hold times and stretching for horses

[Horsestwo@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/26/99 6:52:45 AM US Mountain Standard Time, 
theodysseyfarm@hotmail.com writes:

<< The solution for figuring out time for a 45 minute hold (or any length 
hold, 
 for that matter) is for the pulse-taker/out-timer to wear two watches, one 
 set for 45 minutes ahead of the other.  No guesswork as the day wears on and 
 fatigue sets in for the volunteers.
 
 Regards,
 Virginia Goodman
 Kentucky
  >>

This is a great idea!  We had index cards made up with the added time (30 
mins added to in-time, such as in-time of 2:38 equals out-time of 3:08) to 
avoid fatigue math errors.  But your idea is even easier and probably faster, 
too.  The index card idea is also good for the P&R people so they don't have 
to compute the 15 sec heartrate.  Having the 4x tables written out avoids the 
mental lapses and helps those like me that are mathematically challenged!

BTW, I agree that 30 mins is too short to get all the vetting done and let 
the horse rest, eat and drink.  I haven't done enough rides to know if one 
hour is too long as it seemed just about right for me and never had a problem 
leaving camp with the horse I rode.

Those of you who have had to wait in lines during bad weather (or any kind of 
weather for that matter), have you tried using some stretching exercises?  I 
found them to be useful during holds to keep the horse limber without 
constant walking, lets the horse eat in place and relax and can tell you 
whether you are running into a problem(s) if the horse is sore somewhere.  
Obviously, you need to learn and use stretches on your horse before the race 
during training rides to be able to have your horses used to them.  Once your 
horse is used to you stretching him before and after rides, he will LOVE it!  

Melanie in AZ


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