You got some good info on gate-into-hold, but I'd like to add another
suggestion.
We've found that it really helps to mark off the P/R area with flag
rope, and have a clearly marked "gate" (just a gap, really) about
eight feet wide where the horses enter. A rider's time is recorded
when the horse is led through the gate. If the pulse is verified
down, that is the start of the hold time -- if not, the horse must go
back out and present again.
If you don't do this, it can get pretty confusing, with riders
hollering for "P & R" from all over. It can lead to arguments as to
when they were down. If you *only* record time when a horse
physically passes through a gate, there is no question and no
favoritism.
This method also prevents a rider from being unfairly penalized if
there is a crowd and it takes a few minutes for a pulse-taker to get
to her horse.
In the U.S. Southeast we definitely do *not* count respiration as a
criteria for starting the hold -- just the pulse! There is no fixed
respiration level for a horse to pass the vet check!!!
We (in the SE) don't use separate time cards -- all times are
recorded on the vet card. To keep people from jamming up, we do it
this way: when the rider or crewman leads the horse through the
gate, they go directly to a pulse-taker. The timer writes the time
on a master time sheet *when the horse passes through the gate*.
The pulse-taker takes the pulse. If it is OK, the pulse taker calls
out the horse number to the timer; the timer calls back the time that
the horse passed trough the gate. The pulse taker writes this time
down on the vet card along with the anticipated out time. The horse
is taken to the vet; after clearing the vet check the rider or
"strapper" takes the vet card to the out timer for verification of
the out time.
Again, if the pulse is not OK, the pulse taker calls this fact out to
the timer, who strikes the time from the master sheet, and the horse
must go back out and present again.
Notice that in this system, the timer never handles any rider's
card. No horse has to stop in the gate to get a card filled in.
The vet cards are only handed to the pulse taker and vet secretary
(who are standing right next to the horse), and the out timer for
verification of the time to leave.
One more thing. With this system a small ride needs only one person
doing all of the timing at a vet check. Larger rides should have
separate in and out timers if at all possible.
--Joe Long Rainbow Connection Arabians PC/LAN Manager home of Kahlil Khai Calhoun Community College AERC Hall of Fame horse jlong@hiwaay.net 11,450 miles completed
--Joe Long "There are more things in Heaven PC/LAN Manager and Earth, Horatio, than are Calhoun Community College dreampt of in your philosophy." jlong@hiwaay.net (Shakespeare)