Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The one hour rule has been with us for a very long time. It has worked 
well - so why do we think it is not working well.

Believe me there is no one out there that is more concerned about horse 
welfare. I and Jim Holland a few others that were getting hate Email a 
few years ago because we were pushing the AERC to take into account 
horse welfare. I didn't see any of the names on the HWC in that list. 
They finally did - but I still think it is more lip service that real.

However, I sure can't support changing a long term rule without better 
justification. As far as I can see there is no data put forth to support 
this rule change - if there is let the members see it. As far as I can 
see this is no more than a "seat of the pants" we think it will do good 
so we will do it, or more like we sure hope it will. If there is 
scientific justification let the members see the data it is based on so 
we can debate it.

This rule may need to be implemented - but what the hurry? If the rule 
is justified - show the membership. If it's no more than a knee jerk 
response then it's time to step back, reset and ask the right questions 
and go after the answers. I for one don't see any justification for such 
a change in a long standing rule. That is saying one hell of a lot. If 
there is valid justification, I have a simple response - show me and 
show the membership.

Truman

Bruce Weary wrote:
> I can appreciate the challenges that individual riders foresee when 
> they imagine coping with this, or any, new rule. But when we are 
> evaluating whether a rule would be effective *when applied across the 
> board* I think we have to relinquish the luxury of regretting how a 
> rule might impact our particular, individual preferences. This may 
> sound harsh, but in a rules system that affects literally thousands of 
> riders, there has to be some ground given by each individual if the 
> group as a whole is going to succeed and prosper. If we as individuals 
> are too concerned about whether we have time to get to our trailer for 
> that coveted beer, or some of us don't have a crew, or we won't feel 
> like we can gallop across the finish line, or the long walk to the 
> trailer, or any one of a myriad of personal concerns, we become 
> shackled in our attempts to create meaningful measures that protect 
> the horse. There is no way each individual concern and preference can 
> be accounted for. No one wants more rules for the sake of more rules. 
> I agree that our vets know far more about our horses' metabolic 
> capabilities and the most reliable early signs of unexpected metabolic 
> trouble. The vet committee is very much in support of this rule, as I 
> understand it. I think a vet who has evaluated a thousand horses at 
> endurance rides knows far more about the prevention and detection of 
> metabolic trouble than someone who has ridden the same horse for a 
> thousand miles.


--

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a 
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also 
into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil


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