Re: Comments by Donna Snyder-Smith

["Joe Long" <jlong@mti.net>]

On Sat, 6 Jun 1998 00:17:52 -0700 (PDT), Robin Everett
<robin_everett@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I am so tired of riders whose attitudes toward the limited distance
>is, "I walked in snow up to my a__ for my
>mileage/buckle/shirt/mug/cap/sponge awards and if you haven't done the
>same, you're not *really* an endurance rider.  So stop trying to grow
>our exclusive club.  If you succeed in 'diluting' our sport we real
>endurance riders might not appear so special."

Ye Gods, not again!!!!!  How often are we going to hear this same
whine?

OK, answer me this:  if there is "no difference" between 25 and 50
miles, if they are both endurance competitions -- then what is the
difference between 15 miles and 25 miles?  Between 5 miles and 15
miles?  Between one lap around a ring and 5 miles?

Endurance rides were defined as at least 50 miles per day because the
people drawing up the rules and definitions understood that it takes a
certain distance to be a test of the endurance of *the horse.*  We
don't call our sport "endurance riding" because of the rider's
endurance, it is the horse that's being tested.

Now, just as the other disciplines like jumping, dressage, eventing,
even competitive trail riding have their entry-level classes, so does
the sport of endurance riding.  We call ours Limited Distance.

I wonder if the people competing in the entry-level classes of these
other sports also demand *equal* recognition with the Open, Grand Prix
or whatever classes in their disicplines?

I reject the notion that people are turned off from becoming endurance
riders by our calling our Limited Distance program Limited Distance.
Why should anyone be turned off by the entry-level program of any
discipline being identified as such?  Why do some people demand
"instant accolades" without being willing to put in the time and
effort to learn the sport and advance to the levels that bring such?

There is a way available for anyone who wants the recognition of being
an *endurance* rider to do so:  complete a fifty mile endurance ride.
But there seems to be no end to those who want to talk the talk,
without having to walk the walk.  They want it on the cheap.

Please understand that I'm not talking about all Limited Distance
riders.  Not everyone wants to ride fifty miles, and if the 25 mile
rides satisfy them, fine.  Different strokes for different folks.  And
some people (like my wife) have physical handicaps that prevent them
from ever riding 50 miles, for whom 25 miles takes a supreme effort.
But most of these folks don't want given to them what they are unable
or unwilling to earn.  It is those that do that are the problem.

We've been over this, time and again, for decades.  
I for one am more than disgusted with it.

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
Business Page  http://www.mti.net
Personal Page  http://www.rnbw.com