Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

It may be that if we don't change we will die, but the change does not have to be 
with our ideals or our objectives. The "E" in AERC stands for "Endurance".  Winning a 
ride isn't Endurance, 25 miles isn't Endurance, trotting around a 1-mile track 100 
times isn't Endurance (unless you count enduring boredom).  Endurance is pitting you 
and your horse against the trail.  That's why our motto is, "To Finish Is To Win". 
If the trail is easy or the distance is easy, then you and your horse haven't done an 
Endurance ride.  You may have raced 25 or 50 miles but you didn't do Endurance.

Once upon a time horse races were 5 miles and longer.  The objective was to encourage 
the breeding of horses capable of racing from one town or farm to another with 
important news or perhaps fetch the shire's doctor and then possibly racing back. 
Race horses didn't actually race till they were mature enough to deal with those 
distances.  Then things began to change.  As more people were attracted to the races 
and the money wagered grew, it became obvious that by the expedient of shortening the 
races to 2 miles or less, a civilized track could be constructed so people could 
watch the whole race instead of just a part of it.  Of course, a horse that can run a 
fast mile or so might not be a horse capable of racing 10 miles to get the doctor, 
but that problem was solved, fortunately, by the invention of the automobile.  Then 
breeders began to realize that the stress of a 2-mile race or less was not nearly as 
great as the stress of a 5-mile race so... horses could be raced *sooner*.  Oh joy, 
instead of having to wait till the ponies were 5 or 6, now they could be raced when 
they were only 4, or 3, or...  2.  Of course, even with those shorter distances, 
there was a substantial increase in the number of horses breaking down (breaking down 
is an euphemism for breaking a leg so the horse has to be destroyed).  Oh well, 
that's change and growth, and they're only horses.

And so horse racing changed, evolved and grew.  If we are not careful, Endurance 
might change, evolve and grow too.  And when the 50-mile ride becomes the *true* test 
of a horse and rider, then, as Angie hinted, the AERC will need to change its name to 
the ATRRC (American Trail Riders Racing Conference) and some other grassroots 
organization will come into being that supports and sponsors....  ENDURANCE.


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