"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.
Howard said:
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.
