Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

D'Arcy, I don't see why there has to be an "or" there. Competition can be fun or it can be blood sport. I think on the whole AERC has been fun competition for most people....mind you, I'm judging at something of a distance since I've never done an AERC ride and most of what I know of them I get from the net and the odd endurance rider who wanders this far east looking for a some holiday riding.  I think that the difference lies in keeping a sense of balance regarding what you are doing.

I was raised in a family that played word games such as Scrabble and Bali incessantly. These games were played in a highly competitive context with a load of laughter. Sure, people worked hard to win, but they never took the game so seriously that they would even consider cheating, although some of the arguments for rather shaky words would get pretty hilarious. 

So there is no reason that endurance riding shouldn't be competitive. You compete against your friends, you compete against your last try, you compete against the trail and the weather. But you don't lose sight of the fact that it's a game...it's fun. At the end of the day, it is not a defining aspect of the world. It's not going to change you into something you are not because you happen to win one day.

I've seen people who have completely lost sight of that perspective. The riders in Egypt who are racing to win money have lost sight of it. They want the cash and will do whatever is necessary to win it. There's no fun there, no laughter, no companions, and little care for the creature who is laying its life on the line for the achievement of someone else's goal. 

I don't know how many times I've read people posting about horses that they know have the physical capability to win races but that don't have the emotional capability. That is, the horse doesn't enjoy moving down the trail. That's right...one of the real necessities for any kind of competitive distance riding is a horse who enjoys it, who is happy to do it just because it's fun. Because, let's face it, that's all that matters to the horses....and maybe that's what should be important for us too. Then winning can be fun.

Maryanne

On 9/15/07, D'Arcy Demianoff-Thompson <liberty4640@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Well there in lies the rub.  Angie and Maryanne hit on
a very important topic - Fun vs Competition.  So,
should there be two separate entities in endurance.
And, in fact, don't we already have that with NATRAC?
I always thought of AERC as being a 'race' based
competitive sport.  Now trying to change the name and
the nucleus that it was based on for what?  To woo
more people that just want to do competitive trail
over to the AERC.

I am sorry...I am just failing to see why the wheel is
being reinvented.  We have two organizations, in this
country, that are able to facilitate racing vs
competitive trail.  Why are we diluting one for the
other?  Do I want to have fun you damn right.  Do I
want to be competitive...you bet!  At the risk or cost
of my horse hell no!  However, I don't see Fun vs
Competition being at the cost of one or the other.

I understand that the numbers of competitors are
declining.  However, if anyone has paid attention to
the recent surveys conducted by many different 'horse'
magazines...you will find that the beginning of the
'baby boomers' are going to hit the retirement skids
in 2008.  Many of them...'anti-establishment' type
personalities.  Will not want to conform into the
'condo' crowd.

In fact many of the surveys, Horse and Rider, March
and July, have suggested that those people are looking
for 5 acre plus homes.  So that they can have little
mini farms...along with a horse or two!  Guess
what...they are looking also to do trail rides,
endurance, and other 'freedom' type of activities with
their livestock.

So, if I was on a governing body of any one of a
number of horse organizations...I'd start addressing
the needs that those fluctuations are going to be
demanding.  Stop trying to reinvent the wheel.  Fix
the one that is already in place!!!!  And that my
friends is something of a carry over from my Air Force
days!



D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson
liberty4640@xxxxxxxxx

-- 
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
msgabbani@xxxxxxxxx

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