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After reading the EN articles about Spain, my
conclusion is that what we have witnessed is the morphing of international
competition into good ol' horse racing, and all the attendant dangers. I'm
quite sure that horse racing has been around since the first two steppe people
who got the bright idea of slinging their leg over those early horses met
up. One pointed to the tree in the distance and said "I can make it there
before you," and the race was on. From what I understand, the race
was won by a 16 year old on a horse he hadn't competed on, that was purchased
from someone else who had done the LSD work. In other words, there was a
jockey, a trainer, and an owner. As far as I'm concerned (sorry if I'm
treading on toes), if you don't feed 'em, clean up after 'em, and saddle 'em,
they just tolerate you riding 'em.
Personally, I don't see a way back. Everyone
can find examples of American endurance riders back in the 80's and 90's buying
a horse and riding him successfully the next weekend. It doesn't
necessarily mean it was a good idea. Now, if you had the money, and
winning (and winning high profile events) was important to you, why would you
bother with an unproven horse and hours of time that might be a little
short because you and your tack weigh 195 instead of 170 lbs? Why not get
a proven horse, a small rider, and push hard because there's plenty
more where that came from? Getting a 100 mile horse is a
crapshoot. Breed for it, and you may get mediocre. Answer an ad in
the Green Sheet and buy Kanavys' horse Cash for $500 bucks. The horses are
only valuable when they win. That's the racing world!
Maryanne tells us frequently of "endurance
events" in Egypt that no Egyptian horse owners take part in. That's one
way to win - put on a race and invite a bunch of people slower than you.
Making people ride a race or two as a team with an equine partner won't stop the
essential problem, which is that money allows shortcuts which will hurt
horses.
Racing got the nickname the "Sport of Kings"
because no one else could afford to field winners. International endurance
is now a "Sport of Sheiks". Any other opinions? Laurie in Clare, MI
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