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Re: [RC] Completions at WEC - Joe Long

I knew I was "asksing for it" when I posted my comments -- fair 'nuff, I'll try
to clarify as best I can.

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 22:18:15 GMT, Ridecamp Guest <guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Joe,
  So if I am understanding you correctly it is OK at this 
level of FEI riding to have a 73% DNF as long as 
veterinary controls are in place.  

I don't think there is such a thing as an "OK" level of pulls, I am suggesting
it is understandable that there may be a high level of pulls at events with
intense competition for placing and riders highly motivated to place well.

So because of the high stakes of competition more riders will ride over 
the edge and it is up to veterinary control (not the riders themselves) to 
catch horses before there is serious damage or harm is done to the horses.  

No, no.  I would hope that it would not be an adversarial relationship, that the
veterinary control would help riders make good decisions ... but just in case
the don't, I would hope that good veterinary control would pull horses before
they were harmed.

So I guess my next question is what is considered "harm" to horses at this 
level of competition.  In AERC, we are able to look at a horse's lifetime 
record after a pull to determine if we "harmed" our horse if ride ride 
over the edge at a single competition.  At this level of competition is it 
just the completion or placing at the single event that is considered 
successful or do we look at how many races they are able to compete 
in after an Olympic level competition?  Do we look at how many horses 
are hooked up to IVs in the treatment tent at a ride?  Do we look at the 
lay up time a horse needs until it's next race after a lameness pull?  
What exactly is considered causing "harm" to the horses and how do we 
determine that fact at this high level of competition?  

"Harm" is subjective and difficult to define clearly.  To me, a horse that went
too fast and "ran out of gas" was not harmed if he is back to his old self in a
few days.  A horse that goes lame is obviously harmed, but the "harm" I'm
talking about here would be a career-ending lameness, something that does
permanent damage.  After all, lameness pulls happen to the slowest and most
cautious riders.

If I had the choice of Kahlil's 18-year career and 11,000+ miles, or a 3-year
career with 1,000 miles and a WEC Gold, well, it's no choice -- I'd take the
long career.  Nevertheless, winning a WEC Gold is a laudable goal, one I would
love to have a crack at someday, and the two are NOT necessarily incompatible.

Is it just a crap shoot or luck that the ones that finish finish and the ones 
that are pulled  are pulled?   

To some degree, yes.  A good rider improves his chances of finishing (as does a
good horse), but every rider that starts any 100 mile ride, anywhere, faces the
risk of not finishing that event.  The "rock with your name on it" is only one
of the things that can snakebite even the most cautious and experienced team.
The more aggresively you pace the event, the greater your chances of not
finishing ... that just comes with the territory.

Maggie Price once chastised me for riding aggressively at the Race of Champions
before we'd earned a buckle.  She told me that her style is to ride a ride like
that conservatively the first year, to get the buckle, then to "race for it" the
following year.  Well, that wasn't my style, even on my first time at a premier
ride I'd "go for the gold," even knowing it reduced my odds of finishing.

I know there is added pressure at these races BUT no one is  forcing any rider 
to ride beyond their horse's ability...I cannot believe that  most of the 120 
pulled horses because the riders were riding on the edge.  

In a race like this ... and it was a race ... it would not surprise me.

This certainly does not sound like the circumstances with the US Team 
members from what I have read.  I know this occurs at most high levels 
of competition but most of those high level competitions the human is 
pushing himself over the edge not an animal.  

This is one of the grave challenges of our sport, that we are responsible not
only for our own welfare (where we feel the pain directly), but for the welfare
of our partner.  Have you ever watched the finish of a Marathon?  For many years
I was a volunteer worker at the finish of the Rocket City Marathon, and it is
quite something to see the number of runners who come to the finish in serious
pain, vomiting, collapsing across the finish line -- and the number who end up
in the aid tents being treated.  Thank God we take better care of our horses
than we do of ourselves!

I know that this probably happens in other high level equestrian events 
but most of those events do not have the combination of intensity/speed 
combined with distance.  Perhaps endurance horses at this level are more 
prone to "harm" because of this combination.  Regardless, I still am not 
convinced that a 73% attrition rate is OK at this level with such experienced 
horse/rider teams.

I agree it's higher than I want to see, and I do think such a flat, fast course
contributes both to the high attrition, and danger of serious injury or death to
the horses.

Also, when you mention the 20% completion rate at the ROC were there 
any unusual weather or terrain conditions that may have been responsible 
for the high pull rate?  The conditions at the WEC sounded ideal from the 
reports on endurance.net and it sounded like the only technical part of the 
trail was the sand which I assume ALL participants were aware of long 
before race day.

Well, yes.  That was the trail at Brian Head, Utah.  Very high, very steep.  The
trail proved to be more difficult than anyone anticipated, plus it was unusually
hot (so they tell me, I hadn't noticed heat being a problem but then I was
living in Alabama at the time).  AIR there were 88 starters, 16 finishers.

It was funny, Kahlil had just recovered from a minor lameness injury and wasn't
quite back to top fitness.  I told people before the ride "He's not fit enough
to get First Place, but I think we can finish around the middle of the Top Ten."
Then we came in fifth place, right where I predicted.

   This is an interesting discussion and I welcome any dialog on this.  

Agreed.

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@xxxxxxxx
http://www.rnbw.com




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[RC] Completions at WEC, Ridecamp Guest