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First some terms:

Course:  The first definition of course is "an onward movement; a going on 
from one point to the next".  These are physical concepts.  Although the 
second definition refers to the passage of time, for example, in the course 
of a week, in our sport we do "distance" rides, we "go the distance".  We 
don't do rides "in the course of 5 hours" or "go for 5 hours".  So for us, 
"course" is the first definition.

Complete the course:  Since a course is physical, to complete the course 
means to start at the point that defines the beginning of the course and 
successfully arrive at the point that defines the physical end of the course.

Criteria:  There are two sets of criteria: ride criteria and veterinary 
criteria.  The latter is set by the Head Vet.  L2.1.6.1 states that the 
veterinary criteria includes but is not limited to pulse and respiration. 
L6.2.1.2 - L6.2.1.5 elaborate more fully, what criteria (pulse, 
respiration, metabolism, gait, soreness), can be included.

Reach criteria:  Attain the veterinary parameters established by the Head Vet.

Riding time: L5.3 defines this as "the time used by competitors to complete 
the course and reach criteria, excluding all hold times."  Notice the word 
"AND".  This word means that there are two times which must be added 
together to get riding time, the time to complete the course and the time 
to reach criteria.  Since completing the course refers only to traveling 
from point to point, had the rules committee intended the phrase "complete 
the course" to include the time taken to "reach criteria", instead of 
complete the course "and reach criteria", they would have needed to say, 
"including reaching criteria" or "including the time taken to reach criteria".

Now, how does all this shake out?  L5.4 provides that at the finish, ride 
time shall continue until the horse's pulse drops to 60 bpm or less.  But 
ride time is defined as completing the course AND reaching criteria. 
Therefore, even though the LD horse hasn't finished by crossing the finish 
line, that line nevertheless defines the end of the course.  To clarify, 
the wording in L5.4, "There is no marked finish line on the course" is 
qualified by "that is used to determine placing or completion time." 
These words are meant to distinguish between the fact that in Endurance, 
crossing the finish line is synonymous with finishing the ride whereas in 
LD, it is not. They are not meant to imply that there is no finish line at all.

So a horse crosses the finish line, completing the course, and pulses down 
in 10 minutes.  That ends the ride time.  It is apparent from the posts on 
this issue that the PRACTICE has been to allow each horse 30 minutes to go 
to the vet, starting with the time the horse meets the pulse criteria.  My 
guess is that the practice has evolved for basically two reasons.  First, 
sloppy reading of the rules and substituting less precise wording for the 
actual wording   Second, it became apparent that there were numerous times 
that 10 or more horses would pulse down within a few minutes of each other 
and requiring them all to present in a smaller-than-half-hour window, even 
if the vets were right there at the finish line, was not just inconvenient. 
 It was impossible.

What DO the RULES say?  L6.2.1.1 states, "All equines must stand a 
mandatory post ride evaluation within one half hour of finishing the 
course."  Not finishing or completing the ride, not receiving their ride 
time.  "Finishing the course".  That means they have 1/2 hour from the time 
they cross the finish line to stand for the vet exam.  Why was this wording 
used?  I suspect because when these rules were originally formulated, they 
wanted to have really tight requirements plus no one expected LD to become 
as popular as it has.  Then, as time passed, the PRACTICE superseded the 
rule so no one thought anything about it... until now.  The discussion of 
using similar time constraints on Endurance rides has brought home the 
impossibility of accommodating the number of finishers that might very 
reasonably need to present all at once.

If you think all the above definitions and stuff is just smoke and mirrors, 
look again at L6.2.1.1 and the sentence, "An equine that does not meet the 
established criteria within one half hour of arrival time shall be 
disqualified."  No matter what you might LIKE the rules to say, the phrase 
"arrival time" clearly means the time at which you arrive.  Had the intent 
been that the clock for the vet exam start when a horse pulsed down, then 
"arrival time" would have been a monstrously poor choice of words.
Either "pulsing down" or "the end of riding time" would have stated the 
case a lot better.

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