[RC] Pulse - Punishing the non-Arab breeds -- the problem - Flora Hillman
I've been reading the
responses to this thread, and during this past year I've had lots of opportunity
(during endurance rides) to talk to a great many riders along the trail about
this very same issue.
Without fail,
all those riding breeds other than Arabs (and some who do ride
higher-pulsed Arabs!) already feel they have been handed the raw end of
the deal with the current standards -- i.e. the vets now seeming to push the
limit of imposing the lowest pulse rate possible, irregardless of weather, et
al.
Coming myself from the
competitive world of eventing, dressage, foxhunting, and driving -- and having
done so with many different types and sizes of breeds -- I listened
to these endurance riders say that they felt many of the great endurance horses of
the past -- those that were non-Arab -- would NEVER have been able to compete
AND WIN with today's standards. The original pulse
of 72allowed ALL TYPES and sizes of breeds to shine .. and more
importantly... to win. Were these early riders so bad, and the stats for
metabolic problems that horrible, that the lower pulse criteria found an way to
sneak in and eliminate many of these "higher pulse" horses... and ponies... to
be effectively and very successfully, thrown out of the
competition?
Did it
help??
I
wonder.
Pulse is not the "be
all.... end all". It's only one measure -- and like shoe size, it differs
from horse to horse, breed to breed. I pulled out a few rider cards
from my past rides, and found that three actually did record a resting pulse of
my Welsh/Arab pony (he is ASHA carded at 14.1h) at the time of the vet in.
They were 45, 48, and 48. I also know that my pony was relaxed and mellow
at the time, already settled in from having arrived several hours (to a day)
beforehand. I've checked this data against my own observations at home
(using a heart monitor) while he is standing in the aisle, hind foot cocked,
half asleep, and I get only a slightly lower reading -- about
42.
I have been told by many
riders and vets that Arabian horses are genetically predisposed to have a pulse
that is down in the neither zones -- far and away lower than any other
breed. So
what did the AERC lower pulse criteria do? Did it "solve" any
problems? Apparently, from what I've been hearing, I don't think it
did. I think it just lowered the bar and eliminated a vast majority of other breeds (who
have genetically higher pulse rates) from actually being able to compete
and win, and left the field solely to the lower-pulsed Arabs who are
still being over-ridden, and suffering the metabolic
problems.
