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[RC] rides and races and involvement - Steph TeeterWe'll be putting photos and stories for Presidents Cup at http:// www.endurance.net/international/UAE/2008PresidentsCup/Kathy Brunjes has been writing daily journals, and has taken some photos which are posted there - fun reading. I remember a Junior and Young Rider race in South Africa a couple years ago where they were racing for the finish and had to cross a road, the steward failed to block all the traffic and a truck pulled onto the road just as they were crossing. one horse managed to go around in front of the truck, the other had no choice but to crash into it or jump. so it jumped (over the hood) with the rider, who finished 2nd. There was a multiday race in the US last year where 2 riders where racing for the finish and a car pulled out in front of them. the horses ran into the car and were killed. the riders were catapulted over the car and survived. I've seen bystanders plowed into at finish line races, I've seen riders come off their horses at finish line races. I've seen starts that were pretty damn wild in many places and I have seen a few runaways. I've seen horses on drips at 100 mile rides and I've seen horses on drips at multiday rides. I saw a horse disappear into a quicksand bog in the mountains in Utah. I've seen 300 lb men race on 800 lb horses. I've seen winners pulled at the finish with a horse that didn't recover, and turtles pulled at the finish with a horse that didn't recover. Injuries from over training, injuries from under training. Some organizations require horses and riders to qualify over time before running a 100 miles. Some require no qualifications other than that the horse be 5 yrs old. I've seen winners receive thousands of dollars and a new car. I've seen winners receive a tshirt and a rock :) I think we all call it the same sport, and I personally believe those of us that choose Endurance over CTR do so because of the freedom it gives us in choosing how to ride our own ride - and the opportunity to excel when we get a great horse, and sometimes for the pure unencumbered thrill of the sport. ... But regardless of how we choose to ride, the damage done to horses in this sport is our greatest threat. In the USA we use peer pressure to protect the horse - we reward longevity, we frown on riders who injure horses. We recognize weight divisions to give 'everybody' a chance to be a winner. (big people can race against big people). I tend to agree with Richard that staying involved is the best way to protect the horses, and protect the sport. If some entity decides that Endurance is an abusive sport (e.g. a bad showing at the 2010 WEG) do you really think AERC would be immune? The rules of the sport are the same - an outsider would see no difference, and the track record of metabolic and lameness pulls and horse fatalities is still there in AERC. Rather than abolishing AERC-International committee, perhaps AERC can give them a mandate to study the International scene and try to improve it. I also believe it would help enormously if we could convince FEI to do away with the godawful cash prizes that some of the rides offer to the winners. (a good example of an alternative was the sharing of the Sultans Cup prize money between all riders that completed in Malaysia). I think I'll write my letter to the FEI and suggest this - to prohibit OC's from awarding huge purses to the winners. I already had an opportunity to speak with one of the major sponsors of rides over here, giving my honest opinion that if they're going to spend money on the Ladies and Young Rider races they should sponsor a team award instead of first place - or horsemanship, or something along those lines. Steph =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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