In a message dated 5/14/2004 7:47:41 PM Mountain Daylight Time, Bruce Weary writes:
but do you presume to know what level of "compassion and consideration" everyone on the trail is riding with? Or how much "degradation to the horse and the trails" they are causing? Based on these criteria, would you like to be the one who spots these people masquerading as "real endurance riders" (per your definition) and inform these imposters of their blasphemy? Maybe they are just beginners, riding with some ignorance on a given day. Maybe they have done their training and can travel safely at speeds you and I would never dream of. It sounds like you are saying that if endurance riders aren't enjoying their ride (which is a highly personalized mental function) the way you think they should enjoy it, they ought not bother to even show up. That smacks of elitism to me. Who wants to sign up to police our rides to inform that 100 miler who has purchased a horse (and horse facilities,i.e., barn,truck, trailer, saddle, etc.,) trained for months or years, paid his entry fee and dues to AERC, and has ridden under harsh conditions for 20 hours that he just isn't cutting it because he isn't enjoying the ride at a deep enough level or hasn't acheived "symbiosis"?
Nah, Bruce, I reread my post, what I said sure didn't go into all of the stuff you said. That comes from you. My post was pretty clear about how I feel about endurance, nothing more.
Everyone is free to pursue whatever goals they wish...that is the nature of our (seemingly) all-inclusive organization.
The way I look at it, though somehow convoluted to you, is how I look at it. When I ride, I ride 50's or 100's or multi-days.....I like time on the trail with my horse...
And most times, we aren't even at an endurance ride...
Bruce,my post was pretty simple and straightforward, no need for added emotion or inference (yours).
Smacking of elitism, (or so Bruce states), but not really, :^),
