To the contrary...a good many horses tie-up at the BEGINNING of a ride. But,
I also have these high readings at the beginning and have never had a horse
tie-up..well, just once. Personally I think the excitement and anticipation
and their fittness make them higher...My horses' pulse settles right back
down to normal ranges in 5-10 miles.
The ONE tie-up I had occurred when the first vet-check was only 7 miles from
start ( a 30 miler). My boyfriend was riding and he indicated the mares
heart rate was running higher than normal..he KNEW...he rides with one all
the time. I passed it off as early ride exceitment. At first vet check she
took 30 minutes to get to 68..higly unusual for her. Capillary refil and MM
were within normals, but not as good as she usually is, but the CRI told the
story..it went from 68 to 120!!! Needless to say, we pulled her. Withtin
one half hour she tied up tighter than a drum. We had her on fkluids (where
do they go??) for 9 hours...including tubing her. She was pulled at 9:30 AM
and did not urinate until 6 PM. Renal failure had been feared, but the urine
was normal colored. We were worried about trailering her home 6-7 hours the
next day as she was still VERY tight (she was like CEMENT!!), but the trailer
trip must have done her good. We stopped every hour and wacthed she loosen
up all the way hom and she trotted out like normal when we got her home.
The conclusion (took me two days to figure it out) is that we arrived three
days early and where they usually run outside all the time, the two mares
stood for 3 days with only light riding and plenty of grain...MY FAULT!!!
Fortunately, there was no long term damage as she has been gangbusters this
year without ANY problems.
Teddy