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RE: [RC] LD's are needed! - David LeBlancI don?t agree ? time after time, I?ve seen the 1st place finisher come in last for BC. This sends a clear message that the person is overriding their horse. IMHO, a BC is a more coveted award than 1st. You?re also discounting the factor that the horse in the 25 may not be young, old, or recovering from injury. I did one LD this year on my very healthy horse with 2000+ endurance miles, simply because it was the first ride of the season and I wanted to see if we were in condition. We were - we took 2nd and BC. The 1st place finisher wasn't even 2nd for BC. The mere existence of the BC gives people a standard to ride against - if you can come in top-10 AND be in BC condition or close, it tells you that your horse is in proper shape for what you?re asking them to do. If you're last for BC (or near the end), it tells you that you're going too fast. Also bear in mind that this same horse who BC'd a LD ride, and even won a 75 this year, rode a pretty fast 50 and came in 20-something. If you happen to have a 50 mile horse in that LD, they might well be a middle of the pack (or top 25) horse operating well within their capabilities. 10th place LD finisher might not even be going very fast. I once got top-10 once and 2nd for BC in a 4 hours ride time 25 (2nd BC) - not exactly speedy. Note that I did that 25 in 2:58 in very steep mountains, on the same horse who later did 75 miles in under 12 hours. A 2:58 25 wasn't a big deal to him, especially if that's all he was doing that day. I've had the experience of seeing 100-mile horses pass me on an LD, and finish top-10 easily. People are going to race, no matter what you do. Only LD ride I've seen without placings in the NW ended in a race. What a BC gives you is a way to reward those who aren't going too fast, and something to make those that are think (if they choose to). I think BC encourages riding the horse within its capabilities, and the mere process of going through BC gives that rider a learning experience. If I could rewrite the rules, I'd make LD placing for top-10 based on BC ordering. My $0.02 - From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Barbara McCrary Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:51 PM To: Beth Walker; Ridecamp Subject: Re: [RC] LD's are needed! Any time BC is based on the top 10 in any way, you are encouraging speed, which may, or may not, be in excess of what the horse is capable of doing.? I think any emphasis on fastest time in any way, shape or form, is not productive from the standpoint of protecting the horses for which LD was created...the young, the old, and the recovered-from-injury horses. ? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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