Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 

I think the need to make more money has affected the sport of endurance. 

In that vein, WHAT IF:

 

Only those horses suited for the sport of endurance should participate in organized endurance events, regardless of the distance.

 

Only those riders who ride with a fair and compassionate hand should be allowed to bring those horses and ride them in those events.

 

Only those horse and rider teams who have proven, through past performance, that they CAN participate without riding too fast, or riding too slow, without hurting horse or rider, should be allowed to participate.

 

Everyone else should just trail ride at home and enjoy the horse they've created.  And, with the money they'll save from entry fees, gas, trailer repair, etc., they can go to town and buy themselves what they can consider "AWARDS"...a tee shirt, a horse brush, a buckle, whatever.

 

Horses asked to participate in endurance events (for the most part) don't have 'an easy go of it'...but the sport can be done without undo wear and tear on horses, physically and emotionally.

 

The very texture of the sport has changed. 

If the reasons for that can be determined, (which they can) I think the answers to the real questions about ENDURANCE can be found.

 

Endurance racing/riding is NOT the same as going for a trail ride.  There are factors present at organized endurance events which WILL affect the horse, the rider and the day that are not at organized trail rides.

 

The stones we throw vary in size, but we do like to chuck them, don't we?

 

If the sport of endurance is okay "the way it is"...we probably don't need the periodic, sanctimonious uproars that find the list.  We should all just recite one of the following mantras:  "It could happen just standing in the pasture"

                                                    "Sometimes, bad luck just happens"

                                                    "It's up to the rider to take care of his horse"

                                                    "The vets should have pulled him sooner"

                                                    "The trail was just too hard with too many rocks"

                                                    "...then, it started to rain"

                                                    "But he (horse) was doing so great all day, I decided to GO FOR IT"

  ...and so on, and so on.

 

It IS about rider responsibility, but all one has to do is realize that not all riders care about their horses.

When that happens, what can the organization do?

 

Frank Solano