That is in the rules. It reflects how when distance riding first started, the on-trail checks had different qualifications from the final check (used to be they judged soundness at the trot on trail and at the walk at the finish). However, as AERC as evolved, the vet check process has also evolved. The control judge’s handbook lays out the current minimum requirements, but some rides do implement different (harder) standards at mid-ride checks versus at the finish.
For example, I have been to rides where at the mid-point check(s), the pulse requirement was 60, whereas it was 64 at the finish.
If you are looking for a practical application of this, I can give you an example from my own experiences.
My horse chose the wrong moment to look at a monster in the bushes and stumbled over a rock, giving himself an interference wound on his cannon. Horse trotted sound and was otherwise in great shape, so the vet noted it on the card, I covered it with some zinc oxide (no medications are allowed during competition) and put on some brushing boots.
At the next check, I made sure the wound had not worsened, as did the vet when the exam was done. Those types of minor dinks are what we would consider “inherent wear and tear” from being out on trail. They would be monitored, but such wounds in and of themselves would not be cause for a pull.
So there are not “blood rules” the way there are in other sports (thinking of eventing, where it’s also got “inherent wear and tear” but you get eliminated)?
I see mention of saddle/tack/equipment galls - why wouldn’t this be an immediate pull? It’s not going to get better with more miles, it can only get worse.
Also, this is in the soundness portion, presumably talking about soundness. They talk about stiffness and “leg weariness” in the same section - I don’t know how to take that other than a not 100% sound horse is going to be allowed to continue by calling it something other than what it is - lameness.
It’s also disappointing to see how many horses are pulled for being lame. Why are the riders continuing to ride to a check like that? Why don’t they get off and walk their mounts? I understand that the paperwork won’t state that the rider noticed it before the vet did, but still.
I went through lots of past records from the AERC site - many many horses end their careers with multiple non-completes, each one saying “lame”. Why doesn’t the rider know it’s time to retire the animal? Why go on to another 50 mile event? Why are these riders not sanctioned? Why would a horse be allowed to re-enter after the last two rides ended in “lame”?
I suggest you put the attitude on the back burner and go volunteer at a ride or three. If you can remain civil, perhaps you can get yourself a gig acting as a scribe for one of the DVMs at a check.
You might be surprised at what an educational experience it is.
I guess I didn’t understand the question either, because I’ve ridden in one of their unsanctioned “things” where the ride was 12 miles or something? I don’t remember the length. It was more of a “that looks interesting, let’s do it.” I didn’t know any of the rules, and just followed directions. I didn’t have to become a member or pay any dues, I know that. Pre-COVID.
So, I think that asking questions, based on what is laid out in the rule book and in the vet “rule” book is entirely fair. I think any horseman is entitled to have an attitude when there is such an abysmal completion rate, and at least half of those that didn’t complete are lame. That’s 100% a horse welfare issue. It’s not like because they were pulled it never happened - the horse was still out there, at a sanctioned event, being ridden on a looooong and grueling path, LAME.
Also, in their own documentation - 80% of endurance fatalities are due to colic, from being ridden into such a deep metabolic state that their gut ceases to function.
This feels pretty scattershot at this point. Are you still talking about Tevis or are you talking all endurance events? What are the number of fatalities overall in relation to participants?
At this point, I suppose it’s endurance in general. Tevis is being justified by the stringent rules that supposedly protect the horses, but it really isn’t looking that way.
You ride into a hold, get nixed due to lameness or metabolic - how long was the horse suffering before the hold vet caught you? For the Tevis this gets compounded, as it’s a long and grueling ride.
In one breath, you condemn the “abysmal completion rate”, and in the next, you condemn people for riding a “LAME” horse. If a horse comes into a checkpoint over a Grade 2 lame, it is eliminated. I’ve seen horses pulled for lameness at mile 80+ of a 100 mile ride.
Again, I urge you to attend a sanctioned AERC ride.
You quote part of the rulebook on lameness, but I think the entire section is more illuminating:
There will be no gait aberration that is consistently observable under all circumstances that results in pain or threatens immediate athletic performance. This examination will be conducted at a trot, or an equivalent gait, straight out and back, without prior flexion or palpation. It must be recognized that we are dealing with a risk sport with its inherent wear and tear. Control judges must also be flexible enough to evaluate the equine injured after completing the course, etc. This is posed as a very minimum criterion not designed to disqualify legitimate stiffness and “leg weariness” but to discourage over usage between the last control checkpoint and the finish line.
Is there any use of horses in sport that does not include “inherent wear and tear”?
In many cases, this is an immediate pull - it just depends on the specific situation. If the horse is lame from the issue, it’s pulled. If there is a way for the rider to fix the situation (remove a saddle bag, change the girth, change the pad, etc) then the horse would be allowed to continue. That may fix the situation. I once rode the last 18 miles of a 100 without a girth because it was irritating him (I could feel him moving funny every so often, but there was no visible rub or mark). Certainly not something I would suggest normally, but it worked and we completed that ride… and he never did have an rub marks so I still don’t know what the issue was.
We can split hairs about definitions all day long and what you consider one thing, I may not or vice versa. To me, a “leg weary” horse is one which does not have as much spring in its step as it did at the start. That is not the same as being lame, but is certainly an indication of being tired. But being tired can mean all sorts of things - does the horse just need the hold period to eat and recover? If a horse is leg weary, you start assessing other parameters (CRI, appetite, hydration, etc) to determine how the horse is doing overall.
You will see the term “lame” for anything from there may be a bad step every so often that the rider noticed on trail and mentioned to the vet to head-bobbing lame. And it includes people who realize there is a problem and stop on trail - even if I call for a trailer ride from whatever spot I am at and go right to the treatment vet, my pull will say “lame.”
Because often with horses things are not that that cut and dried. Especially when you consider we aren’t riding 50 miles at home. And lame could be caused by a million and one things, not all of which would be cause for retirement.
Example from my own horses. Took my mare to a ride and she was taking a weird step every so often on the second loop. It wasn’t consistent and I couldn’t make it repeat. When we got into the check, I told the vet what I had been feeling. Mare trotted out sound. I said day over anyway (which shows on my record as a “rider option - lame”). Went home and 2 days later, the mare popped an abscess out of her coronary band!
She recovered from that without incident and went back to training. The next ride planned was a 100. We started that and she was her normal rockstar self all day, until a misbehaving horse in the hold got loose from its attendant and crashed into her back end, knocking her to the ground. She got back up, but had some swelling on the hip she fell on. Went right back to the vets and explained what happened. She was short on that leg at the trot, so of course our day was over. Her record shows “lame” for that effort.
Thankfully, she was fine the next day but I had the treatment vet (who happens to be someone I went to undergrad with) look her over for me. We went home, she got her normal amount of time off after a ride, and went back into training. We went to the next ride. She got about 3/4 of the way through the 100, but had a cramp in her hind end at the second to last check - something she had never done before. Took her home and tested her for Lyme - positive. So she was treated and had the rest of the season off to recover. But her record shows another “lame” pull. So that was 3 rides in a row she didn’t finish - should I have retired her? [FWIW, I did not and she went on to do many more miles.]
I can answer this part. I didn’t realize my horse was lame as it was very slight. She would take an occasional odd step but nothing consistent. The ground was uneven so I thought it was that. When we got to vet check, they had me trot her twice because they thought they saw something on the first pass. On the second pass they saw she was very slightly off so was pulled.
I found later she had a stone bruise.
FYI, there were horses that finished Tevis in time thatt did not get their completion because their horses were not fit to continue. Some criteria may be lower at the finish but even being very slightly off (lame) is enough to not get your finish.
I think it’s also worth pointing out that the Haggin Cup, presented to the Top Ten Tevis finisher in Best Condtion, is at least as coveted as first place.
And more often than you might think, these are the same horse and rider.
You don’t know that the riders continued to ride. As someone mentioned a rescue trailer picking up the horse will take it to the vet, who will record that the horse is pulled from competition for lameness. As will the card for the horse hand walked back.
Unlike other disciplines where the judges have the right to dismiss a competitor for lameness (but rarely do unless it’s blatant) endurance vets will pull horses (“lame”) for a very low grade lameness. If a vet sees something they’re unsure they’re really seeing (irregular lameness for example) they will ask another vet to look at the horse as well.
Endurance horses are horses, subject to all the myriad variations in cause of lameness as every other horse. Just as in every other horse, endurance horses can heal up sound and prevention methods applied to reduce the chances of a similar lameness. Which means, just as in every other horse, three or more lameness incidents is not a reason to get rid of the horse.
Endurance horses will be pulled for failing the CRI. This failure can indicate a problem that is not yet detectable by any other sign.
The “failure” rate is so high precisely because there is a greater oversight of and care for the horses’ well being. Stricter drug rules, longer active competition times (2min jumper round vs multi hour “round”), greater veterinary oversight, etc all contribute to the high “failure” rate as compared to other horse sports. This “failure” rate protects the horses’ health, well being and longevity in the sport.
This is the crux–the “failure” rate is high because the criteria are stringent. Both riders and control DVMs have the horse at the top of the priority list.
Life includes inherent wear and tear. Old horses living in a grass field develop sores/rubs from getting up and down on the lovely turf. Because they are old, arthritic, and they do not get up and down gracefully. Horses slip on ice in the winter (maybe they should be locked in stalls until May?). I think some folks here are just out to whine. Endurance is one of the few truly accessible horse sports. A horse can be acquired for a very reasonable sum in the USA, and a rider can be truly competitive based on their own effort. Sure, luck plays a part. But I have know several endurance riders with free/super cheap Arab/part Arab and modest means, and they can do quite well with their own effort and grit playing the largest role. Endurance is the only horse sport I would keep in the Olympics. As it is really the only (relatively) accessible one.
