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Re: [RC] Observation re US and WEC - Dabney Finch

Angie,
You've got my vote for next chef d'equipe!! (How are they picked, anyway--probably a RC vote system is as good as any other selection process.......)
--Dabney


----- Original Message ----- From: <rides2far@xxxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 7:24 PM
Subject: [RC] Observation re US and WEC


Whew! Just bot back from Oregon & the PNR Convention and had 800 messages
in my inbox:-P  sure hope nobody coming home from Dubai needs to get
*anywhere* while Atlanta has an ice storm since the airline industry came
to a grinding halt! I told the lady at the counter that if she could get
me to Knoxville, Nashville, Birmingham or Chattanooga I'd *find* a way
home from there and I'm still lucky I didn't wake up in Chicago this
morning. :-P Can't say I've read all the posts, but have comments on a
few:

Remember when the Arabs were over here buying our top horses?  Any
farmer knows that he doesn't sell his breeding stock-


For the most part they buy geldings...so we're selling more racing stock.
I do believe there are more good horses here to fill the slot but the
problem is that our best TRAINERS are spending their time developing
horses they sell. When Val, or Debi Foti, or whoever spends time on a
horse and brings it to that level that's that much less time they spent
on the one they were going to race. Maybe they have 2 or 3 and this
wasn't their best, but any coach will tell you it pays to have a strong
"bench". :-)

As to the lack of a "to finish is to win" mentality. Did you know that if
a rider doesn't complete they have to walk on foot in the awards
ceremony? Talk about incentive to finish! You cannot compare the ratio at
this type ride with an average ride since at an AERC ride there are so
few horses who are actually racing for the win. I don't think any of us
wanted the US to choose it's team from the ranks of the super
conservative who do 7mph and never get pulled. We had to choose people
who were willing to take calculated risks so that's going to lower the
completion numbers.

The completion numbers may have been higher at Vermont but I'll wager
that with 12 members to each zone squad (18 for the host zone)  you had
less pressure to run hard to represent your zone. I know that my job for
USA-East was simply to keep our completion ratio high. I wasn't
considered a threat for individual medals, wasn't on the 4-man team, so
what else could I do to support the team but be ultra conservative and
increase our number of overall finishers? That sort of incentive wasn't
there in the UAE.

I think the poster who described the problems they saw in the Florida
training camp idea was dead on. Leaving your farrier & feed and doing 6
weeks of sand damage to legs is not what I'd call a good plan. I've got
to admit I do *not* understand this "we have to ride as a team" mentality
with 4 horses traveling together. What happens when one rider's tack
slips. Do the other 3 wait while they fix it? I know it slows me down
when I pick up an extra junior. 2 horses who travel well are optimum in
my opinion. 3 means we're slower at water stops, or when one has a
problem, etc. If all 4 have to stay together than they can only be as
fast as their slowest rider. What about those times when you've felt your
horse needed to back off just a tad and "let his stomach catch up with
his feet". With this traveling together thing you'd be pushed to keep
going despite your instincts and might end up like Bev's horse.  In the
course of a 100 mile ride one horse may have needed to back off in the
3rd loop, then be ready to pick it up the fifth while another was good to
go the 3rd but needed to back off the fifth. I just don't see that plan
being optiumum.

As to Dr. Nik's comments. I think he is obviously a risk taker and
admires those who are risk takers who win the gamble. According to an
article at
http://www.equisearch.com/sports/endurance/endurancetragedies/Floyd, "a
9-year-old gelding ridden by Malaysian competitor, Nik Isahak Wan
Abdullah, died during the 100-mile endurance ride in Spain's Jerez de la
Frontera, and another 9-year-old gelding, Sir Fire, ridden by Anna
Maxenchs Serra of Spain, collapsed afterward. Necropsies found that both
horses died of metabolic failure associated with fatigue."

I understand the nature of our sport and that it's always a possibility
that a horse can die...even for the most consciencious competitor and I'm
willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's just that his contempt
for anyone who isn't totally on the edge worries me. Considering that he
doesn't seem to have lost any of his admiration for raw speed after what
he experienced, I would not volunteer to lease him a horse for the Big
Horn where he wanted to "come be a cowboy". Yes Dr. Nik, the Sheiks have
done amazing things with their athletes, but I think you've got to have a
bit more respect for "the edge" when you've got 2 or 3 horses rather than
60 in the stable.

It seemed that there was an awful lot of talk of "shoeing problems" with
our squad. Were these truly "shoeing problems" caused by change, or "foot
problems" which always compromise about 90% of all lamenesses?  You know,
sending all French riders to a central location involves a lot less
distance from home than sending horses from Oregon to Fla. I doubt they
had to change farriers.

Personally, I think we have a delimma between being "fair" to all who
want to have a shot at the World Championship and "playing the odds". I
guess truly, if I had to bet my farm on the results I'd want a Val or a
Debi Foti bringing along a string of young horses with that one big race
in mind...not qualifying anywhere, being able to do exactly the type
races they wanted to have them peaked, then choosing which one to race
that day. I believe Meg Wade did something like that in Spain riding a
very inexperienced horse to an up front finish. Doesn't mean that's how I
want the USA to do it, just that if I wanted to pick a winner I think
that would be my best shot.

Oh well. Me critiquing these people is like the average couch potato
yelling at the players in the Super Bowl to give them advice, but if you
want to have more people interested in International, you've gotta put up
with Monday morning Quarterbacks. :-)

Angie

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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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[RC] Observation re US and WEC, rides2far