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Re: [RC] [RC] LD Awards - iris mcquadeHeidi, why don't you go do something useful for a change and quit picking on Howard. How do you have any time to get miles when all you do is yap??!! From an LD'er and proud of it. Iris McQuade ----- Original Message ----- From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <howard9732@xxxxxxx> Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 5:21 PM Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] LD Awards There is no competition in LD as far as AERC is concerned. It's listed as a training ride. There's no finish line, there's no recognition for BC (nationally), and no points awarded to placing, which means placement has no point value. No standings, regionally or nationally.Gee, Howard, I must have hit close to home to have rated all that invective. I'm SO sorry--you're absolutely right that AERC does NOT have an LD award for the rider who can blast around the loop the fastest to try to keep up with "my gal Val" or whoever else you care to brag about running with on a given day. What AERC DOES offer to LDs is a national mileage competition, a regional mileage competition, and regional BC competitions. And if you had a longer memory, perhaps you MIGHT have recalled that I was one of the proponents to adding a national BC category for LD. In addition, LD riders get mileage patches for accrued mileage, just like endurance riders do. The ONLY thing that LD riders do NOT have recognized is points. But then the emphasis of LD is not supposed to BE about points--with good reason! (BTW, many sports have an intro level that doesn't get points. Ours happens to be LD. At that level, one enjoys one's self, one learns the skills, one trains one's horse, etc. And if one cares about points, one hones one's skills sufficiently to move up to the level that DOES earn points.) What happened to all that poetry about how much you love to ride your horse? Or was that all just a bunch of soft soap to cover up some innate feeling of inadequacy caused because AERC did not bequeath you with "points"? You accused AERC at one point of treating LD riders like children. I work with children all day long, and believe me, children (particularly some of the emotionally mixed-up kids I work with) are VERY wrapped up in "rewards" for what they do, because they have no adult sense of accomplishment (or self-restraint, for that matter). Your attitude on this subject is making me reassess my position--if you are typical of LD riders, then perhaps we DO need to treat LD riders like children. Gee, Howard, I have a whole box of generic Matchbox cars and a big bag of marbles in my Special Services room that I use to bribe very young children to do the right thing. "If you stay on task and get your work done today, you can pick a car or a marble!" If it would REALLY make you feel better, I'd be MORE than happy to pledge one toy car or one marble (your choice!) to you every time you can exhibit the self-restraint to complete an LD ride on a sound horse. If you have more marbles than the rest of the LD guys in your region at the end of the year, then I'd be happy to proclaim you THE WINNER and let you get a sticker from the Special Services secretary! (That's another real biggie for my kids...) I'm sure we could order some up just for you with the AERC logo on them. You seem to be saying that that sort of childish incentive is what LD riders need. In my experience, the majority of LD riders (particularly the kids!) are far more mature than that, and already have a good sense of what they have accomplished. And not only that, if any of my alternative high school kids addressed ANYONE (not just me) with the sort of invective you used in your last post, they would LOSE all their points for the day and get a zero. Or get kicked out of class, if the lack of self-control was repeated. (And my little kids would lose their chance at a toy car... <sigh>) Get a grip, Howard--leave the tantrums to the little kids. Heidi ============================================================ One would think that logic would prevail. But then, if logic did prevail, men would ride sidesaddle. ~ Bob Morris ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================ ============================================================ It is how we "feel" deep inside that matters, cause each of us knows the truth, regardless of how we try make it complicated. It just isn't. ~ Frank Solano ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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