Re: Keep it simple.

[RUN4BEAR <RUN4BEAR@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-01-15 05:35:44 EST, Marinera@aol.com writes:

<< Dear Ride Campers,
 When the AERC was formed, one of the main thrusts was to "keep it simple".
 "Simple" is 50 miles in 12 hours, 100 miles in 24 hours and that has been the
 standard since the inception of the sport and AERC records have been kept
with
 this as a basis.  If you don't make it in  time  either your horse failed
 because he wasn't up to it or was ill prepared; you weren't ready or became
 ill; or the trail was too tough. But life isn't fair. It is full of ups and
 down, moments of triumph and moments of defeat just as endurance riding is.
 You have the right to pick and choose  the horse you ride, your own level of
 fitness and the rides you attend.  You will  get some bad breaks and you will
 get some good breaks. I have finished rides I never should have and I have
 failed to complete rides that I felt I deserved. It all sort of evens up over
 the long run. But you cannot let your life revolve around the outcome of one
 ride.
 Everyone wants to be known as a good sport. Good sports take their lumps  and
 they realize there can not be  a rule or an exception to the rule to cover
 every possible contingency.  So, for the sake of the sport of endurance
 riding, keep it simple.  Otherwise we will founder on a set of complex rules
 that no rider or ride manager can interpret or comprehend.
      Julie Suhr
 
 
  >>

Julie:

Still...there was the ride from hell when the monsoons came and NOBODY would
have gotten a completion.....how about the ride where the trail markers were
vandalized and NOBODY knew where to go?

Teddy