Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

RE: [RC] Shagya Bred horses To Compete in National Ride - heidi

Very simple,  Angie, WE HAVE TO BEGIN SOMEWHERE!  For many years, 
now, > the Shagya bred horse has not been promoted extensively,
here in the U.S.    Also there are probably only about 30-40 horses 
that > would be eligible for this ride. 


Have you ever offered year end awards for consistant performance? What if
20 or so of your horses show up and RACE 25 miles...some with riders who
have never competed endurance...to be "National Champion". Does this
sound like a good scenario to  you? Would the folks who completed Tevis
with Oman have entered him in this race and sprinted 25 miles so he's be
considered "National Champion Shagya"? It sounds like a sincere effort to
increase endurance participation from some people who don't know much
about endurance. I think they'd do much better to offer a year end high
point award horse as their "National Champion". As a non-Shagya owner it
would be hard for me to be impressed by a breed that crowned their
"National Champion Endurance Horse" in a race that is 1/2 of an official
endurance ride. I don't mean to be mean...just honest. I have no doubt
that any sound, conditioned Shagya can do a 50.


Angie has a good point here, Donna.  Shagyas can and do make wonderful
endurance horses.  When I was in Oregon, there was a really lovely
Shagya stallion competing from time to time over there--he was a
terrific ambassador for the breed.  And it would be a sad day to see
the accomplishments of such horses eclipsed in the breed press by the
winner of a single 25-mile ride.  There ARE some good Shagyas out
competing, and it would probably raise the profile of those horses a
lot more if your breed association would honor them in a public sort of
way--perhaps not even just a "national champion" but even a Top Ten
based on overall AERC points.  And that would give those who ride them
something tangible to shoot for, too.  But it really diminishes their
wonderful efforts to highlight instead a single winner of a single
25-mile ride.

I had a very similar experience in showing a somewhat obscure breed of
dog in obedience (at least they were obscure in the obedience ring). 
Twice I won national collar awards, once for each of my national breed
association's obedience categories--and each time was for scores earned
in open competition throughout the year.  They do offer obedience
classes at their national shows, and yes, it is fun to win those--but
they are full-fledged AKC classes, too.  And those wins don't carry
anywhere near the same prestige as the collar winners from the results
of the whole year.

Just a thought.

Heidi


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=