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Steph Teeter wrote:
> Perhaps this is heresy... but is it possible that 100 mile horse races are
> simply too hard?? Perhaps it might be better if our sport embraced a shorter
> version (or perhaps a 2 or 3 day version) for championship level
> competitions? Certainly 100 miles in one day is the ultimate challenge, but
> if the sport has become a 'last man standing' sport, then perhaps we don't
> have it right yet. After seeing the last two Presidents Cup rides finish
> winners in just over 7 hours, my thought was that this is simply not a
> sustainable sport - horses are simply not mechanically or physiologically
> capable of sustaining those speeds over those distances. We are seeing a
> sport where only a few  incredible athletes - the freaks - are able to play,
> and the majority can't even finish the course.
>   
You are correct it is heresy and you should be placed on a dunking stool 
in downtown Moscow in Feb for saying such things ;-) .......... but the 
discussion needs to happen.
> In human sports there are 'ulta marathons' but this is also an extreme,
> freak, sport- and if the Olympics embraced a 100 mile human race, we would
> probably also see a 'last man standing' sport, where at least half the
> competitors had to retire before they completed the course. And I don't
> think the public would approve. I think the comparison between human
> distance races and horse distance races is valid given the athletic ability
> and capability of the two species. Humans can also run 100 miles, and it is
> a valid challenge, a valid sport for the 'ultra' elite athlete, but it is
> not a mainstream sport and therefore has limited appeal to the International
> community. why is that??
>   
Takes too long, can't be formatted for spectator appeal, doesn't have 
corporate sponsor to name a few.
> It's easy to say 'well, just throw in rocks and mountains to slow them
> down' - but this is not a solution that is available to most of the world.
> And in a true race situation (e.g. International competition) an Old
> Dominion type course would result in an unacceptable level of injury on race
> day.
>   
I suspect if you ran a WEC on the OD trail in the summer or the Tevis 
trail you'd find even worse completion rates than we see now.
> Give the current format of Endurance the only way to reverse the 'last man
> standing' trend of International competition is to make people slow down,
> which is a difficult concept in a true race format. Kat - your idea is as
> good as any I've heard. But we'd still see 100 mile races around the world
> (and in the US btw) where 50% completion rates are not unheard of.
>   
In reality the average completion rate in AERC 100 mile ride is about 
60%. So you really can't expect better than 60% at a FEI level ride. At 
the Tevis it is probably 50% - maybe a little less. A lot of things can 
happen in 100 miles.
> But if we were given the opportunity to change the format (currently 100
> miles in 1 day, speed is everything) of FEI Championship Endurance ... any
> ideas? How can we test our own horses' endurance against the rest of the
> world's horses' endurance and still reward skill, training, athletic
> ability, sportsmanship - and still have a sport that we feel good about
> doing??
>   
I think it gets right down to speed. I think there tends to somehow be a 
misconception that distance racing is about something other than speed. 
Bottom line the horse, human or dog that can maintain the highest speed 
for the given distance be it 100 meters or 100 miles is the winner. The 
superior endurance comes into play in that it provides the ability to 
maintain a faster speed than the competition. But all other things being 
equal a runner with more speed will make faster runner at any distance. 
You shorten the event - speed becomes more important. You run it over 
multiple shorter days - speed will be a bigger factor than 100 miles in 
one shot.

Would a format of 80 or 120 km be safer for the horses in a WEC than 160 
km. If you look at the AERC pull rates (15% for 50's through 75's and 
40% for 100s) for a clue - the answer is most likely yes. Is this an 
acceptable solution? You run the WEC at 40 km "then you might even get 
it into the Olympics since it could now be covered as a spectator sport. 
Is that an acceptable solution?

I think in the long run such a move to run the WEC at anything but 160 
km in one shot would have a significant negative impact on the 100's in 
the AERC since significant support for 100's comes from our folks who 
are working to get horses ready for FEI events. If the FEI championships 
were 80 or 120 km there would be little incentive for these people to 
ride 100's since that would not be the event they are trying to get 
ready for. However, that's a different issue and should not impact what 
the FEI does of does not do.

Truman



--

"Life is about obstacles. Endeavors in life are not to be overlooked. 
Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to 
what happens. Not by what life brings us, but the attitude we bring to 
life." Wade Boggs, on his induction to the baseball hall of fame. 


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