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[RC] Do words matter? - Joe LongI'm sure some folks wonder why I bother to continue to write about the meaning of "endurance ride" and "endurance rider" each time this subject comes up, as it does at least a couple of times every year. And some have dismissed the whole issue as "nothing but semantics" or "who cares what somebody calls themselves?" OK, there are several reasons why I do it. These are the two biggest: 1. An endurance ride is not a trivial thing. Riding one horse 50 miles or more in one day may seem like no big deal to some of us "old timers," but it is quite a big deal to most people. It's not something that a person can just up and decide to do one day, grab ol' dobbin out of the pasture, and succeed. It is a genuine challenge that requires not only the native ability, but preparation and dedication. We properly recognize and reward success at that effort. Frankly, I don't like it when people who want everything "easy" want to have that recognition, and those rewards, without doing what it takes to EARN them. Instead of showing the dedication, and doing the preparation, and putting forth the effort to RIDE an endurance ride, they want to ride half the distance and still be called "endurance riders." I object to that, and I will continue to object to that. It may be the modern "American Way" to just give everyone "recognition" without their having to work for it, but it's not my way. I'm sure some folks just think I'm a mean old curmudgeon because I won't go along with LD riders (or CTR riders or "fun run" riders) being considered to be "endurance riders." Well, them's the breaks. I'm not in a popularity contest. I will continue to defend the idea of setting a goal, then WORKING to achieve it, rather than just saying you did it to feel good. 2. The AERC properly keeps endurance miles and LD miles separate. If we did not, no one could tell from a horse or rider's mileage stats how much was endurance miles, if any at all. We can keep the miles separate because the AERC Bylaws define an endurance ride as 50 miles or more per day. If we change the definition of an endurance ride to 25 miles or more per day, what rationale will we have for not counting 25 mile rides in the endurance totals? We will have further cheapened the sport, to where the mileage records will no longer mean much. IOW, if we don't defend the language, if we don't defend the definition of an endurance ride, we will be giving in to the "I want it easy" crowd and we will have lost something that was once quite precious. I think that's worth defending, even if we have to do it over and over again. Joe Long AERC #1 Distance Rider, Endurance Rider, and Marathon Runner. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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