One last post about this issue. There still seems to be no valid argument
that has been raised as to NOT record LD times and placements accurately
rather than showing "Completed" or "Finished" other than the training issue
(racing/over riding/ experience, etc.) regardless of equine age. If this is the
case then why do we allow anyone with a horse 60 months or older to enter a 50
or 100 mile race regardless of experience or proof of training. Certainly there
have been cases of an inexperienced rider with an inexperienced horse
entering these rides and the horse being over ridden. If the argument for LDs
are that they are "training rides" perhaps there should be a requirement that
before a rider and a horse of any age enters a 50 or 100 mile ride they
should have completed "X" number of 25 mile rides to demonstrate their
readiness. If this were the case, than the practice of not reporting LD
times and placements would make sense. Otherwise the logic escapes me. Of
course this does nothing to resolve the issue of those who solely want to ride
LDs and are competitive. They will still want to have their times and placements
recorded. Unfortunately this brings us back to the circular reasoning of
those who say they should be "endurance riders" and doing 50 or 100 mile
rides.
