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    Re: [RC] LD - the thread that will not die - Heidi Smith


    > *raising hand timidly in back row*  'Scuse me, please....would it be okay
    > when I get a chance to start endurance if I start in LD--just to see if
    *I*
    > can survive the trip???  It's not the horse I'm worried about so much as
    > this nearly 37 yo body!!!!
    
    Quite frankly, I think that's the #1 reason (or variations of that reason)
    why people do LD.  The horses don't "need" it--you can pretty much do
    anything you'd teach the horse on an LD by riding at home or going on
    camping trips with private groups and no entry fees, and you can darn sure
    have him fit enough for 50 just by staying home and conditioning a bit
    longer.  But *people* need LD's, for various reasons--age-related
    infirmities, been out of the saddle too many years, never been IN the saddle
    that much, want to start kids/hubby/neighbor/friend without scaring them to
    death with the concept of 50 miles, whatever.  Or in some cases, just don't
    have time to condition enough to get the old bod in shape, and still want to
    go to the ride and do SOMETHING and hang out with friends.  In almost 30
    years, I'd only done three LD's and now, after a couple of years off, I want
    to go participate even though the bod (mine, not the horse's) says "hey,
    you're NUTS, sister!"  Yeah, I'll get back in shape enough to do 50's, and
    yeah, I could do it just by riding here at home, but it's great to get back
    out with the other riders, rub elbows with old friends, and also, since we
    have geldings to market, it at least demonstrates that we have them to the
    point that they can camp, get through vet checks, and go down the trail,
    even though every one of them could start out at 50 if we just put a few
    more miles on them before taking them to rides.  All of those are human
    reasons--I doubt the horse cares much whether some of his "conditioning"
    rides happen to be in public in the company of other horses, and that I pay
    money to go do them....
    
    Heidi (5400 or so AERC "real" miles, and have almost doubled my previous LD
    record already this year...  <g>)
    
    
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    Replies
    [RC] LD - the thread that will not die, Rides 2 Far
    Re: [RC] LD - the thread that will not die, Lisa Redmond