more vet checks

[Wendy Milner <wmilner@verinet.com>]

>It was areal eye-opener for me to hear rider after rider ask for a
>"courtesy check..."   "I don't have a heart rate monitor....would you
>check my horse's pulse please?"  It was done very nicely but don't they
>know it is their responsibility to know their horse's heart rate,

Perhaps these riders where using a bit of strategy.  It is a lot
faster to have a P&R person come over and do a courtesy check, and
then if the horse is down to say, "OK, now take the official pulse",
than it is to keep checking yourself, and when down, go find a P&R
person and have them come over. Or maybe, they had been out on the
trail so long they just wanted a bit of human company. Or maybe...

Even with a heart rate monitor, I've asked for a courtesy check when
my horse is just at criteria. That way, I know how the person is
counting beats. If they count the beat that happens exactly on the
first second and exactly on the last second, that will add 4 beats
to the horse's count. So instead of being at 60, he'll show up as
being at 64.  It's a lot easier, and quicker, to ask for that courtesy
check.  And when seconds count, that's a big difference.  Only once
has it made a real difference to me. But that once was the difference
between first place and second place.  The time difference between
us was 15 seconds.

Since the riders were asking nicely, there seems to be no problem
here. If ride management say the rider can ask for a courtesy check,
then give them with the same smile as the rider has. And don't
complain to others later.

-- 
Wendy
Dragon Crest Ranch
Some where near Masonville, Colorado

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