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Re: [RC] Riding or Racing - Gary DanielsHi Katey: Thanks for your reply. Well, you said exactly what I meant - why go to endurance rides - why not join some other organization. I mean you are trying to revamp the entire AERC system and probably FEI and everything associated with endurance riding and not trail riding. But here is the thing: I know many non-competitive riders that participate in AERC rides. And us "hot-shoes" are not trying to "beat you", in fact we aren't even trying to beat the other hot-shoes that run in the front pack. We only train hard and are trying to match or even beat our personal best, or whatever our horses' personal best is that day without getting him in danger. It's like marathon runners. Many like to say they ran 26 miles and don't care what place they come in and have a blast doing it. Then there are those that are the "hot shoes" in marathon running. And after all the training and preparation they've done, they their personal best gets them in the front pack. When they finish, whether they win or are in the "top ten", it makes them feel like they've accomplished a whole lot. Horses come first - we all should know that. But being competitive in doing it is part of our sport,whether you choose to just be a "trail rider" or not. It's not about us living with you - it's about you accepting us and making us feel more welcome. Wow, how exciting PAC and the world championships would be if we'd have 100+ winners because they all "finished within 24 hrs". How about eight winners on the horse track because they all crossed the finish line and the jockeys all enjoyed their horses. There are more than one way to love and care for your horse. I'm thrilled that you enjoy the riding that you do, it takes ANY horse enthusiast to make a ride successful - just know that there just might be some people out there that ride a bit faster every now and then. ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: "Heart 4 Horses" <heart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: "Heart 4 Horses" <heart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 14:18:21 -0600 <To anybody out there who doesn't believe that there should be any awards given to the "hot shoes" that finished somewhere in the front, ask yourself if you are involved in the right sport.> <Folks, there is competitive trail riding out there, where from what I understand, they deduct points off your score if you go too fast. There are also numerous of riding clubs that have their Sunday afternoon rides. Perfect for those who like to take their horses out on the trails without pushing them hard and as many of you say "keep them happy". Why then are we even participating in endurance rides? Why are we even giving out awards for first place? I mean, what do I not understand?> I don't believe there should be awards for first place, top ten and I would love to see the AERC year end award "point system" go away. Perhaps quite a few others who feel the same way I do (maybe not, but for the sake of this conversation, bear with me). If there actually are a large number of people who agree with the above statement, and we all went away to Competitive Trail or Sunday trail rides, who would the "hot shoes" get to beat at the endurance rides? Most of the people I have seen at rides, come to ride with no desire to race, win or top ten. They enjoy their horse, the miles and the trail. As it was pointed out to me in a conversation a few months ago, the winners don't *beat* 30-60-70 horse/rider teams. They *beat* the six or seven that are actively seeking to win the ride. However, when you win or top ten, you get to say that you WON the ride (oops, RACE) and there were however many entries. It sounds alot more impressive than saying you outran 6-7 other people. The other problem that might occur if all of the non-racers went to another sport is financing the rides. If you had to hire a vet for a handful of riders (oops, RACERS) your entry fees would be quite high. You might have to learn to live with all of us non-racing types not being impressed by the whole racing mentality and let us stay. Katey Gies =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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 Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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