It would be a more accurate comparison if the
dressage levels were like this....Grand Prix Level 1, Grand Prix Level 2 and so
on. But it's not called Grand Prix at lower levels because it's not Grand Prix,
right? And that sort of correlates to anything less than 50 not being endurance
rides. And calling it an LD or a fun ride is not derogatory, and many riders go
back & forth between LDs and 50s, then throw in a 100 maybe. Like you say,
many horses never progress past 2nd level, and they're not Grand Prix 2nd Level,
just 2nd level. And if a horse never makes a 50, well, maybe he's a darn good
long distance trail horse, that maybe can do 30 or 40 miles, but still not an
endurance horse.
So, how about looking at it this way. All are
"trail horses", they are all "real" trail horses, and they're at
training level (or conditioning) to reach "endurance" level at all
distances less than 50 miles, then, when they actually do 50 mile trail
rides, they are "endurance" level trail
horses.....(:>)
Like you say, a horse can accomplish a lower level
of dressage and he's still doing dressage moves (not Grand Prix though).
However, by the definition of endurance, a horse cannot do endurance at a less
than 50 miles. And yes, all those lower than 50 miles rides we ride are
highly valued as building the foundation, but they are still not endurance
miles. They are LD, conditioning, training, or just fun miles.
Kathy
Christina wrote:
I would like to make a comparison of dressage &
endurance riding...
it isn't like the dressage community considers
training level not to be dressage or not 'real '
dressage.
The lower levels of dressage are valued as the
building of a foundation.
Why can't endurance be looked at in the same
light?
I get the thing with the runners and
the marathon, Bruce, I really do~ they are all still runners though.....just as
training level dressage horses are still dressage horses, and TO ME 25 mile LD
horses are still Endurance horses....they are just at a different level of
TRAINING~ and YES some horses in dressage never progress past second
level- just like many Endurance horses never progress past 25
Miles.
