Ridecamp: Re: [RC] AERC and LD

> I may be mistaken, Rob, but I think the concern of many is that it is the
> horse who does not get to choose how fast the ride is ridden and if that
> horse is  (as is often the case with first time yahoos) not properly
> conditioned for what is asked of him/her, it is the horse who will spend
the
> night with an IV hanging from a tree (or worse).

This used to be a significant problem.  However, AERC made two major changes
that have really changed the nature of LD, and have eliminated a great deal
of the problem.  1) They changed LD finishes so that the clock doesn't stop
until the pulse is down.  2)  They took rides of less than 50 miles out of
the point structure, and created the separate LD system.  In addition to
those specific changes to LD, ALL distances also have the fit-to-continue
concept in place.

In the "good old days" one of the things that was not so good was that all
distances were counted for points (prior to the defining of "endurance" as
50 miles and more).  I can still remember seeing a 25-miler won in 1:09,
when they still counted for points, when there was no fit-to-continue, and
when the clock stopped when you crossed the line.  The day was hot, and I
seriously wondered if the horse would make it home alive.  This was a
sufficiently common scenario "back then" that it was closely studied by
AERC, changes were made, and the abuses were drastically reduced.

Given our present LD structure, I really don't worry about the LD's being
abusive--there are individual riders who are abusive, but our rules give us
sufficient leverage to come to the aid of the horse.  I could be wrong, but
at this point, I don't think we see serious treatments needed on LD's any
mroe than on any other distance, and most are because something went
undetected, not because the rider abused the horse by overracing.  Most
rides, it seems like the LD winning time is slower than the fast 50's run
the first half of the ride.

Heidi


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