RE: heart rate

[Cheryl Newbanks <horsetrails@inficad.com>]

>
>
> On Fri, 18 Dec 1998 OasisArab@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Any opinions on what to do with a very good endurance horse who really 
likes
> > the endurance sport and does well but has an unusually high heart rate.
> > Standing at rest he will run about 40 bpm, getting him ready for an 
event he
> > will rise to about 54 bpm and when we start an event he will reach 70 
bpm. He
> > is well conditioned as we work about 30-40 mi per week and gets all the 
right
> > nutrition
>
>

If his recoveries are good don't worry about it.  My endurance horse has a 
resting rate of 32 but he trots between 135 and 160 bpm and canters between 
150-170 bpm.  I too ride between 30-40 miles a week to keep him in shape 
for 50's.  His recoveries are amazing though and he is usually down in less 
then a minute when I walk into the vc.  I talked to Ti about this because I 
was concerned about his lactic acid levels, though he never gets stiff 
after a ride.  He said that a fit horse usually doesn't hit lactic acid 
level till 190 bpm and that since my horse doesn't get stiff he has no 
appreciative accumulation of lactic acid in his muscles.  So as long as his 
recoveries are great we can stop worrying:}  Go out there and have fun, 
think about it, if we didn't have heart monitors to read we'd never realize 
how high their heart rates were and would never have to worry at all!  I 
personally judge my horse by his behavior and only wear my monitor for 
p&r's in the vet checks.  I figure Blue definitely lets me know when things 
are bugging him and I sincerely doubt he'd hurt himself or kill himself. 
 He'd stop first.

                                  Cheryl Newbanks
~~~           ~~ ^ ^        SW Region
~~~\      _ ~~/ /\ /        Buckeye, AZ
       (   ) __    ) ' '        horsetrails@inficad.com
       //          \\
      //            \\
    **              **