Re: .Limited Distance

Samm C Bartee (bartesc@mail.auburn.edu)
Mon, 27 Jan 1997 16:28:27 -0600 (CST)

I guess we all have our own ideas of what Limited distance is all about.
I am not trying to open a can of worms here, and do not wish to start an
argument. Please, no one take it that way. I do have a different
perspective.
I have a good friend, Kathy, who has a 19 yo horse. he is sound on 25
milers, could maybe do a 50, but Kathy has to work to make ends meet. She
has no time to condition for a 50, and no desire to do one on Sir Jon.
She generally finishes every ride that she enters, and she rides to
complete, not to win. No, she doesn't race, but she doesn't lolly gag
around most of the time either. she is what many think of when they
think of limited distance.
However, I know others that ride the short distance due to health or time
constraints. A very grand ole woman from Mississippi had a hip
replacement done, and she will never be able to do another 50. She is
however able to do 25's, and she is fairly good at them. Her horse is
conditioned, she is ready, she just cannot physically hold out for the
extra miles. She usually did top 10 on her rides, though she was not
exactly racing.
I know lots of people who can condition for the shorter distance, but feel
that it would be asking too much on the mount for longer distances. Just
as I would not feel right asking my 50 mile mount to go 100 miles at this
time, they would not ask their 25 mile mounts to go 50 miles.
Some really are fit for 50, but if you don't feel right asking your horse
to travel this distance, or you are not physically able to do the 50, then
why put yourself and your horse through it.
Yes, there are people who race and people who do wrong by their horses. I
see this in all mileage competitions, not just the lower distances.
I dont want to take away Kathy's priviledge of riding 25 miles just
because it is a not a real endurance ride. I like taking 9 hours + to
finish a 50, and I took nearly my whole time to do the 100 that I finished
in KY. Next, you will hear someone griping that if you can't get done
within a specific amount of time--withing the winners time--then you are
taking too long or are on an unconditioned horse. I have already heard
that for several different reasons.
I am not happy with some of the rides that I go too where I hear timers or
vets complaining about the later finishers on the upper distances, and it
seems that I hear more and more of that. They say if you can't get to
point X by now, you are not on a fit horse, should not be in this race,
etc. At a championship ride one year, I was there to help only. A rider
was lost, he was a victim of trail tampering. He got on trail, went on to
finish. He was behind, and trailing the last place horses. There was much
rumbling to pull him for time, and he did not think that this was fair.
So, they let him continue. He not only did not finish last, but his horse
looked good at teh finish, even though he did the extra miles.
What has this all to do with LD rides? Plenty. there are people that
ride to win, no matter the distance, and with the proper conditioning and
the right horse, they do well. There are people who ride to complete no
matter the distance and the horse that they ride. Endurance provides
something to all who can ride, and people get out of it what they can put
into it.
I like having the LD rides, and many of our new riders come up through
those ranks. Very few people now start with a 50 or 100 as their first
ride. I know some do, and my hat is off to them. However, we need to have
a starting place for everyone. Right now, we do.
I know that the LD category is a huge argument waiting to happen for many
people. I hope that doesn't happen. I like to have a slow easy place to
start my horse, or bring back a horse that has had an injury, or me when I
had an injury. it's good to ride short, then be able to help management
if they need it without sacrificing points/mileage.
Teddy, this post is not slamming what you said, or even really replying to
it, only putting a different perspective on the LD issue. I agree that
some people need to not have a dime store horse, much less a real
breathing animal, but the best we can do with them is hope the vet staff
is good. Those people are going to crop up in every distance. I hear
people at every ride claim that they haven't been on that horse in 6 weeks
or _____<you fill in the blank> and yet they go out and top ten on a 50.
That is no more fair than doing the same thing to a horse in the 25 mile
division. I see/hear this from far too many people and don't think that
it's a product of only the short distances.

samm--just another thought