ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: BC judging - Wt & Time Factors

Re: BC judging - Wt & Time Factors

KimFue@aol.com
Mon, 8 Sep 1997 04:03:34 -0400 (EDT)

For those of you that do not think that weight matters I suggest that
you go and run or walk carrying a 20 lb pack or even a pack with two full
water bottles - then go out and do the same thing without any extra weight.
I bet you'll find a difference in your performance and how you feel
(especially after doing a few hills). Any horse that is carrying over 210
lbs for 50 miles or more (regardless of the horse's size) and can place in
the Top 10 with horses carrying almost 1/2 that weight is an incredible
athelete (and I say that as a featherwt rider). That horse is being raced
with a handicap and should be given extra points when being judged for BC.
If you don't want to give extra points for weight perhaps everyone that
wants to be judged for BC should carry enough weight to equal the heaviest
rider. Maybe that would be a fair way to judge the Top Ten.

I am also going to vent a little. I am really tired of the "general"
attitude that the front runners are over riding their horses, i.e. whipping
and spurring (to the point of abuse) their horses to the finish line!! I
have attended several rides over the past couple years or so (in different
areas) and have not witnessed this. I have observed that many of the top
finishing horses look really well, recover (using the Recovery Index) in the
50s, and show quite well at the BC judging. Yes, some may look tired but so
do horses that finish in the latter half of the race. On more then one
occasion I have also noticed that the 1st or 2nd place horse receives BC. If
the top horses are being over ridden I find it very hard to believe that the
vets would score these horses differently than the horses arriving after 2nd
place. Time is usually not the critical issue since the Top Ten times can be
within a few minutes. If the slower horses looked that much better their vet
scores would be high enough to off set the time factor. Besides the vet can
always opt to deny a BC award if he does not feel that any of the Top Ten
horses meet the criteria. I have seen this done twice at rides in the SW.
The point is some INDIVIDUALS (front runners and back of the pack
riders) over ride their horses. Just as many, if not more, middle of the
pack/back of the pack horses have to be treated after a ride as the front
runners - so I am told by several ride managers. I have seen horses
finishing towards the back that have to be "spurred on or kicked or dragged"
to the finish line so this is not unique to just the "fastest horses".
Perhaps these comments are made about "front runners" because everyone sees
them come in to the finish and no one really notices the slower riders.
Unfortunately, I have found the attitude "if you are going faster than
me you are going too fast" with a small number of riders in this sport. This
sport bases placings on finishing time - the fastest horse wins! Why
shouldn't the BC award take finishing time into consideration? In the
majority of races, the strict vetting procedure takes care of those that
tend to over ride...some do slip through...but they are a small number of
endurance riders. The ride vets have the option at the end of the ride to
pull over ridden horses and deny BC judging to horses that do not meet
criteria for lameness or metabolics. If horses meet the criteria and are in
the Top Ten they should be considered for BC and the horse with the highest
score should win. I really doubt that a horse that comes in 3 or 4 hours
after the winning horse would be as conditioned or as fit as the fastest
horses and therefore judged without a time factor for Best Conditioned Horse
if all horses ridden that day would be eligible for BC.
BC is a somewhat subjective award that seems to work pretty well as it
is set up now. Although, I don't always agree that the horse that wins it
looked the best to me (but of course, I didn't have access to all the BC
judging sheets - I was only a spectator observing from the sidelines, as most
of us are), I cannot remember a time when a horse won BC that was glaringly
lame, thrashed or over ridden.




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