Re: NATRC

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

Several people have posted about NATRC's policies regarding stabling and
forward motion.  First of all, those of us that endurance ride must remember
that CTR is a sport that has an entirely different goal than endurance,
despite the fact that we have common denominators in many areas, such as the
fact that we do cover terrain on horseback and have similar goals in terms of
maintaining the health of our horses throughout the event.  Also remember that
NATRC does NOT represent all CTR organizations; many do NOT have the same rule
structure or trail class connotations that NATRC does.  That said, I would
like to kick out the following comments for consideration.

Regarding forward motion, I have no trouble with the idea that riders must
stay on the horses at all times on CTR's.  Course designers have the
responsibility to make sure that courses CAN be safely negotiated on
horseback.  Riders have the responsibility to train their horses in such a way
that they CAN safely negotiate a certain amount of difficult terrain while
mounted.  Ironically, I have found that by doing that very same thing with my
endurance horses, I can frequently pick up a great deal of time on other
riders by staying mounted in difficult terrain, and passing them while they
are off and leading.  Actually, I feel SAFER on a good horse in a lot of
difficult terrain, because he has four legs to my two, and he is far more
athletic and capable of coping than I am.  All that aside, the negotiation of
the terrain while mounted is part of the sport of CTR, while making the
judgment that you as an individual may be safer off and leading your
particular horse is part of the sport of endurance.  If you don't like one
concept or the other, then choose the other sport!  Kind of like if you prefer
to tackle, play football and not basketball.

I am a bit more skeptical on the stabling issue.  The reason for the uniform
stabling is to help make the judging more uniform.  I don't buy into the idea
of having my stabling judged, so I don't participate in NATRC, but other CTR
rule systems don't include that sort of judging, so I personally find them
more palatable.  Some folks LIKE that sort of judging--NATRC is for them!  In
defense of the stabling uniformity, you know the rules beforehand, so it is up
to you to train your horse at home to accept whatever situation he is going to
be in.  If he has to be tied, practice that!  If he is going to be stalled,
practice that!   You get no sympathy from me for lack of preparation!   On the
other hand, if the veterinary judging is adequately rigorous, and the course
is adequately rigorous to give the vets something to judge, then there is no
need for the nit-picking of uniform stabling, and people could be allowed to
do what is best for their individual horse.  In the best interests of
horsemanship, I strongly urge CTR organizations to take this under
consideration. 

Just my .02.

Heidi Smith, DVM