All good point Nancy. For those of us that ride with hrt rate on board the horse. This is not really an issue unless we get a fluke hang up. Which happens, has happened to both myself and my wife and the horses were both fine.
So, if the 30 minutes-60 minute thing is not an indicator, and all of us with heart rate monitors can meander around as long out of camp as we want, it does not seem all this debate is going to solve anything. Perhaps we should go back to "dogs in camp"
Keith
There are all kinds of ways to get around arbitrary cutoffs. I was at a ride many years ago where it was quite hot and humid, and both pulse and respiration had to be down within 20 minutes of arrival at a vet check or you were pulled. So some riders simply waited outside the vet check until their horses were down or almost down.
At the last vet check my horse's respiration was still high after 18 minutes. He was a panter, and was still cooling himself. I knew his respiration was not any sign of a problem. So I pushed some ice up his anus, and at 20 minutes he was breathing nice and slow. We went on to finish just fine.
BTW, this was not against the rules. I inserted the ice in full view of the vet. Another rider asked him what I was doing, and the vet said "he's bringing his respiration down." That day was also the only time I needed to do that.
