Then, the 30 minute vet check
vs the 60 minute vet check is at the finish line..60 at the finish
line. Where the final vet check id held. The finish line being
wherever it is established by RM.. The horse and rider can relax and
rest the extra 30 minutes to camp to the final vet check. But at the
end of the 50 miler the horse is deemed fit to continue after a 60
minute time period has passed.. Not 30 minutes at vet checks along the
trail through out the days ride. The horse must meet vet parameters by
the end of 30 minutes or be deemed not fit to continue...
This is not correct, it is where the misunderstandings come from. The
horse is not necessarily unfit to continue, and is not "deemed" unfit
to continue. The risk of a horse who takes that long to recover
BECOMING unfit to continue before the next vet check or finish is
deemed to great to take the risk of allowing him back out on the
trail. A very important distinction.
to the finish line.. So.. why
make a difference for fit to continue criteria at the finish line...
When, it has been 30 minutes throughout the ride...Buddy
I'll try again.
A horse must be fit to continue to pass a vet check, and a horse must
be fit to continue to earn a completion at the finish line. No
difference there.
A vet check has an ADDITIONAL requirement that is not needed at the
finish: in addition to being fit to continue, his pulse must also have
recovered to the set criteria within 30 minutes of arriving at the vet
check. This recovery or lack of it does not demonstrate that he is,
or is not, fit to continue. It is an added safety requirement.
We have plenty of example of horses that took longer than 30 minutes
for their pulse to recover at vet checks who went on and finished just
fine, most of them from the days before the 30-minute cutoff was added
to the vet checks. I know of at least one such example from our
current system where a horse failed to recover in 30 minutes at the
first vet check of a 100-mile ride but was inadvertently allowed to
continue, and finished very well.
