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[RC] what is the point.. speed?? - John & Sue GreenallIt's not the speed....it's the sport. When the sport allows a rider to go as fast as he wants...allows the horse to go as fast as he wants...the sport has to be responsible. Whether the rider is a newbie or seasoned or the distance is 25 or 100, the sport has to protect the horse! What on earth do we have vet checks for if this is not the basic principle of the sport? Part of the race is meeting vet criteria, hence the fittest, most capable horses should be the winners and those that cannot meet criteria are pulled. By that fact alone we are saying to the riders that the only way to do well in this sport is to pay attention to the horse, before and during the ride. But it remains that some riders get caught up in the competition, as do some horses, and get into trouble. This is never going to change...so the sport needs to deal with this, not assume that talking about horses dying on or after a ride is going to "change" anything. The safeguard on endurance rides is the vet check. Once again I wonder just why the Pan Ams took out a hold for that race??? Who or what influenced the ride committee to change their trail? Especially after Spain, when the vets argued, to no avail and disasterous results, to have another hold or safety check put in because of a long loop? There is a pattern here.....! John and Sue Greenall mailto:greenall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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