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RE: [RC] Rule Change Proposal - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM3) Lower HR criteria -- I understand the objection. The two pulls I've had on my horse is simply because he was too excited to come down, so I'm actually taking the chance of shooting myself in the foot here. I'd be happy to hear from some vets. I'm perfectly willing to drop this one if the concern is that it would penalize horses that are new, but are not being overtaxed. But often enough, too excited to meet criteria in a green horse also means too excited to eat, drink, rest, etc. And thus, still more likely to get into trouble, need treatment later on, etc. Adrenalin from excitement and 'fight or flight' still decreases blood flow to the GI tract, and thus makes those horses more prone to colic than a more experienced horse. Sometimes the horse would be fine if the green RIDER would stop a minute, get their panties untwisted and leave their horse alone for a few minutes to get some hay and water. Either way, personally I'm fine making those meet a stricter criteria, even if it means they can't meet it and don't go on. If the horse can't meet a reasonable criteria, why is the best solution to that to shrug, say 'he's just excited' and let him continue on down the road being excited and still at increased risk? Rather than keep him at the check long enough until he does start to get a clue that it's not all that riveting after all and hey looky, there's hay over here? If a horse can't reach a reasonable criteria within 30 minutes of coming in, excited or not, then either a) the rider needs to do more schooling and socializing, and here you are at a great place to do that (because you're not going down the trail anymore today, friend), or b) he's not well-suited to the sport, at least not today. Sorry if that seems exclusive and elitist, and is unnecessarily hard on the heavy-muscled breeds that can't come down, but better that than treating horses that were just too goofy and went on anyway because we want to seem like nice people. Maybe a better alternative would be to just require an exit CRI, which looks at recovery rates, not pulse as an absolute value. Might be easier on RMs and the infrastructure, just a little more work for the vets. Fine by me. The different colored card would help identify who needed one. I know it would to some extent rely on an honor system of who's a newbie rider, but we already rely heavily on an honor system regarding a number of things, anyway. We don't require a negative Coggins or health certificate, don't do preg checks on the mares, don't check registration papers for age or ownership, etc. We hardly ever weigh anyone outside of Top Ten. Hell, we hardly even drug test. Most of this sport is based on an honor system to one extent or another. Truman, I'm not sure this is only a PS region issue. It MIGHT be, I just don't know because I don't vet outside PS. Given conversations I've had with riders I trust in other regions, I don't think it's just PS. We have a number of rides that start 150-175 horses, base camps that are centrally located and thus attractive to new riders trying it out, and all that might be contributing factors. But I also think it's important to differentiate between "treatments" and "ridden harder than was reasonable despite advice to do otherwise". The two aren't always the same. As well, there are plenty of treatments that don't require a full IV fluid hook up. Could have just meant some banamine, easily missed by casual observers. Still a treatment, still means we failed to adequately identify and prevent overriding. I agree, it's the rider's responsibility to take care of their horse. Sometimes the rider still needs to have their car keys taken away from them, so to speak. If I have an opportunity, and the tools, to prevent a rider from hurting their horse, I'll do that for the horse's sake. I'm going to go put a bumper sticker on my truck that says, "Friends don't let friends override." Susan Garlinghouse, DVM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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