New AERC Member

["Joan Dowis" <jrd@foothill.net>]

Megan - What Heidi says is so true.  I also had ridden all my life, and
owned horses for several years before being introduced to endurance.  The
experience really opened my eyes to a level of horsemanship I had not known
existed.  I was fortunate to meet some endurance riders before ever going to
an endurance ride, who took me under their wings and taught me about
conditioning for endurance, proper nutrition, etc., etc., etc.  I rode many
miles with these friends before ever attempting my first ride.  At this
point, I still didn't know how a horse could go 50 miles.  My first ride
wasn't really a ride, as I hadn't entered (to save money) but arranged to
drag ride the entire 50 miles.  When my horse accomplished this, I knew I
had accomplished something also.  LD wasn't around so much back then (the
70s), and my first actual ride was a 50.

Some of the people on Ridecamp spout off a lot, but there are hundreds more
of us who don't demean the efforts and knowledge of newcomers - just try to
keep an open mind, and realize that no matter how much experience you
brought to endurance, there is so much out there to learn.  You have been
around for two years already, so you no doubt are far into the learning
curve.  Good luck to you in your endurance career, and your father and
sister also.  Have fun and ignore the jibes of self-important people, many
of whom don't have any more experience than you.

Joan Dowis