RACE or RIDE...RIDE or RACE

Honestly it somewhat amuses me when this comes up again, and again, and again on various forums, threads, Facebook, here, there, and everywhere.  Let's look at the facts!

^RACE

noun

noun: race; plural noun: races

1.

a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc., to see which is the fastest in covering a set course.

RIDE

verb

verb: ride; 3rd person present: rides; past tense: rode; past participle: ridden; gerund or present participle: riding; suffix: -ridden

1. 1.

   sit on and control the movement of (an animal, especially a horse), typically as a recreation or sport.

   "Diana went to watch him ride his horse"

noun

noun: ride; plural noun: rides; noun: ride cymbal; plural noun: ride cymbals

1.

a journey made on horseback, on a bicycle or motorcycle, or in a vehicle.

"did you enjoy your ride?"

 

or...

a. To be carried or conveyed, as in a vehicle or on horseback.

 

 

It really is not difficult to define what endurance riding "is".  By the sport's very definition it is a RACE.  That is what a timed event is.

 

You are either racing the other competitors for placement.

 

or

 

You are racing the clock to complete.

 

But either way...it is a RACE.      So even if you are in it for the RIDE you still are on the clock at an AERC event, so it is a RACE.

Some race fast, some race slow...but in some regard, everyone who signs up is in the race.    Why do we worry about the silliness of vernacular?  That is the $50 question?   ☺  We take ourselves way to seriously.