The marathon/10 k analogy is a poor one. The marathon is a foot race
that is exactly (41.3 km or 26 miles 385 yards). It is the distance
from Marathon, Greese to Athens, Greece and the race got it's name when
a messenger ran from Marathon to Athens to announce a victory over the
Persians in 490 B.C. The 10 k is a foot race of exactly 10 km and the
400 meter is a foot race of exactly 400 meters. Endurance riding has
evolved. It was first a long distance race, Barbara reported a 35 miler
in the early days. Then after the AERC came about it was mostly 100
miles. Then it evolved to 50 miles and up. The term "endurance" covers
a lot of distances. For the analogy to marathon and 10 k to be valid
there would need to be separate events for each distance, 50, 55, 60,
65, etc. and statistics and records kept in each distance with
championships offered in each distance.
Endurance riding is still evolving and I suspect that some day the 25
will be part of the sport - and not segregated into it's own category.
I am sure a lot of old timers never though a whipper-snapper only
riding 50 miles ( or as some put it a half a ride ) would ever be
considered an endurance rider.
Truman
Rae Callaway wrote:
Where are you getting this attitude? I've certainly never come
across it. ANY type of horse can do endurance provided it's physically
& mentally sound and has the right attitude!
For the record, I'm an LD'er and that may be all I do due to
lack of time for conditioning, but in my region, I have never been made
to feel second class because of the distance I'm doing. I also deal
with a lot of show/pleasure/rodeo people who have no concept of
endurance. I tell them I'm a distance rider and if they want to know
more, then I go into details about LD vs. endurance. I think distance
rider covers it all and I don't believe LD needs to be called endurance
- just like the 10k is not called a marathon! (to use the previous
analogy)
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central Region
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
