In a message dated 5/2/2004 7:50:42 PM Central Daylight Time, heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
I take great offense to your post and the jest of it. The Endurance Motto "To Finish is to Win" does not apply to 50 and 100 only but to everyone who rides a distance.
LD's serve many purposes, one) being to condition the horse, two) to get new people to try this sport and three) for those whose bodies will no longer allow them to run 50 miles with their horse. I am sure there are others but I know these to be true because they apply to me. I do not believe that it is ego that makes the people that run LD's want them called Endurance Rides, it is because to them it is and Endurance Ride~!
1. Have you ever taken a young horse on his first ride? I can tell you that that 25 miles feels like 50 when you are finished!
2. Have you ever broken something and had to start conditioning your body and horse again, I can tell you that 25 feels like a 100 when you are finished.
3. Most of us started slow and moved our way up, learning as we went.
GIVE IT A REST - LD's and those who ride them have a place in Endurance.
