Fw: RC: endurance prospect, etc.

["Whitney Bass" <bass@bigsky.net>]

----------
> From: Whitney Bass <bass@bigsky.net>
> To: Tivers@aol.com
> Subject: Re: RC:  endurance prospect, etc.
> Date: Sunday, February 06, 2000 1:25 PM
> 
> You missed my point completely, Tom.  I wasn't even talking about whether
> or not my way of riding "saves" horses from lameness problems, or
whatever.
>  I wasn't "looking down my nose" at those people that are willing to ask
> that much of their horses -- I'm definitely DIFFERENT from them, but
nobody
> said anything about being better.  Obviously they are better than me at
> quite a few things.  I never said that "none of my horses have ever been
> lame", I was simply saying that the real challenge for me is to see how
> long I can keep my horses going happily and soundly.  I've been in this
> sport long enough to have had to deal with almost every type of problem. 

> My only point, Tom, was that I have a hard time with this sport of
> endurance riding sometimes.  Not because I don't want to win, or have the
> horses to make it possible -- it's because at most rides, the (eventual)
> winner is willing to push their horse harder than I am.  Believe me,  I
> went through a stage where winning was important to me.  Even raced for
> miles on end at the end of a couple of fifties in order to place first
(or
> even second).  And I hated the way it made me feel, and I hate the way it
> makes me feel when I see others do it.  So I made the decision to learn
> from what I felt were mistakes, and change my mentality.  Horses are not
"a
> means to an end" for me.  For 23 years (since I was born!), they have
> consumed by thoughts, my dreams, and my fantasies.  I realize that a lot
of
> riders are not that way -- I don't consider myself better than them, I
> consider myself different from them, because I cannot understand their
> mentality.  And perhaps that lack of understanding leads me to judge them
> too harshly.  My only point in writing that post, Tom, was to say that
> because the winner of most rides is determined ultimately by the
> competitiveness of the rider, instead of the skill of the team, I am
> considering changing disciplines.  I've known all along that endurance
> riding was to going to grow and head in the direction it is today -- just
> because I don't want to see it, doesn't make me ignorant or superior.  
> 
> ----------
> > From: Tivers@aol.com
> > To: bass@bigsky.net; ridecamp@endurance.net
> > Subject: Re: RC:  endurance prospect, etc.
> > Date: Sunday, February 06, 2000 12:42 PM
> > 
> > In a message dated 2/6/00 9:47:09 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> bass@bigsky.net 
> > writes:
> > 
> > << So if I (and
> >  others) tend to look down at those who go hell bent for leather in
order
> to
> >  achieve that win, don't assume that we are "losers", assume that we
> >  perceive those actions as a mistake -- one that we would not like to
> >  duplicate, or even have to watch again.  I consistently top ten all
> rides I
> >  enter, and keep my horses metabolically and physically sound for years
> on
> >  end (I'm not thinking just 5 years or so, I'm talking about a career)
--
> I
> >  consider myself a fairly successful endurance rider.  So, then, why
> don't I
> >  go for the win more often?  Because I know, after YEARS of observing,
> that
> >  I am NOT willing to ask of my horse what the "winners" are willing to
> ask
> >  of theirs.  So, it often makes me consider changing to a sport where
the
> >  win is achieved by training, conditioning, partnership, and greatness.

> Not
> >  to say that winners of endurance don't have to have all of that, too
--
> I'm
> >  just saying, that in most cases, any of 5 horses could win a
particular
> >  ride, and the win generally goes to the team with the most competitive
> >  rider, the one who is willing to ask that much more of his/her horse.
> >   >>
> > 
> > I believe you're confusing stupidity with athletic capability and 
> > competitiveness. Why ask your horse to finish top ten, if that's your 
> > position? Why not finish a happy, sanctimonious 30th? Then you can look
> down 
> > your nose at 29 riders rather than just a couple. I'm very pleased to
> hear 
> > that none of your horses have ever been lame. The rest of us have a lot
> to 
> > learn from you. Avoiding finishing first is the key? The winner of the 
> > President's Cup came out sound as a $100 bill--and he'd won a few
before
> he 
> > was purchased for UAE competition. Same for the second place horse.
I'll
> pass 
> > on your advice to Sheikh Tahnoon, though, just in case he's concerned
> about 
> > your looking down your nose at him. Interesting concept--finishing
tenth 
> > saves horses--I'll ask Jim Rooney what he thinks--maybe you've got
> something 
> > there.
> > 
> > ti