"Actually, I think that yes the rider should still be forced to go
slow. Just because a horse is experienced does not mean it is conditioned
appropriately for that event. What you are saying is the horse is
responsible. It doesn't fit with the concern for horses welfare."
IMH
No, I am not saying the horse is responsible.
Actually what I said was," A lot of new riders buy horses that are
experienced endurance horses that are already in condition and have already
done several endurance rides." Maybe you didn't see the part about being
already 'in condition'. I don't think most people spend thousands of dollars
on a horse to purposely go out and abuse them. I think the
ones being abused the most would be the leased horses that somebody with
no emotional attachment to rent for a ride and then runs the whole way. But
even then that horse still has to go through the vets checks and will be
pulled if they are being over-riden. It would be nice if they were forced to
go slow, but that's not going to educate them. Maybe what we should do is have
everyone take a written exam on horses vital signs (what's normal and
abnormal) , electrolyte usage, and warning signs of a horse that is
dehydrated, exhausted, etc..when they join AERC, so that they can actually
recognize the danger signs of when their horse is in trouble. Just
because someone has X number of years of previous riding experience
in a different discipline, doesn't mean they know all
the complications that can occur during long
distance endurance riding. I think Tom Noll wrote a good post
also.
