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[RC] Completion Awards - k s swigart

Among others with the same sentiment, Maryben said:


I have never gotten rid of any of my awards although I will admit to

letting the dog drink out of my DVE bowl.

I must confess to almost exactly the opposite.  I have given away almost all
of my completion awards.  Many of them don't even make it as far as home.
Frequently they go to my driver (s), crew, the people who took care of the
rest of my horses while I was away, the people at work who (in essence) did
my job while I wasn't there to do it because I was off playing with my
horse, the people who own the horse I rode, the people who used to own (or
who bred) the horse I rode....etc.

And I must confess that one of the nicest awards I have ever gotten was one
that I didn't earn myself (an Outlaw Trail coin made into a necklace), but
was given to me by the person who did earn it (Howard Kent). Despite the
fact that I have given away a multitude of OT coins myself, and I have a few
of them laying around somewhere.

The ones that I do keep are things that I can use on/for my horse, so I
still have the water bottle holder that ties onto the saddle from the second
ride I ever did.  And I (usually) will keep things that have my name on
them--although my dad has got the regional year end award vest despite the
fact that it is embroidered with my name.

I don't give them away to the goodwill...I never have them for that long :).
They make excellent gifts for acknowledging all the others who helped me to
earn them--so much the better if it is something I can use on the horse,
since the horse is the one who did the lion's share of the work

Terry's award for the Descanso ride of a lead rope embroidered with the
rider's name would have fallen into the keeper pile for me on two
counts...it had my name on it, and I could use it on my horse.  However,
since I did the Ride 'n' Tie not the endurance ride, and the award for that
was a T-shirt....that got given away to the husband of the owner of the
horse, before I even got home.

But when it comes right down to it the award/reward for completing the ride
is the satisfaction of having done it.  And while it is nice to get
something that I can give away to someone who won't then ask themselves
"what am I supposed to do with this??" (what I am supposed to do with the
necklace from Howard Kent is to wear it around my neck), it isn't necessary.
I was perfectly happy with the completion award that I got for my very first
LD ride...a chapstick.  No, I don't still have the chapstick, I used it up
and threw it away long ago, but I still have the memory of that first ride.

kat
Orange County, Calif.




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