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Re: [RC] Finally back at it, but ready to do 50's? - heidiFour years ago, my horse and I had just completed 1000 NATRC miles, did a few LD's and were ready to do our first 50. Then a diagnosis of bone spavin put a screeching halt to our plans. After a four year layoff (just pleasure camping/riding), my horse became sound again this year. We did a slow 30 mile LD this weekend (6 hour ride time) and I was quite happy with how good he felt all ride. I don't have my ride card so I can't be exact, but his pre-ride scores were mostly A's with a few B's. He pulsed down right away at the checks, but at his 1/2 hour post-ride check, he had more B's than A's. My question is: should he be getting a majority of A's in LD before I consider moving to 50's, or are B's acceptable? The weather and terrain were both really nice, so they weren't a negative factor. The ride vet was really busy so I didn't want to interrupt him to ask. Thanks! Not necessarily. Depends on the vet, the circumstances, and all sorts of variables. One of our best ride vets here is sometimes nicknamed "Doctor B" because his attitude is that an average horse is a B and only exceptional horses are A's. I personally liked it a lot better when we had a numbering system instead of letters, and then you could list normal as "OK" with minus notations for things less than normal and a positive notation for superlative things. Some horses carry less body fat than others, and will always have a "less than optimal" score for skin tenting. I've seen horses go hundreds of miles and be competitive on 100s that I NEVER heard better than what I'd call B guts sounds on. Etc., etc. Know what is normal for YOUR horse, look at the overall picture, and go from there. Did he EDPP fine? (Did he come in at the checks ready to eat anything and everything in sight?) Did he recover readily? Did he look good and feel good after the ride? I'd set a lot more store by that than by a few Bs on the vet card. Bs are quite acceptable unless they are way out of character for that horse (and if so, DO discuss it with the ride vet, busy or not!). Heidi ============================================================ If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter horse. ~ Libby Llop ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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