Re: [RC] A New Endurance Ride Concept - Janice Taylor
There are places in the West that if you were to
have the vet check/crew/spectator location on top of a small knoll, you could
have four 25 mile loops and keep them all in sight all the
time...<g> At least with binoculars.
RE: I can not think of any
thing more boring to watch or ride.
NASCAR.... A bunch of cars go around and around the same
track for 500 miles. How can you tell who is winning? They get lapped by each
other, take pit stops... Boring!! It is noisy and
smelly! It will never catch on..:) Who would want to
watch that? Not me, but somehow a few hundred thousand folks show up at
a track just about every week to watch. I hear they even show it on TV
every once and while. Not too shabby for what started out as a bunch of
moonshine running Good Old Boys running dirt roads in their souped up
hot rods.
The ride you described in Alberta was more like a typical Endurance Ride
from a spectator standpoint. The horses come into camp and then
disappear again for 13 miles. I am not talking about a 24 hour Endurance
test. My concept is to travel a set distance ( 50 -100 miles), over a
visible course. Instead of 12 or 15 or 17 mile loops, it would have a 1
mile loop. It couldn't be more boring to watch than our regular rides. I
am positive it will be more fun for the crews. Instead of waiting for a
rider to appear out of the wilderness, they can watch their rider all day long
and anticipate what will be needed at each vet check. Heck, the rider can call
out to them what to have ready at the next lap. As for it being boring to
ride, we won't know until we try it.
We talk about " Team riding" during International and competition,
but when does the "team" practice? How do they practice? This type of
event could help with Team riding.
PS: I will never be an FEI/National Championship type of rider that could
really benefit from this type of event. My personal preferences are long
scenic rides with no repeat loops. ( OD, Tevis, etc). My sole
interest here is in growing the Sport.