Truman said, "Maybe
we should pay attention to our own house,"
Well that was kinda the
point I was trying to make when we were talking about our own National
Championship. We want to make it so that horse and rider might have more
experience before entering the world events but our own championship doesn't
require that much to get in. One would think that our own championship would be
a stepping stone to bigger, more worldly events. But the requirements really
don't require that a rider know that much about their horse. 300 miles and ONE
top 10. Our last Championship ride started 39 and finished 18. ( that may be
unofficial but that is all I could find) I think that is less than 50%,
isn't it?
My point about our own championship was
not that there were no qualified riders, there were indeed some
very experienced riders, but at that level, like Kim said in a previous post,
(she was referring to international riders) they should ALL have more
experience. It IS a championship.
Here in our house, we chant "To finish is to Win."
That's crap. That is why some people will present a horse to a vet hoping
to pass even if there is a tad bit of lameness, soreness or the horse took a
little too long than normal to recover. You might be able to rub out a sore
muscle to get through the vet check, but it will still be sore in the end. That
is why I agree with Kat about penalizing that kind of attitude.
On the other hand, at home we also have grades of
lameness that are acceptable, allowing a slightly off horse to get a
completion. That's crap too. It doesn't matter if it is the end of the ride and
the horse is done. If the horse is off, has a dipping sore back or even bad tack
galls, he is NOT FIT TO CONTINUE because the rider made bad choices. If
we went with Kat's idea, these horses that were presented in this condition
expecting to pass or get a completion would be penalized. As it is now,
the rider can still be a *winner* because they *finished*.
I think maybe here at home, we may be desensitizing
our own riders and that doesn't encourage looking for the very
subtle problems that could be bubbling up. I am not blaming vets, (MB take
note;) because our rules read in such a way that this can be acceptable. And of
course, in the end it IS the riders responsibility.
Even if your a JR.
Angie is so right when she said if she were a WEC
rider she would be confused. I would be, too. Again, it all starts at home.
We can't decide if we want to race or just finish. We think it is ok to
race an *endurance* distance of 50 miles or more, but holy crap, you'd better
take it easy on that 25 miler. If we have a lot of pulls on our record, people
pull up that information without knowing all of the facts and make those
riders feel bad. So it is better to finish so that nothing is written about
what kind of condition the horse finished in and then we don't have to
worry. (If it is happy hour I'm done, no matter what. That's a HHO or happy hour
option ;)
But like Kat said, if you CHOOSE to ride over those
rocks a tad faster, don't blame the rocks for the stone bruise and possible
pull. That is not taking a chance, that is making a choice. That's pretty strait
up.
I don't know how to make the WEC or any world event
safer for horses. I don't know what the answer is to helping all riders finish
in good shape at that level. I do believe we have our own conflicts right here
at home that need to be addressed and resolved before we head out to these
international championship rides.
Not to take away anything from those who have been
there and done that. I can't imagine what it takes to ride at that level but
I'll bet those who have, would also like to see everybody on the team finishing,
with "fit to continue" horses.
Kat, I want to say thanks for your posts. At first
I was in denial. Like other posters, I thought to myself, things happen, I can't
control all circumstances, etc,. However, I do take responsibility for my
actions and when I started thinking back on some *bad luck* at rides, I realized
that it really was more about choices I made. I'll not make any confessions as I
hate to admit I'm wrong. So I'll just say I was mistaken and that I have learned
from those mistakes;)
Work off that turkey tomorrow so our horses aren't
whinnying "Jeennny Craaaig" when we mount up for that next ride!
Lisa Salas, the Oddf ARm
Hmmm, how fat would I have to be before my horses
couldn't toss me? I think I have found a new training technique. <:-0
Nooo!
