I can't believe this whole LD versus Endurance etc etc thing is starting up
again - sigh...
In my part of the rest of the world which is Europe, all distances are
indeed called Endurance
and dressage is dressage and jumping is jumping... and within each
discipline there is huge array of different levels
we are currently working here in France on bringing more youngsters
and riding club people to our sport - part of the excitement is that
they can say they do endurance, as opposed to another discipline - and yes they
'only' do 20 km rides but boy do they talk about this new experience and explain
to others that they should try endurance - this is how we get more newbies
to the sport and once they are in they are generally hooked. People will go
watch big rides and bring friends and explain they ride endurance too albeit on
a lower level and with more or less ambition to move up the ladder... they
will buy endurance tack and subscribe to endurance magazines..and google
'endurance' on the web and participate in endurance forums and in our
national federation database they are labelled as endurance riders which makes
our sport come to the foreground as the biggest discipline after show jumping in
France.. etc etc.
so... to those very experienced 'real endurance ' riders out there - why
begrudge others this title - you know where you stand and so do those involved
in the higher levels and mileage
wouldn't it be in the interest of our sport to show the largest possible
number of people involved in it under a common banner?
