A study has been concluded comparing the ride
times for LD vs. 50 mile rides by region. This analysis was done two
ways. First all the finsihers were considered and second only the top 5
finishers in each catagory were considere. The top 5 was added because
of the concern that the average of all the riders didn't
reflect the speed of the LD rides.
Disclamer: The opinions expressed below are mine
drawn on the results of this study.
Case I - all finishers:
There has been a lot of chatter that LD riders
were riding
too fast – LD rides had become too much of a "race" – too hard on the
horses, etc. However, when the LD data is compared to the 50 mile data
– the
opposite shows to be the case. In every region the normalized mean ride
time
for LD is (statistically) significantly larger (slower average speed)
than that
for the mean 50 mile ride time within the same region. The LD riders
are going slower than the 50 mile riders on the average – although
the 50
milers are going twice as far. Depending on region this difference is
between
.5 mph to a little over 1.4 mph.
The other conclusions that can be drawn from this
data is
the mean ride time for LD rides is within the time window required for
a
Competitive Trail Ride and in a CTR there is no extended rest time as
there is
in a LD ride. The LD riders are going at the rate required to finish a
25 mile
CTR but the LD horses get a 30 to 40 minute rest half way that is not
counted
in their time and the CTR horses don't get such a rest. In some regions
the
mean ride time for an LD is longer than what would be allowed for a CTR
run by
some CTR sanctioning organizations. Using the time windows of the CTR
sanctioning body I am most farmilar with, SEDRA, the average LD time
for all regions except the SW and W fall within the time window. The SW
and W are actually slower than premitted in these CTR's.
On the whole the LD program is
working well
and is a good program to bring along a new horse, by starting back and
as the
horse gets more fit working your way up toward the middle of the pack
to CTR
speeds. At that point both CTR ride and LD rides can be used to prepare
for
longer endurance rides. There may be isolated cases that riders are
riding LD's to fast on too young of a horse, but in general the data
shows that those are isolated cases and not a problem in the format.
There is a large difference in the LD
programs by regions. The CT, MW, NW and SE regions have very active LD
programs.
There are many differences that could account for this – rides without
LD
rides, multiday rides with no LD offered because of logistics, etc.It does point out how important the LD
program is to several of the AERC regions and also the potential for
growth in
other regions.
Case II - Top 5
minishers
As can be expected the average times for the top 5
finishers is faster - significantly in some regions - than the average.
However, for the regions of MW, MT, NE, PS, SW and W the 50 mile ride
times for the top 5 is statistically (to a 99% confidence) faster than
those in the LD rides in the same respective regions. For the CT, NW
and SE regions there is not sufficient statistical evidence to conclude
that either event is faster than the other. However, in these
regions the LD speeds for the top 5 are less than the 50 mile speeds
for the top 5 - just not statistically significatly so to the chosen
confidence (99%).
Again using the analogy of the CTR time window,
the average ride times for the top 5 in the MT, NE, PS, SW and W
regions are within the CTR time window. The CT, MW, NW and SE region
mean top 5 ride times are slightly faster than the CTR ride times.
However, in an LD ride the horse has a rest period of 30 to 40 minutes
about half way and the in CTR's this is not the case and in CTR there
is a time window which is not present in the LD format- so slightly
faster speeds in LD would be expected.
The interesting thing to consider is the regions
with the most active LD programs (CT, MW, SE and NW)- as defined by
numbers of people participating are regions with active regional
organizations. These are also the regions that have the faster top 5 LD
times, but also tend to be the regions where LD is not considered a
"problem."
I suspect this is a result of the fact in these
regions there is more opportunity for education of new riders because
of the active organizations. I know this to be the case at least
in the SE and I believe it is true in the CT, MW and NW regions also.
