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[RC] WEG 2006 - k s swigartSteph Teeter said: ...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. ... But still, when less than 50% of entries can even 'get around' without some level of metabolic distress or lameness... that simply doesn't look good. Not only does it not look good. It isn't good. What has pretty much been consistently demonstrated at the World Endurance Championships is that less than half of the world's best (presumably) endurance riders riding the world's best (presumably) endurance horses know how to ride their horses within their level of fitness, or if they do know how, they choose not to at the championship events because winning is more important than riding the horse within its capabilities. The world endurance championships have shown to the rest of the equestrian community that endurance riders either are willing to over ride their horses in pursuit of a medal or are incapable of judging their own horses' abilities such that they accidentally over ride them. If a small percentage of the riders were unable to complete the course, this could maybe be put down to bad luck on the day; but when less than half of the participants complete the course, this is an indication that the riders either don't know or don't care what they are doing. At local rides where you should expect to see learners and novices, lower completion rates where the riders misjudged the horse's ability are perhaps more understandable. But, quite frankly, there is absolutely no excuse for riders who are purportedly the best that each country has to offer to have not yet figured out how to reliably finish the course. I, personally, am of the opinion that the WEC format itself actively encourages riders to ride their horses beyond their level of fitness (and since more than half the horses are being removed from the competition as no longer fit to continue, we know that over half of the riders ARE doing this), and am finding the whole thing more and more distasteful. The FEI is testing the wrong thing with its COC. What it needs to do is require riders to demonstrate that they are actually capable of consistently FINISHING a course with their horse. So it needs to start looking at non-completions and factoring them in to whether a rider IS actually capable of championship level competition....and perhaps to start imposing some kind of sanctions on riders that don't complete the course at the championship. Because if they don't do something to encourage riders to ride their horses within their capabilities even if it means slowing down so they can, then the world endurance championships (with everybody else watching) will continue to be an event where the rest of the equestrian community (and the world at large??? if some people were to have their way) just sees a bunch of riders who are willing to (or are too ignorant to know not to) ride their horse into the ground. I had to laugh when I read Valerie Kanavy's recent comment about how the WEG in Aachen showed how endurance really had joined the big time of professional horse sports and really was an Olympic calibre event. What it really showed is that less than half the riders even know (or care?) how fit their horse is to do the event. In human athletics, if you go to a local marathon with countless amateurs and general enthusiasts, you DO see less than fit runners staggering along the course, with many not finishing and many in some metabolic or musculoskeletal "discomfort." However, when you get to the Olympics ALLLLLLL the participants are clearly fit and capable, and while maybe one or two may take a bad step and not be able to finish, it certainly isn't going to be more than half of them. If endurance riders cannot figure out a way to have a world championship event where only a handful of the participants are unable to complete the course, then it will (at least in my mind) have demonstrated that endurance as a sport has absolutely no business even having a "world championship event." One way that the FEI could, perhaps (assuming that the riders DO know how to ride their horses within their capabilities and just choose not to), improve the performance of endurance riders at the championships is to have a rule that says, "if your country doesn't finish a team at the championships, you aren't invited back to the next one," and then to have only four riders per team (none of these people riding as individuals only). If it does this, then countries will make damned sure that they select riders who can be counted on reliably to not over ride their horses. Make no mistake, if you don't finish the course and are pulled because your horse was not "fit to continue," you over rode your horse. Can it happen to anybody? Yes, even the best of riders can do this sometimes. But just because it can happen to anybody doesn't change the fact that you over rode the horse. One would HOPE that the best of riders would be better at not doing it than novices or even the general population of all endurance riders. And that the "elite" would do it hardly at all. 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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