OK.? Before anyone spends too much time researching, let me be?brutally honest.? When I first started endurance riding in 1979, I sometimes went way too fast :)? Lots of us did.? Luckily, I never killed a horse (though that could happen to any of us on any day-we shouldn't be too arrogant about that possibility).? However, I probably came closer to hurting a horse by my early years of speed with well or over-conditioned horses, than I ever have by "pulling a horse out of the pasture" and riding slowly on a 50 miler.? Yes, I have said that I have pulled a horse out of the pasture and done a 50 miler, though that was NOT the quote that got this argument going.? ?This is important, though:? My horses "out of the pasture" can easily do a 10-15 mile ride at an 8 mph rate because they are ridden and they are healthy and they aren't usually obese and I'm not talking about 20+ year old horses.? When I say I'm taking them out of the pasture, it means that they have not specifically been conditioned for endurance.? It does not mean that they are not ridden.? It also means I had a 9-10 hour completion time.? I keep expecting people to read stuff on this forum and use common sense.? It was not at all unusual in the early 80s during the first years of the XP spring rides for people to "pull horses out of the pasture" and go to the multiday rides.? Heck, there was 2 ft. of snow on the ground in Wyoming...you couldn't condition.? You used those first rides of the season as conditioning.? These were experienced riders on experienced horses and I saw very little, if any, metabolic or other problems on those rides.? Heck, we were too frightened of Dave to hurt a horse :)? Finally, I do think there's a huge difference between an experienced endurance rider "taking a horse out of pasture" and an inexperienced rider doing so.? Sorry, but I do believe that 25 years and thousands of miles in competition do count for something.? I also think it helps alot to have spent time under a vet like Dave who makes it clear that the rider is totally responsible and that there's no one else to blame if you have a problem.? Cindy
