10 minutes I would be very concerned and take
appropriate action (pulling, expressing my concern to the vet, slowing down,
etc). Would someone explain >to me why we give riders 30
minutes for there horses to reach criteria? Wouldn't a 15 minute window protect
more horses from being overridden??
Most fit, experienced horses
will reach criteria within a few minutes. I’m the same as you, I
start getting worried if my horse takes longer than five minutes or so, and I’m
practically in tears at 7 minutes <g>. A lot of the super-fit top
horses will be moving along at a pretty fast clip coming into a check, the
rider hops off a few hundred yards down the trail and by the time they reach
the P&R box, they’re down.
Yes, a fifteen minute window
might weed out a few more of the potentially overridden horses, but doesn’t
do a very good job of differentiating between the horses that can’t
recover metabolically versus the green horses that really do need just a minute
or two more to get their panties unwadded. Also, the logistics of getting
everybody timed into a check and consistently judging when fifteen minutes has
elapsed would be tough at some crowded rides. There are also some
non-traditional breeds that sometimes show up that are fit enough for the job
at hand, but because of heavy muscling or whatever, they might need a few more
minutes than a typical fit Arab needs.
By the time 30 minutes rolls
around, we usually have had a good chance to notice which riders are still
standing around trying to get their horse down. The horses that can’t
recover in 15 minutes very often can’t recover in 30, either---in any
case, they’ll get noticed.
