Racing vs riding and the US Endurance debate

To finish is to win… Right?

Well, not really. To finish is to accrue miles. To win is to complete the distance first (and be fit to continue).

Endurance rides are timed events; there are winners and placing, inevitably. In other words, they are races. But not everyone who participates in an endurance ride (race) is racing,  or competing with others to see who is the first (second, third…) to complete the designated distance.

For those who are blissfully unaware of the rather ugly in-fighting going on in the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC’s Facebook page), the conditions of endurance races in the Middle East (flat, hot, and fast) have triggered a strong anti- FEI sentiment. There are many people who state that they refuse to join AERC because they disapprove of FEI (and AERC remains affiliated with the USEF and FEI); others say they will not renew their membership if AERC does not disassociate itself from both.

This blog is not about my opinion of the FEI or USEF.

I have been a member of both; my USEF membership dates from when it was AHSA and I was around nine years old… my number has very few digits ;-). Maybe I will address that issue at some point. At the moment I want to talk about racing vs. riding, because many participants in the vitriolic Facebook AERC debates cite racing as the problem (when they are against FEI).

Claiming that racing is the issue–that it causes the abuses seen in the Middle East and is somehow anathematic to the purpose of AERC–seems to me to be mistaken and naive. It also implies an assumption about people who do race horses and are neither apologetic or ashamed of doing so.

**Just to be clear, I am speaking as someone who lived and breathed race horses for years (Thoroughbred and Arabian flat racing) after having grown up on a horse ranch, riding and showing Morgans.  I joined AERC for the first time about three years ago. My mare was chased by dogs and suffered an acute sweeney injury a year ago; I still renewed my AERC membership, and I hope to be able to afford another endurance horse in the near future. In the meantime, I have enjoyed the status of relative newbie and observer in the AERC online community (as well as volunteering at some rides and riding at others when I have been able).

Assumptions made about racing are usually wrong

The assumption that appears to underlie the anti-racing statements is that people who race horses treat them poorly, and are less concerned about their welfare (compared, one assumes, to people who “just ride to finish”).  There is so much wrong with this assumption that it’s difficult to know where to start, but I’ll list the main problems.

1. To win a race, any race, your horse needs to be able to give its best performance. That is, it needs to be sound, healthy, confident, and happy. It needs to be eating and drinking well (even more true for endurance).  It needs to be very well-cared for.
2. People who race horses and want to win pay close attention to their horses’ welfare… their soundness, their diet, their behavior. I have never seen such assiduous attention to soundness and diet as at racetracks.
   Of course, there are bad people who race horses, and try to cover up injuries with drugs, management, hope, and prayer… The same thing happens with show horses.
   The difference is that with many show horses, you can get away with it. You can continue on top of many types of minor injury. You can’t do that with any form of racing (I include endurance).
3. Specific to endurance: you don’t need to have your horse in tip-top condition to finish an endurance race or LD. You can go slowly. You can condition in the race (this happens in flat racing too). But if you want to win, your horse needs to be fit to do the distance at a faster pace. This means you will have had to pay greater attention to conditioning, feeding, and soundness.
   Whenever you are training for a timed distance event, the faster (and further) you want to go, the more care you must take. I am a runner. I can run a slow 5K any day of the year, even if I’ve been sitting around eating cheese and drinking wine for six months. 10K in under an hour would be impossible without a steady training regime and attention to running shoes, soundness issues. etc.

The money problem

Would people be more likely to abuse horses if there were money in endurance? (and we unabashedly called it racing)?

Probably. Money attracts unscrupulous behavior. Just about any competition does, whether it’s a a medal, fame, or dollars to be won. But I doubt there would be a big difference, as long as the regulations and controls kept pace. Not that I am advocating monetary prizes (although it was suggested as a way to increase membership). I certainly do not believe simply calling a spade a spade (or a timed event a race) will lead to abuse.

People do race at endurance rides

That’s where the naivete comes in.  I’ve only been to a few rides, but I can assure you, there were people racing. They race at both LD and endurance distances (what is a 40-mile ride?).  In other words, there were people riding in a hurry in order to be the first to finish. These people canter up behind others on the trail and pass in narrow places… Sometimes they canter towards oncoming traffic and slip around even on narrow trails. I would bet that happens in almost all endurance “rides.”

I would…

And I am entirely okay with it. Someday, when I have a fit horse, I will also try to be the first to finish. But to do that, I will have to pay close attention to the conditioning and alimentary needs of my horse. I will have to know how to pace it to ensure it is not only fit to continue that day, but in the next ride (race). I will not “race” a horse that is not prepared to go at the requisite speed safely.

I’ll probably fail sometimes. I know that happened, to my enduring sadness, with racing Thoroughbreds. Things do happen.

Especially with horses, they can injure themselves in padded stalls.

In fact, a horse can also get injured when trail riding, or taking a very slow approach to endurance. That has happened to me as well.
Think of all those dearly beloved show horses with hideously shod hooves, or slight limps, or nearly obese bodies. (All those overweight pets and horses, doomed to early deaths due to excess love and ignorance).

To finish is to win

All that said, I do appreciate the AERC emphasis on “to finish is to win.” There are many people doing endurance (and/or LDs) who have very little horse background. It is better to err on the side of caution, especially when there is no formal training mechanism or certification process. (Flat racing is full of licensing rules, certifications, oversight, and controls).

This does not mean that racing = abuse. It simply does not.

Those of you who worry about racing (especially racing in the Middle East and its connection with FEI)… there are so many abuses closer to home.  Overfeeding, and underfeeding.  Neglect.  Abysmal lack of farriery oversight. Overbreeding. If you really need something to work to improve. And of course, the (flat, and for that matter hurdles and steeplechasing) racing world does have problems, just like every other equine industry.

It just doesn’t make much sense to me that people fight about whether endurance rides are races, because whatever you want to call them, there are participants who race… and those who “simply” ride.  Racing vs riding in endurance… it doesn’t matter what you call it. Both types end up with pulls at times; both types result in injured and retired animals.. because both involve horses and humans.