>my question relates to the organisation and vetting procedures you use
>overseas. the "gate-into-hold" system is pretty new to australia, and has
>yet to be used in our zone, so most of the riders around here are unfamiliar
>with both the way it works and the best ways to manage your horse for it.
>however our state ride is going to be run under these rules, and the people
>i train/ride for are thinking of entering horses. so can anyone tell me more
>about this system of vetting - how it works, how you should manage your
>horse differently than a usual base-camp vet check etc etc.
Nik,
I am sure that there are many publications out there that go into much more
detail, but as a quick and dirty overview of gate-into-hold:
>From the viewpoint of a rider on the trail approaching a Vet Check (VC):
1. A small sign on the trail says "Vet Check 1/2 Mile." I determine how my
horse is doing (how quickly I think he will recover) and proceed at a pace
that would enable him to meet criteria at quickly as possible once I get to
the VC.
2. As I get to the VC, I am greeted by an arrival timer. This person just
writes my arrival time on my card and I proceed into the check.
3. I proceed directly to my crew (or if none, probably to some shade).
There my crew and I do whatever is best for the horse and what will get his
pulse down to criteria. During this period my hold time has not yet started.
4. I proceed to the P&R area, recheck my horses pulse one final time, and
call for a P&R. At this point, given that my horse does meet criteria, my
hold time starts whether it is 15, 30, 45 minutes or even 1 hour. The P&R
person checks the pulse (and at some rides respiration) and writes that
number and my "P&R time" on the card.
5. I proceed directly to the veterinarians. There my horse is given the
usual thourough examination.
6. I return to my crew place and let the horse rest, eat, get electrolytes,
massage, clean tack, etc.
7. A few minutes before my hold is up he gets retacked (or at least
readjusted if a short hold).
8. I mount up, proceed to the out timer and show this person my card.
9. When my hold time is up, the out timer yells out my number and says "You
may go" and I am off again.
Some notes:
The maximum time from arrival time until P&R allowed at some rides is 1/2
hour. Any horse that takes over 1/2 hour to recover should not go back out.
If the horse is presented for P&R with a pulse too high, a penalty of 10
minutes (or 5 or 15) may be assessed. This is not usually done at local
rides but is always done at championships.
At many rides the P&R person takes the pulse only. The respiratory rate is
evaluated by the veterinarian. It takes very little time for the vet to do
so and sometime there is no reason for a P&R person to hold a horse with a
low pulse and a sniffing respiratory rate.
Many rides are won in the vet checks. An unfit horse can run just as fast as
a fit one, but the fit get rewarded in the gate into hold vet checks by
coming down much faster.
It has been many years since I have been to a ride that uses straight hold
VC's. Once you get used to the gate into hold VC's you will never want to go
back.
One drawback I see is that no longer do we have the excitement of the race
into the lunch stop. It now is a disadvantage to race into a VC. We still
get great races to the finish line, where there is no P&R gate, it is "Fit to
continue" but within one full hour, not 1/2 hour. Finish line criteria are a
whole other story.
The real headache to this system, though, is that you need so many more
people helping. The P&R people have to be knowledgeable and somewhat
resilient to harsh, tired riders. The in-timer often is not used at smaller
rides. There the vet can see the entire vet check and can keep an eye on all
the horses without the help of the in-timer.
Hope this helps. Let me know if this is too brief.
Mike
C. Mike Tomlinson, DVM
Tomlinson Consortium
501-D West Redlands Blvd.
Redlands, CA 92373-4642
(909)307-2369
Fax(909)307-2366
CMikeT@AOL.com
Mike@Tomlinson.com
---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: nikki@griffith.dwr.csiro.au (Nikki Ward)
Sender: owner-endurance@moscow.com
To: endurance@moscow.com
Date: 95-08-08 20:02:20 EDT
g'day from australia,
i'm pretty new to this list, and pretty new to endurance riding too. i own a
4 year-old arab who is partially broken and who i hope to start in endurance
in a years time (do you have the same teeth-in-wear rule we do in
australia?). i also train and ride horses for other people, and have
completed my 40km (25mile?) training rides and one 80km (50mile?), with one
more 80km ride to complete as a "novice" (do you have novice and endurance
rider status over there too?), before i can really call myself an endurance
rider.
my question relates to the organisation and vetting procedures you use
overseas. the "gate-into-hold" system is pretty new to australia, and has
yet to be used in our zone, so most of the riders around here are unfamiliar
with both the way it works and the best ways to manage your horse for it.
however our state ride is going to be run under these rules, and the people
i train/ride for are thinking of entering horses. so can anyone tell me more
about this system of vetting - how it works, how you should manage your
horse differently than a usual base-camp vet check etc etc. are you allowed
strappers etc at gate-into-hold checks? how do they get there etc? basically
any information that will help us prepare for this "new" system will be
appreciated.
thanks,
nik, the list's token aussie :-)
*****************************************
Nikki Ward Griffith NSW Australia
nikki@griffith.dwr.csiro.au
*****************************************