I do not understand why AERC allows more than 30
minutes for a horse to meet pulse criteria at the finish. We swear up and
down that we believe in 'fit to continue' at the finish as well as at vet checks
along the way, but then we award completions to horses that take > 30 BLT 60
minutes to pulse at the end. If a horse takes more than 30 minutes to
come down, doesn't that indicate that the horse was raced too hard for its
conditioning? Is it really fit to continue?
And, yes, international competitors race closer to
the edge than is usually seen in local rides, but if they knew they had to make
pulse at the finish in the same time frame as at the vet checks, at least some
of them would have to be a bit more careful.
Cindy
As
for time allowed for pulsing down, all of these came down in under half an
hour, which is the AERC allowed time at vet checks. (Not sure what
the FEI allowed time is.) In any event, one will see this sort of
time for post-ride recovery in USA rides as well, when there is a
tough head-to-head race at the end.
