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Re: [RC] LD definition again?? - heidi

Okay, I have said it before and I will say it again ( to pat BOB on the
shoulder for a job well done)  Anyone with one horse and one rider that
can do 725  LD  miles in one year can say they have done endurance.

I just love that and so does BOB.  Donna and Henry

<sigh>  Donna, I love you and respect you.  You have endured--in some
ways, more than many of us.  You have done a tremendous thing, and
accomplished a great achievement.  But no, you have not "done endurance"
with the above.

I have run 6k races.  (Yes, folks I have--in younger years!)  Even if I
had run one every weekend for a whole year, I STILL would not be able to
say I had "done a marathon."  Would that cheapen my experience?  NO WAY!!

I'm proud of you, Donna, and you're right that you have every right to be
proud of BOB and proud of your accomplishment.  By all means pat him on
the shoulder and tell him "job well done."  I understand the "endurance"
that it can sometimes take to do limited distance--the LD after I came
back from bacterial meningitis was one of the most grueling rides of my
life, bar none, and it stands right up there in my mind as one of my
greatest challenges.  But did I "do endurance" when I did it?  No.  I
"endured" my own limitations and my own issues, and I overcame them.  And
everyone who does so is a winner.  But in doing so, I did NOT "do an
endurance ride," not in a million years.  Should I get credit for "doing
endurance" simply because I had to endure my own demons?  Nope, my
limitations were my own problem.

I'm working with a truly wonderful young lady with severe physical
disabilities.  She "endures" a few miles out of the arena from time to
time.  She is one of the bravest souls I know.  Will she ever be able to
even ride an LD?  I haven't a clue.  She'd like to someday.  And if she
does, she will truly be "enduring."  It is a distant goal for her to even
be able to come and participate in a 10-mile trail ride held in
conjunction with an endurance ride.  But she doesn't expect the rest of us
to redefine "endurance riding" just so she can get "credit" for overcoming
her disabilities.  Just pushing the envelope as far as she can is reward
enough in itself.  Perhaps we need to adopt more of her "never-say-die"
spirit and worry less about whether we can wear a label that means
something different than we have actually accomplished.

Heidi


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Arabians were bred for years primarily as a war horse and those
requirements are similar to what we do today with endurance riding. 
~  Homer Saferwiffle

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

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Replies
[RC] LD definition again??, Wintersdwbob1