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Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs. - heidi

I did not know that, Heidi.  This is why listening to one's elders is so
 important.  You might learn something from them.  All this time on
Ridecamp  and this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say
something like this.   Wow!

I guess repitition pays off--I repeat that information at least once a year.

So, 25 miles used to be endurance????  Is that what I'm hearing?  Just
incredible how some put that distance down, when, in the beginning, it
was  considered worthy to be called endurance.

Uh, Howard, no.  Only a few folks "put it down"--and you can find
naysayers about anything.

I say, bring it back.  Bring it back.  Make it all inclusive.  Go back
to  the beginning.

Again, Howard, it was discontinued in the interests of the welfare of the
horse.  What happens when there are points attached is that a few who
choose to abuse the system will hang in to the first vet check, pass that,
and then race balls to the wall for the last half.  It only takes a few to
ruin it for everyone.  The numbers of horses lined up on IVs was what
caused the 25-milers to be shut down as points rides.  I'd think that
given your interest in horse welfare, you'd be the LAST person to suggest
that we bring back such a travesty.

The current system works, and it was by making LD a separate event that it
even became possible to HAVE LD as a part of the sport without violating
our first and foremost tenet--that the HORSE COMES FIRST!!

I'm still convinced, that if done correctly, less miles is so much
easier on  the horse and, their welfare. This is the distance that
should be looked at  with honor (by all) instead of scorn (by some).
It's why this distance is  so popular and has the fastest growing
segment of riders within AERC.  Less  worry.

I wish it was that simple, Howard.  But you put in the one clinker--"if
done correctly."  By making it a points race, there are those who WILL not
do it "correctly" and the horses paid the price.  Time and time again. 
Speed kills.  And the shorter the ride, the faster they can go.  The
horses that did not end up on IVs after "points chasing" 25-milers often
went home with sufficient leg damage that they did not come back.  At
least on 50s, the rider has to save SOMETHING in reserve just to get
through the course, AND the vets have several more opportunities to
intervene if the horse is not being ridden "correctly"--ie the horse is
overridden.

I know that you don't seem to understand that there WERE those of us "way
back when" who were extremely concerned about horse welfare, and who did
our best to address horse welfare every time we saw a problem.  Well,
Howard, the 25s for points were a HUGE problem.  Shutting them down
completely was one solution.  Offering them as a separate entity has
proven to be a better solution, because it DOES allow the people who will
do them "correctly" to come do them--to enjoy the sport, to get started,
or whatever.  I wish I could flash you back in time, Howard, to experience
the frustration that I and others felt as we held jugs on yet another
25-mile points chaser, or watched yet another one go home with its legs
wrapped due to bilateral bowed tendons, or whatever--those memories are
too firmly branded in my brain, and I care too much about the horses to
EVER support the return to such a thing.

The current LD system has its glitches--but it is working, it is providing
a good avenue into the sport for beginners, it is providing a lot of
enjoyment for riders who are satisfied with staying at that level, and
above all, by being conducted as a separate entity, it is relatively safe
for the horse.  The various profiles I see don't have the LD sticking
WAAAY out there on the pull charts or the treatment charts or the death
charts.

Give some credit where credit is due, Howard--your "ancestors" in this
sport recognized something that was killing and damaging horses, and did
something about it.  And the change has worked.

Heidi


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Arabians were bred for years primarily as a war horse and those
requirements are similar to what we do today with endurance riding. 
~  Homer Saferwiffle

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Replies
Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs., Howard Bramhall