Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Penny,
I thought later (after sending that message) that the word "punishment", might be taken wrong.  I'm not talking about fining riders, kicking them out of AERC, or something like that.  I was thinking more along the lines of basically putting chronic problem riders under a spotlight in front of their peers (other riders)...something that would let other riders know, and that problem rider would *know* they know, that the problem rider is not putting their horse first.  If such a rider knew that others were watching them, they might ride a little more carefully.

Why should we, as riders and an organization, look the other way just because someone is a high profile rider (which could be defined several ways - mileage, wins, longevity, etc.)?  Doesn't that put our house of cards on even shakier ground?  Shouldn't we expect those riders be especially knowledgeable and less likely to have repeated metabolic problems?  And shouldn't they recognize that they are the ones the very rank newbies are most likely to look to for "how it's done", at least initially, and thus they have a responsibility to set a good example?  Just some thoughts.

I do agree with you about uniformity...I've only ridden in CT region except one ride in another region, but just from reading RC and talking to some friends who live and ride in other regions, it sounds like there are a lot of differences between regions.  But we can set uniform ways of doing things, and all abide by them, and some people will *still* continue to crash horses.  It just seems to me that until the sacred halo is removed from "high profile" riders everywhere and they are held responsible for their actions, they'll continue on.  *That* is part of cleaning up our own house!  And don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the person whose horse has a couple of minor metabolic problems, or the person whose horse ends up on a jug for the first time.  I'm talking about those who repeatedly have major problems.  

As for the riders taking legal action, well, if the consequences are outlined in the AERC rules, they can decide to join AERC or not...if they don't like the rules, don't join.  JMO...

Dawn