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Re: [RC] another proposal - Heidi SmithHere's my proposal: (and I really mean this) Let's completely abolish the current point system. Almost every year-end award that AERC offers, and publishes monthly, encourages riders to go faster and farther and more often than their peers, and sometimes more often than the horse can tolerate, SIMPLY for the sake of a jacket or trophy. The flip side of this is that by taking away awards that target excellence all year long, you put even more pressure on the one-shot competitions. I think we see more problems at these (NC, ROC, Pan-Am, etc.) than we do among the horses that are managed to go all season. To many of us, the whole concept of endurance revolves around the notion that you do your best on any given day within the framework of the fact that in order to garner year end awards, your horse still has to be fit to run next weekend or next month, or whenever the next ride is on your calendar. I've been concerned by the trend toward more and more events where all the eggs are in one basket, so to speak, where you get your jacket or your trophy and if your horse never runs again, oh well.... Give me the year-long point accumulating process over that alternative any time, since it forces the rider to look ahead and make sure there is enough horse left at the end of each ride to begin building toward the next one. THAT is endurance! I missed your year-ender, Steph, but I heard nothing but good things about the performance and the condition of the horses there. Riders like Regina Rose on her "Aracheron" underscore what I'm talking about here. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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