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[RC] gaited "endurance" race - arachneI just got off the phone with Rick and I think they are on to something. They are starting their own organization of gaited endurance horse rides. Rick has done his home work and wants to breed gaited horses that can go the distance in endurance. They may have some bumps in the road, but they are on the right track. let's all keep an open mind here and help them out. Micki I have permission to post this from Ramy. It is a well thought out, succinct reply to the heated debate (on the gaited endurance lists) about this 5.7 mile "endurance" race put on by Rick Mullins. If you care about endurance, please take the time to read her post copied from the gaiteddistance site. Thank you! Terri in Northern Ca. who just finished five days of real endurance at Bryce Canyon and is second in the nation in mileage riding a gaited horse. First off, I am an AERC member, a veterinarian, and a gaited horse owner. I am sending this email to multiple people I feel have a need to know. This is in reference to Rick and Kimra Mullins of Clintwood, Virginia. They have an event scheduled for September 27, 2008 at their farm. They are calling this event an Endurance Race. They are supposedly trying to develop a breed registry for gaited endurance horses. See this website: http://www.endurancehorse.org/contact.html In promoting their event, they posted to an email group to which I belong, see this link: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GaitedEnduranceRiders/ If you are not a member, please join and read the related messages in the archives. This is a group of people who ride gaited horses and participate in endurance rides with them. There are many concerns about this event, which have been brought forward in discussions on this list. The Mullins have refused to address these issues. In brief: They are holding a race with money going to the winner. This race will cover 5.7 miles (that's right, less than 6 miles) over what they describe as rough terrain. And they insist on calling it an endurance race in spite of the objections of many people. They are allowing horses under 4 years of age to participate. These people have no association with AERC and have never participated in an AERC event. They have demonstrated total disregard for AERC from what I have seen. If they have something happen to horses at this ride, they are likely to bring down the attention (read: wrath) of the animal rights people upon the sport of endurance in general. As we all know, this is because the general public will not differentiate between an AERC sanctioned event and any other event labeled an endurance event. This email is an attempt to bring this to someone's attention who can and will do something to prevent the possible disaster. I want to state, though it should be evident, I am embarrassed, as a gaited horse owner, to be thus associated with these people. There are many of us in AERC riding gaited horses and competing very happily in endurance. These people seem to think the sport needs to be made easier so the gaited horses can do it. That is not so. In the rest of my email, you will see my Rick's words in blue and my responses to Rick's email in black. Rick Mullins wrote, in his last post to the gaited endurance riders list, after many emails detailing to him the dangers of what he is doing: "I appreciate everyone's phone calls and it has been very positive. We look forward to working with everyone and becoming friends and learning from one another. I beleive that with all our common desires we can produce even greater horses and greater endurance rides. I think it is very important to create these rides with local chamber of commerces,governmen t officials and market to the sector of people who are borderline,show. trail,etc. Together we can make a large impact." Rick and Kimra, The above email from Rick seems to indicate that you have no respect or appreciation for the sport of endurance. You don't go into a sport you do not understand (as you do not understand endurance, you have never even ridden in an endurance ride) and create "greater endurance rides". Let's break this down: "We look forward to working with everyone and becoming friends and learning from one another." We have tried and tried to explain to you why what you are doing is dangerous to the horses and the sport of endurance and you have totally refused to acknowledge our concerns. That is no way to make friends. And if you think anyone in endurance has anything to learn from you other than what a mess you can make, you are gravely mistaken. "I beleive that with all our common desires we can produce even greater horses and greater endurance rides" There have been people striving to produce better gaited horses for endurance for many years, your idea is nothing new. And those people are actually involved in the sport of endurance, which you obviously know nothing about. "I think it is very important to create these rides with local chamber of commerces,governmen t officials and market to the sector of people who are borderline,show. trail,etc. " And what about the AERC, the official governing body of the sport of endurance? The people who have been doing the RESEARCH (which you have repeatedly claimed to be so important) about how to keep horses safe in the sport? Oh, that's right, you have no interest in research about keeping horses safe, only in how to make them perform better. I don't think any of the people you mentioned above would know the first thing about metabolic problems in the endurance horse, how to prevent them, or how to treat them when they occur. And why do we need to "market" to show people? If they were interested in endurance, they would get involved. This is not the type of thing you market. Horse people know it exists, but it is not for everyone. And the last thing that needs to be done is to "dumb down" the sport and make it easy so everyone can do it. That totally defeats the purpose of endurance. If it is not a test of horse and rider, it is not endurance. If you want to hold trail rides, then go for it. If you want to get involved in competitive trail, go for it. You are trying to create something that already exists. At the same time, you are bastardizing a wonderful sport by calling your event any type of endurance event. "Together we can make a large impact." Yes, Rick and Kimra, I am very very afraid you will make a big impact, just not the type you expect. If you hold this "race" and insist on calling it an endurance event, you could singlehandedly destroy the sport of endurance. If you have horses get hurt, as they did at the "race" in Oklahoma, you could bring the animal rights people down on our sport in droves. I see no possible way, from the things you have said, that you can make a positive impact on endurance. You have total disregard for those who do know what they are doing and all those who have gone before us in developing the sport as we know it today. Thank you Ramy Jisha DVM AERC member gaited horse owner Sulphur Springs, Texas =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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