Re: [RC] novice class, LD taken seriously etc. - Barbara McCrary
FINALLY, someone else who recognizes the
same thing I've been saying for years. I KNOW that most horses in good
health can do 25 miles in 6 hours, because that's what I did on my first 50
(which I did not complete) with a totally unconditioned horse (not an Arab,
either.) I knew nothing about endurance, didn't know about conditioning,
didn't know how to pace, didn't know much of anything. But I kept plugging
along and did finish 25 miles within 6 hours. It was the next 20 that took
their toll. I felt humiliated because of my failure to complete, but
it was the salvation of the horse. How utterly ignorant I was about the
sport. How much different it would have been if we had LD rides then on
which to learn..... and mentors. But.....to get back to my point, a rider
CAN do 25 miles on a horse that is not properly conditioned, or not conditioned
at all. Sometimes the breaking point is as much as 35 miles, and the last
15 are the make or break miles. We had a running QH that was like
that. He could finish first on a 35 miler, but after that, he was
done. On a talented, athletic horse, 25-30 miles are just a day's pleasure
ride.
I am NOT belittling people who want to ride
LD, nor am I belittling those who cannot ride more than 25-30 miles, all I am
saying is that extra 15-20 miles is what separates the pleasure ride from the
endurance ride.
Subject: Re: [RC] novice class, LD taken
seriously etc.
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 tr! ails 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.
