AERC's policy is to recognize ties - where the people that tie split
the sum of the points they would have gotten had they not tied.
Our regional endurance club - Pacific Northwest Endurance Rides - has
their own points/awards system and their current policy is NOT to
recognize ties. We will be voting again on this issue at our
Jan. convention and I wanted to get some opinions from 'out there'.
The pros that I've heard:
1)It's hard on horses to sprint for a finish placement at the end of
the competetion - allowing a gentleman's agreement to tie would reduce
the risk of injury.
2)Ties really can happen (in the absence of photo-finishes) and must
be acknowledged.
The cons:
1)This rule could be abused by riders interested in having wins or
top-ten's on their record (a consideration in FEI team selection)
- worse case scenario: the top 5 finishers agree to tie for first -
each of them has a 'win' on their record.
2)Endurance is technically a race. Races have winners, rarely ties.
If you want to win, earn it. If you don't want to sprint, flip a coin.
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My personal feeling is that ties should be accepted - purely based
on the fact that they *do* happen - and for this reason are valid.
I'm for as few rules as possible - but just because a rule can be
be abused, doesn't mean it should be dismissed.
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I'm interested in your input!
Steph Teeter
http://www.fsr.com/National/endurance