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RE: [RC] LD/BC - heidi

    Hopefully, the horse's welfare still takes precedence as we are enjoying 
the trail with them. 


Precisely why many of us in other regions have so thoroughly embraced
the LD BC concept--it rewards taking care of the horse.


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.


In the 7 regions that DO judge LD BC in this manner, this simply has not
been found to be an issue.  


 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? 


Well, I've done it, for an RM in the PS region.  It was what I was hired
to do.  But I can certainly imagine vets balking at that level of
intensity.


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. 


But Bruce, what you are describing here is exactly how vets judge BC. 
All it is is a matter of assigning numbers to the parameters that we
see anyway.  So what you are describing is precisely what you stated
previously was not manageable.

For those of us not in the W or PS regions, this is such a non-issue
that it is difficult to grasp the amount of angst that is being
expended to try to fight it.  It is something that works, and works
well.  Peggy Eaton (who has more LD miles than anyone else this year,
last time I checked) has eloquently shared her observations of riding
in regions where this is used.  As a vet, I've vetted LD BC here in the
NW for years, and it has if anything caused people NOT to run for the
win, in hopes of getting BC.  In other words, it has had the opposite
effect of what the naysayers have tried to portray.  It's high time
that the W and the PS regions woke up and smelled the coffee.

Heidi


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