Pat, I suppose I wasn't clear enough. I wouldn't have spured my horse on if he was tired. He actually wasn't so tired that he couldn't possibly trot. He could have certainly gone in at an easy comfortable pace. I never asked that horse to go when he didn't want to. But it was the end of the ride, and he wansn't chomping at the bit, so I walked. My point was, that other rider slowed to a walk the minute he passed me, and I assumed he would gallop to the finish. Had I just trotted along, we might have finished higher. Just a little piece of top ten strategy that that rider used (not one I would use or suggest).