Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> There are no placements in LD.  No points assessed for 1st place, 2nd,
> etc.  at a ride.  No weight categories.  There is no lightweight,
> middleweight,  heavy weight class in the LD.  You're not even asked what
> your weight class  is if you ride in the LD.
There is nothing stopping you from giving placement within your own
region.  Our region does it.  The rules are designed to give SOME freedom
to individual regions to fit the LDs into their own regional systems.

> It's not treated as a competitive sport.  When the completers of the LD
> are  recorded in the AERC data base there is no first place, second
> place.  BC is  not standardized in the sport at all; different depending
> on which region  you're riding in and what ride you're attending.
> Sometimes not given at  all.
I agree that IF we offer a national BC award for LD, we need to have
standardized BCs.  But are you telling me that the folks who worked their
fannies off to acrue season mileage on LDs were not being competitive? 
Clearly, Howard, you are not able to recognize any form of competiton
short of racing the legs off of your horse in an immediate dash here and
now.  There ARE other aspects to competition, Howard--you might want to
watch for them at the next ride you attend.  (And if you try competing for
such awards as season mileage, you might also be able to improve your
completion rate from its current status of something less than 70%.)

> No national awards for the LD except for mileage.  No regional points
> awards, no Regional Best Condition Standings, no National Best Condition
>  Award, no Family award, no Pioneer Award.  The list goes on.
So sponsor an award, Howard.  There ARE national and regional awards for
LD.  So competition exists.  If you want something more, step up to the
plate and sponsor an LD family award.  But DO make it consistent with the
concept that it is a good thing to complete, first and foremost.  THAT is
where the emphasis is and should be in LD.

> To put it simply, there are no rankings whatsoever in the LD.  We have
> clouded over this by saying it's not really endurance.  We don't mention
> the  top tenners in Endurance News and on the computer standings even
> though we  do give this out at the rides (some of them, anyway).  Some
> sort of secret,  you have to attend if you want to see who top tenned.
> And, even if you go,  the weight class is never mentioned because weight
> classes don't exist when  it comes to Limited Distance Riding.
Since when is a weight class required for competition?  We competed for
years in endurance with no weight divisions, and it was certainly
competitive...

> What part of this don't you understand, Heidi????
The part that I don't understand, Howard, is your failure to comprehend
this.  It seems clear to most of the other readers, and yet you still come
back with statements such as the following:

We have completely
> taken  away the competition of the LD
Untrue, see above.

> even though it does exist at
> every ride that  has one,
See, you contradict your own statement.

> by not recognizing the top ten riders.  Heck,
> let's make it the top  five.  1st place does not exist.  There is no
> winner.  This is what I mean  by treating them like children.  Throw
> that in with the fact that there's no  finish line and, maybe, it's just
> me, but, we could do better here.
Yes, Howard, we ARE doing better.  We strove for horse welfare (remember
when you used to care about that???--yes, there's another thing I fail to
understand--why is it that you cannot grasp the concept that the
elimination of the "racing" finish on the LD was the ONE thing that made
them sufficiently controllable to be tolerable at all from a horse welfare
standpoint?) and restructured something that was becoming devastating, and
made it workable so that people could still enjoy riding shorter distances
under the AERC umbrella.  So yes, Howard, apparently it is JUST YOU. 
(Well, you and a couple of others.)  Most folks DO grasp this difference,
and are willing to comply with some very OBVIOUS differences in how the
two sports are run for the sake of the horses.  (And if a few riders ACT
like children because they can't seem to control their impulses to "run
with Val" or whatever, I wonder if THAT has anything to do with why we
have to impose different rules on ALL LD riders, to protect the horses of
those few???)

> We've corrected the mistakes of the past but, yet, we still continue to
> punish the LD riders because of those mistakes.
Puh-LEEEEZE, Howard, I have yet to see anyone out "punishing" the LD
riders.  As vets and RMs, we work our fannies off to provide them with a
well-marked course, fair competition, and good awards.  As an
organization, we bend over backward for LD.  Maybe we should get out there
with a bullwhip and beat on them when they cross the line???   Perhaps I
should ask (dare I?) why it is that YOU don't understand this, Howard???

> The LD rides I attend
> down  here in the Southeast are fantastic.  We give the riders credit
> here for  what they do.  The problem is with AERC in this arena.  They
> don't recognize  the efforts achieved and that's what this is all about.
So what do you want, Howard?  Some sort of an ego boost on a silver
platter with the AERC logo on it?  Give us a break...  You admit that the
rides are fantastic, and that your region is doing what you want.  AERC
has given the regions the freedom to do more with LD if they so choose. 
And to reiterate what so many others have said, if not getting "endurance
points" for LD ruins the experience for you, perhaps you don't belong here
anyway.  I honestly do not believe for a minute that you speak for the
majority of LD riders by espousing that attitude.

Heidi

PS:  Howard, have you even READ the posts from folks here like Dot Wiggins
and others who are riding more and more LDs as the years go by and who
have flatly stated that they don't WANT points and miles from LD
cluttering up their endurance records?


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When you ask a Quarter horse for something he says - Sure -  and when you
ask an Arab for something he says  - Why? - 
~  Heidi Smith

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