Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 02:53 PM 2/21/2004, Catfish Daniels wrote:
> I do, however, feel that as important as it is to separate these 
> "organizations", it's only fair not to bunch the good guys up with the bad 
> guys by doing so.

Ah, but I don't think there ARE any 'bad guys'.  I simply think the 
different organizations (AERC/FEI) have different primary goals; neither is 
'good' or 'bad'--just aimed at a different population of rider.  I think 
the UAE folk, with FEI level as their initial exposure to the sport, are 
caught somewhat in-between.

> So, athough the FEI's primary goal and focus may not necessarely be on how 
> many years someone uses one particular horse, one ought to focus on the 
> many FEI riders that are indeed committed to their horse's welfare, and 
> have taken the initiative to prove themselves and their horses over and 
> over again.

One of the most interesting--and challenging--aspects of our sport is that 
it takes years to develop a good horse, especially at the 100 mile 
level.  To some extent, the need to qualify for FEI rides obligates the 
horse handlers to have some 'historical mileage'.  The equine fatalities in 
Spain resulted in FEI raising the qualifications, for this very reason.


> With all the recent posts, I am not at all convinced that peaking a horse 
> for one magical season only, is necessarely such a bad idea, providing the 
> horse finishes its season healthy in relation to the sport.

Or even striving for many seasons (and miles), but peaking for only one or 
two events per season.  It is an odd aspect of our sport that, other than 
when starting a young horse, most riders moreorless do 'the best they can' 
at every ride they attend.  Now, for many people "the best they can do" is 
"just" a solid completion; still, they try to "improve" (however they 
define it) at each ride.  To put it another way, most people don't set out 
to produce a sub-optimal performance.  This is why some people feel that 
high mileage is as hard on a horse as high speed--in many cases the horses 
are being asked to 'give their all' each and every time they start.

Don't think any of this means anything to most of us in a practical 
sense--we all just do what we consider to be 'the right thing'.  It's when 
we start thinking that people who don't share our particular goals are 'bad 
guys' that we maybe start getting into dangerous ground....

terre





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