Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> I continue to be amazed and shocked at the irresponsibility of this
> statement. Stating this as fact is as good as endorsing the practice. Is
> that the message that should be sent -- by people who profess to have
> the best interest of the horse at heart?
>
> Don't do an LD BC. Don't change the name or try and call it endurance.
> Call it a draw on all sides of the LD argument, but please people, do
> not give the uneducated and inexperienced the idea that any person on
> any horse can do 25 miles. It's just plain all-around bad advice.
Kristen, stating that it can be done is NOT the same thing as endorsing it.

Over the years, I've vetted somewhere between 250 and 300 AERC
events--nearly all of which had an LD ride, or the equivalent, and I have
seen with my own eyes this very thing happen again and again.  It is a
FACT that riders CAN and DO come to do LDs on all sorts of horses with
little or no preparation.  Some know better--some do not.  And it is a
FACT that a fair number of these people and these horses complete, meeting
all the parameters.

Stating that fact is NOT suggesting that this is a good idea--and in most
cases involving novice riders, they DO come away from the experience wiser
and more knowledgeable about how to prepare for the next one.

I agree that if we were "advising" people to do this, it would indeed be
bad advice!  But NO ONE on this list has "advised" ANYONE to do this, or
suggested that it is a good practice.  NO ONE!  They have merely
stated--completely truthfully--that it CAN be done, and frequently IS
done.

A simple statement of the truth is not a put-down to the folks who do
their homework and do it right.  It is merely an observation--and IMO a
valid one when pointing out the difference in difficulty of LD vs 50+
rides.  And we are better off to make truthful observations, even if we
don't like what we see, than we are to bury our heads in the sand and
pretend that this is not so and does not occur.

Heidi


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They're athletes! This is a partnership between horse and rider - we don't
have any jockeys out there, just pals and partners. We'd allow a rider with
a broken foot, a sore back and a nasty cold to compete - but we would never
let a horse in a similiar condition hit the trail. 
~  Dr. Barney Flemming DVM

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