Re: Our Sport

["superpat" <superpat@gateway.net>]

HEAR Dear, Dear Tom.....
I haven't heard or read anyone writing "to show up is to win". That, in my
mind is very different from "to *finish* is to win. It is a given that this
includes, "To finish with a horse who is sound and fit to continue, even
after negotiating a possibly difficult course in adverse weather with all of
the challenges people and mother nature throw your way".

> That's the problem in a nutshell. If you prepare a horse to be simply
> adequate to the expected task, then, when things get just a tiny bit
tougher,
> you put the horse's life at risk--and your life as well, on occasion.
>
> And this is what's wrong with the "To show up is to win" credo. Nobody
> bothers to prepare his or her horse properly, just shows up and gets
> applauded for doing nothing special--

In order to finish with a healthy, sound horse, Tom, one does have to
prepare his or her horse properly. It seems that you have the picture of all
of us "also rans" taking our horses around the block for a jaunt in the
woods every now and then in preparation to "show up"  at an endurance ride.
Not so, as evidenced by all of the discussions about feeding, training, use
of HR monitors, etc and the flurry of questions to you included. We do care
about properly preparing our horses for what we may ask of them. I think
that where you may get the incorrect impressions is that we do not all ask
the same of our horses. We do not all have as our goal, being the swiftest
of foot, or going "balls to the wall". So for some of us, our training and
conditioning may be less intense than  what you see at the track. But most
of us strive to prepare our horses to be able to safely give what we ask of
them.

>other than posturing as having great
> concern for the well-being of the horse by riding at the back of the pack.

I have the utmost respect for those riders who may ride in the middle or
back of the pack. They do so for any number of reasons, not the least of
which is that they are out for an enjoyable full day of riding, asking of
their horses or themselves that which they *have* prepared for, not wanting
to stress themselves or their horses. And there is no shame in that. Believe
it or not, this sport welcomes their participation as well, and does not
require or expect that everyone wants to cross the finish line first.
>
> If anyone REALLY gave a damn, he or she would prepare his horse for
athletic
> performance, and would know, through hundreds of miles of experience,
> precisely what the horse was capable of safely delivering on a given day
> under given circumstances.

Exactly so, Tom. See above paragraph.

>There are a few

More than a *few* are out there before or after work, in the snow or rain as
well as on wonderful weather days conditioning their horses to meet the
challenges of participation on whatever level they have chosen to compete.

in this list who actually do this
> kind of preparation--the rest seem to be waiting for a bolt of lightning
to
> strike their horse "athletic".

Do you really believe this or are you baiting us again? Where can I find
such a bolt? I want one. Will you be offering one for sale anytime soon?
What a lovely idea. Please keep working on developing this as many of us
could sure use one.

>
> And those latter are chock full of homilies and sob stories and emotives
of
> one kind or another--not to mention ignorant self-righteousness. But, hey,
> it's the same in horseracing, so I can't really complain. Been there, seen
> that. Fought it with every molecule of energy in my body for 27 years. Why
> should I expect more here?

It's not the same as in horse racing. I think you can expect more here.Why?
Different mind set, for one. Our horses are more to us than just
representative of so much money invested to gain fame or more money.
Sometimes sob stories are appropriate. Because we care, sometimes we cry.
Even if we realize that the fault was ours. Hopefully, we learn from our
mistakes.
>
>.........if you want to call yourself
> an endurance rider, and ride at endurance distances, then get serious
about
> conditioning for endurance performance.

No argument here. That's what many of us are out there doing, and enjoying
it as well. But you are right, Tom. We need to be deadly serious about it if
we are going to ask speed and/or distance of our horses. We need to learn to
condition and properly prepare our horses as well as learn to ride
efficiently so that we are not a hindrance to our horses. The operant word
here for many of us is *learn*.  And thanks to you, some of us are a bit
further along on the curve.

 > If you don't, and kill your horse,
> then please don't ask me for sympathy or understanding. In fact, don't
even
> tell me about it. It's like stepping in dogshit.
>...........If you want to see people who have put in the
> time, and know their horses, and genuinely give a damn about their horses,
> look to the front of the pack.

I beg to differ. Some of those people of whom you speak are at the front of
the pack. Also there are some (more than a few)who are pushing their horses
beyond the limits they have developed. Sometimes they may win. May even
manage to get a BC. Yep! It's just a damn shame that some of these "front of
the pack" people are using up fine horses in a short amount of time and in a
year or so have discarded that one and are out "at the front of the pack"
with another potentially fine horse, who will probably get used up or
injured way before it's time and sold to some unsuspecting "wannabe" who is
enamored with top five placings tagged onto a horse's credits. Tom, when you
go to an endurance ride, take a walk around camp after the top several
placers have finished. Take a look at some of the horses who have given it
their all. Tell me if you see depressed looking horses with their heads hung
low and their posture telling you that they are not really "fit to
continue". I have seen some people "hiding" their horses behind their
campers or trailers because they know that they screwed up and pushed beyond
their horse's capabilities for that day. And sadly, I think that some of
these owners have been set afire by attitudes such as you espouse that
winning is everything. They do not look beyond these few words promising
glory and recognition to your major challenge to *prepare your horse for the
challenge*
>
> By the way, just got word from Abu Dhabi. The new conditioning protocol
(much
> as outlined here by myself and Wolfgang) just won a race in Qatar--a
> full-blooded Thoroughbred. The horse finished third, but the first two
> couldn't vet out. Ours passed with flying colors. Carbo-supplemented, of
> course, but the real trick was a "ripping diet" in the months preceding
the
> race. Beth, I need your help in figuring out why that diet worked.

OK Tom,
What's this "ripping diet" you have dangled in our faces? Please, do tell.
Pat Super

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