National Championship

["Carlos F. Crespo" <ccrespo@nigma.com>]

Joe Long Stated:


<<One effect of all this is loss of respect and recognition for the
National Champions.  Back when we had one Senior and one Junior,
everyone knew their names, and their horses' names!  How many
ridecampers came name all of the National Champions for 1997 (without
looking them up)?  How many can name half of them?>>

I can see the point being made , but we must not loose track of the fact
that back then
you could probably name all the endurance riders in the country from memory
as well.  Just five 
years ago if I went to a ride with a total of 50 riders in it, it  was a
BIG Ride. Today, Most of the rides , even 
in the South East, will have more than 100 participants in it.  Everyday
there are more and more endurance riders 
showing up and I am frankly amazed at how good many of them are getting so
fast. I am having a hard time 
keeping up with the names and faces of all the competition out there. And
believe me, any of these new guys
(and girls)  can beat anybody on any given day. The competition is getting
tougher and that,  by itself,  will make 
it harder to remember the name of so many good riders.

<<I feel that going to four weight divisions was a mistake, that three
was a good balance.  I'd like to see us go back to three weight
divisions.  I'd also like to see some means of having, once again, a
single senior horse/rider team (and one junior) that are recognized as
THE "National Champion Endurance" for a given year.>>

Personally, I can not subscribe to this notion. To begin with, I believe
that the best  way to crown a National Champion
is to have ONE National Championship Ride. This will allow the Best Riders
in the Country to plan and Peak their 
conditioning to test themselves on the same day, under the same conditions
with the BEST,  and see who wins.
The way the system works now it is more a question of who can drive more
miles and take more time off work. 

Regarding the weight classes, my feeling is that for competition to be a
true and sincere strife for superiority it has to be fair.
I believe very strongly that a lack of weight classes casts a serious doubt
as to the fairness of this endeavor.  The more 
weight classes available the tougher and more fair the competition will be
in each class. If you would like, I could concede
the idea of a GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPION who would be the first to finish such
National Championship  Race and who
would be deserving of special recognition for their SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE.

Ideally, there should be three  National Championship Rides. One  for 50
miles,  one race for one day 100 miles and one for 5 day 250 mile .
This would really encompass the full scope of the Sport of Endurance.  I
would even make it the Endurance Triple Crown Challenge and make 
the horse and rider team that can win all three in the same year the
Endurance Triple Crown Champion. You can not beat this for recognition
and then we would only have to remember very few names for all times. Being
one who believes in putting his money where his mouth is, 
I will be the first to donate $5,000 to the person or organization willing
to take on  this challenge.  

If the AERC Board won't do it, how about some of you ride managers out
West?  I know many people have talked about it. How about
getting it done?  Florida , unfortunately , would not be an ideal place for
it, otherwise we would do it. 

Carlos
Florida