Re: RC: FW: is there psychological training for LD riders?

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

>I am contacting you in the hope that you may be able to help with a
>query.>I come from a background of show jumping and still enjoy this .
Although his and my own physical
>training is not a problem I wondered if there where any
psychological>techniques used by professionals in this discipline to aid
success I do find mental
>stimulation helpful when training horse and rider. Since, the 
>endurance>rider must over come many obstacle one being physical
exhaustion I was>hopeing that you may be able to send me some advice?

Dear Louise,
Thank you for writing this letter.  I am getting ready to write a humor
article about endurance for a publication that has quite a few show
jumper subscribers.  I thought a good focus would be, "How to tell
whether you're suited for endurance" or something like that, but now I'm
thinking more, "What adjustments would you have to make to compete in
endurance"  I'm going to read your letter 100 times and imagine that you
are the person I am writing for.

I don't believe that fatigue or discomfort are going to be your biggest
enemies.  Anyone who can spend an entire day at a horse show wearing a
jacket and a velvet helmet in midsummer heat can handle a little ol' 50
miler.  But...what you need to begin conditioning yourself for is the
mess you're going to be before this thing is over...and the total
stranger you will face should you happen to look in a mirror.  

Also, I can't imagine you surviving if you stay this polite.  There's no
time for that.  You just can't slowly let your horse's gut sounds die as
you look for the true owner of some gorgeous hay that's right within
reach while you're stuck in a vet line.  If you go around asking, "Excuse
me, if it's not too much trouble, would you mind terribly if I offered to
reimburse you for just a trifle of this hay?" people won't have time to
wait around for you to finish the question. 

Oh heck...I'm going to stop now.  This IS going to be my article for the
Chronicle.  THANKS Louise!  Do you mind if I print all or parts of your
letter?  Your address looks like it's in the USA, but you sure sound
British...just where are you? 

Angie (in the Southeast, where everybody else sounds foreign)

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