Re: [RC] [Guest] Minutes of the AERC BoD Conf Call Meeting Online - Laurie ... - Karen Sullivan
Barbara, you are one of the last people who should
be quiet on this subject. Your experiences and thoughts are extremely
imporant! I do think now i understand more what you are trying to
say.....and I will be the first to agree that an LD is NOT endurance, only prep
for a true endurance ride. I think, however, it is important to send the message
than even a 25 mile ride deserves some preparation.....
The first ever experience I had with AERC was in
1992, at the Chamberlin Creek 25 LD. I had read a whole lot on the sport
of endurance, and had talked to the ride manager, Calamity Paul. Even she
encouraged me to come be vet secretary first,and observe the ride. I brought my
horse anyway, and we did the 25 fine, although my friends horse was tired....We
were lucky that we had some extreme hills in our county to train on; but still
didn ot do the kind of sustained trotting and cantering required to finish an
endurance ride in time.....
That particular ride is pretty challenging, even
the Ld. I cannot imagine an unfit horse finishing it in good shape.
Subject: Re: [RC] [Guest] Minutes of the
AERC BoD Conf Call Meeting Online - Laurie ...
I want everyone to understand that I do
not approve of taking a horse out of pasture and doing a 25 mile ride.
It's just that 32 years ago, when I knew nothing, and there was nobody to
teach a new rider anything, I did just that.....out of sheer ignorance.
But I'm also making the point that I also agree with AERC by-laws that define
an endurance ride as 50 miles or greater. While it is not sensible to
ride an unconditioned horse in a 25 mile LD ride, I'm just saying I could be
done. I believe an endurance ride should require a level of
preparation and the commitment of a lot of time to do that preparation.
If this explanation still leaves some people not understanding what I'm trying
to say, I shall be quiet on the subject from here on.
Subject: Re: [RC] [Guest] Minutes of
the AERC BoD Conf Call Meeting Online - Laurie ...
I honestly do not believe you can take an unfit
horse out of a pasture and go do 25 miles in 6 hours, without some trauma to
the legs and back....let alone the metabolic risk. I have yet to see a
25 mile ride you can mostly walk (since vet check times are included in the
6 hrs.) You would have to trot quite a bit to make times....IT seems
very unfailr and abusive to an animal.
