Ridecamp: Re: [RC] National IAHA Championship on TV

Watched this Wednesday night...It was of the Asland(Ft Howes) 100 mile IAHA ride. Watched it with a couple of friends who were not endurance riders. If definitely did not do this sport any good. My friends were appalled. Part of the program showed the front runners coming up a road in the last ten miles of the ride. It was a long, gradual uphill stretch. And the horses looked AWFUL.. Heather's horse was kind of trotting...with his head almost dragging on the ground...absolutely exhausted. Canaveys horse was walking VERY slowly with her kicking him every step. One rider was off and seemingly pulling her horse along. They showed the finish..and again the first place horse looked extremely overridden. I found my self justifying all this to my appalled friends..."The horses just went 100 miles, of course they are going to be tired" or "They may LOOK exhausted and over ridden but they obviously aren't because they passed all the vet checks." or "They may look tired at the end of the ride..but by tomorrow, thanks to their excellent conditioning etc...they will look as if they haven't done anything." But that's not really how I felt. Look at the winning time for that race...It was something ridiculous like 8 1/2 hours for 100 miles. I have seen LOTs of horses finish 100 miles rides and at the finish...as they come across the finish line...their heads are up and they look like they could easily head out and do some more. Was so much on the line here that it justified riding at those speeds...pushing the horses right to the edge of exhaustion? Can we justify everything we do to these horses in the name of competition (OUR EGOS) as long as they pass all the vet checks and don't die sometime afterwards? Remember what happen to the big gray at the Race of Champions in Colorado...The one who was trying so desperately to keep up with Rio...He kept passing all the checks...was obviously being over ridden...and crashed BIG time at the last vet check and barely made it. ...Don't forget either about the horse that won both the old dominion and the Tevis in the same year. That horse spent almost 6 months in stall rest and another year of rehab because of multiple tendon, ligament, abscessed soles..etc etc problems...never was able to come back to competition. and his rider was awarded the AERC super rider of the universe award.Sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Re: [RC] National IAHA Championship on TV - Sandy Bolinger