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[RC] Re:national championship - Nancy Mitts

Heidi,
The "old system" you speak of was before my time endurance wise, so correct me if I'm wrong. By that system everybody participated by default, as their year end total points determined the winner. Of course that would make for a high participation rate. Anyone having a good year and the available funds could decide to push for the title at any point in the year. The subsequent systems have required some effort on the part of the riders to specifically prepare for and enter designated competition(s).
My personal preference was the 3 ride series. Success meant having to keep your horse sound and healthy through 2 or 3 rides. The financial outlay could at least be planned for once the locations of the rides were published and was limited to the three rides. You couldn't get beat simply because you ran out of money one ride before the end of the season. If you planned you season accordingly (IMO one trademark of a champion) it didn't encourage keeping a horse going that really needed some time off.
The lack of popularity for this method had several causes. For one thing,the rules, point system, etc were changed several times in an attempt to increase participation. In actuality it confused people to the point they gave up trying to figure it out. The other big problem was finding a ride manager in each reason to put one on. Again, there was confusion about what was required. I know a lot of people who were planning to participate in the future when the final ride was in a closer region, if they had a horse ready at that time. That same problem (location) will limit participation in the one day event as well.
People need to think about what ability/qualitites the national champion should demonstrate and design a competition to reflect those qualitites.

Nancy Mitts

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