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[RC] LD/BC - Bruce Weary DCMarshall--Not to worry about LD's being discontinued because of the BC debate. There is too much interest, and frankly, need, for the LD ride in our sport. Since our organization is structured with an underlying voting constituency overseen by various governing committees, how the LD/BC issue is resolved will be voted on one way or the other. One would hope to avoid a situation wherein our members are asked to vote for how much recognition they would like to potentially receive for doing well at an LD ride. IMO, that would be a bit like our U.S. senators pondering whether to give themselves a raise. "Is this a trick question?" they must be thinking. Hopefully, the horse's welfare still takes precedence as we are enjoying the trail with them. And, while for many of us the personal satisfaction of just experiencing the trail and completing safely and successfully at whatever speed we choose is enough, there will always be those of our group who would like a little more. Something a little more tangible to commemorate our accomplishments on ride day. I'm hoping a hybrid of the current BC program might offer a solution. Currently, high placing (read "speed") is a factor in the BC judging. Therein lies the concern, as while there are certainly a lot of veteran riders in LD's (myself occasionally included) it is also a likely venue for beginners to enter the sport and make potentially disastrous mistakes with how they use their horses. If speed is encouraged, or at least rewarded, it heightens the risk for those beginners and their horses. If riders found themselves colicing, in need of fluids or euthanized at some distant hospital after a painful and scary trailer ride, the "need for speed" would be looked at very differently, I assure you. Our sport would probably be outlawed as too risky to its participants. Therefore, we owe it to our horses to set our bravado aside as we work together to help the BC system evolve to something that is both satisfying to our riders, and safeguards the horse. The number of entries in an LD ride often precludes considering every horse entered for BC. Currently, considering only the fastest horses reduces the number of candidates to a manageable level. Can you imagine a busy, tired vet evaluating 75 horses for the BC award? Maybe we can split the difference. Perhaps we could make a "Horsemanship Award" available to all participants, based on vet scores and weight carried, with ride time excluded. If the horse reaches a particular composite score based on fitness, soundness and weight carried parameters only, then several or maybe even dozens of riders could receive a Horsemanship Award that day. There could be points assigned to each graded parameter, for example an "A" on gut sounds might be worth 4 points, a "B" worth 3, and so on. Since LD's are not considered races, perhaps a formal BC award should be reserved for endurance rides as it is currently used. "Top Ten" could be determined by this scoring system, rather than by finish times. Maybe the number of Horsemanship Awards could be limited, since that which is scarce is usually coveted. By the way, my wife and I returned from the Desert Gold ride this weekend, having had a great time. I decided to opt for the 50 with my Tennessee Walker, and he impressed us all as he powered through it looking great at the finish line. We saw old friends, and made new ones. I experienced new levels of cold and wet, from coastal rains that blew sideways. The comaraderie, the campfire, the potluck dinner, and Scott's crew made it all worthwhile. I am delighted, even though we brought no BC award home. But then, I'm easily amused. Bruce Weary
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