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Hi, Tom.
You know what I don't like about the Sandybaar?  The very real chance 
that somebody compromises their horse by attempting to finish a ride 
that he/she shouldn't.  Like instead of pulling because the horse is 
grade 2 lame, continuing to ride towards completion, just to get 10 
rides in a row without a pull.  That's acting in bad faith towards your 
partner.

"He was never pulled" is supposed to be the pinnacle of achievement?  
Yes, he was carefully managed--that's fantastic.  But he was also 
*lucky*!  Never to wake up with an upset stomach.  Never to hit the 
"rock with his name on it".  Never to fall on trail, get a laceration, 
have his rider get sick and RO, etc.

The thing I *do* like about the Sandybaar is that it doesn't matter 
what mix of distances you do in a single season.  And it's a nice 
achievment for the LD rider.

I admire career results over "he was never pulled".  The Pardners award 
rewards lifetime achievement as well as the bond between a particular 
horse and rider.

Lynne
who can't ride a lame horse any steps at all


On Oct 13, 2004, at 2:13 PM, <tomnoll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Greetings:
>
> The AERC already has an award similar to the nomination that some have
> suggested.  An award that I think is far more prestigious than any of 
> the
> others.  The annual Partners Award recognizes a very special horse and
> rider team.  I realize that the award is subjective, still to me there 
> may
> be no higher honor.  In fact, the only greater honor that I can 
> imagine is
> if the horses somehow got together and awarded their own partners 
> award.
> But, the horses aren’t going to do that.  It seems that the awards most
> sought after by the humans are completely irrelevant to the horses.
>
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Tom Noll
> SW Idaho
>
> PS:  The Pacific Northwest Endurance Riders also have a special award –
> the Sandybaar Award (from the PNER website: Named in honor of 
> Sandybaar,
> an Arabian stallion who competed in the early days of PNER/AERC.  He 
> was
> never pulled.  Awards for all PNER horse/rider teams who complete a
> minimum of ten consecutive PNER rides, any distance).  There are four
> words describing Sandybaar’s career; “He was never pulled.”

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