Re: "want to do endurance"

["superpat" <superpat@ccountry.net>]

Dear Donna,
What a wonderful, inspiring response to a question that I am certain is oft
asked. I will file your letter where I can have ready access for myself and
my friends. Thank you again
Pat Super

PS I was especially happy that you pointed out the role the rider plays in
prolonging the horse's active participation life. I got into riding at a
rather late stage (age 57) and seven years later, I am loving every dressage
lesson (and lunging and groundwork lessons) and I know for a fact that it
helps my horse. I apologise to my first horse (I now have five) for the
discomfort I must have caused him through my poor riding techniques and
unbalanced riding. If only more endurance riders would acknowledge the part
they play. So many thnk that all they have to do is climb on and stay on for
50 miles and they are "riding". What poor passengers they really are. But I
think the tide may be turning, (thanks in in no small mneasure to your
efforts to encourage and train). Let's hope so.
Pat
----- Original Message -----
From: <guest@endurance.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 11:11 AM
Subject: RC: "want to do endurance"


> Donna Snyder-Smith rightrider@cs.com
> When reading your post, there are a couple of thoughts that
> occur.  First, although you did say you were very competitive,
> which may eliminate this possibility for you, I assume you
> have thought of slowing down as an option to
> simply leaving the sport.  There is a great deal of debate on
> whether it is endurance riding or endurance racing and in truth,
> in my opinion, it is both.  You can "ride" through an event or
> you can "race" through an event.  Both can be done well, and both
> can be done poorly (increasing the risk of injury to the horse).
> With your competitiveness, you may not be interested in doing
> endurance "riding," only endurance "racing," but the people you
> meet, etc. are the same.
> As to wear and tear on the horse, I've spent a professional life
> time with horses and "played" in more than a few disciplines.
> I probably don't need to tell you that you can find abuse (of the
> horse) in any of them if you know where to look.  Frankly, I've
> seen some of the other discipline do a lot more damage to horses
> who were being competed than most endurance horses experience.
> I, like you, keep coming back to the fact that endurance horses
> as a group seem to genuinely enjoy what they do.  Not that I've
> never seen a happy jumper, event horse or dressage horse, etc.
> but I haven't seen them in the sheer numbers that I've seen happy
> endurance horses (and I've been in lots of places where these and
> other activities were taking place, for many years).  Also, horses
> in these disciplines break down too.  So the question becomes, is
> there a sport where, if you participate to the degree where
> you want to do more than win once or twice or at the "local"
> level, you won't run the same risk of deterioration  to the horse?  Let's
just say, I've never seen evidence of that.  Horses who seem to grow old in
a competitive sport with less than an
> average amount of wear and tear have some things in common.  First, they
have conformation which makes them suitable for the
> job.  Second, they were not asked to bear weight, or started in
> their discipline career too young (before 4 years).  Third, they
> receive regular time off from their jobs, between competitions and between
competitive seasons and during this vacation
> time, they are usually housed at what amounts to a horse "spa."
> Green, good grass pasture, with lots of room to roam (keeping
> their muscles loose and in good shape). Fourth, they had owner
> trainers who made sure their athletic partner had what they
> needed in the way of correctly fitted equipment, shoes, etc.  The
> shoes thing alone can take a lifetime of study, and trust me (I could give
you more details if you want), even when you think you
> have gotten the best, you can be fooled, as x-rays are now
> showing in this four point balance system of shoeing! (but that's
> another story).  Then ofcourse there's good riding. NO ONE YET
> puts as much responsibility for competitive wear and tear on
> the horse, on the shoulders of the rider.  I don't just mean
> speed or frequency, I mean BALANCE.  I mean FLUID non interfering
> riding.  This is not an easy thing.  For hundreds of years,
> equestrians the world over have spent lifetimes "becoming one
> with the horse."  While I fully realize that not everyone who
> rides will "become one with their horse," for more than an
> isolated moment or two, I also know most riders do not realize
> how much tension and crookedness in their bodies inhibits their
> horse's ability to balance and "defend" itself from the wear and
> tear of its work.
> Guess what I'm saying is, there are other options you could
> explore if you don't want to give up the sport, and yes, I am
> sure there are other riders who ask themselves the same question
> you are wrestling with, I know I have in the past and I'm sure
> I will in the future.  I also ask myself these other
> questions as well, however.  Did/is, my horse enjoying their life?  Are
they as comfortable as I can possibly make them?
> Could I realistically afford to just do nothing with them but
> turn them out in hundreds of acres of pasture and feed and care
> for them?  Could I be absolutely sure that if I entrusted them
> to someone elses care, rather than ride/compete them, they
> would have a better life?  Some things to think on.  Happy trails
> DSS
>
>
>
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