>In a message dated 96-06-05 10:22:16 EDT, you write:
>
>> However, I approve of any legal "tricks"
>>used to lower respiration on a panting horse, if the ride has a
>>respiration requirement. This is because I believe that such
>>requirements do little if anything to protect horses, but unfairly
>>penalize fit, panting horse
>
>I must say that I believe that in LARGE part, these requirements DO protect
>the horses, particularly from beginning competitors who may simply be less
>aware of metabolic soundness OR deterioration, with all its rammifications.
<snip>
Most ride vets experienced with hot & humid conditions recognize that
panting by itself is harmless. The Southeast Region stopped using
respiration rates as a vet criteria years ago (we have more hot, humid
rides than any other region) and *no* horses have been hurt because of
it. You will find few people more adamant about the need to protect our
horses than I, but I want us to use *meaningful* methods. In hot and
humid weather, a high respiration is likely to be the sign of the horse
who is *more* fit to do what he is doing (he has learned a more
efficient way to cool himself).
I could give you tons of anecdotal evidence -- such as Lain, the 8,000
mile Hall of Fame Morgan who would pant too fast to count, and be ready
to *leave* a vet check back onto the trail still panting at over 100
breaths per minute. Such as a ride which threatened to pull any
"inverted" horse -- at the last vet check, all but one of the five
front-runners was inverted. We all got to go on. Four horses finished
fit and healthy. The one with the low respiration died on the trail.
Kahlil is a panter, and panted on most of his 11,000+ miles of rides. I
believe this helped his performance by dissipating heat while conserving
sweat.
But, this issue has been hashed and rehashed over and over, and some
rides still count respiration. So I do my part to help people deal with
a respiration requirement if they run into one.
--Joe Long jlong@hiwaay.net http://fly.hiwaay.net/~jlong/home.shtml