OK, before we get too carried away here, none of those ideas mentioned by
Dane were meant in any way to be a new rule set by AERC. I don't think
even Dane would want that. These are his ideas for endurance riders when
bringing up their horse to get to the 100 mile level, which is real similar to
the idea of LSD training.
I'm merely suggesting that we might want to take a look at a prerequisite
before allowing a rider to attempt a 100 miler at an AERC ride. Some rides
seem to have these already and it's not really a bad idea. Why not make it
a requirement for a horse to have completed 200 or 300 miles before attempting
their first 100? Is that idea out of line? Doesn't it make sense to
have some kind of proven ability before we allow a horse to attempt such a
distance? As it stands now, we require nothing except that the horse be at
least 5 years old.
I am pretty strong on the idea of freedom and I don't like the idea of more
rules. But, I like even less the idea of having the same number of horses
dying at AERC rides at the rate of last year. What really scares me is the
idea of losing the freedom altogether of attending an AERC ride because our
inaction on this issue puts us all out of business.
With all the stats flying around on Ridecamp and that other site, I haven't
heard any answers to questions I'm having about most of this. What
distance was the horse doing where he died at an AERC ride? Was it
the 50, the 100 or the 25? HOw far did he go before he went down or the
vet intervened? What ride was it? Has this happened at this ride
before, and, if so, how often (what years?)?
This information is not out there; or, if it is, I sure can't find it. When
it's published in Endurance News it's usually a year or longer after the
incident occurred. Aren't these the problems we were talking about last
year before the convention? Isn't this why we have the Welfare of the
Horse Committee in the first place? How on earth are we to learn anything
if this information is not forthcoming?
Is it mostly the 100 mile rides or the 50 mile rides where horses are
getting into serious trouble? With the FEI rides, it seems to be the 100
miler since it's the main distance they compete in. What about the AERC
rides? Why is the only information available the rumor and innuendo
found via the Internet?
If my worries about our sport are invalid, if most of you think nothing
needs to be changed, everything's working perfectly fine, and these deaths are
just a normal part of our sport that we have to learn to accept, than, please
forgive me if I disagree. I don't think having a prerequisite before you
compete 100 miles will set back AERC at all and it's just an idea. The
main point I was trying to make is I do believe we need to make some
changes. Changes based on information that should be more forthcoming and
more available. This is how we learn and how we evolve. Something is
happening here, and, we don't know what it is. Let's try and figure it out
together.
cya,
Howard (hey, it wasn't me who caught that foul ball at the Cub's
game)
The point I'm trying to make is we need to do something
here. Dane Frazier has suggested that a horse spend a year doing LD's before
doing their first 50 miler. And, he adds that the horse should do a
year of 50 milers before doing their first 100. I can hear the moans
and groans over this idea but, if you stop and think about the best
interests of the horse and the fact that things aren't really getting much
better along the lines of horse deaths at endurance rides the way things are
currently, you may decide it might be time for a change in this direction.
We need to step up to the plate.
I'll tell you what.
If someone made me do a year of 25 milers before I could do a 50, I would
never have gotten into this sport. I trained for 4 years on the same horse so
that when I did enter a ride, I could do a 50, finish and be proud of it. I
have NO desire to do a 25. I do that all the time at home. I have NO desire to
enter a 25 mile RACE which is what many are, and I think the suggestion is
insulting. A year of 25s? My horse's brain would be fried from watching all
the racers by the end of that year. Some of us are not interested in doing 25
milers now. A whole year of them would be insufferable to me. Why should I do
that if my horse and I are ready, conditioned and prepared to do a 50? Some
people train the right way and would like to pursue the sport of endurance.
How many riders are we going to lose if we impose that rule? Why do we always
want to treat people like babies and spoon feed them everything? When are we
going to rely on personal responsibility? It is the rider's responsibility to
get their horse ready for the task at hand. It is part of this sport. We have
committees to reprimand riders for doing the wrong thing. Hasn't part of this
sport always been making people think instead of shoving everything down their
throats? If I wanted a billion rules I would have gone back to showing. Some
rules are great, some are not. A whole year of 25 milers is not a great
way to start off in this sport. I LOVE that I can enter a multiday, a 100, a
75, a 50 OR an LD. What are we going to make it three seasons before you can
ride a multiday? Howard you are always preaching about freedom. Well, so
am I. Tiffany
