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Re: [RC] Endurance riding for College budgets? - heidiI read some posts last week or the week before that talked about the costs needed for endurance. I have been working on getting ready for my first ride. Have the horse (yes, the cheap part), the aussie saddle that fits well, the breastcollar is on the way, and have not purchased a halter/bridle yet. My first ride in June is a novice 12.5. I have been really pumped until I realized that I may not be able to afford this. Is there a way to do this economically as a poor, destitute, college kid? Hey, Ashlee, you CAN ride on a shoestring... Your post reminded me of my own college days. I got my first endurance horse (my foundation stallion Surrabu) when I was in high school. I did my first endurance ride (Virginia City 100) the fall of my junior year of high school. I didn't find any rides closer to home (this was the early 70s) for two more years--PNER was founded in 1974, and I joined in 1975 and did three rides that summer. I managed to get through my first 1000 miles before I finished vet school in 1981--and it was really on a shoestring. I had a beat-up old half-ton Ford truck and an even older camper shell, and I pulled an old Miley 2-horse trailer. I didn't have any fancy tack (heck, NOBODY had fancy tack back then)--just my old saddle that I'd gotten well-used and an old leather bridle from God-knows-where that had been in the ranch tack since before I can remember. I earned extra money hauling horses for people to pay my rig expenses. I had a mattress in the truck bed, and a beat-up old icechest, and somewhere along the way I had managed to get hold of a Coleman lantern and a little Coleman "stove" (one burner) that I could heat some water on. (I think I "high-graded" the lantern from my dad, and found the stove at a yard sale.) It was a big adventure, I had loads of fun, and heck, ol' Bu and I did pretty darn well, come to think of it... (Ever hear that old song that goes "me and you and a dog named Blue, traveling and living off the land"? Well, I used to sing that going down the road, "me and you and a horse named Bu....") Heidi ============================================================ There are 2 ways to win at this sport. You take a horse and race him for a short time and then find a new horse or you can take one horse , do the homework and spend many miles and years enjoying that horse. ~ Paddi Sprecher ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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