> They had ridden together on and off
through out the day, but Heather had been first before him at the quarry.
As she was leaving the quarry, she had already crossed the line, had
her out time, Michel called out "wait for me!" and she smiled and did. It
was apparently a nice, light moment. But clearly, if she had
chosen to go on she would have been several minutes ahead anyway. But she
was gracious also to him. Something unsaid so far.
>I don't know her personally so I have no interest in protecting
her. That is just what my vet shared with me cause we always
"talk tevis" when I see him... He said it was "good sportsmanship" on her
part at that moment too.
Just another clarification on this sort of thing. It
is not uncommon to "allow" the other person to go in ahead when they HAVE waited
for you at spots, and have helped you to get through, and when they clearly have
more horse left than you do. It is clear that they WOULD have won anyway,
and it is simply correct trail etiquette and good sportsmanship not to repay
THEIR good sportsmanship by trying to nip them at the finish line.
I've been on the other end of this with Heather, without a
single word being spoken. One year at the Santiam Cascade 100,
she tagged up with me at the next-to-last VC at 75 miles. She was recently
out of the junior division herself, and I think it was the little mare's first
100--not positive about that. Anyway, the mare was discouraged, but not
out of gas, and would travel fine with a buddy. She realized that, and
asked if she could ride with me. I waited a minute for her at the
last VC as well, and I had glow sticks and she didn't. She "rabbited" off
of my horse up over Cash Mountain and down. While it wasn't a question of
a win, it WAS a question of who was 10th and who was 11th. We were riding
side by side down a two-track USFS road at the finish, at a walk, and when we
got to the finish, she just swung her horse back behind mine, and took the
placing behind me without a word being spoken, in acknowledgement of the fact
that I had done HER a favor by not going off and leaving her on a tired mare in
the dark. That's an example of the kind of sportsmanship that makes
endurance riding special.
With all the talk of late about overriding horses,
treatments, and deaths, isn't it nice to see folks who openly acknowledge their
horses' relative capabilities and who can ride together and sort that out
without running both horses into the ground over it? In view of the
discussion regarding people who override their horses, perhaps more folks should
take a leaf off of this situation and follow a good example, instead of
chastizing the pair for not racing. (Howard, are you
listening?)
