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

It's a good practice to raise questions when a horses welfare is at stake,
but making declarations like the ones Sandy made based on perception of a
video clip? I know Heather and Valerie, and many other top riders... like
Ken and Maryben, I took offence. I had to cool off and rewrite this letter.

Championship level endurance-type exertion is rarely a pretty thing to
behold in any sport if the viewer is an armchair - or pleasure ride -
athlete.

Exertion... endurance...  I love to run trails on foot. In the past, I could
run 33+ miles in the mountains, running the up hills and gliding the down
hills. I loved it. Why? Exertion *feels* good! I was chronic, passionate. I
still plan (persistently) to get back to doing that long mileage.

What did **I** look like when I was running?

I looked like hell.

I'm not exaggerating. I looked EXTREMELY BAD. My face turns beet red, I
breathe open-mouthed like some pale carp in stale water, sucking the air in,
my eyes go out of focus, I wave my hands to help the blood move. I look
horrible. I'm not normally an ugly woman, but when I run? Well, lets say I'd
threaten the life of anyone who tried to video tape me after the first 50
feet of incline. No matter how happy, healthy, well prepared I am, I look
like someone who should be rushed to the Emergency Room.

Even the most glorious specimens of our species - like Quicksilver's' famous
Tevis runner and rider Marvin Snowbarger look like hell at the point in a
race that this video was shot at. Red look marvelous from what I'm hearing.

Top caliber track runners approaching the finish typically look like they're
on the verge of exploding. I look "exhausted and miserable" any time I go
into an anaerobic state. Happy? I'm euphoric!!! I want the next hill, and
the 10 or 20 hills after that.

In endurance sports where an athlete has to persist, the look is the same...
Determined, persistent, pacing -- measuring what they have to give and how
much longer they have to give it. Sometimes it looks bad on the outside but
feels great on the inside.

Endurance is about exertion.

Linda Cowles
Horse 'N Hound
New, Consigned & Used Tack
9155 North State St.,  Redwood Valley, CA 95470
EASY  access with Hwy 101 frontage!
Store: 707-485-0347               Fax:  707-485-4053
kadence@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:kadence@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>


-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Sandy Bolinger
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2002 5:42 AM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] National IAHA Championship on TV


Heidi..Who ever made the film did not see the horses as I did...His
commentary during the video, particulary at the end, implied the he believed
the horses looked fine.  In fact...He did a wonderful job with the short
time he had. He simply videoed the horses during the ride in different
areas...Nothing wrong with that...Was it wrong that he videoed the horses
when they looked exhausted..should he have cut that part out of the video?
Don't think so! He simply showed it as it happened...and then its up to each
individual's interpretation. And from some of the private posts I have
received, many interpreted it the same way I did. The maker of the film did
not.

----- Original Message -----
From: Heidi Smith <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Sandy Bolinger <bolinger@xxxxxxxxxx>; <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2002 6:28 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] National IAHA Championship on TV


> >Will
> > an exhausted and miserable horse still move along at 10 or 12 miles an
> hour?
> > The ones with the big hearts will until they drop dead only because we
ask
> > them to. Does that mean it is OK to keep asking..just because they
> will????
>
> No, it is not OK to continue to ride exhausted horses, just because they
> will continue to go.  But that is why we have veterinary standards.  Yes,
> some exhausted horses (not all, by any means) will go just because we ask.
> What they will not do is come back into the vet check and have sterling
> CRI's, eat like pigs, and look bright and cheery in hand.  From what I
saw,
> the vetting standards were strictly and uniformly enforced at this ride.
>
> I am disappointed that the horses were portrayed on film the way you
> describe.  It does not do justice to how they appeared in person.  Shame
on
> whoever made the film, would be my response, having seen the finishers in
> person.
>
> Heidi
>


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 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
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