In a message dated 12/15/2003 7:21:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, found1farm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
I think 100 miles might be okay, but do it over 2 days, and think more of the welfare of the horse. Riding after dark is not the safest for rider or horse either. There just seems to be a whole lot of things wrong with the entire senerio of endurance riding.
100 miles in two days might be ok, but according to you a 1 day 50 isn't? You need to stick to your story.
As far as a 1 day 100.....Horses can see really well in the dark....it requires a huge amount of trust and partnership with your horse to ride in the dark, but when you get it right its amazing and builds something that is indescribable between the two of you. (if it doesn't make the human part of the team throw up first <g>).
I once met a woman who thought that (and she was serious) all horses should be returned to the wild and that even keeping them in fenced pastures was abusive. I listened to her for quite a while before I started describing what I did with my horses.....needless to say she was shocked and appalled <eg>.
Also, regarding the part of your post about your horses wanting to just eat and sleep!!! They need to come hang out with my boys. Sure they eat and sleep, but they play HARD. My neighbor was telling me today that he watched them the other evening as they ran in their 2 acre field and how they were jumping across the creek without bothering to use the trails. He said he almost called me to come put them up because he was afraid they'd get hurt. (his horses are kept in 24 X 24 paddocks so they don't get hurt.) I LOVE that they play and romp. Sure sometimes they get a nick or cut, but they are happy healthy horses and I feel like that is as good an analogy as I can come up with for endurance riding as I'll ever get. They love it, its good for them, that's why we do it.
