[RC] Mixed Signals (was Minutes of the AERC BoD ...) - Typef
I'm kinda in a hurry this morning and haven't
totally read all this thread but I just wanted to make a voice some thoughts
that have been brewing for awhile. As someone who watched this sport in its
infancy in the 70's and all the mess it went through, to just now starting to
ride again and trying to do it RIGHT, I find some of the ideas confusing
for me. I've read and read about how to start my horse doing LSD and last year I
worked hard at that. I entered two LDs and finished last, which was my
plan, at the advise of a lot of people. However, the horse I was riding at the
time couldn't do anything but finish last even after 3 months of LSD and some
nicely-timed 10-milers.
This year I have a different horse who can handle
50's but I can't. And I'm ashamed to say that is why we're not doing 50's but
that's the reason. However, with absolutely no intent on my part, this new horse
as "top tenned" 3 out of 4 LDs, however, they were all slow times. I honestly
couldn't have ridden any slower unless I'd walked half of it. And so far, I
haven't been on a ride where I could see that walking would get me there in
time. There were no fast times on any of the rides I've been on this year. I
can't seem to bring myself to call 4:20 a fast riding time, when the winners of
the 50 are finishing in a little over 5 hours.
What I'm not understanding is how much energy has
been put into teaching and helping people to know how to condition their horses
for a 50 and not have that include LDs, both in the training before and using
LDs as training ride for a 50. And what I mean by that is, if there are Top
Ten horses on a 50, why can't a person be proud that they rode their horse well
and Top Tenned in a 25? And please hear the part about "rode their horse well."
I know for a fact, that my horse is not a Top Ten 50-miler horse "unless there
are only 10 horses in the ride," as commented by Tank's previous
owner.
If we are to use LDs as training rides, then I
think they should be training rides in every sense of the word. You have no
idea how proud I am that Tank received the Horse Excellence award at HDCII last
weekend. It proves to me that I'm doing Ok and taking care of my
horse.
LDs were started to help people learn how to do
50's. And I totally understand why everyone is so upset with the Yahoos who race
their horses on them. But I just can't believe the majority of the people who
ride LD's aren't just like me ... wanting to do the right thing by themselves
and their horse. I just don't think it's right that the people who are using the
system correctly should be penalized by those who don't. To make me ashamed to
be able to say my horse came in 6th out of 36 horses on an LD with a very
respectably slow time is just not right.
And you can't preach to people about learning how
to take care of their horses and bring them along slow and then turn around and
give them a bad time for taking a year to get their horse ready for a 25 and
then again turn around and tell them they can't be proud of top tenning. Ya just
can't. Unless, of course, you're going to totally take away any Top Ten action
on the 50's, since 50's is what we're aiming for. And I have to say, even
though I never have any intention of riding hard and fast enough to make Top Ten
in a 50 (I physically just don't have it in me, nor can I picture myself
riding that fast), if you were to take that away, I'd probably just stop riding
on principal alone. If you take away the placing on a ride, you take away a
person's ability to best themselves. And we do call this the sport of endurance.
I can think of no sport that doesn't have placings and winners. You'd have to
take endurance out of the category of sport.
I have not minded being listed in alphabetical
order and no times given in the records and I don't have any problem with the
way the system is now. And I have been treated 100% like any
other distance rider at every ride I've been to. All the riders,
no matter what distance and all the RM's have been nothing but pleasant, helpful
and happy.
I have tried really hard to not feel like a second
class citizen when reading this board, because I know in my heart I'm a good
rider. But so much of what people say confuses the heck out of me. Please
don't take away my pride at having ridden well by not allowing me to say I
finished in the Top Ten in an LD. You can't imagine how ashamed it has made me
feel at times and it just shouldn't be that way. I should be able to feel proud
of a job well done. Please don't lump us all together.
I've spent way too much time on worry about this, I
think, this morning. Which is going to make me late for leaving for the Lake
Oroville 30, where I will try my best to stay out of the Top Ten.
If I've misconstrued anything or misunderstood
something, I apologize. But after reading this board for a little over a year,
these are the things that have stuck in my mind the most ... the mixed
signals.
