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Re: [RC] Points of View - Joe LongOn Sat, 18 Oct 2003 19:03:33 -0600, Joe Long <jlong@xxxxxxxx> wrote: ... And it's all arbitrary (and I mean more than endurance here ;-) ), and I think I did mention, (didn't I?), that the ride manager or head vet could also be relied on to set the fastest acceptable pace to be set for the new folks. . No, they CANNOT! That is part of the crux of the problem. Unless you know the horse, and are out there on the trail with the horse, you can't know how he's doing at any speed. Whatever speed they set will be slower than some horses need, and too fast for others. So what happens when someone rides at that speed and their horse ends up on the jugs, and they say "But I just rode the way you told me to?" You know, there's an obvious point here that I've somehow missed through all of this. Rookie riders are the ones LEAST ABLE to judge how fast they are going in terms of miles-per-hour down the trail! So how are they to comply with the rule? Either they're overconservative and go too slow ... and maybe end up overtime ... or they come close to the finish, look at their watch and say "OMIGOD! I'm too early!! I'll have to stop and wait a half-hour before going into camp!" And their horse sits out on the trail for a half-hour instead of being in camp with water, feed and TLC. Some benefit to the horse. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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