Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 02:43 PM 7/6/2009, you wrote:
>  The Duck's "you are
> on your own o=
> ut there" and "don't count on me to save your horse's
> life" go a little way=
>  to fostering some of these skills (although I am still trying to
> figure ou=
> t why it is okay for the Duck to say it, but not The
> Adventurist),

The Duck has a long history (see:

http://xprides.com/History.html) of putting on successful events of
this type.  Most of the people attending these events are
experienced.  We may be in for some surprises but overall the big
picture is generally the same.  We aren't in a third world country,
and we are riding our own horses.  The Adventurists have zero
experience with hosting horse events.  

I've seen what people will do to their own horses, usually out of
ignorance, ego, or out of the heat of the moment - to get something that
amounts to a $10 "prize".  I have seen horses run to death
in a handful of miles on a pony express re-enactment - no prize there,
and again shows that you don't have to go very far to experience a
serious problem.  Every single rider going on this adventure may
very well be happy to plug along at a 3 to 5 mile an hour average pace
but I wouldn't count on it.   

I have personally corresponded with at least four different people who
have ridden in and across Mongolia.  One person text messaged her
sheep herder guide that lives in Mongolia and he sent her back photos and
answered my questions!  In that way, I learned a lot more than I
learned by reading any posts on ridecamp, or even from the Long Rider's
Guild.  It was an education and I now understand a lot better why
there is so much concern about the wellfare of not just the horses, but
the people that own them.  

Because of what I have learned this week, I don't have a hard time
feeling concern and compassion for several hundred horses that may or may
not be properly trained and prepared to go "only 25 miles",
when they are going to be ridden by those that may not have the right
kind of experience in distance riding that would help alert them to a
problem.  Or avoid one all together.  I do agree with what most
have said - these riders are going to be hurting pretty bad after just
the first day and this may end up being a "walking race". 
That doesn't mean that the rest of the world should turn a blind eye and
not care that there is a potential for disaster.  

The Adventurists can't even seem to decide what it is they are
doing.  They sent me a press release this morning.  One part of
it says this:

About The Mongol Derby
Hosted in a country where
the horse is part of the fabric of the nation, the inaugural
Derby will take endurance horse racing to a new level.

then below that, not much farther down, this:

Is this an endurance race?
The Mongol Derby is NOT an
endurance race, and has
never been described as
such.

So, which is it????  

When we attend any XP ride we know ahead of time that racing is
discouraged and certainly not recognized as being a "big
deal".  There is no guessing about what kind of event it is
that you are attending. 

http://xprides.com/RidingandRacing.html  

Karen
http://www.enduranceridestuff.com/blog