Worlds Most Preferred Rides

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Tony Pavord tpavord@tawmarsh.co.uk
As the Childrens ride that followed the World's Most Preferred Endurance Ride in the UAE last week caused a considerable amount of prior comment throughout the World, I thought a few words describing the event from a veterinary point of view might be of interest.
The ride was to be a 90km ride comprising two 30km loops followed by a 20km loop and a final 10km loop. As the weather had got increasingly hot, in excess of 37C, it was decided to cut out the final loop leaving us with the start, two vetgates and the finish.
Eighteen horses started the ride and nine finished. Three horses were treated for minor metabolic problems and were released from the on-site clinic well before the ride finished.
The veterinary parameter employed for recovery was a pulse of 60 to be reached within 20 minutes of arrival at the vetgates and at the finish. One presentation only applied to all vet gates and the finish; hold times were 30 minutes at VG 1 and 40 minutes at VG 2. As an extra precaution all horses remaining in the race at each vet gate were obliged to re-present for a second CRI applied 10 minutes before leaving the vet gate. At this re-examination, as it was a try out, no official parameters were used for elimination but the Veterinary Commission applied the criteria that an increase in the CRI over 4 beats would be taken very seriously. To the best of my knowledge no horses fell into this category.
The first four horses completed the final 4km at an excessive speed.  Three took over 20 minutes to present and were eliminated and one presented with a pulse over 60, also eliminated. The rest, bar one eliminated for lameness, passed with no trouble.
To the best of my knowledge no money prizes were given. All horses that finished were judged for best condition.
I feel that the main reason for the relative success of this ride, in spite of the misgivings that many of us had, was the psychological effect that the extra examination had on the riders and trainers and the tough line that the Veterinary Commission took towards any sign of metabolic compromise. We hope that this proceedure will be applied to all rides in the UAE and by observation we will be able to form criteria that will cause automatic elimination at these re-examinations. The French experiment carried out last season suggests that any horse presented in such a way with a pulse of over 60 and a CRI in excess of 4  beats has a less than 10% chance of finishing. When their findings have been translated we will have a better idea what the actual chance of finishing will be.
The senior ride, a 2x100km CEI-A which took place 3 days earlier also had a better completion rate than we have had at other rides this year. 55 horses started, 37 horses completed the first day and 22 passed the final inspection the second day. Two of the retired horses did not recover as well as expected and were sent to Dubai hospital for further treatment and observation. Both recovered and have been sent home. The rest of the metabolically eliminated horses, nine in number, received precautionary fluids or were kept under observation for a few hours. Interestingly, all of the above horses were retired by their riders, either on the course or at the vet gates.  
I hope this is of interest.
Tony  

Tony Pavord
Lower Penygraig Farm
Llanfoist
Abergavenny
Gwent NP7 9LE
GB
Ph +44 (0)1873 859207
Fx +44 (0)1873 858186
Email tpavord@tawmarsh.co.uk