Ridecamp: RE: [RC] ntNewsGroup: Jerez WEG Endurance Postride Report

Wow, I think I've stirred the hornet's nest!

So - do we need to place blame? Whose fault is it really? Maybe it's FEI's
problem, maybe it's Michael Stone's problem (you can bet he's feeling the
heat), maybe it's a couple individuals with a lot of power, maybe it's the
UAE and their buckets of money. Maybe it's our ridiculous human egos that
have to prove better than the other guy. Maybe not enough people have the
proper respect for the incredible difficulty of our sport. Exhausted and
over-ridden horses are not unique to International level competition.
They're just more visible, and probably more common on a percentage basis
since it really really is a race. I refuse to believe that we don't have
serious problems here at home though - I've seen too many horses on IV
drips, and some with serious metabolic consequences later. And whether a
horse dies by accident, colic, or exhaustion, we still have to acknowlege
that our sport has inherent risks - to rider as well as horse.

Would eliminating International competition, or boycotting it make our sport
safer? Here at home, or anywhere? Can we really ever insure that officials
won't be swayed, or have poor judgement, or that the courses will be safe?
The International level is creating an environment where the ability of the
horse to race over 100 miles is being pushed to it's limit. That's pretty
obvious. But do we stay involved and try to help the sport, and the horses,
at this level? Do we try to change the sport at this level?? Or do we say
'this sucks, I'm outa here'? I suspect many individuals who at some time
have aspired to World level competition will be choosing the latter.

What has now happened is that these (WEC) horse deaths are now public, the
entire equine sport media has the story. Any time a group of riders asks a
horse to race for 100 miles there is a high probability that one or more of
these horses will become exhausted. Some of them may die, either at the
event, or later due to complications. Like it or not, that is the nature of
our sport as it's currently defined, it's a race.

Just as an aside - I received a phone call from Mathew McKay-Smith (sp??)
after I got back from Spain. He has been trying to promote a different type
of endurance competition - based on levels of achievement rather than head
to head competition. There are probably some on the list that are more
familiar with it then myself, but he has some interesting ideas. I don't
know what the solution is - I love a good race, but I hate a bad race! How
can we protect our sport, and better protect our horses??

Steph

(maybe LD is the answer :)



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