Re: [RC] Finally back at it, but ready to do 50's? - Truman Prevatt
It all depends. In this region we normally get the same vets. With them
horse has a rock solid "B" on gut sound and I am very comfortable with
a B. In fact I would be surprised if he got an A. One ride where a new
vet - vetted him he got A's all day long and and all A's at the end -
and ended up crashing 30 minutes later.
Was the new vet's A on gut really a C? From now on unless I know the
vet and know the vet knows my horse - I take my own gut sounds after
when he is standing around eating. I do know how my horse's gut sounds.
We're too hung up on the "grades" from the vet - it's about the whole
horse and how the whole horse is doing and while the vet can help they
only see the horse for a few moments during the day. It gets right down
to being up to the rider who knows the horse.
If you feel comfortable he is ready to go 50 - go for it. If you don't
feel comfortable with it - do more preparatory work first. After all
you don't have to go the whole 50 if you bit off more than your horse
could chew.
Truman
Kristi Schaaf wrote:
Four 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! Kristi iluvdez at
yahoo dot com
