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Re: [RC] LD's in South America - Maryanne Stroud GabbaniHave to admit a little headscratching would be in order in Egypt over the LD debate. "Endurance" here was defined by the FEI and, to a certain extent, by the experiences of the riders. FEI rules list 40 km as a CEI ride. It is viewed as a first step to longer rides.Prior to there being any sort of endurance here we had show jumping (against a clock, not hunter/jumper or anything like that), some dressage, and some polo. There was NO other organised activity to do on horseback. For riders who had taken 45 minute hacks out in the desert, 40 kilometers WAS indeed a vast distance to be covered. Frankly, it still is. Most of the riders that I know who participate in the lower-key Egyptian Endurance Riding Association rides still feel that 2 to 3 hours in the saddle is quite enough time to endure. <G> I have a few disagreements with them on that point, but nevertheless their mindset is that the ride is about 2 to 3 hours long and they do about 40 km. This year EERA hasn't offered any rides longer than that with the agreement of the board that most of us don't have any horses who can do more than that. In May we will be having a 50 km ride, in which many riders may just do the first loop. We also do all of our rides in desert sand, not on tracks or trails, at this point, which is pretty tough on the horses. I think that the difference in viewpoints comes very largely from the difference in starting points. If you started with 100 miles, then 25 is peanuts. But if you started with 45 minutes in the arena practicing circles and serpentines with the odd walk in the desert for a breather, then 25 miles is long. At the end of the day maybe the definition of endurance isn't the length of the ride but rather the spirit in which it is ridden. Any yahoo can ride a horse to death in 25 miles. But the goal of any 25 mile/40 km endurance ride (whether all of the riders achieve it or not) is to finish the ride with a horse who can turn around and do more. We have plenty of people here who will never do more than 40 km, especially if they are as worried as they currently are about getting back in time for breakfast. <G> We also have people who are seriously looking ahead a few years to trying to compete in one of the FEI rides at 100/120 km. Then we have a few lunatics that would like to ride longer distances but have nothing to do with the FEI. Right now we are all riding together and enduring each other. Maryanne Cairo On Wednesday, May 5, 2004, at 17:43 Africa/Cairo, Steph Teeter wrote: Just to offer a little global perspective: In Brazil and Argentina the LD (40km - 25 miles)?is simply another distance in the same sport. It is typically used by new riders as an introduction to the sport, and to prepare horses for longer distances. I don't think there are many 'career' 40km riders. People use this distance interchangeably with the other distances - depending upon their goals and their horse's age and training. Riders are more competitive in general I think, with 'the race - the competition' - a generally more prevalent attitude.
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