Re: RC: Hunters/Jumpers (was FEI...)

["Nancy Mitts" <mitts_n@hotmail.com>]

Bingo, Angie.
AERC really doesn't have a whole lot of hard & fast "rules", but ride 
managers can make a lot of their own, all within AERC. How many times has it 
been stated on this very list about AERC RULES concerning pregnant mare, 
shoes, must use a saddle, etc.  And parking? We've been to rides where you 
had to tell them in advance the size of your truck & trailer & they allotted 
you that much space, period. Camps where generators are segregated, corrals 
segregated, stallions all grouped together, etc. And just imagine at the ROC 
I had to wear that blasted pinney all day in that nasty central region gold 
color (who picked THAT any way?). And as you mentioned, that dreaded not 
being down to criteria penalty.
OCER used to co sanction a ride or two put on by a club from a bordering 
region. "Our" rules stated riders had 30 minutes to reach criteria at the 
holds, "theirs" mandated 20 minutes. "Our" criteria was usually 64, often 
60. "Theirs" usually 68. Much bickering every year. One year the vet took 
"their" 20 minutes & "our" 60 heart rate. I think endurance riders are only 
truly happy when they have something to b______about. We were all truly 
happy that hot humid day. It helps pass the time on trail, I guess. I know 
I've done my share, I can laugh more when it's somebody else. ;->
For new comers to this sport, you may not realize it has been undergoing 
continual changes during the 10 years I've been involved. I suspect it has 
been in a constant state of evolution since it's beginning.
The world as we know it was supposed to end when finishing critera was 
changed from 72 heart rate & sound at a walk. Guess not.

Nancy Mitts

>From: Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>
>To: guest@endurance.net
>CC: ridecamp@endurance.net
>Subject: RC:  Hunters/Jumpers (was FEI...)
>Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 20:38:05 -0400
>
>>I would almost bet that a person would find a greater difference in
>proceedure attending an AERC ride out west and an AERC ride here in the
>Southeast than in the usual Spring Biltmore ride and the FEI Spring
>Biltmore (fall Biltmore is a different animal, no 100 and a benefit run
>by non-endurance riders).  It's not as if AERC rides are all identical.
>When I crewed for the North American in Arizona, I checked my horse and
>turned to the rider and said, "He's down".  IMMEDIATELY a person stepped
>between myself and the horse and took his pulse, then asked for my card.
>I had no idea that out west pulse takers milled through the crowd waiting
>to be called.  I'd had no intention of presenting the horse until he was
>56 or 52 since there would have been a 30 min. penalty if he hadn't been
>down and he was actually right on 60.  This could have been catastrophic
>for us and it wasn't an FEI difference, it was a regional difference.

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