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RE: [RC] Recovery/CRI - heidiI beg to differ. First of all, it is a no-brainer to first
eliminate the extraneous reasons why the pulse is elevated, as you did
in your example.
That said, with heart rates in the 80s, the CRI becomes virtually
meaningless. The pulse is ALREADY so elevated that having it
remain elevated tells you diddly squat. Even Kerry has frequently
discussed the fact that the CRI has the most meaning in the range where
horses are expected to be recovering--it unmasks the horses that are
only able to maintain the lower pulse as long as they are not further
stressed. That is ALL it does. And that's a lot--it's an
outstanding tool. But on either extreme, it becomes less of an
indicator.
The other extreme is the horse that is aroused from a nap and is
asked to trot out and has his pulse taken again. He may have a
32/44 CRI. Does that mean that he is "fatigued?" No
way. It simply means that you put him on alert that his body may
have to do something now. Yet in the "mid-ranges" a 12-beat
increase would be a HUGE cause for concern
By the same token, when you get up in the 80 range, a lack of
increase does not tell you that the horse is ok--a horse in a
full-blown state of exhaustion simply is pumping along trying to catch
up to that exhaustion, and the lack of a transient rise is as
meaningless as is the 12-beat rise in the resting horse. At that
level, the absolute pulse IS the concern.
Heidi
A hanging pulse of 80 tells you virtually NOTHING about the extent to
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