Re: AERC and charges

["Howard Bramhall" <hwb67@msn.com>]

 ----- Original Message -----

From: Nancy Mitts

Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 2:46 PM

To: canewbanks@cybertrails.com; ridecamp@endurance.net

Subject: RC: Re: Re: AERC and charges

 

Of course they can ban. But that lynch mob is after BLOOD! And please lets
not confuse ourselves with getting the facts first.
Nancy mitts

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Nancy,

I am not out for blood here, and I don't think anyone else is either.   I have received quite a bit of information about this event, and, like I kinda figured it would be, it's a very sad story.  A heartbreaker.

The girl involved is young.  19.  First ride, and she elected to do a 50.  Only one vet check after 25 miles at this ride, then the completion check.  And, she had no mentor who rode with her. The person who should have been with her (maybe) did the 75.

These are facts, and I find them all hard to swallow.  I know a lot of endurance riders successfully complete their first ride in a 50, without any problems.  And I bet they trained hard, rode careful, when they did this.  But I don't think this is good advice for the first time rider, in general.  I really think we have the LD there for a reason, and if you don't make your first ride an LD, you better know what the heck you're doing. And have a mentor (seasoned endurance rider) to make sure of it.

Look, I feel for this young woman, and I don't think she'll be returning to the endurance circuit anytime soon.  I truly believe no one intentionally kills their horse; people (myself included) on occasion do stupid things or make wrong choices.  Problem is, the horse suffers.  The only way to help the horse is to educate those who ride them.  Believe it or not, discussions like this, can help prevent it from happening again. Or, at least make  changes to increase the odds of the horse surviving.

The only reason I want the info from this ride out there is for learning purposes, and maybe, to have some folks in charge of the ride rethink some things.  Like only one vet check for a 50 mile ride.  That sounds kind of unsafe right there.  And, maybe, it might not be a bad idea to insist, as in make it a rule, that a rider and horse do at least one LD before attempting their first 50 mile ride.

I am not one who wants more rules; I hate rules; I'm about as anti authority as a person can get.  But one thing that upsets me more than rules, is a dead horse.  I do think a discussion on the matter is warranted, and if we can't get one thru AERC, with a protest, because the young woman isn't a member, then a discussion about it shouldn't be that much out of the question.  I'm not talking about assessing blame; but endurance riders should discuss it just to show that a dead horse does matter.  To all of us.

 

cya,

Howard (I'm starting to smell like soap; I've been on my box way too long.  I'm going riding)