<% appTitle="Ridecamp Archives" %> Ridecamp: [RC] Fwd: Ethical riders
Ridecamp@Endurance.Net

[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]
Current to Wed Jul 23 17:28:16 GMT 2003
  • Next by Date: Fw: [RC] re: hydration/human
  • - Kirk and Tara Rothwell
  • Prev by Date: [RC] Protecting Horses
  • - Roberta Jo Lieberman

    [RC] Fwd: Ethical riders - Trailritegroupie


     
    
    --- Begin Message ---
     
    
    --- Begin Message ---
    Article rejected, un-authorized poster of Trailritegroupie@xxxxxx
    Received: from imo-d08.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.40] by seahorse.fsr.com with ESMTP
      (SMTPD32-7.06) id AFDE2CB008C; Wed, 19 Jun 2002 16:12:30 -0700
    Received: from Trailritegroupie@xxxxxx
        by imo-d08.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v32.21.) id r.34.2953de86 (4324)
         for <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Wed, 19 Jun 2002 19:26:19 -0400 (EDT)
    From: Trailritegroupie@xxxxxx
    Message-ID: <34.2953de86.2a426d1b@xxxxxx>
    Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 19:26:19 EDT
    Subject: Ethical riders
    To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    MIME-Version: 1.0
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
    X-Mailer: CompuServe 2000 32-bit sub 113
    
    I have been reading all of these e-mails and I don't know who's who and 
    what's what.  All I know is that my actual first ride was the Malibu ride and 
    I am extremely disappointed with some of the riders that had entered 
    themselves in the ride.  Multitudes of riders were cantering past me without 
    even giving me the courtesy of informing me of their presence.  Not only 
    that, but I have got the largest gash across the right side of my leg due to 
    one of the riders actually running into me as they passed with no warning.  
    Don't get me wrong, I wasn't walking my horse at this slow humpty dump pace.  
    Trust me, my little boy has far too much energy for that and I was at a nice 
    even paced trot almost the entire ride (and, yes, I completed the ride).
    
    When I acquired an interest in doing this, I started working with someone 
    that I felt was extremely experienced in the sport (as you can see by me 
    e-mail address name :-) ) and they taught me how to pace my horse, how to 
    take care of my horse, and that "to finish is to win "and "the horse comes 
    first."  Once again, as I watched quite a few people running around with this 
    idea in their head that "to come in first no matter how your horse is doing" 
    is to win, I could not believe it.  No wonder as many people were pulled as 
    were and thank God for the vets for being there and we would have had serious 
    problems.  I had much higher expectations of endurance riders.  This isn't a 
    short term sport.  This is a long term sport and that horse that you are 
    riding today, you want to be able to ride in 10 years from now and you want 
    it to be as healthy, if not more so, than the horse next door.  Watching what 
    some people out there are doing to their poor horses makes me feel sad for 
    not only the horse but the rider because they won't have that horse for long 
    and if they do have it, they won't be able to ride it.
    
    Every time I tell someone that I have taken up endurance riding, they give me 
    a sigh like I am personally trying to kill my horse.  I try to explain to 
    them that the sport is all about the horse.  I try to also explain to them 
    that I bet when the day is done, my horse will be much healthier and much 
    more happy and live much longer than the horse next door that sits in it's 
    stall the entire week until the owner decides to finally take it out to do 
    some rodeo event for and hour to two and then sticks it back in it's stall to 
    wait until the next roping challenge.
    
    After being in this first Malibu ride, I started to wonder whether I should 
    just keep my mouth shut and assume those sighing people are right when it 
    comes to some of the riders in the ARC.
    
    Get some training before you start.  Knowledge is your most valuable asset 
    out there and can save you and horse's life if necessary.  It can also make 
    your ride much more enjoyable.  
    
    For those of you that have been riding for quite some time now and act the 
    way that I have expressed above, you need to get some new training under your 
    belt and fast.  I can give you a name and number?
    
    Food for thought!  Take it to heart.
    
    Ginger
    

    --- End Message ---

    --- End Message ---