The main difference I see is the purse involved. A ride that offers
huge prizes is a completely different animal than a ride that offers
buckets for awards. Large purse rides should be labeled distance racing
instead of endurance riding. Even though, because of physical problems, I
have not been able to participate in endurance riding for several years,
endurance riding has been a huge love of mine and when I see it and
everything it stands for being given such a black eye by what is going on under
the guise of endurance riding...it makes me want to do something about it...but
it is so frustrating because it has taken on a life of its own and there doesn't
seem to be anything to be done to correct it. Did anyone see the photo from the
endurance ride in India?? The one where all the horses in the photo
seem to be out of control? What a pathetic example of
horsemanship... Apparently India puts on a distance race using
the UAE's races as their guide to how it is done. Pretty
sad.
