At 04:52 PM 12/2/96 -0800, Susan F. Evans wrote:
>Hi Everyone,
>
>I've been reading with interest the comments re cash prizes for
>endurance rides, so of course I have to throw in my two cents. A long
>time ago, before endurance, I showed Saddlebreds and Arabians in
>both halter and performance. I left showing because it made me ill that
>I could not be competitive with my horses because either I didn't have
>the money to hire a top politically-connected trainer to simply appear
>in the ring with my horse, could not advertise pretty photos of my
>horse in national breed magazines, didn'nt get around the showgrounds in
>a "Rolls Royce" golfcart and most importantly, I wasn't willing to do
>the abusive things it took for my gaited and/or halter horses to be
>"brilliant" in the ring. My horses are my friends, not the means by
>which I collect stuff.
>
>I started riding endurance because the most important thing was how well
>I took care of my horse during and between rides, and where
>overzealousness was punished instead of rewarded. I only have 505
>career miles (due to a busy study schedule) and I've never top tenned or
>won anything other than a T-shirt, a bucket or a belt buckle. Maybe I'd
>feel different if I was competitive enough to compete at top levels.
>This is just my own opinion, but it sends a cold chill down my back to
>think that endurance riding could become "profitable" enough to attract
>the same attitudes as those in the showring who abuse their horses for
>the sake of winning. I agree that our vets and ride managers can be
>trusted to control over-competitive (read abusive) riders, but all
>of us have heard/know of ways to "trick" the vets and get away with
>something. Drug testing will have to become much more strigent and
>inevitably, we'll all have to pay more to protect against the
>abusive few. Also, we've all seen riders with poor attitudes shrieking
>at ride vets and ride managers because for one reason or another, the
>day didn't go well for them---and THAT's when there's nothing more at
>stake than a few more points and the glory of having finished top ten
>instead of top twenty. I think the ride managers and vets already have
>to tolerate more Bad Attitude than they should have to. I can't see it
>getting any better by upping the ante.
>
>Again, this is IMHO, but I think bringing in big money is going to
>attract more of the kind of people we don't want and will drive away the
>kind of people we do want---that is, the truly amateur rider who wants
>to be able to just finish in good shape with a frisky horse and feel
>like they've really accomplished something worthwhile---and most,
>important, doesn't feel that they are LESS of an endurance rider just
>because they're not racing at the upper levels.
>
>One last thought---we've all heard about endurance horses being bought
>in this country and shipped to the Middle East for their "endurance"
>races, where big money is at stake and where the horses are literally
>run to death. I've kept horses that I should have sold because I was
>afraid of such a thing happening to them, unlikely as that is.
>Personally, I can think of nothing worse than finding out one of my
>horses had been abused at a big money ride in this country for the sake
>of "winning". It happens now, without the big money. To me, that's not
>winning. I realize these are broad generalizations, but I like
>endurance being kept as an amateur sport and keeping the competition
>relatively friendly.
>
>If anyone's in doubt, go visit a regional Arabian show, take a walk down
>the barn row and tell me if the majority of those horses look as happy
>as your fuzzy old goofball mooching around in the pasture and begging to
>go riding with you.
>
>Susan Evans
>
Dee Scott
Van Gilder Arabians
Wasco, Oregon
Home of Nehalems Muhuli, FV SToic & Mackies Image
and their band of mares!!