Re: RC: Show and Tell

["Howard Bramhall" <hwb67@msn.com>]

 --- Original Message -----

From: CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com

Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 12:36 PM

To: hwb67@msn.com; ridecamp@endurance.net

Subject: Re: RC: Show and Tell

 

I'm not sure if I buy that, Howard.  Granted, I'm no longer a novice rider, but I DEFINITELY prefer to have my youngsters start right out on 50's, and discover from the very beginning that this is a LOOONG ride, and therefore they are going to have to think.  And a lot of the problems you mention don't exist with horses that have experience at group events other than endurance rides.  Getting used to camping in a crowd and keeping one's head and manners is part of the training for endurance that far too many people overlook.

My first endurance ride was a 100-miler.  (But then that was back in the Dark Ages before rides offered multiple distances on the same weekend.)  But--my horse was EXTREMELY fit (riding range in the central Idaho mountains on an almost daily basis in the summers for three years), I had ridden a great deal and was likewise very fit, and my horse had had to perform in public on numerous occasions--everything from local horse shows to parading with drill teams in the Snake River Stampede parades.  He was pretty unflappable, and the first endurance ride was just one more camp-out and one more thing.  I do think that LD is a great place to start for a great many people (probably MOST people), but for the experienced rider with a reasonably fit horse (and yes, experience with horses CAN be gleaned from coaching and from other disciplines, as well as from endurance miles), it can be an unnecessary step.

Heidi
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I'm not talking about the experienced rider, although a definition of experienced rider, when it comes to endurance, is open to interpretation.  I am speaking of a Rookie, as in Rookie Horse, Rookie Rider (catchy phrase; don't you think? lol).  If a rider thinks he and their horse are both experienced enough to attempt their first ride in a 50, or a 100, then AERC gives them the freedom to make this choice.  The young woman at the NASTR ride made this choice; and, in my opinion, it was the wrong one.

I can't tell from your post if you kinda, sorta agree with me or not.  My point of reference is the incident at the NASTR ride.  I believe if the girl would have entered the LD there her horse would be alive today.  It's really all I'm saying and why I think a Rookie rider, with a Rookie Horse, should make their first ride a Limited Distance one. Stick your toe in the water first, before you dive in and find out it's so cold you're gonna die from hypothermia if you don't get out real quick. 

Even if you are an exceptional horse trainer and rider, you can expect a few surprises with your well trained horse, who has never camped with a hundred other horses before, at your first endurance ride.  Your horse will be pumped, more so than during any of your training, unless you train by camping out and riding with hundreds of other riders.  Most people don't get the chance to experience this until their first ride.  And I don't think it's out of the question to suggest that their first ride, in this situation, be an LD.

Keep in mind Heidi, I'm not speaking of riders who have mentors such as yourself.  That's another subject entirely, except, some mentors are not always what they appear.  Rumor is the young girl at the NASTR ride sort of had a mentor, who didn't ride with her but did another distance instead, and didn't help the girl and her horse much.  As in witches, there are good mentors and there are bad ones.

cya,

Howard