By Joe Long, 1984 AERC President

Our sport is big enough for all of us -- for all our diverse goals and levels of commitment, we have a great deal in common. Whether we choose to race each other or ride for other goals, we have a common enemy -- fatigue -- and a common danger -- the risk of injury to our horse.

More than that, we have a common heritage: to strive toward our personal objective as a team with one of the world's most beautiful creatures. As endurance riders we take on a challenge that few people in this modern world would attempt, and the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from meeting that challenge with our own four-legged partner is something few people attain.

But, whether or not we achieve the particular goal of that day or that season, the only way to really lose an endurance ride is to not finish or hurt our horse. That is what "to finish is to win" is all about.

There was a suggestion that those who believe that "to finish is to win" want to reward mediocrity. Well, it is true that a good rider can get a mediocre horse through a 50-mile ride, just as it is true that a good horse can carry a mediocre rider to first-to-finish. To get an award from AERC, though, takes more than just one ride -- it takes performance over many rides. To race, or to finish, consistently, and come back to ride again, demonstrates excellence in both horse and rider in a way that no one event ever could.

"To finish is to win" never meant that AERC doesn't recognize or reward excellence, or that we don't reward excellence in racing. Excellence, though, has many forms. Few riders have the skill, commitment and a good enough horse to become a national champion. Few riders have the skill, commitment, and a good enough horse to complete 3,000 miles on that horse. Few riders have the skill, commitment, and a good enough horse to finish 1,000 miles in one year.

I could go on, but I think this makes the point.

AERC will continue to reward excellence in all aspects of the sport of endurance riding. We respect and honor our point-system champions, our mileage champions, and our best condition champions.

We also respect and honor those horses and riders who may lack the resources to ride to a championship, but who hang in there year after year and build up the miles.

Once again, this sport is big enough for all of us. The next time you feel that "they" are getting too much recognition, or that our group isn't getting enough, look again -- that glass isn't half-empty, it's half-full.

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