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[RC] Running people down is okay? - k s swigartEd said: He did rate easily during an endurance ride (defined in his mind as a group of horses that were not passing him at a dead run) But if a horse race started (defined in his mind as either being asked to run, or by being passed by another horse at a dead run) it was like he was a completely different horse. He had to win. Period. End of discussion. He would only be beaten by a faster horse. After he had won, defined in his mind as being first by a couple of lengths, he would slow down. You can talk all you want about training etc. but unless you have owned a horse that had winning as his number one priority, you don't know what single mindedness is. Ed is right, there are some horses that cannot be trained to be rated and are singleminded in their determination to win a race (in fact, they select for this at the track). However, I contend that such a horse is not suitable to be an endurance horse. So no, running people down is not okay. "I couldn't stop my horse" comes under the heading of lame excuse. Not because every horse can be trained to not run over people if asked, but rather because horses that can't be trained to not run over people when asked shouldn't be out in places where they might run over people. There is a place for horses like this, it is called Hollywood Park. At Hollywood Park, they make a point of keeping people off the track so they won't be run over by horses that can't be stopped. Since endurance rides are usually run on public, multi-use trails, you are almost guaranteed to encounter people (who may know absolutely nothing about horses and who are minding their own business) on the course. A horse that is so single minded that it can't be stopped from running over pedestrians is not a suitable endurance mount. kat Orange County, Calif. ============================================================ Just because someone tells you that your horse isn't "fit" for endurance...doesn't mean it isn't, it just means your horse isn't fit to be "their" endurance horse! Go for it, you never know what you'll accomplish with that "saddle horse" or "trail horse" of YOURS! ~ Darlene Anderson - DPD Endurance ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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