Cabbages and Kings
Di. Regendanz (dvr@interlog.com)
Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:19:30 -0500
I thought I had sent off a posting last night but it came back to me because
I had the "address" wrong - so here I go again. Hopefully do a little
better this time.
Firstly, addressing different breeds - here in 0ntario we have a Trakhener
that competes in both competitive trail and endurance and does well - nay -
he won several 50's last year and finished well in a 100. Also won in
Michigan. "Faust" is at least 17 h.h. and sometimes, as a lay judge, I get
the dubious pleasure of "vetting" him. Being only l5 h.h. myself (wel,,
5'1") I either need a portable stool to examine his back or get Shirley to
train him to kneel down when I get to palpate his back. We also have
another huge horse listed in the entries as Grade but if I remember
correctly he is Clydesdale/Arab/Hackney X. Joan might kill me if I've got
the first part wrong. Anyway his feet are as big as a Clydesdales!
Nextly - the issue of numbers on rumps: not always the most practical for
various reasons already cited, but probably the best for idendification for
all the workers, riders separated from their horses, and OCTRA rides use
Radio Crews all over the place - especially at road crossings - and if they
happen to miss the rider calling out their number they'll more than likely
catch the number on the rump. Everyone is marked off on their list and if
anyone number is missing after a certain checkpoint they can radio to the
car ahead to see if that rider has gone by there. Hats off to our radio
crews especially for doing the 100 mile rides when the last rider might just
be coming in hours after everyone else is finished and gone to bed. 0n CTRs
we have the riders usisng bibs with little pockets for maps, kleenex,
time/score cards, etc. These were made up and paid for by 0CTRA and go from
ride to ride. We have two separate sets of numbers - one for the "west" and
one for the "east". They are adjustable and comfortable.
My personal preference for horse colour is chestnut (because that's Phoenix'
colour). Greys do dissipate the heat faster and better than darker colours
and as for breeding, Phoenix is Crabbett and has always done exceptionally
well as a ctr horse. Egyptians tend to be "hotter" - Polish generally
taller. Phoenix was not an "endurance" horse - we did some endurance rides
setting our own personal goal for the day. He's a stocky type arab - the
true endurance horses tend to be leaner; more like greyhounds.
As far as money prizes - NO - marathon races - uh-uh. Who remembers the 25
mile race some ten or 12 years back which did not meet AERC sanctioning
requirements, sanctioning was pulled and their were no vets. A lot of
horses died on that race - buried along the trail. What the requirements,
vetting, etc., in Dhubai and the Emirates is I have no idea as this was all
completely new to me until recently. I will get onto their site and see
what else I can find out about them. Again, personally, I wouldn't like to
see endurance riding as an 0lympic sport. Again, for reasons already voiced.
"nuff for now. Whoever is going to be at the AERC convention coming up look
for Earle "Boss" Baxter. He's a big man, sandy hair going grey and is
bow-legged! At least when he had his lycra riding pants on!! Don't tell
him I said that, please.
Hope this gets through this time as I should be attending to other business,
but I'm enjoying reading all the postings.
Di. (OCTRA secretary)