Heidi is absolutely correct. I've seen many vets do a full exam on a
horse, including the CRI in about a minute from the time the horse steps
in till they are finished. Not only does looking at all the parameters
give the vet a good idea what is going on, it gives the rider a good
idea also and they are much better informed to make smart decisions..
I'll add, too, Truman, that in well over 250 rides vetted, I've only seen
one horse crash that truly gave us what I would consider no signs of pending
problems at the prior vet check, despite what another poster suggested.
(She did not, however, have all A's.) That particular mare did not "feel"
right to her rider, who opted to pull anyway, and the mare crashed three
hours later. Yes, I've seen a few with all A's up to a vet check BEFORE
they started showing signs of problems--but the signs DO show up in almost
all cases long enough before a horse crashes that in most cases one can
prevent a crash by pulling. One of the BIG problems I see prevalent at AERC
rides is vetting horses through immediately after they pulse down, rather
than waiting until toward the ends of their holds--I've picked up MANY
horses not fit to go on that "let their hair down" so to speak during the
hold, but were running on guts and adr
enaline and looked perfectly fine
right after they pulsed down. At far too many rides, these horses are
already vetted through and end up back out on the trail, only to crash at
the NEXT check--but if they are vetted after their holds, they are caught in
time to either pull or to slow down substantially BEFORE the damage occurs.
I was intrigued at Fort Howes that even though we were made to vet through
right after our pulse-down, we were nonetheless required to represent for a
mini-exam just prior to leaving. Perhaps vets are beginning to figure this
out?? I thought that the duplication of effort was a bit wasteful (having
to essentially vet through twice) but did think it was a step in the right
direction. Hopefully eventually more vets will learn to direct managers to
simply send the horses on to their camps or crews after pulse-down (with the
proviso that we are glad to look at any horse the rider wishes to have seen
at any time d
uring the check, but that the actual vetting-out won't be done
until the end), and simply have the horses back to present 5-10 minutes
before they are due to leave. This really catches a lot more problems in
the early stages--and after all, the goal here is to PREVENT crashes, not to
just be there when they happen.
Heidi
