There is a lot of talk (opinions) as to how
people and horses should enter the sport of endurance. With everything
being thrown around it appears the ultimate outcome that is trying to be
achieved is the same. The objective is to educate..... The more
educated we become as riders and "owners/caretakers" of our horses the better
off everyone and every horse would be.
In support of the suggestion of LDs for a year it really is not such a bad
thing to educate not only ourselves but our horses as to "how it is done" and
what we expect. Riding 25 miles "training in familiar territory" and
traveling to a competition are totally different experiences for not only the
rider but also the horse. Put yourself in your horses position..... The
demands we place on them at a moments notice ex: change diet today, add more
oil, run run run, more electrolytes, run, run, run... no stop, drink ,no dont
eat so much at once, stand still let me pour this water on while I want you to
drink and heart rate to come down, come on come on drop your heart rate, your
dehydrated drink,drink,drink, more electrolytes let me shove them down your
throat.....and on and on and on..( I am not saying everyone does this I am just
generalizing and trying to make a point) Do you do this on your training
rides?
People we seem to be losing focus.. I read
the posts on ride camp in hopes to better educate myself..It seems the point is
being missed and people are becoming so critical of others . However ,
we as competitors with a common interest (horses) need to be willing
to be open minded and listen to other people and their horse
experiences without becomming critical.
Listen and Learn and with all the wealth of
knowledge and hands on experience brought to light on ride camp it seems to
defeat the purpose of educating if all we do is criticize.
