Re: RC: Montana accident, I saw it

[Bonita Young <corky@foothill.net>]

I have been to many rides where the riders know that the finnish is in a bad
spot to race into, in many instancenses the front runners will pick a spot that
is safe to race before they get to the finnish line and that race will decide
the winner.  I have never heard of a rider changing his or her mind about the
results of the "race" and then nose out the competition at the real line.  This
is something for all riders to consider if they want to race and the real
finnish is not a safe spot.
Corky Young

Whitney Bass wrote:

> Although I am a ridecamp subscriber, I have never really felt the need to
> write and express my opinions because, in most cases, someone else will
> eventually express my opinion for me!  However, I feel the need to in this
> case because I was there and I KNOW what happened.  I've been endurance
> riding now for 14 years and have known Jim Oury and the two people racing
> in for all those years.  We all live in Montana and ride mainly in the NW
> and MT regions.  I, unfortunately, was not riding at the Posse ride because
> I had been ill for a few days but decided to spend the day in ride camp
> because it was only about an hour from where I live.  This is the third
> year that the Posse has been held and it is WITHOUT A DOUBT, a well run and
> well thought-out ride.  With that said, let me describe the scene.  The
> finish line is in a "high-traffic" area.  Not because of the number of
> vehicles but instead because the road that is used as the finish for the
> ride is basically the only road anywhere around camp.  It is a small,
> public dirt road that all the loops of the ride (5 I think) leave and come
> back into camp.  The last 100 yards even parallels the vet/trot-out area
> (with some distance separating) and the finish line is almost next to the
> large water trough where people are sponging and trying to pulse down.  I'm
> not telling you all this to point out the RM is at fault, but instead to
> say that both riders could have and SHOULD have foreseen that racing in
> would be a BAD idea.  And they made the wrong choice.   Although, I've got
> to say that in my opinion, racing to the finish is not only a very bad
> idea, but an incredibly selfish one.  There is a reason that our sport is
> titled endurance riding and not endurance racing, don't you think?  Just my
> 2 cents! =)  Anyway, at the time of the accident, I happened to be walking
> on the other side of the trot-out lanes toward the finish line.  I heard
> someone yell that there were "riders coming in", and turned to see 2 riders
> just coming in to view.  They were flying and one of them seemed to be
> particularly out of control.  Jim Oury, who had been pulled out of the 50
> mile ride, was sitting in a folding chair talking to a friend,  and by this
> time was up and out of his chair, trying to get further away from the
> racing horses.  The first rider managed to control her running, veering
> horse enough to miss Jim, but the second did not.  Her horse knocked Jim
> down at full speed and even managed to use his chest as the ground for one
> stride.  I honestly don't think that the one rider knew that anything had
> happened as she raced in those last 50 or so yards, but the rider that hit
> Jim not only didn't slow down but finished the race wholeheartedly and went
> to make sure her finish time, etc. was recorded properly on her vet card.
> Meanwhile, Jim had laid motionless for what seemed like forever and then
> couldn't seem to remember what had happened or what was going on before the
> incident.  I believe he suffered a broken sternum, a collapsed lung, 2 or 3
> broken ribs, and cracked vertebra in his neck.  A horrible accident that
> absolutely could have been avoided.  Here's what I think about what
> happened.  Knowing the number of people, horses, and cars that had been on
> and around the finish line area all day, the riders should have decided not
> to race in way before they got there.  Having decided to race in,  the
> riders had, WITHOUT A DOUBT, enough time to assess the situation ahead of
> them and to make the decision to slow down and avoid an accident -- they
> made the wrong decision.  The rider who hit Jim only made things 200 times
> worse for herself by never accepting any responsibility for what had
> happened and her daughter even said to me that "her mom said it was Jim's
> fault".  What kind of mentality is that?  Thank God, it's not one that I'm
> too familiar with.  Anyone who wants to defend the riders by saying that
> it's not against the law to race in would be correct, but at this race it
> was against basic common sense and good judgment.  Is the so-called glory
> of winning a local 50-mile ride important enough to choose it over the
> safety of other people and/or horses?  I would hope not.  Just my opinion
> on what
> I KNOW happened.
>
> Whitney Bass
> and my horses, Seco, Iza, Hossny, and Arazi (the truest and most generous
> friends I could ever have). = )
>
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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=