Re: stepchildren and also rans?!

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

I have no doubt that a horse who specializes in shorter races might beat
a good 100's horse.  I know that a good Quarter Horse can blow my 100
mile horse off the trail for 100 yards.  I just thought we were talking
about endurance racing, not just racing.  I just can't accept the fact
that the winners of a wide open 25 mile race are telling me they don't
have time to train for 50.  They obviously already have.

Angie


On Tue, 27 Jan 1998 10:13:36 +0000 "Beth Glace" <lb@nismat.org> writes:
>> >Angie wrote:
>  I see nothing wrong > with doing 25's forever if that's your thing. 
> But I also see no glory 
>> whatsoever in bragging that you win them.
>
>OK, I know I'm new to this sport, and perhaps I have too little 
>experience to comment on this, but this kind of thinking stuns me. 
>So, I'll risk provoking people  and say that perhaps those that win at
>100's might not win at 25 if they were competing against horses who
>trained specifically to excel at that distance.  You might find that
>some horses are genetically predisposed to have those traits
> that would allow them to train seriously, race seriously and be 
>taken seriously at that distance.  Maybe the Anglo/Arab crosses we've 
>been discussing?
>   I've said this before but I'll say it again, I think it's narrow 
>minded to think that an animal who competes well over a 6 hour 
>period, or 12 hour period or whatever, is a better athlete than one 
>who races well over a 2 or 3 hour period.  All of the above distances 
>would qualify the horse as an endurance horse.  All predominantly 
>slow twitch muscle fiber recruitment. Again, this is exactly the 
>attitude people took just after the running boom in the 80's when you 
>weren't a real runner till you ran marathons.  Well, a lot of them 
>were, excuse me, just plain old slow. Looking at their marathon times 
>you'd have to say "gosh, I don't know what they were doing out there 
>but it wasn't running!"   I tested 120-125 runners last year alone in 
>our physiology lab and I can tell you that many of those "ultra" 
>endurance type athletes are not very fit, although they may be very 
>patient.  When the stepchildren of the running world who did shorter 
>races challenged these "real" runners at any distance, all that speed 
>work paid off.  Just about  every person who runs at a world class 
>level in the marathon, earlier ran and specialized in shorter 
>distance races.  When they got older, and their speed began to 
>dwindle, they moved up to the longer races.  Because longer races are 
>more legitimate?  NO!  Because for the most part they were no longer 
>competitive in the shorter event, and they had years of base 
>training to work off.  I think there are some parallels that can be 
>drawn between these sports.
>
>I am by no means belittling the training, preparation, experience and
>common sense that most endurance riders bring to each race.  But,
>please, if the LD's are illegitimate it's not due intrinsically to the
>distance, its due - in part-  to self congratulatory attitudes by 
>some individuals involved in the sport.  
>  She trotted very fast over switchbacks that had dry, 
>light 
>> powder brown dirt hiding the sharp granite stones.
>> 
>This person sounds like she has a very fit horse that she took too
>many risks with.  Pehaps she has an ego problem. 
>
>> ****I ended up getting away from this group, but also notice
>> everyone else kind of let their horses take up that pace and follow
>> her right along.  
>Clearly many people start with the 25s because you can complete them
>on lower training mileages.  This can also mean that you have rookie
>riders that are trying to follow the example set by other riders, and
>who  may get sucked into a dangerous situation if they follow the
>wrong person.  We are each responsible first to get our horse safely
>through the course, and it is no excuse that someone else was going
>too fast....
>
>> ***BTW, gotta tell ya, if I ever did win a 25 and my HORSE was in
>> 100% condition, I=C6d be damn proud.  But I wouldn=C6t be if I were
>> running him down hills with hidden rocks or if he was sore and
>> miserable.
>
>And you'd have a right to be proud!  I hope we see  people who learn
>to specialize in the shorter distances and who race these distances in
>a safe and sane manner.  Hey Tom Ivers any thoughts on this? 
>Will I be blasted now?  Ikes, preparing my forifications and 
>thickening my skin...
>Beth and Klass Act ["but Mom, going fast is so much fun"]
>
>

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