Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

In other words, kat, yes, the horse with the 80/80 CRI did have a problem.  In fact, two problems.  Both were thankfully easily alleviated.  Perhaps "the horse has a problem" would be more accurate phraseology than "the horse is in trouble," but you illustrate my point--SOMETHING is not right with the horse with the 80 pulse, even if his CRI is 80/80.

 

Heidi

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [RC]   Recovery/CRI
From: "k s swigart" <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, January 08, 2007 7:45 am
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Heidi said:

> Fourth, CRI's on the non-recovering horse would be
> interesting, certainly.  But a horse with an 80/80 CRI
> is still in trouble.

This is not necessarily true.  At the end of day 1 of the Rocky Mountain
Ride, I was concerned that my horse that normally recovered very quickly
(like he was usually recovered before I could get from the in timer to
the pulse checker at vet checks) was "hanging" at around 80 a half an
hour after the finish despite the fact that everything else looked
absolutely normal.

I took him to the vet because of this concern. One of the things the vet
did was a CRI (as well as checking all his other parameters which were
completely normal).  He was 80/80, which alleviated the vets concerns
somewhat. She asked, "Had he had any electrolytes?"

"No, but then I never did give him electrolytes. Could it be because he
is aggitated by all these biting flies?" (He was constantly stomping his
feet because of them.)

"Possibly, but doesn't seem likely."

By that time, my parents had gotten back with the keys to the trailer
(they had moved it for me and gone sight seeing...and conscientiously
locked it up while it was unattended), so I could get in it.  I gave him
a little bit of electrolytes and put fly spray on him.  A few minutes
later, the vet came back over to see if there was any change (she, too,
was a little concerned).  His pulse was now at 40.  His CRI was 40/36.

She said, "Electrolytes wouldn't have worked that fast.  It was almost
definitely the flies." (The foot stomping had also stopped.)

Hanging pulses are not necessarily caused by internal metabolic
concerns.  Sometimes external environmental factors that have nothing to
do with it.

And in my experience, if it is caused by these environmental factors,
then the CRI will be something like 80/80; while if it is caused by
internal metabolic problems the CRI will be more like 80/96.

So, for me, if a horse has a hanging pulse but a "normal" CRI, then I
look for something other than a metabolic problem to explain it (in my
experience, slight lameness can also cause this).  There are things
besides metabolic recovery problems that can cause high pulses (like
excitement) but I find that these types of problems do not reflect in a
CRI.

In fact, I find this so much the case that I have learned to virtually
discount the relevance of absolute pulse criteria with respect to
evaluating metabolic "recovery."  I find the CRI to be much more
meaningful for this.  That and knowing what is normal for a particular
horse (which vets at endurance rides simply cannot know).

kat
Orange County, Calif.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

 Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=