Re: [RC] AERC forum 30 minute completion time - Elizabeth Walker
I'm kind of on the fence with this one. My biggest issue is that there are lots of reasons why a horse might not pulse down in 30 minutes, and not all of them are indicative of metabolic problems. I have a couple of counter-examples from personal experience, one at a ride, and one from a training ride where my horse didn't pulse down. Both were due to tack problems (bit was pinching, and a too-tight girth).
While there is every reason to be careful at a Vet Check, because the horse is going back out, the final check has more leeway. I'm not convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs in this case -- particularly for rides where the trail dictates that the finish line be placed a significant distance away from camp.
If the intent is to protect the horse, I think I would be more supportive of a rule which gave Ride Management and the Vets the option to require competitors to **remain in camp** so the vets could monitor a horse. Then at the completion check, the vets would have the option of designating a horse to be "monitored" - meaning that the owner/rider could not load the horse up and take off before being released by the vets. That would give the vets the ability to monitor any horses they were uneasy about - for any reason. Put some teeth into it - for members anyway. Failure to comply is an automatic DQ, and 3-month suspension.
Something like that would not affect the logistics of finish line placement, and would give the vets a lot more flexibility in keeping an eye on particular horses.
On Sep 23, 2009, at 7:02 AM, oddfarm wrote:
The discussion is about a possible 30 minute time limit at the finish.
While I don't have a problem with it, it is a tad confusing. I agree that horses should recover in less than 15 minutes. I am not sure that if they don't, they are "over stressed". Any hard workout is stressing. That's the point. Stress plus recovery equals improvement. So they say.
