Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Kat's post brings up some interesting points.

1)  Kat is trying to get us to separate our responsibility FOR our horse 
from our partnership WITH our horse.  Endurance is a sport where a team of 
two individuals compete against other teams and the first team to finish 
gets a prize and therefore it is incontrovertible that any drug that 
improves the performance of either member of the team IS "performance 
enhancing".  Now what we choose to do with that fact, how we choose to 
allow or disallow the drugging of either team member, is on the table and 
up for discussion.  However,  the fact that any drug that kills pain 
improves either team member's performance is NOT.

2)  Many have noted that riders take pain relievers so that they can ride 
better and thus interfere less with their horses.  By riding better, they 
maintain, they are acting in their horses' best interest by not cruelly 
subjecting the horses to pain that can be caused by imbalance, pounding on 
the saddle, etc.  This is a reason why you might decide that riders taking 
drugs is acceptable but it does NOT alter the fact that the team's 
performance is enhanced by such drugging.  It is interesting to note that 
other posters have exactly the OPPOSITE take, ie, taking drugs can impair 
your mental functioning and thereby place your horse at greater risk.
    As we and our horses age, we start to degrade physically.  In order to 
participate in an activity that we love, we often must take pain killers or 
give up the activity.  Most of us take the pain killers.  However, with 
respect to our horses, they can't say, "You know... I really want to get 
out there and do a 50 miler, you know, beat the crap outta them other 
ponies.  So give me some bute and let's go!"  And frankly, I doubt most 
would say that if they COULD talk :)   So until we can figure a way to 
communicate with them on this issue, we MUST protect them from any injuries 
that might result from giving them pain killers.  However, that doesn't 
mean we humans can't choose to risk injury when WE really want to play.

3)  Kat's comparison of MLB players to endurance riders is flawed in that 
any set of rules designed for a professional must necessarily differ from 
the rules governing a non-professional.  Cops must identify themselves and 
warn a criminal that they have a gun.  I am not required to render those 
courtesies to a stranger in my house.  In many jurisdictions doctors can be 
sued if they make a mistake but I can't if I'm the only thing between a 
critically injured person and that person's survival.  The rules governing 
drugs in professional sports do not exist to protect the drug-taking 
athlete.  They exist to protect the athletes who do not take drugs.  The 
sport is a livelihood and because some drugs can make a player stronger and 
thereby more likely to win a position on a team, the person who loses to 
that person loses his livelihood, not to a better player but to a drug.

4)  Distance riding is a non-professional sport.  We wouldn't dream of 
forbidding a 25 year old man from taking Aleve so he could participate in a 
Class B softball league.  We wouldn't even deny him prescription drugs for 
his arthritis.  Do these chemicals enhance his performance?  Of course, 
since without them he wouldn't be able to play at all.  How about if his 
team wins the league and goes on to a regional competition?  Still the 
drugs would be allowed.
    In a non-professional venue there are two considerations. First, the 
freedom to participate does not depend on one's ability.  Yes, in say 
softball, you have levels, Class A, Class B and so forth, but those are 
levels to guide the PLAYER into choosing a league where he can play 
comfortably, competitively but not be totally overwhelmed.  Similarly, in 
distance riding we have levels, not to bar riders from doing 25's or 100's, 
just so that riders can choose the level of participation with which they 
are most comfortable.  Second, it makes no sense to outlaw drugs for a 
player when those drugs do no more than permit that person to function at a 
level most of us would consider normal.  The drugs, in these cases, are 
much the same as prosthetics or braces.  With them, these individuals can 
play.  Without them, they can only watch from the sidelines.

5) Kat said, "Personally, I don't understand it.  But that is probably 
because I have never had to drug myself to get through an endurance ride". 
 Ahh.... and here is the crux of Kat's misapprehensions.  She hasn't 
reached the point in her life when after getting out of bed in the morning, 
she must hobble for 10 or 20 minutes till she gets "warmed up".  She 
doesn't know how it feels to need a mounting block because without it she 
could not get up on her horse - AT ALL.  Anyone who does have these 
experiences regularly knows full well the incredible relief from pain that 
accompanies the consumption of an analgesic and NONE of us would want to be 
barred from distance riding because, for want of a better phrase, we got old.


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

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!!

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