Re: RC: Fwd: LD VS. ENDURANCE

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/11/1999 8:51:55 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
fasterhorses@gilanet.com writes:

<< I don't think competitive riding is a cure-all for the need
 for endurance riding education.  These are two different sports.  Just
 because horses & trails are involved doesn't mean they're
 interchangeable enough to *require* a person do CTR before endurance.
 
 Keep in mind that one won't necessarily learn how to pass another horse
 politely or how to rate a horse at speed by doing CTR (at least when
 staggered starts & mandatory pacing are involved - when and why would
 anyone be passing at a trot unless they're late, and where is the
 education for that coming from?).  I've seen horses overridden *at*
 NATRC events, and for one horrible 3 days in Auburn years ago, a bunch
 of us tried to save the life of a horse that was overridden on a last
 minute Tevis training ride - the rider and horse were an experienced
 NATRC team, but that didn't keep the rider from making fatal mistakes.
 You wrote "Ride management expects you to know how to take care of
 yourself and horse" with reference to endurance, but CTR is not "made
 for teaching" - it's made for being judged.  You still have to come to a
 ride having learned how to take care of yourself and your horse before
 you got there - not at the ride! - the difference is that there are
 judges at the ride seeing if you have figured out the rules & can follow
 them and they tell you about it.  There are judges at endurance rides,
 of course.  They're just different - sometimes they're called rope burn
 or lameness or cut-off times or a pulse that won't drop, sometimes
 they're called sorry experience.  You're expected to not need a judge to
 point out your mistakes.  You are expected to learn from them
 nevertheless.
 
 No one prevents anyone who wants to do endurance from getting an
 education.  Most of the basic skills should and can be learned from a
 good riding instructor, a good riding club, a 4-H club, etc.  There's
 quite a few endurance (& distance riding books) available now.  Many,
 many experienced endurance riders have begun mentoring.  For that
 matter, anyone can go to a race and work for management and learn a
 tremendous amount.  If people need to get an education before doing
 endurance, it's out there for the getting.  All they have to do is *take
 personal responsibility* for deciding to get that education.  Endurance
 is like life.  You're free to decide to make mistakes. If more and more
 rules and requirements are added to endurance, no one gets to make the
 *decision* to learn, and we wind up with a bastard version of something
 too much like CTR to be called endurance any more.  Lif
  >>

Lif, this is the most intelligent and articulate post I've read in a long 
time and I surely do agree with what you say.  I have nothing against CTRs.  
They offer great opportunities for beautiful rides at perhaps a less 
competitive pace.  I tried one once, but had trouble accepting the rules of 
the day, i.e. cannot leave horse unattended on the trail (while taking a pit 
stop in the brush).  My mistake was doing this in view of the judge at a vet 
check.  My complete ignorance of the rules.  Or the timing problem ... if the 
trail isn't timed just right, the rider can have excess time to wait 
somewhere, or possibly have to rush to arrive at a point at a certain time.  
I also find it a bit annoying to have to whisper in a vet check so as not to 
agitate the other horses into elevated pulse rates.  It's not the fault of 
the discipline, it's just my lack of tolerance for some of the program.  I've 
done lots of drag riding and P&Rs for NATRC rides.  I have no experience with 
CTRs as they are in UMECRA, so cannot comment there.

Barbara


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=