Several years ago, while on the board of
directors, I made a suggestion that if AERC dropped the awards program there
would be less problems of all sorts. I've forgotten what the issue of the
day was then, but it could have been solved had we no awards program. Many
people agreed with me, even a standing ovation (so to speak). I think we
all realize that without competition, the sport would die because humans are
generally competitive animals. If we had no competition, the sport would
die, yet without competition, less horses might die. I've never come up
with a solution to these issues.
Do I dare to question why the emphasis on
competition...i.e. points, awards, placements, miles, etc. isn't
mentioned as one of the culprits here? I thought "to finish is to
win" was the creed...... but the more rides I went to, the more I
heard about first place, time, top ten, etc. and the less I heard about "to
finish is to win"
