ridecamp@endurance.net: BC Judging

BC Judging

Randy H Eiland (renegade12@juno.com)
Mon, 8 Sep 1997 09:47:18 -0700

I have been managing endurance rides for 15 years, have managed at least
175 rides and probably more like 200, especially if you consider each
distance a separate ride (which they are) and I do not recall a
circumstance where the front runners "whipped and spurred" their horses
to help win the BC award. And, due to the type of rides I manage, I have
riders from all over the country and Canada that enter them...so I am not
just seeing local riders.

I believe the BC judging is fair and the Evaluation Form has been well
thought out and formulated thru experience and the input from
knowledgeable individuals.

In fact, all Top Ten are eligible to be judged for BC and the Evaluation
Forms are very weighted towards the Vet Score, ie: Weight Factor =
12.5%; Time Factor = 25%, and the Vet Score Factor = 62.5%. I don't know
how it could be more fair than the current formula. The Vets have a
great deal of latitude in the scoring of the Vet Portion and in my
experience they use this latitude, as they should. Also, the Vet does
not have to judge a horse that he/she feels is not deserving to be
judged.

It seems to me there are much better issues to discuss than BC Judging,
such as the Ride Time vs.Vet Check times.....Since Vet Checks do not have
a standard "Hold Time" or number of Vet Checks in a ride, these really
have an effect on rides. If you think about it, the easier rides
generally have shorter and less Vet Checks while the tougher rides often
have longer and more Vet Checks...thus, you may have 11 hours to finish
an easy 50 while a tough 50 may allow only 10 hours or less of ride time.
I have never thought this was fair or made sense, but this is how it is.

Randy Eiland

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