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[RC] Endurance as a Spectator Sport (was WEC 2008 etc) - k s swigartSteph said: Alissa - the press and other disciplines weren't critical of the Aachen course, they were critical of the sport. Most of the rest of the Equestrian world never sees Endurance unless it is held in conjunction with a WEG. Regarding the technicality of endurance courses, that is more of a sport specific issue. The eventers, dressagers, drivers, jumpers, vaulters, reiners know little of the sport, nor of it's history. They just saw a lot of tired and lame horses. This is, I contend, one of the reasons the AERC (and endurance riders in general) should "aspire to the small time." Ignorant people (and I mean people ignorant of the sport itself, not necessarily stupid, just uninformed) won't "just see a lot of tired and lame horses" if they aren't watching at all. It is impossible to educate ignorant people in the space of a sound bite or three column inches, so there is no way to make it so the casual spectator sees anything other than a lot of tired and lame horses. Far better to avoid casual spectators entirely. This can be done by flying below the radar (especially since most endurance competitions, by their nature of needing lots of uninhabited space for the trail itself, are held out in the middle of nowhere). Remember - most of the press and spectators only see the action at the vet checks, and that in itself is a significant PR problem. Mostly because there isn't any other "action" at an endurance ride (unless there is some spectacular wreck). There is nothing even remotely interesting in watching a bunch of horses trot (or even lope/canter) down the trail for hours and hours at a time. There really isn't much by way of "action" at the vet checks either...unless the horse is very tired or lame. Let's face it, endurance riding is not in any way, shape, or form even remotely interesting as a spectator sport. There is no: 'good stuff' â?? the jumps and spins and piaffes and action) Endurance horses that are not tired or lame are totally uninteresting. There is no way to show the relationship that develops when you spend all the time conditioning and training the horse for the event (and this relationship doesn't even exist if somebody else has done it for you, which is becoming more the norm for championship level events). And there is no way to show the joy and pleasure that both horse and rider can get from just going down the trail together for hours at a time over interesting and challenging terrain). And there is no way to show the immense sense of gratification when you and your horse cross the finish line together after 100 miles and you say to yourself "I cannot believe that we did that" and how much this makes you appreciate just how great your horse is. The winner from Spain in Aachen TRIED to show this when he did his final entrance with his hands extended to the side while the horse eagerly went forward to the finish line, but let's face it, most of the spectators just saw a guy on a horse going a few hundred yards at low speed. _I_ was impressed, because I know what it took to get there, but virtually nobody else did...the "pre-show" that they saw of driving horses was probably more interesting. Endurance is a sport for the participants, not the spectators. And endurance riders would do well to be careful not to draw the attention of non-participants, because there really IS no way to show the non-participants what it is all about. Consequently, ALL the non-participant spectators are EVER going to see is a bunch of tired and lame horses. Everything good about endurance is something you have to experience; there is no way to show it. And they don't see that even most of those tired/lame horses are fine and happy by the next day (because they stopped before they got too tired or too lame). The sport of endurance riding is shooting itself in the foot by drawing the attention of non-participants to itself. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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