Riding or Racing

Adapted from a different source. Perhaps the most eloquent way to put it that I have seen:

There are many endurance RIDERS, but only a few endurance RACERS. Many of us do these things to test ourselves and our horses. We do it for the love of the sport. Our only competitors are ourselves, the course, and the conditions. There have been many times when I was "racing", and no one else was aware of it.