Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hello All,

 

 I am going to sound off on this issue because I think it is a bit scarey the direction this topic whats to go.  So, I will accept the flack sent my way.

 

 

First off:  Should AERC lump all distances into the Endurance category???

 

NO.  Reason being, that IMO....this takes away from or lessens what the people out there doing the longer distances are doing with their horses.  A good rider can go out and take a horse of any breed with little to no condition and "get him thru an LD ride".  No, he won't be up in the front, but does that make him an "endurance" horse?  Does it make him a great athlete?  No, it makes him a horse that with some legging up and a sensible rider that can finish that shorter distance. I see this all the time at the local horse trails... trail riders out there riding 25 miles of technical trails on their pleasure horses. And when they see us conditioning, they "think" that we aren't doing anything that their horses couldn't do.  The truth is...we are doing something that they can't do.  They couldn't take their horses (at the current conditioning) and do a 50 or better mile ride.  So, if lumping it all together makes everyone have a "happy face"...it won't be anything to brag about IMO.

 

Second:  We "endurance" riders are already being taken advantage of.  Example:  How many times at rides with say, 25, 50, and a 100 have the awards where:

• The awards are the same for all three distances.  This one bugs me, when I ride a 100 miler and get the same little bucket or lead line that someone that rode 25 miles get.  Maybe this is just a personal quirk of mine, but seems a bit unfair.  I think that the awards should reflect the effort put into it.  This is effort from the rider and the horse.  And I don't care what anybody out here thinks...but a horse that can do a 100, is a far better athlete than one that can only do a 25 or a 50. He must be tougher.
• The awards are given is the order of 25's first, then the 50's and then...last the poor ole 100 mile people get theirs.  What happens is that the T-shirts or whatever are all so picked over that the people that have worked the hardest, have the most to be proud of...gets the least.  And if you don't think so, and you haven't ever done a 100 or 50, just do one and see how you feel.

Third:   If the body of AERC does move to accept all the distances as "endurance" then I propose this:  Do it like they do marathons....if a LD ride is endurance, then a 50 can be "ultra-marothon" and I suppose the 100's can be "Extreme marothons".  I feel very strongly that there should be a "difference" in the names.  So, if all you LD people want to be called by endurance....then the rest of us should insist on a new name as well.  For me, the name endurance wouldn't mean crap anymore.

 

Call me old school, call me whatever.  I grew up in the sport, been a member of AERC since '79, have over 11,500 miles of "endurance".  I can say I have ridden only one 25 mile ride in my entire career, and it was on a 4 yr. old.  I am not saying that LD has no place with AERC, it does.  It is an excellent place to start off, to start new horses, to step back to due to injuries....but should it be "endurance".  NO.  Should it be lumped into the all the miles accumulated..  NO.  Maybe a solution would be to let the people who are so into the LD ride, make their own organization, create their own rules.  Recognize whatever they want to.  But, don't try to take away from what the sport of endurance was founded on.  Don't try to change the "Bill of Rights" of endurance by considering a ride less than 50 miles ....endurance. 

 

It would be like comparing what pro bull riders do to the sheep ride at the local rodeo.

 

Jody #1114

and the endurance girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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