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Re: [RC] Distance between vetchecks - Jim Hollandk s swigart wrote: Somebody said:As a rider I can feel the difference in my horses when they hit the 18 to 20 mile mark of a loop with no checks. They feel so much better when the checks are between 13 to 15 miles, and they recover so much faster from a ride, even when ridden at speed. IMO 20+ miles is just too far. Quite frankly, if somebody, as a rider can feel the difference in their horse at 18 miles if they haven't given the horse a rest before then, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING stopping that rider from stopping and resting their horse at 13 to 15 miles even if ride management has not dictated that they must do so. :) This is not very practical for most rides, at least in the SE, unless you know the trail, have pre-rode the trail, and planned where you are going to "rest" your horse. There is usually a continual parade of horses flying by since we typically have repeat loops with 25 milers and 50 milers on the same trail. I for one, would not even consider this, particularly on the first loop, particularly on an inexperience horse. On an experienced horse with many miles, maybe. The only way I would "rest" in this situation is to get off and walk..but you better be sure you do it on a road where people can pass...or you just might get run over in the woods on single track. How would YOU do this? Just curious..... <grin> All the mandatory rests in the world aren't going to make a hill of beans of difference to the welfare of individual horses if riders do not know and understand that they need to rest their horse where it needs to rest, whether there is a vet check there or not :(. Respectfully disagree. A horse is MUCH more likely to eat and drink and "calm down" in a vet check with everybody standing around than out on the trail "looking" for where the other horses went and "monsters". The problem could even be exerbated because the horse is out there LONGER without eating or drinking because you "rested". In my experience, the horse is much more calm and eating/drinking better on the SECOND loop, no matter how SHORT the first loop was. I would support a mandatory vet check within the first 15 miles, even if it was a 20 minute rest...then a fly-by. Even if the vet check had to be held at 5 miles, that would be preferable to no check for 15 miles. On the old Outlaw Trail it was 45 miles to the first vet check (with an 11,000+ foot mountain to go over), I don't know ANYBODY who did that ride who didn't stop and rest their horse at Meeks Lake (no vet check there, it is the top of the Boulder Top) let the horse drink, graze, eat the grain or whatever supplement that the rider brought along for THEIR horse, and most people stopped and let the horse drink and graze at/around Pear Lake too (before climbing up to the Boulder Top). Known trail, everybody is stopped. IMHO, irrelevant. It basically IS a Vet Check with everything but the Vet. Rest, water, and calm down. This is a unique situation, not typical of most rides. ....what do you do when you are riding at home and there is no vet or ride manager there to tell you where you need to rest? ? ? ? ? ? :) IMHO, big difference between riding at home and participating in an Endurance Ride for reasons obvious to the most casual observer! :) Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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