In a message dated 10/13/2004 8:30:59 AM Mountain Standard Time,
heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
One,
why would such horses even BE at a championship
ride?
Heidi brings up an interesting (and perhaps "overlooked") point.
To qualify for a National Championship Ride, a horse and rider must
complete an aggregate NUMBER of endurance miles. The SPEED component is a
(socalled) weight division finish in the top ten.
When a "National Champion" is determined by who FINISHES FIRST in the
weight division,
obviously SPEED is the component in which the AERC is most interested
when it comes to determining a Champion.
Flies in the face of "to finish is to win".
So, we'll have IV'd horses, horses who might have been prepared
and prepared some more for the 100 mile championship, arriving to the ride
site too prepared.
Who knows, but it seems to me that if a National Champion is determined by
SPEED, distance ceases being as important.
And, we all know that speed kills, eh?
I think we have a problem with our National Championship, or least
the qualifications to determine who can "compete" for it.
I think they are much too lenient....INCLUSIVE, but much too lenient.
~Frank
As long as NUMBER OF MILES completed is the barometer as to whether a horse
is qualified to COMPETE in a National Championship Endurance RIde, I believe
those horses will continue to have problems, regardless of venue.
I am sure not every horse and rider showed up at Warner Springs with the
"intent" of Top Tenning or Top Five, but as long as SPEED is used to gage the
TOP endurance horses in the country (at rides such as a National Championship),
DISTANCE horses will (sometimes) find themselves competing in an arena and an
effort foreign to them.
