In the PS most of the time, P & R is done without penalty,
however, most of do check & then call the P & R person over. In
FEI rides, there is a penalty for coming up without your horse being down.
My point was, this was being told to all LD riders, but the 50s were being P
& Rd as usual, as a courtesy, without the lecture. BYW, the lady's
horse & her granddaughter's horse were down & I watched her take her
horse pulse using the foreleg. The P & R person lectured her
before he even checked to see if the horse was down. I was there all
day watching & I saw this time and again with the LD riders but not the 50
milers. As I stated, this was the only time I really saw a disparity
between treatment of the LD riders & treatment of the 50 milers. Most
of the time, in our region, treatment is equal. My other point
was directed at the tangent the conversation was heading - vet care during a
ride. I think Ridecamp should be very careful with what they say about vet
care. Without our vets, we have no rides! My point was, I never saw
a difference between LD & 50 mile vet care, which is a positive thing.
Most people here in the PS know how to take their horse's pulse & have
stethoscopes in their saddle bag & we use them. No one likes to waste
the P & R people's time taking a pulses when the horse isn't down. In
many of our rides, we have over 100 riders, & sometimes, for a combined
FEI, LD, 65, & 100, such as Jackie Bumgardner's 20 Mule Team Ride; we
can have over 200 riders! We don't want to spend extra time in a vet
check or cause someone else to have to wait for us and in such rides, there is a
penalty for a horse not meeting criteria when you call for a P & R - you
have to go back to the end of the line! As I stated, this incident
in N California was the only time I saw such behavior.
<<<The only time I've heard anyone being rude to the LD riders
was a ride in northern California & it wasn't the vets. The P
& R people were being snotty to the LD riders about their horses' P
& Rs with comments such as, "You really should know how to take your
horse's pulse with a stethoscope" etc. They really ticked off one
lady who was riding with her granddaughter. She informed them that she had
a zillion ENDURANCE miles, knew how to take a pulse, and would they quit
preaching & do their job.>>.
I am curious about the above
statement. Why didn't the rider take her horse's pulse? What job
wasn't the PR person doing?
At rides in the CT region, you "step
over the line" when YOU know your horse is down to criteria. Then the
pulse taker does the official pulse for the intime. If you are over,
then you go to the back of the line, and some rides are considering
penalties.
I would sure appreciate some
enlightenment on this situation and how the intime was done
differently.
Thanks.
Louise, mgr of Movin On UP 50 and
Okmulge Cougar Prowl
