Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I may not have stated what I meant to say clearly.  I thought 4 out of the 
11 total was high.  I expected zero or one for the 25 milers out of the 11 
total.

Is there any way to find out the age of these horses?  I didn't see it 
anywhere on the information provided.

I am truly grateful to the members of the Welfare of the Horse Committee 
providing this information.  I'm sure some of it was difficult to obtain.

We owe it to these horses to pursue this further.  What have we learned from 
these deaths?  What, if anything, are we going to do to try and prevent 
further ones from happening at our rides?

Every time a horse dies at an AERC ride, we are all accountable for it.  I 
really believe that.  We have created this sport, made the rules the way 
they are, and, should take the responsibility because some of these deaths 
could have been prevented.  Things like a formal rider education program, a 
mentor program, stewards, and a firm belief driven into the new riders by 
AERC and the regions that the horse must come first and foremost.

We may not be able to legislate morality but, we can set up a program where 
a horse and, a rider, has to earn the right to be called an endurance horse 
or an endurance rider.  A thorough Novice program, for both the horse and 
rider would be a step in the right direction.  Throw in a required mentor 
program and some horses like the two quarter horses, one with 75 miles and 
one with 50, would most likely still be alive today.

Start at the beginning.  Teach, instruct, but, above all else, make it a 
mandatory program that all new riders go through.  Think of it as a free 
clinic (well, not completely free) thrown in as part of an endurance ride.  
Ride your first 25 or your first 50 with someone like Valerie Kanavy 
instructing you along the way.  And, it doesn't cost you a dime extra.

We can do more with this.  So much knowledge there.  WE need to tap into it. 
 It only requires some effort and sacrifice on our part to make it happen.  
The horse deserves nothing less.

cya,
Howard



Michael Maul <mmaul@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [RC]   LD rides and fatalities
> Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 20:43:15 -0600
>
> In response to:"One thing that struck me, right off the bat, from the table 
> was the large number of 25 milers, in the equine fatality stats.  I did 
> think their number would be much lower.
>
> LD riders are about 36% of the total rider/horse entries today.  Their 
> completion rates are about 1% higher than the completion rates for 50 mile 
> rides.
>
> 4 of 11 fatalities are LD events which is 36%.  If you assume that they may 
> be more inexperienced and perhaps less fit than the 50 milers - this isn't 
> unreasonable.
>
> The 100 mile fatalities are the most out of line with about 19% of the 
> total but only about 5% of the entries. Completion rates about 60% compared 
> to 86% for LD/50 mile rides.
>
> Mike
>
> ============================================================
> REAL endurance is your water freezing IN the cantle bags!
> ~ Heidi Sowards
>
> ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/
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