Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

We all know and hate that this damn subject keeps resurfacing.  With all the logic, 
with all the rhetoric, each camp comes to the fray with a certain mindset that 
totally precludes their being able to REALLY appreciate the other side's point of 
view.  Consequently, each side has become entrenched and refuses to acknowledge valid 
points made by the other for fear that by taking a step towards the middle, like in 
an old fashioned tug-of-war, they will be yanked off their feet completely and lose 
the battle.  Losing the battle will mean that their noble ideals, their vision of 
fairness and compassion, will lose too.  So each time we argue about LD placings and 
BC, we fail to find a solution.  The fight has become one of who is right.  That 
there is right, and wrong, on both sides is ignored, with both camps turning a blind 
eye towards every reasonable argument against their cause.

Each time we argue about LD, we steal a little more soul from ourselves.  Some of us 
try to be logical and thoughtful but in the end, even the rational minds among us 
give up.  Some quit in disgust, some resort to taunting the opposition to pick up 
their marbles and go home, and some attack others as unfair, egotistical, selfish. 
So we all lose... a little bit... till next time... when we lose a little more.

This issue will never be resolved until BOTH camps let go of their prejudices so that 
they can discuss what is known, what is believed, what is feared, and come to a 
working compromise, even if only on a limited-time, trial basis.

Limited Distance Rides have evolved to become a sport in their own right.  Endurance 
riders must grasp this fact, fully and faithfully before they can ever discuss this 
issue with impartiality and fairness.  They must come to see that even though LD 
started as a training venue, a place to try distance riding albeit not do "real 
Endurance", it has evolved to embrace a very dedicated group of people who view THEIR 
sport as being just as worthy as the longer rides.

4 yr olds participate in LD.  Some are ridden fast.  Overriding young horses is 
damaging.  Our history as an organization should cause us to shun activities that 
allow, never mind encourage, the racing of young horses.  Old horses and riders 
participate in LD.  They deserve to enjoy the same opportunities and have access to 
the same rewards as younger individuals.  As long as Limited Distance riders refuse 
to acknowledge these truths, keeping in front of them only the Holy Grails of racing, 
competition, acknowledgment of personal effort, they too will remain unable to think 
impartially or "outside the box" and discover new solutions.

One extreme would be to throw open LD to all, full-blown racing, knowing that some 
horses will come to a ride or two and either suffer irreparable long-term damage or 
breakdown or die and accept that as the price to be paid.  At the other end of the 
spectrum, go back to LD with no racing, no awards, no placements, no BC's.  I cannot 
believe that with all our intelligence, all our compassion, for humans and equines 
alike, that we cannot all acknowledge the faults and flaws in both extremes, the 
rewards and valid goals in both extremes, and do better than sit in our respective 
camps, simmering with resentment, coming out every few months to hurl invective and 
insult at one another.


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