Sportsmanship/continuing on

[heidi sowards <ribbitttreefrog@yahoo.com>]

--- charrazon409@aol.com wrote:
> By the way things run in the PacNorth, this person was
> correct. Riders 
> continuing in upper distances always take priority over
> completions. If 
> someone is showing for BC, as long as they make it known
> to the vets that 
> they are there by their time limit, they cannot be
> disqualified.

The person who was showing for BC was waiting in line and I
asked her if she'd like to go ahead as it was very cold and
a stiff horse doesn't show as well as a warm one who just
got in line. So maybe I didn't need to be nice and ask her
if she'd like to go in front, but it seemed like the right
thing to do.



 There ARE 
> reasons for this. Sometimes these people are racing for
> position, sometimes 
> they need to just keep the horse moving, but most
> importantly, the upper 
> distance horses need to get through the vet check so they
> can have time to 
> eat as they need a lot of food. 

I have never done a 75, so I can only speak for continuing
on in a 50. Food being the most important thing, I will
wait in line with beet pulp/mashes/hay, whatever. That way
I am in line and feeding my horse. I seriously doubt I
would even ask to go ahead if I was continuing on, unless
of course I was getting to the end of my vet check and it
didn't look like I'd make my out time. That certainly
wasn't the case in this instance. The P/R people had just
recorded this horse's pulse and there were only 2 horses in
line.

Maybe it was more of a problem of not enough vets there to
do completions, BC showings and continuing on. (There was
only 1.) Of course if it had been 80 degrees this would
really be a moot point. Cold was a huge factor here and my
concern for my horse was of the highest importance to me!


I 
> was crewing this particular ride, and I know and have
> ridden with most of the 
> riders that were competing in the 75 miler. All are
> experienced, good riders. 
> Out of the ones I know, none of them are rude or pushy,
> but they do know what 
> needs to be done to get their horse through a ride. 

Well, I can only say in this case my friend (who crews
Klickitat every year - related to the RM) found the
attitude to be rude as did I. I also knew what needed to be
done for my horse, but would never have been rude back. I
know this rider didn't realize that we thought she was
rude, but then alot of people don't realize it. THAT'S why
I said something here on ridecamp, maybe to just make all
of us riders aware that you can catch more bees with honey!
(As my mom used to say!) (and maybe even make a new friend
in the process.)

Many
> ride managers in the 
> PNW eliminate this problem by annoucing that upper
> distances take priority in 
> vet lines at the ride meetings, or arrange different
> lines for completions 
> and continuing. I would be interested in hearing how
> other regions deal with 
> this.
> Hope this answers some of your questions. If anyone feels
> the need to flame, 
> go right ahead....goes great with my red hair. ;-)

No need to flame you Karma, everyone is entitled to their
opinion and feelings, its very rare I'd ever say anything
to anyone, but ridecamp certainly makes it easier to share
how we all feel. I think one vet wasn't enough, I think
there were 3 there total and since I have never put on a
ride I can't really talk about what should have been done.
It would be very interesting to hear other RM's opinions on
this and how they handle the completions/BC showing and
continuing on for their rides.




=====
Heidi-aerc#M20935  /\_/\~
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