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[RC] President's Cup - Food for Thought - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: kim kimfue@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Little did I know that I would be thinking less then a month later that a 36%
completion rate at the WEC is fabulous compared to an 18% completion rate at
the PC. Some of the posts on the President's Cup were very enlightening and
interesting as food for thought. Perhaps, Nik's comment that this venue is for
the "Michael Jordons of endurance horses" (paraphrasing of course) is not too
far off. Do you put 100 horses in a race like this and see which are able to
withstand the rigors of this type of racing? The cream rises to the top so to
speak so breeding and selection programs benefit from finding the individuals
that can finish an event like this? In the long run, are we able to gain more
knowledge on producing better endurance horses from running these kinds of
events? Or perhaps with only 18 very successful, experienced endurance horses
able to complete this competition we are learning that maybe this type of venue
is not in the best interest of our horses. Or is it as simple as the guests
just there as competition for the locals and to enable the event legitimate in
the eyes of the endurance community so completion rates and selective breeding
are not that important. Is it just luck that those 18 finished on that day?
Is it just bad luck that no US riders finished that day? At this level in this
racing venue, how much is just "luck" of the day. Perhaps, right now, over
80% of the horses are not physically, genetically, or metabolically able to
complete this type of competition. Is it in the best interest of the horses to
continue running them on this type of course or do you sacrifice the majority
so in time, do you learn try to pick, breed, or select individual horses that
are "Michael Jordons of endurance"? Unfortunately, selective breeding in
horses is not like that of lab rats or rabbits and you may not see results of a
specific breeding program for a decade or more. In the meantime, is it just
hit or miss with trying to find one in a million or should the course terrain
be varied to allow for some reprise for the animal's metabolic and physical
well being? Something does not seem right when over 80% of EXPERIENCED
participants cannot finish the course. The results of this race does open the
door to speculative discussion on this topic and I do wonder what can be
learned from endurance events of this nature. Or perhaps these events should
be viewed as nothing more then just a platform and background for the wealthy
to display competitive rivalry.
I wonder why riders continue to participate in this type of event if they
do not have an animal that has been trained specifically for this style of
riding and the horse previously proven successful in this type of terrain. It
is obvious that this course venue is definitely unforgiving and the odds of
completion are quite low even for horses that are trained for this type of
racing. A winner of mountain races seems to have very little chance of even
completing this type of course. Does just getting invited and entering a ride
like this hold so much prestige for the rider that it is worth the stress on
the horse of air travel, unfamiliar accommodations, and all the other stresses
the animal has to go through to compete in a foreign land? Is this really just
a platform for selling horses? I can see if you thought you had a chance to be
"competitive" that it may be worth putting the animal through this process but
why go through this when the odds of only completing are so astronomically low?
After reading the posts on the US team at the WEC and some of their problems
being due to possible travel and acclimation stresses why would anyone go
through this when the odds of just finishing are so low for even "hometown"
horses being trained in course conditions.
Do they ever allow research studies to take place at these UAE events
like have been done at the Tevis or ROC? It would seem like the perfect
"laboratory" to learn more about our horses. With the state of the art equine
hospital facilities in the UAE and world class veterinarians that are used at
these events it would seem this would be the ideal location for metabolic and
lameness studies. I wonder with the high attrition rate if any research could
be gleaned for the entire endurance community from these top level horses being
ridden under such stressful conditions.
Kim
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