Our sport is difficult. If it were easy, I think a number of us would not be as enthusiastic about it as we are.

Part of the reason we like what we do so much is the challenge -- the feeling that we have accomplished something that few others in the world can match. As I write this, I'm watching the results from Tevis come in with often only two out of five starters completing the ride. Other difficult rides like the Old Dominion and the Big Horn can provide a similar feeling of accomplishment.

There are certainly other reasons why we enjoy our sport, though, such as the camaraderie, the opportunity to see places we would never visit otherwise, and the feeling of doing something different with your horse.

But along with this challenge comes the possibility of not being successful on a particular ride. The times we don't finish are listed as pulls. It's these pulls and how we think about them that I consider important.

Many riders treat pulls (rider-initiated or those given by the vet) as a way of ensuring the safety of their horses. I'd like to feel that most of us fit in that category. But some riders feel that a pull is a blot on their horse's or their records and something to avoid -- not because it's the right thing to do at the time but because of personal or economic reasons. These could include keeping their horse's record clear if they are a breeder/trainer/seller of horses, a rider who aspires to international competition, or a rider who simply believes a pull represents a mistake on their part.

Looking at the statistics for the past 11 years in AERC's records covering more than 210,000 entries, we see that in an LD ride a horse will be pulled in one out of seven starts. In a 50-mile ride this will happen in one of six rides. In a 100-mile competition the chances are higher: two out of five starts result in pulls. (See Truman Prevatt's article on page 24 for more on this study.)

These pull rates have been relatively constant in the past 12 years and it may be that these rates will remain the same over the next 12 years. If you look at our rider and horse histories online, note that pulls are not listed prior to December 1995 so that a pull record is only accurate from that time on.

To me this says simply that our sport is challenging. We should not expect to complete all the rides we start as a team. And more importantly, having a pull does not represent a mistake on the part of a rider or a blot on a horse's record. It's simply a part of a difficult and challenging sport. There are a few riders who do better than this and there are some who do worse but for most of us -- we fit the statistics very well.

AERC uses the information on pulls to improve the welfare and safety of our horses. The pull information is analyzed by distance, region, for trends by year, and to see whether the distribution of types is changing.

So please don't look at a pull as an event to be avoided -- as a blot on your or your horse's record. Take care of your horse and recognize that pulls happen to all of us and our horses. Pulls are a part of riding in our sport and happen regularly. If I've done five or six rides in a row without a pull, I start thinking it's time for the law of averages to catch up with me. You should be thinking the same. You may simply be meeting that rock with your name on it.