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So in other words, they took the "usually" pretty casually, since they sanctioned 25s for full points as late as 1977....

 

Heidi

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [RC]   Jeanie- LD or 50
From: "Bob Morris" <bobmorris@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, October 30, 2006 9:49 am
To: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'David LeBlanc'"
<dleblanc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "'Mrs Christina Hykw'" <distance_ryder@xxxxxxxxx>, "'larry Miller'"
<jcmiller@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'ridecamp'" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Heidi states "I'm not sure when the bylaws changed to define endurance as rides 50 miles or longer, but it had to have been pretty early on."

 

The AERC Purposes for stated in the 1974 Year Book say "The term endurance riding is defined as an athletic event in which the same horse and rider cover a measured course (usually 50 to 100 miles) ..." The Rules for  Endurance Riding stipulate "7.  100 mile rides do not exceed 24 hours elapsed time and are ridden in one day. The time for 50 mile rides is approximately 12 hours total elapsed time but will vary according to trail and are ridden in one day"

 

NO OTHER MILEAGES ARE CONSIDERED.

 

I think that established the definition of Endurance Rides and set the standard.

 

Bob 

 

 

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 8:01 AM
To: David LeBlanc
Cc: 'Mrs Christina Hykw'; 'larry Miller'; 'ridecamp'
Subject: RE: [RC] Jeanie- LD or 50

One slight correction--the "original" rules did allow for AERC sanctioned endurance rides down to distances of 25 miles.  I know there was at least one 35 or 40 in central California that predated AERC, and we had a couple of them here in the NW (one was called Caswells and I can't remember the other--one was 35 and one was 40, if memory serves).  Other than that, you are spot on, David.

 

I'm not sure when the bylaws changed to define endurance as rides 50 miles or longer, but it had to have been pretty early on.  AERC started in 1972, and it was in the mid-70s when horses were being run into the ground on 25-milers in an attempt to earn national points.  It was soon after that that 50 miles became the minimum endurance distance.

 

The big problem with running 25s as a free-for-all was that at that distance, you didn't have much veterinary handle on the horse at the single vet check, and most horses could be gotten out there 12-15 miles and pass a vet check.  After that it was Katie-bar-the-door...

 

There have been four major changes that have made our current LD system possible.  The first was the removal of distances shorter than 50 from the overall points scheme.  That took off much of the pressure to race (although you can never remove ALL of the incentive--I've seen novices "race" at CTRs, even though they lost so many points for being too early that they ended up DQ'd).  The second was the lowering of pulse rates at vet checks--the norm used to be 72, and now the criterion to continue on is usually 60 but rarely higher than 64.  The third improvement (and this one and the previous one are improvements across the board, not just on shorter distances) was fit to continue at the finish.  And the fourth change was making the clock continue to run on shorter distances (that we now call LD) until the horse's pulse comes down.

 

These changes have allowed the LD program to happen, basically.  As the rides used to be (sanctioned distances), they were really tragic.  AERC was so badly "burned" by the shorter distances that they made the bottom line 50 miles and for a long time wouldn't hear of anything else.  But rides continued to hold non-sanctioned "short" rides (which was what we called them locally here in the NW before AERC got back into the game) in conjunction with 50s and up, as David stated.  And by taking away the racing pressure, they became pleasant and safe distances.

 

As I previously stated, the changes in pulse criteria and the adoption of fit-to-continue criteria at the finish tightened up control on the whole sport across the board.  The NW (and I think someone said the SE did this, too) adopted the pulse-down-to-finish concept long before AERC began to explore the viability of once again having a policy of some sort to sanction shorter distances, and when people in regions that were using this concept were able to show its success to AERC, it became a requirement for AERC-sanctioned LD rides.  And the program has gone from there. 

 

That's the more drawn-out version of David's "Clif Notes" version.  :-)

 

Heidi

So why do we fuss and fight about this? A lot of it is history that I've
learned courtesy of Heidi Smith - and I could be getting bits of this wrong,
in which case I'm sure someone will correct me. In the early days of the
sport, there was no such thing as limited distance. They also didn't have
much for veterinary controls, and people did ride horses to death, from what
I'm told especially so in the shorter distances. This obviously put a bad
taste in everyone's mouth. If I'm remembering the history correctly, the
original rules only allowed for distances 50 miles and up. Shorter rides
were often held in conjunction with the 50+ mile rides, but weren't
sanctioned. Somewhere along the line, the shorter rides were brought into
the rules, sanctioned and regulated. Apparently, this was an extremely
contentious decision, and it seems a few people are grumpy about it even
now.

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