running on adrenaline

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

> At a recent NATRC ride I was at, the vet had the riders do a CRI  right
when they came in to camp at the end of day, and then an hour later after
 the horses had been standing and >eating, they did a P/R check.  The CRI
 showed the tired horses coming in, but the P/R an hour later really
showed  which
> horses were still stressed after resting - some of the P/R >counts 
were quite a bit higher than the CRI count. 

That sounds strange to me that their pulses were higher than a CRI done
an hour earlier.  I've only worked a couple of NATRC rides and never
ridden one, but I do remember that the riders had a warning marker 2
miles out.  Some told me they rode as fast as they wanted to till they
got there, stood around and smoked and visited until they had exactly
enough time to walk the last two miles in.  If that were the case, and
the CRI's were those of horses who'd done little more than walk 2 miles
after resting awhile, I would think maybe just the act of eating an hour
raised the pulses some over the earlier CRI.  If you get into pulses that
are too low you're just going to find out how low the resting pulses are.
 My first Arabian's resting pulse was 28 and he tired out on me much
sooner than Kaboot who is hard to catch below 40 without a heart monitor.
(the sight of a stethoscope is exciting to him)

At the Biltmore 100 this Spring the vets did a CRI on us at about the 60
mile vet through before our hold, then we had to go back for a followup
CRI after the hold before we left out on the trail.  We did gripe about
the extra time, but I think that might be of some use in a questionable
situation in an endurance ride.  Makes no difference though if you only
have one check and it is before horses are showing the stress.

Angie
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