Re: RC: Rabble Rousing

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Hey Bob
When reining became an Olympic event, reiners went from $3500/5000 to 
$15000 up. If having an Olympic event Endurance Competition means that I
can find an endurance market where I don't have to see my horses for
less than it costs me to raise them, then I for one am all for it! There
are those who prefer to play neighborhood and college basketball, and
those who prefer to compete in the NBA. I say there is room for both!
Bette
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of TLA Halynov
http://www.stormnet.com/~woa
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it
gets to the end, the faster it goes. Smell the roses!

> Bob Morris wrote:
> 
> Thought this item I found in my archives would go over quite well now
> the races in the Arab part of the world have completed their
> spectacle. I wrote this back in 1995 to the AERC.
> 
> Bob Morris
> Morris Endurance Enterprises
> Boise, ID
> 
> 
> WHAT CONSTITUTES A PRESTIGIOUS ENDURANCE RIDE
> 
>                                             OR
> 
> HAVE OUR ENDURANCE RIDES BECOME TOO EUROPEANIZED
> 
> 
> 
> This  article I  am sure  will bring  forth the  wrath of some  of our
> riders  but  at the  same  time will  cause  others to  think of  what
> direction our sport is taking.
> 
> First,  let me  qualify  that my  family  and I  have participated  in
> endurance   riding  since   1977  and  have   supported  International
> Competition since the first  North American Championships in 1986. Our
> horses  have an  admirable record  of competition  and have  placed in
> national and regional rankings often.
> 
> The sport  of Endurance  riding when we first  entered competition was
> quite unsophisticated.  No heart rate meters,  no on board temperature
> indicators  and the  rides were  not all  that plentiful. We  fed hay,
> grain and  water. The Vets were learning,  once again, how horses work
> and their limitations. Our training methods were developing but really
> were  just   to  get   out  and  ride.   All  in  all   lots  of  fun.
> 
> No  one  thought  very  much about  "gaining  an  advantage" over  our
> competitors except in the matter of better conditioned horses and what
> breeding lines  were the best  for endurance. Ride camp  was where the
> ride  started and  ended. Where  you parked  your trailer and  tied or
> picketed your  horse. Simple, but some  places were better than others
> were. For  my own part I did not really like  the paved parking lot or
> even  the hard dirt  packed ones  occasionally found but  we survived.
> 
> Most of all the  ride routes, with a few exceptions, were interesting.
> They were  on old  dirt roads, two  tracks, single tracks,  trails and
> some  time's  cross-country. Ride  management  marked  the trail  from
> horseback because  they knew then the riders would  be able to see the
> ribbons.
> 
> Where  am I  drifting?  I feel  that we  have lost  some of  the basic
> tenants of  our endurance-riding heritage in  our rush to compete with
> our  inferred   competitors  from   over  seas!  We   are  putting  on
> "PRESTIGIOUS" endurance rides that are loaded with all sorts of frills
> and incentives.  We are  getting to the  point that riders  want their
> crews to have access,  for assistance, at all times. We are looking at
> rides where  "STABLING" is  offered for the horses.  We are definitely
> looking at  more and  more rides where  the trail(?) is  marked from a
> vehicle for the convenience of management.
> 
> In fact  the trend of our  endurance riding is drifting  away from the
> horse  to be  centered on  the rider.  The prime  importance currently
> seems to  be the comfort of  the rider, the awards  for the rider, the
> convenience  for the  rider and  how soon  can the rider  complete the
> ride. The horse is  incidental. Seldom do you hear the horse mentioned
> at an awards presentation.
> 
> So where  does the Europeanization come into all  this? Like it or not
> the sport  is influenced by International  Competition. It is inherent
> that we  have pride in our  nation's accomplishments and this includes
> international endurance  riding. We  want to show our  abilities so we
> "play their  game" and this has a great  influence on the local scene.
> Endurance riding was an individual sport! It has now evolved to a TEAM
> sport at some rides  (regional teams) whether you like it or not. With
> this has  come the  Continental trend towards uniformity  of dress for
> equestrian events.  We find  that there is  the coming trend  for more
> uniform stabling  of the horses (shades  of competitive trail riding).
> We find  the trend towards "trails" being more  roads so the crews can
> access their riders. We find that when a ride has winning completition
> times  computed   at  a  speed  less   than  9mph  average  the  rider
> participation drops off in  subsequent years as the ride is "to hard".
> 
> Now on to the  scene is a movement to split the Eastern time zone into
> two, just  as the Pacific time zone was. Given time  we may even go to
> States competing against each  other. After all many of our states are
> larger than some European countries.
> 
> I find it ludicrous that we have ride managers complaining they "lost
> money on a ride" and then find out the excessive costs were for
> catered meals, rider awards, special camping and stabling facilities
> etc ad nausium. Do we, as endurance riders really need these things??
> Are we demanding these amenities?? Just look at the advertisements for
> the 1996 Championships. Very little about the trail conditions, the
> terrain to be covered, the climate but there is a long list of what to
> expect for competitor's living conditions. What is this competition
> for? I am beginning to think that it is getting to be like the
> Olympics. Who can put on the greatest show and damn the cost.

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