Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I really like this idea!  My horse and I have been competing for 11 years.  Unfortunately we did CTR for 1 year, and had a couple years of doing just a few LD's due to a blown tendon so we don't qualify for this recognition.  He is the only horse I compete, and becoming a team has been a long hard process (anyone one in Minnesota can attest to this who has seen his very good imitation of a manic freight train).  If I'd been concerned with running up front I would have sold him long ago, but my whole philosophy of horse-ownership is the bonding that only occurs over a long time. He gallops up to me like a horse in a movie, and will take a tiny sliver of carrot out of my mouth.  11 years together has only increased my respect for him and his trust in me.  One of my high points of last year was when the ride vet called him "steady Eddy."  She'd obviously not known him in the early years, and it made me realize that after all this time, he'd become a good horse.  I think the single horse/rider team together for years and years is what any distance riding (endurance, LD, CTR) is all about.

Chip