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Re: [RC] BC at Desert Gold - Laney HumphreyI haven't even read most of the LDBC posts because I'm just not interested but yours caught my eye, Renie. I see a fundamental flaw in your reasoning re a BC award and achieving an A in school. Theoretically, any student who "works hard" enough can earn an A; teachers are not required, to my knowledge, to grade on the Bell curve. If all the kids in a class do A work, they all get A's and the teacher gets a gold star. That isn't true for any level of endurance ride. Only one horse can be awarded the BC award for each milage distance.The 2 problems I see with your reasoning are that far too many horses get asked to perform far beyond their capabilities in the hopes of being awarded what only one can achieve. All the other horses "fail" which can mean real failure: injury and/or death which are real consequences of being overworked. And far too many riders, whose minds are set on "winning" the BC award, totally fail to appreciate the real challenge of the sport, which is totally within the grasp of everyone: that to finish is to win. Sticking with the getting an A analogy, the real parallel achievement in endurance is truly finishing the ride with one's horse in positively the best condition it can be in - healthy, happy and willing and able to continue on if asked. We live in a very goal oriented world. Being able to show off an A on a report card, a blue ribbon or a plaque that says BC on it is an easy shorthand for accomplishment that everyone can understand. I'd be the first to agree that explaining to one's work colleagues on Monday morning that for the time and money spent over the weekend, the "prize" was maybe a t shirt, or, heaven forbid, a plastic bucket, is really hard and kind of embarrassing. What is harder to explain to anyone but another endurance fanatic is the joy of being with one's best friend mile after mile, asking oneself the question "is he/she doing ok - eating, drinking, peeing, pooping" over and over and over and at the finish, being able to answer "yes, he/she did just fine and we could keep on going and oh, my god, what a wonderful day I just had!" Laney Renie M burnett wrote: That was an unkind post, Kat. I surely don't want to FORCE anyone into doing anything. And, so few rides in the West Region use the AERC BCLD, I suppose I could just stay home and enjoy my "misery." I guess you should tell kids that working a little harder to get an "A" in school is just to satisfy some type of "ego" trip. Heck, a diploma proves they "finished" the /education ride, /so, why does anyone care if they had an A average or a D??. In other words, what the heck is wrong with a little bit of recognition for working a little harder, or doing a job a bit better??? renie =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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