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Re: [RC] Gold Country Awards - heidi..even in the early days. If you never taste the bitter, the sweet is not as sweet. Completions get to be pretty boring, until you get pulled a few times, then they feel GREAT. <snip> I've gone home with nothing a few times, and I've been given t-shirts for rides I didn't finish. Don't like to wear them, I'd rather forget those rides. Angie, this is a real watershed sort of concept. A whole segment of our society seems to think that if you tried, that is enough. I guess I'm like you--I'm not one of those. If I fail, I have not earned the reward that comes with succeeding. And a completion award is just that--a token of the fact that you not only tried, but you SUCCEEDED. You beat the mountain that day, and met all the criteria, and came home with a horse that could go again. To me, that is the essence of this sport. Participation awards are nice. But they DO NOT take the place of completion awards! If you want to give me T-shirt for showing up--fine. I won't say no to it. But that IS NOT the same thing as a T-shirt that was only given out to the completers. Furthermore, AERC rules are specific--you MUST give a completion award. Heck, it can be a piece of paper that says "John Doe completed the ZYX 50." AERC does not say that you CAN'T also give a participation award--that is entirely up to you. But SOMETHING has to distinguish those who made it from those who did not. Otherwise, we might as well just all head out down the trail in the morning, and drop out when we feel like it. I sure didn't "feel like it" last weekend at the last vet check at Soldier Mountain last Saturday. My horse was fine--but he is a big guy without the best recoveries, and when we got down into camp for that last vet check, it was hot and muggy and I was doing the Chinese fire drill with no crew--pull the saddle, sponge the almost-ambient-temperature water on, scrape it off because it took it about 5 seconds to get up to body heat, etc.--y'all know the drill. I was overly tired starting the ride, and although I had not really "neglected" my own hydration, I could have stood to have drunk a bit more myself, too. I felt fine until I got him vetted through--and then I went over to my rig and just about passed out. Had to sit, and sponge myself, and it even took a bit before I could drink my obligatory cold milk. Eventually was able to force some food down as well. If "participation" was all that mattered, I had certainly already done that, for several hours, and several miles, and a few thousand feet of tough climbs and descents. I had seen the great views and admired the wild flowers. Gee, I could have just quit right there and gotten credit for "participating." But I had not yet "completed." That is where one has to reach into one's self and make the extra effort to overcome the difficulties. That is basic endurance. I got back on my horse after determining that I had put myself back together as best I could, and I rode the last 13 miles in the allotted time and to the necessary criteria. THAT is the difference between "completing" and "participating." There have been days when I didn't complete. You bet it is disappointing to go home empty-handed. Jim mentioned kids doing their first rides needing something to take home with them. No, Jim, I disagree. There is no time like youth to learn the vast difference between "participating" and actually accomplishing the task that one set out to do. The world is full of "participants" who never achieve a thing. We have enough of those. This sport has always been special in that the accomplishment is predefined, so that if you complete that accomplishment, you're a winner. It isn't up to somebody's opinion, and it is not limited to the first 6 or 10 or whatever across the line. If you can complete the prescribed course in the allotted time and keep your horse in condition that he is fit to continue, you have cleared the bar and have achieved the goal. THAT is what a completion award acknowledges. If you want to give out ride T-shirts or mugs or whatever to participants, that's certainly your perogative. But please, at least mail me a certificate that says I completed, if indeed I did. There needs to be SOME demarcation between having achieved the goal and not having achieved the goal, or the goal is meaningless. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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