> 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.
