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RE: [RC] LD/50 times - David LeBlancTerre said: Not exactly. We haven't been discussing whether the horses are being ridden within their capabilites or not--the only data we have is ride times. We also have pull rates, and while we know that winning ride times are about 15% slower, we also know that pull rates aren't much different (except when it is hot). So if we couple these two, we can infer that people are about as good at taking care of their horses in LD as in 50's (granted that it is easier to do that on an LD than a 50, though not tremendously so), and that how they do it is by slowing down. What I am 'speculating' is that the level of competition is less "fierce". Sure - I'd agree with that. Because a greater percentage of the entrants are in the "young horse, old horse, rehabbing horse, family riding together yada yada" category, the "field" is riding slower, so the "winners" can ride slower. This I'm not so sure of. I've seen too many people win rides of any distance by quite a lot. Remember there's a lot of 50's out there going slow, too. I think I was over an hour behind you last ride (sooo many rocks!). There is no point in coming in an hour ahead of the next horse, even if your horse is perfectly capable of it. May not be a point to it, but seems like they do. _I_ wouldn't, but the best I've ever done is 3rd on a 50. I've seen people who knew they had an hour+ on the next rider gallop out of camp. I think they're not using good judgement - increases your chances of finding a rock with your name on it. Most people I know who can run up front on 25's get boredwith it, andwant to take on greater challenges. I think that's largely true. I can see, however, how some people might enjoy the prestige and prizes of winning at one distance, and recognize they won't be likely to do so at a longer distance--and therefore find it hard to give up the easier win. I know someone who does this, and they still only finish about 60% of all their rides. Ridiculous. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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