ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: tough/easy rides

Re: tough/easy rides

ROBERT J MORRIS (bobmorris@rmci.net)
Sun, 05 Oct 97 08:21:23 -0500

-- [ From: ROBERT J MORRIS * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --

You wrote:

<<<I think that this trend (which I am told doesn't exist in Idaho...and I
haven't looked at the year book to determine whether this is the case...can
you tell me?) is a great disservice to endurance horses, and fewer and fewer
of them will be able to compete year after year.

Already, I have noticed that the top finishers here in So. Cal. rarely ever
ride the same horse (even for a season) much beyond one season in a row...
and you won't hear me say this publicly, but few of them are what I would
call sound.>>>

All I can say about this is the local club (South West Idaho Trail and
Distance Riders) Has well in excess of 20 horses with over 1000 miles in
endurance and a fair number with over 5,000 miles so I guess that we are
using them for more than a season or two.

In our own instance; we have six horses with over 1,000 miles. They are
Champagne at 8,000, Peeco at 5,000, Amiri at 3,000 Frosty and Fancy at 2,000
and Tawny with 1,000 That is 21,000 miles and 96% of this is in the top ten.
We have always picked the tougher rides so I would say that it is better for
the horses than the easy ones.

When you see three hour 50's and nine hour 100's, you know that the mileage
is short of it was flat and on the roads where the horses could be run hard.

To me, endurance is the name of the game. The object is to show your good
horsemanship by covering long distances over tough terrain in minimal time.
The concept is not to make the course easier by using roads and flat tracks
(thus making it a flat out race). The name endurance is just that, to accept
what is placed in front of you, surmount the challenge to the best of your
(and your horse's) ability and not bitch about the difficulties but be proud
that you could participate.

I have seen that philosophy deteriorate over the years to where a full pit
crew is now necessary (yes, even for LD rides) and if there are rocks, brush
, downed trees to go over or any thing other than smooth track the manager
hears about it.

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

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