Ridecamp: RE: [RC] The Way We Win

Bobbie:

You stated <<<It's also quite possible that a categorical
approach rather than head-to-head
competition would foster more Steve Rojeks, Cia Reis's and
Bev Grays. They gave
us a sterling, if not silver, demonstration of the benefits
of riding to
conserve the "whole"....they finished our USA team and while
they didn't medal,
their mounts will live and thrive to ride another day. It's
a model worthy of
emulation.>>>

Are you stating that the following did not give an admirable
demonstration to the world?

FRANCE - 30:37:01
50 Sunny Demedy Fifi Du Bagnas 9:38:47
48 Emmanuelle Antinea De Nautiac 10:12:22
52 Jean-Philippe Frances Djellab*HN 10:45:52



ITALY - 31:05:52
83 Fausto Fiorucci Faris Jabar 9:47:45
80 Antonio Rosi Alex Raggio Di Sole 9:35:23
81 Roberto Busi Al Jasir 11:42:44


AUSTRALIA - 32:57:47
21 Margaret Wade Castlebar Treaty 9:38:51
20 Kristie McGaffin Castlebar Macleod 10:48:19
19 Penelope Toft Bremervale Justice 12:30:37


SPAIN - 33:17:57
146 Agnes Vilarrubia Pou India 10:09:13
149 Miguel Moreno Zapata Robin Hood 11:16:59
156 Esperanza Olalla Prieto Morat 11:51:45

I believe that the results show that it was not those racing
to win who were alone in the neglect of the horse but more
likely those who did not care. One can race every time out
and still care for the horse. One can be in the top ten
continuously and not be abusing the horse. And even have
debilitating events occur while not abusing the horse. I
cite my wife in the 1990 WEG in Stockholm. Her horse had
almost 5000 miles of top ten competition with out a pull and
then slipped and strained a groin muscle in that
international competition.

No Bobbie, there is more to it than just going for the win.
It is the fact that things do happen that all the
preventative rules and all the precautions will never
obscure. And incidentally, my wife's horse is now 26 and
still being ridden.

Bob

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Roberta Jo
Lieberman
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 8:49 PM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] The Way We Win


If we had hewed to the original purpose of the sport of
endurance, we wouldn't
be having this conversation. The "father" of endurance
riding, Wendell Robie,
never intended endurance to be a "race" -- he wanted to
prove the *quality* of
horses over time, not the one-day flash in the pan.

But the passage of time and more recently, the advent of
international
competition, is rapidly changing our sport.....in fact, many
contend that
"desert racing" is a completely *different* sport than
endurance riding. The
genie is out of the bottle, and many people are horrified by
what they see.

Bob asked: > How many horses have been impaired by
endurance competition and how many horses have met an
untimely death caused by endurance competition? <

It's the *trend* toward more wrecks and deaths seen as
avoidable, most recently
directly attributable to overriding as Dane Frazier pointed
out on the recent
WEG, that is troubling people and engendering the search for
solutions. And you
don't have to be a front-runner to kill your horse. Perhaps
more than speed,
"Ambition kills". Or more precisely, "Ambition on the day
kills."

Agreed, life is filled with risks (and chess surely must
raise cortisol levels).
It is impractical and impossible to eliminate all risk. But
as we wrote in the
introduction to the Way We Win in the June 2001 issue of
Endurance News,
"Increasingly, Americans are unwilling to accept what is
seen as *pointless*
risk to animals that have no choice in the matter." Call it
larger cultural
influences at work that are shifting what's acceptable.

Heidi wrote: >And what about the benefits of fitness that
have extended the
lives of many
horses, who would NOT had been made fit, or received the
care they have
received, were it not for a sport that appeals to a great
many people who
genuinely CARE about their horses?>

Indeed, we have a fabulous sport that encourages and
showcases truly fit horses
who enjoy their work, and human partners who are in touch
with every aspect of
their physiology like no other. Endurance riders are
constantly learning; our
sport is a living laboratory and we love nothing more than
discovering a new way
to rig a saddle, mix an electrolyte, or even measure the
elevation of the trail
more precisely, all for the benefit of our horses.

The admirable state of affairs that Heidi is describing
wouldn't change for the
majority of participants (why would people leave when they
are being rewarded
for what they are already doing?) And more folks will be
attracted to endurance
from OTHER horse sports when they see the water's fine,
extending the very
benefits she extols. The only people who will go and buy
motorcycles are those
who are in it to win at all costs. And they'll leave on
their own power, since
they will soon tire of receiving absolutely no validation
for their efforts.

It's also quite possible that a categorical approach rather
than head-to-head
competition would foster more Steve Rojeks, Cia Reis's and
Bev Grays. They gave
us a sterling, if not silver, demonstration of the benefits
of riding to
conserve the "whole"....they finished our USA team and while
they didn't medal,
their mounts will live and thrive to ride another day. It's
a model worthy of
emulation.

Bobbie


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 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

 If you are an AERC member - PLEASE VOTE in the upcoming By-Laws 
 Election!!!! (it takes 2/3rds to tango!!)

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