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[RC] Staying positive on a 100 - DreamWeaverOne thing that I always try to do is think positive. I think stuff like "I get to", not "I have to", and "we only have XXX more miles to the next vet check", and not "Oh gawd, not another XXX miles to the vet check". I think wow, we are already halfway! Not oh man are we only halfway? I think that your attitude affects your horse. If I wake up...okay, let me rephrase that....if I get up out of bed in the morning after tossing and turning all night, I think, yeah, allright, I don't have to lie in bed anymore not sleeping, we can get this show on the road. :^)If you start to hallucinate, just consider that another benefit related to your horse ownership. You know how you tell yourself that you'd be spending that much $ on therapy or some other form of entertainment instead? Well, now you can have all the recreational benefits of being a drug addict, without having to take any real drugs. It's all natural. <G> Though, I think the addiction is still about the same. I have found that during those times of hallucinations, my horses tend to walk really really fast. I may be scaring them into it. But, hey, it works. One other thing that I sometimes do.....is I think back to another time, when I was more uncomfortable, more sore, more tired, more aching, more hungry, more sunburned......you get the point......and then suddenly whatever it is that I think I am having a problem with melts away. This ain't so bad, I've been thru (insert some sort of hardship you endured) before and this ain't no big deal. Or, if what you are going thru IS a big deal and will someday become one of those things you look back upon and say "I lived thru THAT, I can live thru anything!", then take a couple of happy pills (which for some people is excedrin or advil, and for others it's a prescription) Just kidding about that last part, you really don't want to take any medication if you can help it, especially if you haven't been drinking and eating well, it can just make you feel even worse. Seriously though, don't let anything get to you mentally, fight it back and seek out those positive thoughts. Even if it is something like "tomorrow at this time I'll be sound asleep". Or, boy I can't wait till I get rested up and get to go eat whatever your favorite meal is. Try and feel sorry for your friends who are on the shorter distances, since they are going to be done so early and are going to missing out on so much great riding. You are not allowed to be envious of them when they are finished and you are heading out after 75 miles though -- NO NO NO!!!! Smile at them and tell them what a great time you are having, and mean it. And if all else fails, teach your horse the words to "Don't fence me in". Hmmm...on second thought. :+D Karen in NV ============================================================ It is how we "feel" deep inside that matters, cause each of us knows the truth, regardless of how we try make it complicated. It just isn't. ~ Frank Solano ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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