Re: RC: reply to Tom Ivers re: re FEI

[Teresa Van Hove <tvanhove@uswest.net>]

> 
> I have nothing against your personal approach, and I'm certain your horse is
> happy. But if you push your particular religion on others by sanctimoniously
> attacking those who choose to actually compete, you're trying to sell tap
> water as Holy Water.
> ti
> 
But I never said that everyone should be riding non-competitively.  I
stated only that there is no reason that everyone in endurance has to go
for the win or even have their horse ready to go for the win. I have
great respect for many competitive riders.  I disrespect some riders who
are only going for the finish but are pushing  their horses beyond what
they are conditioned for to get that finish. I think that good
horsemanship in endurance is knowing what your horse is capable of doing
without undue stress or risk of injury and staying below that threshold.
If that threshold is lower than what it might take to complete, or to
complete with the placing you want, than I agree with you -stay home and
train for the next ride.  

I'm certainly not a professional horsewoman - I have horses for fun and
relaxation.  Perhaps if I felt more boredom vs stress in my job I'd have
horses for fun and excitement and be conditioning and competing harder,
but right now I'm in the "finish is to win" mode - and when I hit that
1000 official competition miles mark, I felt very victorious.  I like
Debi's statement about following your own heart when it comes to
defining endurance goals.  I've completed the 1st step towards one of my
goals and I've enjoyed the journey, and I like to think Grey did too. 

Teresa