Kim stated exactly what I was saying. You don't need an organized ride to know how fast you went or how well your horse recovers. You need placings to compare yourself to a benchmark whether it be yourself or others.
Actually, I would hope in an LD that your bench mark would be the challenge of the trail or you and your horse against the trail or comparing your past performances. But if you are looking at an LD like a "race" against other riders you certainly do need over all placings to judge how you and your horse performed. Is LD a race for you? Why is where you place against other horses so important if you are not competing against them. Do you really care if you finish before someone who is taking their horse out for the first time? Do you really care if you beat the mother and 5 year old on the 26 year old horse. Do you really care if you beat someone who is bringing back a horse from an injury. Who exactly are you going to measure your success against? Other riders that are racing the LD? Why isn't your time against the trail and other conditions like weather a good measurement of success? Why isn't the pace you travel a good measurement to your personal success? Placings are only important if you are racing against other riders.
I haven't competed in CTRs for a long time but are the actual finishing times necessary to see how you stand with the other competitors. Isn't the time element just necessary to know if you completed with a certain time frame. By that I mean if you come in too fast or come in too slow.
