An incident happened several years ago where the ride manager put the
finish line in camp. Some one was hurt - a protest filed. From my
memory the P&G committee ruled that the RM should take all
precautions to place the finish line in a location that will not put
anyone at risk in the case of a race. I read that to also mean that
they should also manage the volunteers in such a way as to minimize the
risk.
It went on to say if it is not possible to put the finish line where
the risk is mitigated, then it is the responsibility of the rides to
ride in a safe manner.
While not there it sounds like the RM may have not sufficiently managed
the volunteers in a manner to minimize the risk to all concerned.
Think about how long it takes to do an emergency stop in a car at 20
mph ( or 1/3 mile per minute which is 587 yards or almost six football
fields). Then at least double or triple that distance for stopping a
horse at 20 mph. First there is the reaction time of the rider and then
the reaction time of the horse and then the ability of the horse to
absorb the energy of the forward motion and with a 1000 pound horse
that's quite a bit of energy and it cannot be stopped on a dime.
Truman
Carol wrote:
I think there are two sides to this
dilemma. Number one, in a "professional horserace" such as on the
track, one would never see people out on the track at the finish line.
But in endurance we have a lot of volunteers who sometimes may
unknowingly put themselves in harms way. It is our responsibility ,
since we are riding 1000 lb. animals, if we are "racing to the finish"
to aware of our surroundings. Those riders knew they were running into
a crowded area and chose not to slow down. Maybe initially, it was the
ride managers fault for not making it clear to the volunteers that this
could happen, but when it actually was occurring the riders should have
taken responsibility for their actions and slowed down to avoid
injuring someone.
Carol
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
