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FXLivestock@xxxxxxx wrote:
> I would be greatly disappointed if the championship level (WEC) 
> dropped to a shorter distance just so the speed factor could be 
> accommodated on flat tracks so horses last longer. Are there 
> any studies or proof that horses raced fast on shorter distances say 
> 75/50 miles are going to hold up longer?  Or, does it mean that 75/50 
> mile championships will just be won in even faster speeds?  I suppose 
> that the marathon idea that was popular in the middle east in the 
> early 1990s could really make a come back if shorter distances at very 
> fast speeds will make horses last longer.
>  
The AERC has a significant amount of data that point an elevated risk at 
100 miles vs. 50 miles. Look at the pull rates - particularly the 
metabolic pull rates - and look fatality rates. I suspect you see the 
same types of numbers in the FEI events in Europe. Does that mean that 
the WEC should be shortened? There is nothing magic about 160 km for the 
WEC. I guess I am neutral on this issue but Steph has a point that it 
should be something on the table for discussion within the FEI.

>  It seems to me that a much better solution would be that only courses 
> that had a certain degree of technicality or difficulty be considered 
> for a WEC course.  If a host country is not able to provide a certain 
> amount of technical difficulty perhaps they should not be hosting a 
> world championship.
>  
This is not the Olympics. It doesn't bring in large amounts of money. It 
does require outlays of money to make it happen. I doubt if there are 
twenty countries chomping at the bit to put it one every other year. I 
expect to save cost it makes sense to run it with the WEG when possible, 
e.g., what is happening in Lexington in 2010. I could just see a 
negotiation of what the word "technical" means. Is flat sand technical - 
I'd say there is at least one country that will tell you yes.

I expect the WEC will become what the WEC becomes based on an evolution 
of international endurance riding. The US is one of many countries and 
it will be the FEI that makes the decision.

My feeling is at the WEC level longevity is not a big issue - it is a 
different sport it is NOT AERC endurance. The WEC is not an armature 
sport like AERC endurance. It is a world championship event. The best at 
the time of selection go. There is no real reason to expect a horse to 
be able to win more than one or even participate in more than one. The 
concept of longevity in the AERC is I expect vastly different than what 
is seen outside the US - especially at championship levels.

Truman

--

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of 
one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that 
oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the 
beginning if it is to be stopped at all."   H. L. Mencken


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