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Re: [RC] LD rides (long) - Diane TrefethenHi Richard,I am concerned when ride managers post in their flyers that they will award a BC for LD at a particular ride and then announce at the ride meeting that they won't. If an RM puts in his ride announcement/entry form that a Best Condition award will be made available for his LD ride, he is honor bound to do so. The flyer/entry form for the 2005 Desert Gold Ride is still posted at http://www.aerc.org/Calendar/2005DesertGold.pdf and states that an "overall best condition" LD BC will be available. Most riders know that the phrase "overall best condition" in reference to a multi-day ride, means that the BC will apply to the whole ride, not the individual days, and the flyer emphasizes that point. It is my understanding that the ride meeting announcement also stressed this point and that there was no announcement that no LD BC was going to be available. If the ride manager states that they are going to award a BC then they must adhere to the AERC rules. This statement is true. However, I believe that what you mean is that if a BC is offered, then it must be an AERC System BC and this is NOT true. If an RM offers a BC that is not an AERC System BC, permitted under rule L9.2, "Use of the AERC Best Condition System is optional with ride management," then the BC offered need not follow the BC rules set forth in L9.3 and its sub-paragraphs. Two quick notes on the above 1) It is the vets that "award" the BC not the RM. If in the opinion of the ride veterinarian(s) no equine is deserving of a BC award, then they may choose not to award one. "L9.1.1 The veterinarian(s) may feel that none of the horses in contention for the award deserve to receive it." 2) There is no RULE that forces an RM to make good on his promise to offer a BC but it's safe to say that any RM who consistently reneged on that promise wouldn't get much repeat business. Many share these opinions. Many prefer to let RMs have as much flexibility as possible.I also feel there should be consistency for all rides in each region. Not some ride managers posting completion times and some not. Also not some ride managers posting the completions in alphabetical order and some posting in completion order. This [providing completion times] didn't happen at this ride and the ride manager indicated at the ride meeting that he was going to change the way he reported results for the LD ride because he didn't want to promote racing and felt strongly about it and it was time to make a statement. Too late for those who might have wanted to withdraw and get their money back. Had the RM stated in his flyer that the overall LD BC would be determined under the AERC System, then changing to an alternate method would not have been reasonable. No such statement appears in the flyer. Based on the discussions here on Ridecamp over the last year or so, if you do not wish to enter a ride with a non-AERC BC, especially if that ride is in the West region, it would be prudent to email or phone the RM to ask what kind of BC is being offered and then not go if you don't like the answer. Diane =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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