Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Howard said:

> 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.
While the list might go on, it might behoove the list maker to check
what awards are available before making it.

There ARE Regional Best Condition Standings for LD.  And, if I
understand correctly, LD miles DO count in the Bill Thornburg Family
Award, it is just a case that no family has a snowball's chance in hell
of winning it if all the family members do is ride LD because any family
riding endurance will accumulate miles at twice the rate. :) (Much like
the reason that including LD rides in the endurance award program would
pretty much exclude all LD riders from ever winning any award.)

> We have completely taken away the competition of the LD,
> even though it does exist at every ride that has one, by not
> recognizing the top ten riders.
This statement would only be made by somebody who does not believe that
"to finish is to win" and has never learned the concept that "the real
competition is the trail."  Since we have had a whole host of articles
in the EN over the last year or so about how it is essential for the
welfare of our horses to educate riders not to forget that the real
competition is the trail, it seems a very good idea to me to have a
novice division in which the ONLY competition is the trail.

If an LD ride does not "recognize the top ten riders" (of those riders
who finish the course in the shortest amount of time) it is because the
format does not recognize "finishing the course in the shortest amount
of time" to be part of the competition.

As an example, if I go do a dressage test, I must follow a prescribed
course (enter at A, proceed to X, halt, salute, proceed to C, turn left,
etc.) and if I go off course, I will be disqualified.  Additionally, the
event organizers COULD put a light beam timer at the gate and time all
the competitors.  If they did this, then each of the competitors would
take a measurably different amount of time to complete the course.  And,
assuming that there were ten entries, there would be a "top ten" with
respect to who finished the course the fastest, and these "top ten"
riders could then be "recognized."

Dressage event organizers don't do this, however, because finishing the
prescribed course in the shortest amount of time isn't how dressage
competition is defined.  And you know what, LOTS of people go to
dressage shows, even though the USDF doesn't recognize competitors who
do their dressage tests the fastest.

In dressage, each of the participants is measured (by the judge) against
a theoretical ideal, and given points based on that.  When it is all
over, they compare each of the participants points against each other
and award "placings" based on that.  However, at most events the
"placings" are merely incidental.  What really matters is how you
compared to the theoretical ideal, not how you compared against the
other competitors and what one is striving for (and how one decides
whether to move up the levels) is to earn good scores, not to gain
placings, and certainly not how you compared against the other
competitors with respect to how long it took to complete the course. :)

The AERC could decide to redefine LD competition to be a competition
against the other riders instead of against the trail (to do so would, I
think, be a mistake), and the push by some to have a time based BC award
may just do this; but until it does, the competition that currently
exists, and is recognized, is the competition against the trail.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


============================================================
We are talking about all the tools we can use to keep our horses safe and
alive at the rides. Training/conditioning is one of the best tools
available. It makes us better horseman and women, it benefits our horses
and could quite possibly be the key to preventing most crashes.
~ Lisa Salas - The Odd Farm

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

============================================================