rescue services

[tina hicks <tina@liveonthenet.com>]

> I don't know of any ride that says they will provide rescue services >
I have to add that I can't think of worse PR for our sport then to > have

> emergency services standing by at races.  Lif
========

What??? As remote as our sport is I would hope that the ride has a way
to find me or help me find my horse, whatever the case may be. Yes  this
is endurance riding, we're responsible for ourselves, blah, blah,
blah...but every other horse event I've attended (dressage, h/j,
eventing, etc...) always have a rescue squad, ambulance, something on grounds.

That may not do us much good - unless the ambulace has 4x4 :), but a
network of folks that know the area would suffice like Angie mentioned.

One of the things that kept me from just losing it when I was wandering
the OD mountains but not on the right trails for that year's ride a few
years ago was knowing they had an _extensive_ rescue network/effort
already coordinated if any one needed because the trail was so remote.
That was made clear to us in the riders meeting. I am just dumbfounded
that the Tevis doesn't have something comparable.

Sure enough I got about 3 miles from the check and a group on 4 wheelers
found me. If they hadn't found me in a certain time, they had an entire
squadron of local guys on 4 wheelers ready to start combing the woods in
an organized fashion. And if that hadn't found me, they had a plan
another layer deep.

Say what you want about OD trail markings (and believe me I _have_ said
it - look in the archives <g>) but they flat know how to find you :).

Maybe every ride doesn't require that sort of effort but we are
participating in an organized _sport_ , not a darn survival contest.
Though Bob Morris and some of the old times would disagree, there is a
difference. While I don't think we should ride on perfectly groomed
trails or be babied, I do not partake in the theory that we should just
hit the trail and whomever happens to make it back in one piece gets a completion.

Tina