Re: 25 mile ride personal survey.

["Joe Long" <jlong@mti.net>]

On Tue, 27 Jan 1998 10:49:33 -0500, "Solis, Suzanne (LGE-AT)"
<ssolis@lg.com> wrote:

>I would like to see the ridecamp opinion on 25 mile rides.

>Should 25 mile rides be sanctioned and treated exactly like the 50 miles
>or not.

No way.  They are not the same and should not be treated the same.

>Points to consider or comment on:

>1. AERC currently defines the 25 mile ride as a "novice" event. Quote
>from the website "These rides are not considered endurance rides by AERC
>but are referred to as Limited Distance rides."

These rides were traditionally called novice rides because they were
originally provided for beginneres to get started.  The AERC
officially named them L.D. rides to accomodate the people who don't
intend to move up to 50's but who continue riding 25's indefinitely
(for whatever reason).  They are not endurance rides because they are
too short to be a test of stamina or endurance for normal horses.

Yes, they can be a severe challenge for the horse or rider with a
handicap or physical limitation ... but the same could be said for a
ten mile ride, or a one mile ride, or a 100-yard ride!

>2. Approx. 60% of the 25 mile entries are non-AERC members.

Which is to be expected, and IMO a "good thing."  The AERC's purpose
is endurance rides.

>3. AERC is trying to promote the health and welfare of the horse in long
>distance competition.

Yes, which is the primary reason the L.D. rides were brought under the
AERC umbrella -- too much damage was being done to too many horses in
25-mile "races."

>4. 25 mile rides generate quite a bit of revenue.

Some rides are dependent on that source of revenue; the AERC is not
and a majority of AERC rides are not.

>5. I have heard the argument that most 50 milers run faster on average
>than the 25 miler.
>	Is this correct? has anyone evaluated all the factors including
>hold times, pulse criteria etc.? Or have they just compared winning
>times?

"Most?"  Doubtful.  "Some?"  Yes, as the racing 50 mile horses usually
are older and have more conditioning than the typical 25 mile horse.
I have personally run the last 25 miles of a 75-mile ride -- over the
identical trail as the 25-mile ride -- faster than the fastest 25-mile
horse that day.  But when I ride a new horse in a 25, I would
absolutely not run anywhere close to that speed.

Speed breaks down horses much more than distance, especially young
and/or unconditioned horses.

>6. It would be nice to know the statistics such as number of horses
>entered, top tened, best condition, etc. and seen year after year and
>mile after mile, or never seen again for whatever reason.

Yes.

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
http://www.mti.net     Business
http://www.rnbw.com    Personal