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RE: [RC] [RC] The Meaning of Endurance Riding - Catfish DanielsThe article on Dave in the current issue of EN is a great article. In my opinion it describes endurance as a sport that can be both, competitive and recreational. To be able to have over 35,000 competition miles says a lot - and I would think that Dave has whitnessed and experienced this sport from most angles and perspectives. I think it's a great thing to see a horse that has thousands of career miles and is still going strong. I believe that racing time after time will indeed break down your horse quicker - but then there are so many variables - rest between races, conformation of the horse, and even the knowledge, ability and balance of the rider - and most of all luck. How much risk is someone willing to take within the boundaries of being responsible. Then there are those who indeed make endurance riding their life. They have a goal to win - and they take all the proper steps to achieve that goal - whether it is one particular ride like Tevis, or any other ride. I think the great thing about this sport is that you can be just as popular and have just as many friends whether you take 12 hrs to complete a 50, or finish 1st and have a healthy horse. So far I have determined that it's the people of the endurance community that make this sport great - and that victories come in many different forms and at the end of the day they remain no more than a very special "personal achievement".I come from a very competitive background in another sports discipline and my opinion about riding vs. racing might be different than others. At the very least, I have seen people become more competitive in general...life, work, and certainly sports. With the help of more knowledge, science, nutrition and training methods, the competitive become more competitive. I think that spills over into our sport as well. Non-horse people who don't know what it takes to achieve a mere "completion", would probably not want to become fans and watch recreational riders do a 50 or a 100. They want to see some action. Look at Tevis - the tension and excitement of watching the leader boards at Forest Hill is enough to get anybody's blood rushing. With the international endurance community seeking more recognition and popularity, the U.S. riders will try to keep up with that. In my opinion, given what I know from our competitive U.S. riders, they are amazing - and will continue to learn and grow and implement new and advanced training techniques, nutrition, etc. and share it with anybody who wants to know. Although I certainly don't think that everybody's going to convert to "racing" vs. riding I believe that in time "racing" might not be such a "negative" term anymore. All the ever so increasing research that is going into nutrition, science, and training I believe will eventually open so many more doors and riders will consitently prove their success in not only competing, but competing and winning responsibly. I think there will always be, and should always be a distinct difference of crossing the finish line first, and earning high mileage - and both should be equally honored, accepted, rewarded and supported. Catfish From: Carolyn Burgess <carolyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: carolyn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: Steph Teeter <stephteeter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [RC] The Meaning of Endurance Riding Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 13:03:51 -0800 (PST) _________________________________________________________________ Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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