Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

> > I pulled my horse from a ride one time because "the horse wasn't
having
> > any fun."  (being a member of the Janet Ruprecht sect that says the
> > first commandment of horsemanship is "Rule number one, the horse has
to
> > have fun.") You tell me, which of the AERC's pull codes should be
used
> > there?
> LOL!  Yeah, that's a legitimate "RO"--er, "W"--in my book...  <g>
Actually, with respect to the current pull codes, this is most
definitely NOT a "legitimate RO."  It is my understanding that the RO
codes is only for those instances where there is something wrong with
the rider.

There was nothing wrong with me.  It was my HORSE that wasn't having
fun. No problem with the rider.  It would appear that even Heidi (who
has on many occasions served as head vet) does not understand theuse of
RO in the same way that I do, and in the same way that we have often
been told that RO is to be used only if it is the rider who is too sick
to go on.

The fact is.  I withdrew my horse from the competition because for some
reason (and I can speculate from now until the cows come home on what
it/they might be) my horse was no longer happy to be out on the trail.
This is not a legitimate RO.

Of course, it cannot properly be articulated as any of the other AERC
pull codes either, and the AERC doesn't have a pull code of "O" for
"other."  People have taken to using RO for that instead, which is
probably one of the reasons there are so many of them in the results,
despite the fact that few people believe that these RO pulls really are
indicative of a problem with the rider.

If a horse or rider is disqualified, then there HAS to be a reason for
it, and it is not unreasonable for the AERC to keep track of this.
However, if a horse or rider is withdrawn, the rider does not have to
have a reason for it at all.

I have YET to have the AERC records accurately reflect WHY I have
withdrawn a horse from a competition, except for the one where I was
hauled off the course in a helicopter.  The AERC needs to stop trying to
categorize why it is that riders are withdrawing from the competition
because rarely ever can it properly be done. Unless the AERC wants to
expand the RO-____ codes to include HNHF (as one person suggested to me)
and HTSAICBFTFSTPIBO ("horse threw a shoe and I couldn't be fagged to
find somebody to put it back on").

And the last thing in the world that riders want after they have decided
that they don't want to go on is to have to, in essence, fill out some
survey form along the lines of "which of the following best describes
why you chose to stop?" without "none of the above" as one of the
choices.

What vets are currently (and rightly if you ask me) is putting down "RO"
because it is the least wrong (or, to be more accurate, people are less
unhappy with it being wrong if it says RO despite the fact that
everybody knows there wasn't anything wrong with the rider).

kat
Orange County, Calif.



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