[RC] Revolution - Age requirements for competition - KimFue
Well, starting in 2006 every 7 year old that trys or wants to compete at a PAC or WEC or other championship level FEI ride will need to have finished a 100 in 13.20 hours. This may mean that 5 and 6 year olds (that will compete as 7 year olds) are having to earn a COC at the new required COC pace. Although this may not be a big deal in Europe or the Middle East because of terrain, this certainly should be a big deal in the USA as there are very few 100s that can be easily completed in this time frame. If you don't believe this check out the finishing times at some of the dual sanctioned rides from 2004. You will see that many of the rides require a Top Ten placing and in one ride only the winner would have earned a COC. Should young horses be asked to "race" or "Top 10" by the governing organization? This is in essense what the FEI COC requirement is doing by imposing the COC requirement. Unless the US governing body (USEF/AERC I) creates easier 100s so the young horses are not forced to race hard 100s in 13.20 hours OR raises the age requirement for the competition age of US horses they are in essence promoting the "racing" of youngsters. That cannot be in our horses' best interest. For the 2006 WEC the US competition age requirement has been dropped to 7 years old when in past years (2002 WEC and 2003 PAC) the required competition age was 8 years old. Quite an interesting development to raise the COC requirement yet lower the age requirement.
There is no time requirement in AERC except to finish in 24 hours. So even though an individual may "race" a youngster in AERC rides it really is not encouraged by the organization (in fact it is discouraged) and there is no speed requirement to enter a high profile AERC ride. The COC speed requirement is required for EVERY FEI horse that aspires to compete at FEI championship level and that includes 7 year olds.
So in a way, comparing the age requirement in AERC and the age requirement in FEI is comparing apples to oranges. Although in print the 7 year old FEI age requirement looks much more conservative then the 5 year old AERC age requirement, it really is not. FEI REQIURES a fast finishing time if the horse is to compete at the championship level while the AERC's only time requirement is a maxiumum 24 hour completion time. Unlike FEI, there is not any 100 mile high profile AERC ride that sets a minimum completion time requirement to enter. I think this is a very big difference when we are talking about the age requirements for both organizations.
Kim Fuess
Hmmmm... Yes, it IS "all relative." The fact that AERC allows 5-year-olds to compete means that in some cases, they are also raced, and sometimes raced hard. And yes, sometimes even on 100s. The fact that they are "diluted" by many who are NOT raced at that age does not alter the fact that AERC indeed allows this, and it happens. Can't begin to count the number of nice young horses that I've seen come into this sport (AERC-sanctioned endurance), race hard at 5, and maybe at 6, and never return..
