This is a good excuse to mention a couple of things that
have been on my mind.
1. It is not to hot/humid to ride/compete. I
have done both CTR and Endurance in similar conditions. (Endurance was
easier, you could pour water on the horse.) The horse does have to be
acclimated to the weather (Sort of natural if you live there and condition
starting in winter/early spring.) Ride sensibly, check recovery, use lots
of water (I used a garden hose after conditioning rides), put the water on,
scrape it off.
Not near as much fun as riding in the west where the
humidity is low.
2. This also reads on the latest push by the vet
committee and Susan G. to decrease the recovery time post ride to 30
minutes. The vets that are pushing for this seem to come from the
West. They do not have a real concept of the amount of work/water it can
take to rapidly cool a horse in humidity. They figure that a fit horse
should be down in a few minutes especially if someone splashes a little water on
them. My experience is that it can take a lot of work and lots of water to
cool a hot horse at the end of a humid ride. It can be done, but I
personally feel that all concerned are better off if the horse can take an hour
to relax and eat instead of being aggressively cooled.
One of the best Midwest endurance vets I rode under, until
the letter of the AERC rule was pointed out, required that the horses
not be brought for final examination before 50 minutes.
He wanted to see them after they had a chance to come down from
the competitive high. Heidi Smith has voiced similar preferences
towards seeing the horses just before they go back out on the
trail.
By the way, I have no complaint with her call to reduce
the 68 bpm to 64,60 or even 56 at the end of a ride. Most rides seem to
have level pulse requirements now anyway. I do resent the statements in
both these articles comparing being in favor of a one hour recovery to being in
favor of 72 bpm and sound at a walk. This is an unfair argument technique,
attempting to smear those who disagree by labeling them as being old fashioned
and not concerned with horse welfare.
Ed & Wendy Hauser 2994 Mittower
Road Victor, MT 59875
