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  • - Tracey Lomax

    Re: [RC] $$MONEY Fer NUTHIN'!$$ - Tracey Lomax


    Howard wrote:

    Karl, I'll tell you what.  Enter endurance riding, give it a shot.  Do a 25, and consider what a 50 miler would be like, and then, try to imagine what doing 100 miles in 24 hours or less entails.  I don't mean to belittle your sport; I know it's difficult and challenging, but (no offense meant), it ain't endurance.

    I actually take offense at this, Howard, because it presupposes that non-endurance riders on this forum aren't entitled to hold an opinion.  Sometimes, an "outside" perspective can give you a new slant on something, and actually be beneficial.

    My disciplines have been affiliated to FEI for a whole heap longer than Endurance, so I do have some experience with the way the organisation works.  I've been exposed to the "money" element of equestrian sports for a lot longer than you have, and I think that what I've seen there may be beneficial to you. 

    There is good and bad in FEI, there is good and bad in making prize money available to "winners". 

    If you think I should shut up now, because I haven't "done" endurance, then by all means, tell me now.  But until then, I'm going to have my say.  You can hit "delete" if you like.

    I feel pretty comfortable in saying that endurance is the most difficult, challenging endeavor that one can ever asked from a horse.  This includes team penning, roping, anything you see in the show ring, and on the rodeo circuit.  And, I'm talking about the distance and the pure physical stamina required for an endurance horse to compete at top international levels.  

    I'm not sure that this is all that relevant, really.  I've seen horses killed during showjumping tournaments, killed at eventing tournaments.  I've seen dressage horses put down at ten, lame for life because they were pushed too hard, too young.  Endurance DOES place huge physical and mental strain on the horse, I agree with you 100%, but that doesn't make it "unique".  What makes it unique, in my (uneducated) opinion, is that "winner" are very often not the most talented horse on the day, but the best-prepared, and very often it's a team which wins, not a horse.

    If you start throwing money into the sport, like they do in your sport, Karl, it won't fly with endurance. 

    It will, Howard.  Whenever you throw money into a sport, you'll attract people for whom the "purse is all".  That's the nature of people, I'm afraid.

    The only sport, perhaps, where this WON'T happen, is probably dressage, because I've found that most of the money-driven people are also adrenalin-junkies, who like to get their kicks from the dangers inherent in the sport.  I have no stats on this, it's just a gut feel.

    The sport is too challenging, alone, as it is.  If you add money to the equation innocent horses will die, because the rider/owner gets blinded by the light reflecting off the gold, and misses the tell tale signs he would normally see when his horse tries to tell him to slow the heck down.  I don't think this is a real problem in any of the sports you mentioned.  I haven't heard of too many horses dying in reining, barrel racing, poles or penning (unless you draw a really vicious cow).  In endurance, it does happen, and it's a real fear.

    It's a fear in eventing and showjumping, too, albeit a lesser one.  What is MORE of a fear in those sports is crippling injury.  Horses who are put down in their prime because they were not adequately prepared for the job, ridden badly, or because of poor judgement on the part of the rider, were ridden in conditions which weren't favourable (remember Rolex?), they suffered career-ending injuries.

    This is a cut-throat game.  Not many top riders will "wait it out" to see if the horse will recover.  A friend of mine got a phone call the other day from one of our A grades to "come fetch your horse.  He's f....d".  The horse might recover, but my friend will have to pay for his upkeep for a few years.  Fortunatley, he's NOT money-driven, and will do so.  Many owners would have put him down.

    Try the sport, first, Karl, before you decide money would be a good thing in endurance.  Do a couple 50's and then let me hear you say it's a great idea.  And, even after you do those 50's keep in mind that the money in the sport, if it ever gets there, will most likely be in the 100 mile ride. 

    It's not as simple as that.  Money in itself is not a bad thing.  In fact, it can be a great thing.  By making big purses, you attract more people to the sport.  By doing that, you often educate people.  By doing that, you help horses.  The ILPH gets some of its funding from the so-called "big money" sports, through charity events.  The winners earn a purse, the rest of the money goes to the charity.  Would the charity earn as much money if there was no "purse"?  Probably not - there would be fewer entrants, and fewer spectators.

    I'm all in favour of attracting money into equestrian sport, provided it is put to good use (and that includes reimbursing riders who've earned it!).  And it can be done intelligently. 

    We need to calm down a little.  We're all assuming that "money is evil" and we're alienating the people we should be befriending, in order to have some influence over them.  At the end of the day, they are going to make the decisions which affect all of us, so instead of going 'off pop' as my Uncle would say, we need to devise sensible, non-paranoid solutions to what is a very real problem.

    It's *how* you do it that counts.  I've already discussed this in my mail to Karl, so won't repeat it here.

    Tracey

     

     


    Replies
    Re: [RC] $$MONEY Fer NUTHIN'!$$, Howard Bramhall