Offering more opionions here (Roger, you shamed?me into speaking up :)
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1)Having a P/R gate into a timed hold, but no vet check:
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I've been to rides where this was done, seemed like a reasonable idea.
Useful if loops are long, or if conditions are difficult - may give horses
a needed short break to eat and drink. Gives ride managers a little more
freedom when designing courses and working out the logistics of loop length,
vet checks, etc. May be especially useful in areas that are hard to reach
by 'normal' vehicles, or are a long drive from the other vet checks or
base camp. I may do this on my multiday ride this fall, since there will
be some long loops and remote areas.
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2) Requiring a minimum of 2 vetchecks per 50 miles:
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I have a few objections to this. - one, I don't like to see rules passed
which are either hard to enforce or don't necessarily solve the problem.
Unless you specify a minimum loop length, requiring '2 VC's per 50 miles'
doesn't guarantee that the horse will be examined at optimum intervals.
A ride manager could have both VC's with 5 miles of each other, or one
VC a mile from camp, and would satisfy the rule, but not address the issue.
One could address this in the rule by stating a minimum loop length -
e.g. 17.5 miles, but it would be very difficult for ride managers to have
to adhere to a minimum loop length rule. In some areas it would prohibit
them from using some trails. Things are very different between East and
West, and it may be easier to do this in the East, but out here in the
West, things are still pretty wild and remote, and vehicle access to trails
is minimal.
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Also - having ridden many multiday rides, where one VC half way through
the ride is the norm, I haven't seen that there is a problem. Even single
day rides often have 20 mile loops?- and I haven't seen problems that
seemed related to the loop length. A 15 mile fast/flat loop in hot/humid
conditions may be much more difficult on horses than a 25 mile loop in
an arid climate, with natural obstacles to slow the speed. There are too
many other variables (terrain,weather,competition) which have a greater
effect on horse health during endurance rides, to warrant singling out
one variable, especially a variable?which also causes hardship to ride
managers.
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If a rule such as the '2 vet check per 50 miles' or '17 mile minimum loop
length' came before the BOD for a vote, at this point I would not support
it.
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Steph
I was out at Ft. Schellbourne multi-day ride last week. ?There is only
one vet check on the 50 mile ride, each day. ?There were not any number
of metabolic holds, and actually, few for lameness.
Perhaps the reason for this is that for the most part the riders who
attend multi-day rides have been doing endurance for years, and also
are trying to make their horse last for 5 days?
So, perhaps the extra attention should be spent on the new riders who
are learning how to keep a horse going long distance for long years.
I personally hate to see more rules and regulations put on everyone,
just to ensure the safety of the least able contestant.
Endurance, to many, is just "To Finish Is To Win." To many others it
is a race to prove the fastest, best conditioned, best managed horse
of the day. ?WE even award the "Top Ten" as well as The fastest in each
weight division.
I hope our sport can remain flexible enough to allow for many diverse
riders with different interests and horses with different abilities
to participate.
Lynge
