Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The unfortunate thing is even if we implemented log books, mandatory 
mentors or what other measures - it will not guarantee something like 
this from happening. I've seen it too often. A junior who had been 
riding sensible rides with a sponsor for three years was so happy the 
first ride she didn't have to ride with a sponsor that was "holding her 
back" that she trashed her horse into the ground and it ended up at UF. 
A rider riding with her child as a junior and riding way to fast for the 
child's horse that went down at the check but the mother went back out 
on the trail to try to win the 50. The land manager on whose land we 
were riding was not very happy about what happened. That's not the image 
we want to give. The horse had to be taken to a clinic. A new rider 
shows up with a "track fit Arab" and tries to win a 50 - only to have it 
go down at 40 miles. It died later.

We endurance riders are very protective of the not having a lot of 
structure - which makes the assumption that the rider assume the 
responsibility for the welfare of their horse. It is very difficult if 
not impossible to know when a rider - new or otherwise will live up to 
that responsibility. This can happen in an LD, 50 or 100. Some people 
will always view the sport as a race to be won on that day - independent 
of the distance of the race. Most riders do accept their responsibility 
very seriously. It's a fringe that doesn't and personally I'm not sure 
that fringe should be allowed to participate in AERC events. The only 
option we have is sanctions after the fact since we can't predict the 
future.

However, these sanctions should be stringent. The rider should pay for 
his/her irresponsibility. It seems that the first step to a solution 
might an automatic protest should be filed instead of requiring someone 
to file a protest. It might make a lot of sense to give the RM and any 
ride vet the ability to file a protest on a rider for abuse without 
having to fork out 100 bucks to spawn an investigation of the event. Our 
protest system just doesn't seem up to addressing situations like these.

Truman

Bruce Weary wrote:
> Dear Debbie--
> I understand how you feel, and I imagine many of us feel outrage at 
> the thought of the mistreatment of this horse, or any horse, for that 
> matter. Nick Warhol was at this event, and is to be commended for his 
> little known spectacular efforts toward saving the life of the horse 
> in question, and offering to help pay for it. We are fortunate to have 
> him as our AERC Secretary and riding comrade. He can give better 
> detail as to the events of that day, but suffice to say that the horse 
> was overridden, and by a person who was completely unfamiliar with how 
> far and how fast a horse can run safely. As a first time rider, he 
> somehow got it in his head that trying to win the LD race was a 
> feasible thing to do. I have seen this dangerous aspiration in other 
> riders with little or no more experience than this fellow. From what 
> Nick has told me, I am willing to believe that this rider did what he 
> did out of sheer ignorance. I do not believe he intended to have 
> blatant disregard for the horse's health, but rather held the 
> fundamental idea in his head that to win, he had to go faster than 
> anybody else. And that is what he tried to do. His ignorance precluded 
> him from having any further thoughts than that. It doesn't excuse his 
> responsibility one iota. But it does explain what happened that day, 
> just as it has in other venues, and that there is some room for 
> improvement in the current structure of our sport that might help curb 
> the frequency of such events in the future.
> Situations like this will generate discussions about how to safely 
> indoctrinate the beginning rider, who currently becomes a possible 
> candidate to win an endurance ride by simply showing up with a horse, 
> a saddle, and a check for the entry fee. No qualification necessary, 
> no aptitude test, no mandatory mentoring. While many of us don't think 
> the LD should be seen or treated as a race, there are those staunch 
> supporters who would insist on reminding this rider that it is indeed 
> a race, however there are those who cannot resist the temptation, and 
> are inexperienced and unknowing enough to be a danger to themselves, 
> their horses and other riders. The fact that something is a race or 
> competitive event stirs the juices in many folks, and sometimes causes 
> them to cast caution and good sense to the wind, if they have any at 
> all. After all, winning is the brass ring, and as Americans, we are 
> winners.
>
> Some thoughts about ignorance:
> "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance--it is the 
> illusion of knowledge." Daniel Bourstin This rider operated under the 
> illusion that he knew what he was doing. Something we have all done at 
> times.
>
> "Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." Will 
> Durant We can't know something until we know it. And we can only be 
> responsible for what we know, or should have known.
>
> " I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something 
> from him." Galileo What can we learn from this dangerous situation, 
> and how can we apply it to protecting horses in the future, and safely 
> paving the way for new riders to enter, stay, and enjoy our sport? We 
> can indulge our protective love for animals and express is as 
> anger--let's face it, it feels good to do so--or we can get 
> constructive about where to go from here. I don't have all the 
> answers. (Please don't tell my wife that.) But our membership of 
> nearly 7,000 clear minded members surely can come up with some great 
> ones. Bruce Weary DAL, Member HWC
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> 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!!
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


--

“It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how 
smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong” Richard 
Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=