Have to throw in my two bits here:
First; why is it such a crime to have a tired horse? I thought this was
ENDURANCE RIDING not see how we can pamper the horse competition!!! Do you
not get tired during the ride???
Please remember we are talking animals who are designed by nature to do
most of what we are asking (with in reason). I see so much emphasis on the
refinement of the technique when those practicing do not even know the
basic.
It is amazing that many of the riders beginning in endurance are completely
immersed in the techniques of maximizing the feed potential of the horse
while not cognizant of the basic requirements of their particular animal. I
am amazed to see so many riders with minimal experience wanting to maximize
the performance level of their animals while being content with middle or
later finishes. Are their horses so deficient in ability that the extremes
of training and nurishment are necessary for these midway finishes??
I would suggest that on the subject of lowered pulse and the use of CRI for
control you all go back to the basics again. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF
THE RIDER TO CARE FOR THE WELFARE OF THE HORSE. Learn your horse and do not
depend on the Vet to do your control for you. Are you so "out of control"
that you have no sensibility left during competition?? Can you not listen
to your horse??? Can you not perforn the same control that the vet does??
i.e. listen to the horse???
I am finding more and more that the rider wishes to go "hell for leather",
expects the Vet to offer control and advice, but to be still allowed the
option to bitch about it if some thing goes wrong. Where is personal
integrity???
Yes I am getting old and crochity, but I will still out ride 95% of you out
there because I know my horse and do not depend on others for my control.
Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID
----------
> From: Steph Teeter <step@fsr.com>
> To: 'ridecamp@endurance.net'
> Subject: RE: lowered pulse criteria and CRI
> Date: Friday, November 21, 1997 7:21 PM
>
> I have to agree with Teresa on the significance of the CRI -
> I did a ride this fall on my Orlov - he's very fast and competitive
> but doesn't have a good distance base on him yet. We went
> too fast in the beginning - one of those rides where I thought
> my heart monitor wasn't working because it was reading higher
> than I would have expected ... duh. He pulsed down great all
> day - dropped quickly into the 50's but his appetite wasn't as
> good as I would have liked and he was content to go slow
> (which is unusual for him). At completion he dropped
> right down to 52 and the vet said he looked great. He hadn't
> felt right to me though on the last loop so I asked for a CRI.
> It was 14/18 (went from 56 to 72) - not good. He dropped
> back down to 56 a few minutes later, so we did it again to
> be sure, and it shot up again to 72. This is a pretty clear
> signal of electrolyte imbalance - or some metabolic problem.
> Bunchuk didn't have any other problems and his appetite
> and brightness improved after an hour or so, but the lesson
> here was that a good recovery does not necessarily
> mean that everything is ok.
>
> I think the CRI is a *very* usefull parameter - and would
> personally like to see it used regularly at more rides. It
> really doesn't take much longer to do - the vet can check
> all the other parameters while waiting for the second
> pulse check.
>
> Steph
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Teresa Van Hove [SMTP:vanhove@unavco.ucar.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, November 20, 1997 8:44 PM
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: lowered pulse criteria
>
> Hi,
>
> Interesting discussion about pulse rates. I think that the CRI gives
more
> information for catching tired horses early. Why not demand that horses
> have to meet a set CRI standard within 10 minutes of recovery if you are
> trying to slow down people who are deliberately pushing their horses?
>
> For the vast majority, who may be pushing their horses without realizing
> it (And I have been there and done that) just having a 10 minute CRI
> at every vet check and warning riders to slow down if the CRI is high
> would probably be sufficient. I now will request a CRI, or do one
myself,
> if the vets are busy and CRI's are not part of the check; but beginners
> as well as their horses can get caught up in the excitement of a ride,
> and even monitoring the time to recover to 60 or 64 is not sufficient
> to catch a horse that is starting to tire from an over-enthusiastic pace.
> My horses have to be pretty tired or have other problems before they fail
> to come down to criteria within a few minutes.
>
> Teresa
>