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    [RC] [Guest] Young Riders/Sponsors - Ridecamp Moderator



    Karen Nelson knelson@xxxxxxxxxx


    Merryben and all- For those of you who have enjoyed your endurance rides with only yourself or other adults for company, you have no idea how difficult and mind-bending it CAN be for a sponsor of a junior(s). Merryben and Karen Chaton have often sponsored not just ONE junior, but multiple juniors in the same ride. I have sponsored a prior junior- taking him from no riding experience at all to 1990 National Junior Champion. Riding the ride is sometimes the easiest part. You are only responsible for keeping the little dickens within 30 seconds or so of you, and you have to keep track of their card(s), as juniors are not allowed to carry their own and possibly leap-frog thru the pack. I provided the horse and tack for my junior, as Merryben often does. This is also more pressure, as you have to pray that both horses pace well together and both are prepared and conditioned to complete the ride. If the sponsor gets pulled for any reason, you have to find another sponsor in the middle of the event so that you keep the dissappoint of the junior to an absolute minimum.
    What hasn't even been discussed is all the preparation, packing, loading, unloading, setting up camp for multiple horses where sometimes the junior is so small or young that they are incapable of helping you, so everything excalates in your level of responsibility. Often the parent does not attend the event, so you must have proper papers with you in case of junior getting injured- specially in another state. Selection of rides that reflect the ability of the junior so that you don't overload them and discourage them from the git-go counts, also.
    On Oct 5 2002, I "sponsored" 3 adults on their first ever endurance event at Comstock in Nevada. We rode the 15 mile "Learn How" ride, and I hauled 3 horses, provided one completely tacked horse to one rider, a fair amount of tack to the rider who hauled his own horse, and all but the bridle to the other rider who was riding a horse that I arranged for her to feed lease from another well experienced endurance rider so that she can determine if this is the sport for her before she starts the great horse search that we all have been thru. Packing, unpacking, setting up, preparing supplement bags for horses, determining who likes what to eat and drink, assuring them that they could do this, etc,etc,etc.
    The ladies who traveled with me did their fair share of the work and they learned the value of many layers of sleeping blankets for desert nights. All 4 of us finished in good shape. The rider who hauled his own horse is recovering from March ACL surgery and a diagnosis from his doctor that he may never ride a horse again was sore, but full of pride for his effort. I personally rode a 23 y/o gelding who did his last 50 over 2 years ago. Had to pull him out of the pasture when my intended mare kept taking bad steps and I didn't want to get pulled at the mid vet check and leave these 3 on their own. Did they NEED a "SPONSOR"? Perhaps not. The ride was extremely well marked and ALMOST EVERYONE asked if they could help them and if they were having a good time. But they had a great time and so did I. BTW- One of ladies made the comment about how many riders asked if she was having a good time. She said that in over 20 years of riding hunter jumpers and showing she NEVER ONCE was asked if she was having a good time.
    As for the damage to legs, bones, ligaments, etc.of young riders, I can only wonder what damage is happening to the youth who spend most of their lives on the couch watching TV. There will never be a large enough thank you for the Merrybens and Karen Chatons of AERC who go out of their way to support new and often young riders. Karen Nelson #4299



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