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Re: [RC] trail etiquette (and sportsmanship?) - DESERTRYDR1

I don't ask permission from my regular riding partner, even if SHE sometimes 
thinks I should.  Just something like "Ready to trot?" as I blast off. 

Don't ride very often with LARGE groups for the simple reason that it's 
difficult in our area to find riding buddies that have more or less similar 
levels 
of skill.  So my rule is, I find out how confident everyone is, then base the 
pace on that.  I often lead trail or faster rides, because I am intimately 
acquainted with the trails.  I have certain trails that I can take less 
experienced riders on, and certain ones that require a higher level of 
confidence.  As 
long as everyone is one the same page about WHAT KIND of ride we're doing 
today, it seems to work out.  If I want to do conditioning, and the group is 
less 
confident, I just do a couple extra loops after they leave.  It's great mind 
conditioning for my horse, since she never thinks that the ride is ended til I 
put her in the trailer.

I found out the hard way that you have to tailor the ride to the people who 
are there.  My riding buddy and I used to take people out, and after one ride 
they never came back.  I realized it was because they weren't comfortable with 
our YEE-HAH style and three or more hour rides.  Now I realize that the first 
ride is not the time to take a new-to-me riding buddy over trails that I 
haven't ridden in a while, or that I kind of forgot about that little climb 
straight up a shale cliff.  I also check to see how many have shoes on their 
horses 
before riding over a lot of rock, because there are so many options where I 
ride that I can do anything from a baby/beginner ride to a very technical ride 
from the same trail head.

I'm in a different situation, because I am inviting people to MY turf, 
so-to-speak, and if I want them to come back, I have to be a good host and not 
scare 
them to death the first time.  Mostly if I want to do a faster ride, I stick 
with tried and true riding buddies.  And I STILL have many of the issues Karen 
brought up in her "Rules" even with my long time riding buddy!  jeri

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