Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

There have been several follow-up questions to my post on ponying 
a horse during an AERC sanctioned ride.

The original question which I answered was:

Is it OK to pony a horse to give it exposure and conditioning 
while you are competing on another horse in a sanctioned ride?

Here is an example of why it is against the rules.  I personally 
have two horses that I like to condition together.   I often pony 
one so I can reduce the time I spend conditioning.  Almost always 
they compete against each other and the pace is faster than if I 
am riding either alone.

If you were able to do this is a sanctioned ride, you may be 
maintain a pace that you could not do w/o the extra horse.  This 
is pacing or hazing and is against the rules.

"k. Not	having been paced or prompted by an un-entered, 
withdrawn,	or otherwise unauthorized equine"

Horse cannot be entered in the ride without a rider and you can 
only ride one horse during a distance.

The question of ponying another rider's horse in a ride was raised 
and various reasons for doing it were suggested.

There are a few cases where it would be considered reasonable and 
I've done this.  A loose horse came trotting up behind me on the 
trail.  The rider was nowhere in sight so I ponyied the horse back 
the trail until I met the rider who had been dumped.  It's also 
reasonable to pony the horse of an injured rider to a point where 
they can be picked up.

I'm just guessing but when an extremely young rider a few years 
ago - such as the 3 or 4 year old who did a 50 and then a year 
later did a 100, it's possible that there were times this horse 
was led by the sponsor.

While I'm not an expert on the rules and this view is not an 
official one, I believe this is against the rules. An entered 
horse should be under the control of the rider which is not the 
case for a ponyied horse.

For AERC to act in a case like this - someone would have to file a 
protest for the P&G committee to make a decision.  It's unlikely 
that anyone would protest in this case or the other cases mentioned.

Mike


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