----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 6:53
AM
Subject: RC: Members of the Official B,P,
and M club
You know, the Bitch, Piss and Moan About
Everything club. They are everywhere. School, work and endurance rides. Even
in our own homes.
Reading about the DVE ride makes me go "HMMM?"
but I am not picking on the original author.
I just went to a great ride this weekend. The
trails were so well marked I never looked at the map. It rained the night
before and some of the trails had just been blazed days earlier. The
VOLUNTEERS had gone out and spray painted so many roots and put flags in as
many holes as they could. Yet, the B,P and M members griped about the
trail conditions. Should the ride manager have gone out and paved the
trail?? Weather and trail conditions are out of our hands unless the man
upstairs owes you a favor.
We could always put on a ride at a mile racetrack
and do 50 loops there. Perfect! Wouldn't that be fun?
What IS in our control are some of the things
that are my pet peeves. The riders themselves.
The rider who insists on starting in the front of
the pack where there are at least 60+ riders jammed tight. They are
riding a horse with a red ribbon and the biggest freak'in shoes on their
mounts back feet. Huh? What the hell is that all about?? If your kid goes to
school and gets into a fight with every kid, do you start sending him in with
a red beanie on his head and boxing gloves so the other kids will stay away?
NO! You teach YOUR kid not to fight. If you can't get your horse to stop
kicking, start in the back of the pack or get another horse. Stop giving
me dirty looks because your horse is a kicker. Your the liability, not
me.
I had a rider cut in front of me several times
and then turn around and tell me to stop riding up on her horses butt.
That was a good one!
My favorite is the rider who insists on stopping
every mile or every water puddle, which ever comes first, and gets sooooo
pissed when YOU don't stop for the 15th time so their horse can take
those two sips.
Listen, this IS racing. That is why they give out
1st place, top ten and BC AWARDS. Everybody is hoping to win. Not many
riders spend that much money and time to go and "train". I am not out there to
be Miss Manners. If someone wants to pay my entry fee, gas, groceries and
other necessities, I will be more than happy to baby sit a horse that can't
drink by itself, can't pee by itself, can't let horses pass, can't
pass others without bolting , can't stand horses galloping behind or any
of the other variety of complaints I hear. Heck, I would have even paid
someone to baby-sit me on a few rides!
Don't get me wrong now, (although I know most of
you will) I have been there, done that. I have had my bridle come off my horse
at a full gallop, not once but twice. Riders helped my stop my horse and offer
to fix my bridle. That is trail etiquette. (Thank you Jackie,Vicki and Harry)
I insisted that they go on but they insisted on helping. Injuries, falls,
broken equipment is one thing. If the horses on the track were racing and one
horse stopped to pee, do the other horses have to stop and wait?? I don't
think so. (that is Terry's analogy. he knows everything).
I have ridden my own horses who bolted, shied,
wouldn't drink or would scream for miles until we caught up to someone. But
that was always MY problem. Not the other riders. Oh, I bitched about it, but
it was still my problem. I wouldn't dream of telling someone to stop one mile
from the finish so my horse could drink out of that last mud puddle.
Or, how about when you are coming up the home stretch and someone yells at you
for galloping past them? "Hey! You shouldn't sneak up on riders and spook
their horses!! That is just plain rude." I had to write that one down in my
book of no-no's. No sneaking up to the finish line. Oh-tay.
My number one peeve is the rider who complains
about EVERYTHING, and helps with nothing. They have more pulls than
completions because even though they complain about the tough terrain,
they still haul ass. Even though they complain that it is 85
degrees with 90% humidity, they still haul ass. The
reason their horse is sooo dehydrated is because no one would stop for it to
drink. Their horse may finish with a grade one or two lameness but by God,
they insist on a full completion because "to finish is to win" and they are
finished. It matters not that their horse couldn't take another step. Besides,
ride management should have fixed the trails and changed the weather. HMMM?
There you go. Horsemanship and sportsmanship at it's worst. Role model
material I'd say.
I do retain the right to my lifetime membership
of the Official Bitch, Piss and Moan about everything Club because after all,
I am a Mutha!
Lisa Salas, The Odd Farm It does matter, otherwise we
wouldn't be here.