>>says Bob: Now, you tell me why the membership cannot
conform with such a simple thing. >>
I think there are two
basic reasons.
1. The human nature
factor - For most riders, having your horse pulled from a ride because of
lameness or metabolic issues is fairly traumatic. We feel bad for our
horse, it's a big disappointment, maybe even embarassment, and it represents
some sort of failure. And knowing that your peers will see in the
ride results that your horse was pulled and listed as L, or M, is not
a cheerful thought. There are many circumstances where riders will
take a marginal horse through a ride in order to get completion, rather
than be pulled - even though it may be in the best interest of the horse
to call it a day... Completion rate is something people brag
about, yet? Being pulled is something to avoid. Bob can poo
poo this all he wants (and I suspect he will :) but it really is a factor.
If allowing riders an
option for a gracefull exit is in the best interest of the horse (the bottom
line) then we should do so.
2. L or M simply does not always apply - For
statistical purposes it would be much more meaningful if L always meant the
same thing "the horse was eliminated due
to a grade III lameness". Or M always meant 'the horse
was eliminated do to metabolic dysfunction'. If we include anything
less than the this, and include times when the rider thought the
horse 'didn't feel right' or even include times when the rider thought 'if I
continue, my horse really will be lame' then we are diluting the statistics
and they become less meaningful.
Steph
