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[RC] Fw: Volunteers at Rides - Being run over - Long - GarnerTIt's really pathetic when you can't properly address an email. Here is my post - a little late - due to inept typing. Kathy ----- Original Message ----- From: GarnerT <GarnerT@xxxxxxx> To: <ridecam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:06 AM Subject: Volunteers at Rides - Being run over I can only say, "Thank goodness you're O.K." It's not only the finish line that can be dangerous. I was doing a 35 mile LD on my new horse a couple of years ago. The finish line for the LD riders was about 200 yards from base camp where the 65 milers, the 100 milers, & the FEI riders would come in for their lunch break/vet check. It was a big ride, with over 200 riders & the LD riders had been told we'd be second class citizens because of the FEI ride - which was fine by me; most of us understood the importance of the FEI ride. As the P & R person was taking my guy's pulse, some riders came thundering toward us. The had a large, wide road to ride in, but they were galloping right at us. I watched in disbelief as they came closer & closer. Finally I yelled "watch out" to the P & R person, jerked my horse out of the way, and jumped off the road. It scared the you-know-what out of me. The P & R person was annoyed for a second, thinking I had moved my horse just as she got his pulse, then the riders came running by, right where she HAD been standing. We just looked at each in disbelief. Earlier in the morning, we had been run off the trail by 2 riders. It was a single track trail, and they came up so fast we didn't hear them. They didn't ask to go around, they just ran by us. My horse, being new, spooked out into the cactus and coyote brush and I almost got dumped. I wasn't mad at him, they had even scared me, they appeared so suddenly. If they had asked us to move, we would have been out of their way in a second. Luckily no one was hurt, but I really couldn't believe that people would be so careless, both on the trail, and to people standing on the ground, volunteering at a ride. I know placing is very important to a lot of people, but I never want to be the rider that causes an injury to another rider, volunteer, bystander, or vet. By the way, I have no idea if these were FEI riders, 100 milers or what. They went by so fast I couldn't see the numbers on their horse's butts! My final comment is; out of over 200 riders, only 4 riders rode in such a stupid & careless manner! I'm just glad you're O.K. No one I ride with would ever act that way. Kathy Garner ============================================================ You don't have to be a 100-mile rider or a multi-day rider to be an endurance rider, but if you want to experience the finest challenges our sport has to offer, you need to do both of those. ~ Joe Long ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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