Re: [RC] [RC] [Guest] LD Times - 6 hours is generous - Stagg_Newman
Deanna,
I apologize for implying the horse may have been unfit. You are right that
there are some days
where the combination of the horse not being right, the trail, and the
conditions just do not make
it reasonable to complete in time for that horse and that rider. (e.g. the
first time I did the Old Dominion 55 (early 80s)
when the tempature at the finish line was about 100 and it was humid. I
finished but only by
with luck and the less stringent rules of that period.
And on such days there are a lot of non-completions for many reasons
including being OT.
I respect the people who know what their horses can and cannot do and ride
accordingly.
You wisely recognized that it was not your horse's day that day.
And non-completions go with our sport (as I know from many first hand
experiences)
I have certainly have had days like you had where my horse was not his
normal self.
In fact the most dramatic example of that for me was on a day when I took
my veteran horse Drubin
out to the top of the mountain a couple of years ago on what was
essentially a pleasure ride. We
had a couple of untrained horses so we took it much easier than normal.
Now Drubin is a pretty
fair endurance horse having done over 30 1-day 100s with over 10 wins and
BCs. But that day
after about a 10 mile ride, he colicked seriously. Scared the hell out of
me. Fortunately he was fine after I took him to
University of Tennessee at my vet's urging and then put him on fluids.
(He's never had to have
treatment at a ride for metabolics.) Best we could figure out he had
gotten a bout of diarearhea
before the ride (one rider noticed he was scouring on the trail) and that
had set up the colic.
Best regards
Stagg
Deanna German
<finishis2win@colum To: <Stagg_Newman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
bus.rr.com> cc:
12/20/2002 09:47 AM Subject: [RC] [Guest] LD Times - 6 hours is generous
It just depends on the trail. There's a certain 100 mile ride that always
seems to have some OT's and no one is saying that those horses are unfit.
No one is encouraging unfit horses to do LD or endurance. I'm not whining
about my OT, far from it. I applaud those riders who made the time. I
learned a valuable lesson about thinking "I can walk this and make time."
It
wasn't my day. I had plenty of good days before and since then, mostly CTR
with ride times in the range that you cite or less. My horse obviously
wasn't fit enough for THAT trail on THAT day, but to imply that people who
come in OT are bringing unfit horses is pretty harsh.
Deanna
----------------------------------------
Just like to oserve that most competitive trail rides organization allow
less than 6 hours for 25 miles including any pulse recovery times. The
Eastern Competitive Trail Ride Association allows 4 to 4 and 1/2 hours
as I remember And pulses are taken 20 minutes after fininshing. So AERC
6 hours should be quite adequate for any reasonably fit horse, even over
difficult terrain. It's not much faster than a walking pace. IMO we do
not want to encourage unfit horses to do LD.
Stagg Newman
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