Joe - I'm very interested in this system. In the Northwest rides
your hold time begins after a p/r person verifies the pulse and
calls out your number. And as you mentioned this can get very
confusing and frustrating if there are more horses than p/r
people and everyone is calling for a pulse.
To get this straight - there are p/r people *only* inside the
roped off area? And your hold time begins as soon as you enter
the area? Do you ever have penalties for presenting for
a pulse too early?
This seems like a very reasonable system to
me. We'll definitely give it a try at our ride next year.
How do the International rides do their gate-into-holds? I know
that they will penalize for presenting too early - is there a
roped off area as you described?
Steph
(Welcome to the group Nikki!)
> G'day back, Nikki.
> You got some good info on gate-into-hold, but I'd like to add
> another suggestion.
> We've found that it really helps to mark off the P/R area with
> flag rope, and have a clearly marked "gate" (just a gap, really)
> about eight feet wide where the horses enter. A rider's time is
> recorded when the horse is led through the gate. If the pulse
> is verified down, that is the start of the hold time -- if not,
> the horse must go back out and present again.
> If you don't do this, it can get pretty confusing, with riders
> hollering for "P & R" from all over. It can lead to arguments
> as to when they were down. If you *only* record time when a
> horse physically passes through a gate, there is no question and
> no favoritism.
> This method also prevents a rider from being unfairly penalized
> if there is a crowd and it takes a few minutes for a pulse-taker
> to get to her horse.
> In the U.S. Southeast we definitely do *not* count respiration
> as a criteria for starting the hold -- just the pulse! There is
> no fixed respiration level for a horse to pass the vet check!!!
> We (in the SE) don't use separate time cards -- all times are
> recorded on the vet card. To keep people from jamming up, we do
> it this way: when the rider or crewman leads the horse through
> the gate, they go directly to a pulse-taker. The timer writes
> the time on a master time sheet *when the horse passes through
> the gate*. The pulse-taker takes the pulse. If it is OK, the
> pulse taker calls out the horse number to the timer; the timer
> calls back the time that the horse passed trough the gate. The
> pulse taker writes this time down on the vet card along with the
> anticipated out time. The horse is taken to the vet; after
> clearing the vet check the rider or "strapper" takes the vet
> card to the out timer for verification of the out time.
> Again, if the pulse is not OK, the pulse taker calls this fact
> out to the timer, who strikes the time from the master sheet,
> and the horse must go back out and present again.
> Notice that in this system, the timer never handles any rider's
> card. No horse has to stop in the gate to get a card filled in.
> The vet cards are only handed to the pulse taker and vet
> secretary (who are standing right next to the horse), and the
> out timer for verification of the time to leave.
> One more thing. With this system a small ride needs only one
> person doing all of the timing at a vet check. Larger rides
> should have separate in and out timers if at all possible.
> --
> Joe Long Rainbow Connection Arabians PC/LAN Manager home of
> Kahlil Khai Calhoun Community College AERC Hall of Fame horse
> jlong@hiwaay.net 11,450 miles completed --
> Joe Long "There are more things in Heaven PC/LAN Manager and
> Earth, Horatio, than are Calhoun Community College dreampt of in
> your philosophy." jlong@hiwaay.net (Shakespeare)