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Re: [RC] forwarded with permission....ld/BC - heidiBecky makes very good points and I would like to add my "hear, hear" to the list of concerns regarding the LD/BC. If BC is an optional for 50's and 100's, why not for LD's? Making it mandatory is taking the judgement away from the Vets. I've been to a few rides where it was announced the vet didn't think anyone deserved BC and believe me the message was taken to heart and lots of discussion was given to the reasons. Ride managers now have the option. Let them and the vets make the decision..... why make this difficult to appease the egos of a few. K. Mathews, AERC 2106, @ W Region , 6000 + miles What am I missing here? It is optional whether to award the award or not on endurance rides--but it is mandatory that an award be available. In other words, you have to offer the award, but if, in the vets' opinions, no horse is worthy of having it awarded, it is not awarded. My understanding is that this is what is being proposed for LDs as well--not that it be mandatory to AWARD the award--but that it be mandatory that it be available if any eligible horse is worthy of earning it. That is not taking the judgment away from the vets at all. I have misgivings about the time factor in judging LD BC and I wish the time factor could be removed--seems to me one could still use the Top Ten so that one is still comparing apples to apples, but that one could eliminate the time points. But I've also judged LD by the AERC system for many years, and it seems to me that it usually isn't the first-place horse that wins it on the LDs anyway, because the time factor is minimized since the shorter distance means that the Top Ten comes in closer to the same time than they do on the longer distances. It is no problem to judge it from a veterinarian's perspective. Personally, I'd just as soon be looking at horses as standing around drinking coffee. (Heaven forbid, the FL vets might end up talking to the biddies under the awning if they're not busy judging BC!) Additionally, I'd add that if AERC DOES decide to offer a National LD award, then there DOES need to be SOME degree of standardization. Furthermore, it is not fair to the LD riders of a couple of regions to NOT have the award offered if the LD riders in the rest of the country have access to it. Most of the resistance to this has come from two regions. The group that hasn't said much is the folks who actually ride LDs in those two regions. We've heard from the RMs, the vets, and the endurance riders in those regions. How about the folks coming up through the ranks who actually RIDE most of the LDs there? What do THEY think? (I know that most of our NW LD riders certainly DO expect to be judged for BC if they are eligible...) And heck, I haven't bragged in my signature line for awhile, so I'll say, Heidi Smith DVM, AERC #937, NW Region, 6000+ miles (as of last Saturday!) ============================================================ REAL endurance is eating egg salad sandwiches for 3 days straight! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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