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[RC] lowering pulse saving horses?????????????????? I say not!!!!! - June Scheunemann & Mike BernsdorfOH boy, what a can of worms trying to protect our horses by lowering pulses, more rules, more food, less food, more electrolytes, less electrolytes, faster paces. slower paces, more training, less training......see a pattern here???? I have seen rides who require the lower pulses (60---64) for passing checks and guess what....horses were passing those with no problem and still ran into problems at the end of a ride..and neither of the 2 incidents that come to mind were horses that were running up front. If my memory serves me right....both were at the steady pace with completion times in the 5 1/2 - 6 hour ride time for a 50 miler. Several years ago at a ride there was a horse colicking with a pulse of 36...YES 36 in a full blown colic!!!! There are horses out there with genetically higher pulses...working and resting...do we want to close rides to them????? There was a horse in the midwest several years ago that vetted in with 68....out on the trail with a heart monitor working trot registered 120.....yet would take her 10 min. to drop to 68 when in a vet check. This mare did many miles and even took BC....but, her normal pulse was higher ...so should she not be competed??? I always liked the sport of distance RIDING because any horse conditioned could partake in it. As, any rider who could sit a horse could partake (didn't have to have any special attire to show up). I really think what I'm trying to say is it all comes down to the rider knowing his horse!!! The rider being aware of what is normal for his horse and what isn't...knowing when to pull and when to go on and noting any bit of change as being a red alert. No amount of rules....lowering pulse, etc....will protect the horse .....except for the rider being aware of what is normal, not normal and being willing to listen to that. The rider is the one that can make or break the horse. I also believe that instead of pointing fingers and saying what should be....we should learn from different incidents and pass this knowledge along to fellow riders. How many times have we read on ridecamp...20/20 hindsight...."i should have known better as my horse wasn't drinking" "my horse was drinking more than normal." "something just wasn't right and I rode anyway" We see the signs.....we just have to learn to believe our horse when they are telling us!!! June (just got the Ok from the DR. to start riding again after my hip surgery...yeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaa!) Equine Enterprises June Scheunemann Mike Bernsdorf 10315 Hwy J Cato, WI 54230 920-732-4421 equineent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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