Re: Comments by Donna Snyder-Smith

[Teddy Lancaster <Teddy@runningbear.com>]

Has anyone read Donna's new book?  Does she have an e-mail address?

Teddy


CBell6006@aol.com wrote:

> The LD vs. Endurance rider debate has been discussed so many times and
> continues to rear it's ugly head.  I have stayed out of this discussion over
> the last two years because I have very strong opinions about where AERC and
> the Limited Distance Program is taking this sport.
> I'm not sure what it is that the LD riders are wanting now..........they
> receive recognition from AERC......now even have a "National Limited Distance
> Championship".  Am I the only one who noticed that in this months AERC News
> there was a listing in the National Point Standings for the Limited Distance
> Chamionsip and the National Hundred Mile Championship was left out.  I truly
> hope that this was merely an oversight by AERC and not a sign of things to
> come.........
> In the Southeast the "winners" of the LD rides get the same awards as the 50's
> and 100's, are done in less than 3 hours,  pay much less to enter and don't
> even have to be a member of AERC or pay a non-member fee.
> IMHO AERC has bent over backwards to accomodate the LD riders.  What exactly
> is it that they want now?.......As Joe Long so eloquently put it.....if you
> want to be called "Endurance Riders" then ride an Endurance Ride.  If you want
> acclimation for riding 25 miles then ride CTR and you could win a Grand
> Championship without having to race your horse.
> I was under the impression that LD was designed to be a training ride and to
> bring people into the sport. IMO (at least in the Southeast), it has become an
> entity of it's own and has created "Professional LD" riders that have no
> intention of moving up to 50's and they ARE a race.....first horse across the
> finish line with a pulse of 60 wins.....that is usually accomplished in less
> then 3 hours, sometimes MUCH less.......not exactly building a base of long,
> slow distance miles to prepare a horse for becoming an "endurance horse".  I
> see so many wonderful horses that have the potential to become great 100
> milers,  being burned out and ruined by racing  for LD "wins".
>  I am not sure what the answer is, but I think comments like Donna-Snyder
> Smith's do not help address the problem, only add fuel to the fire.
> OK.....give me time to get my Flame Retardent suit on..........
>
> Cindy Bell
> Florida
> Wameco
> (last month we were leading the nation in 100 mile points....this month, who
> knows? )