Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Just to comment on a few of Jim's observations:

"It seems strange that the OD allows riders to arrive early for
the ride....but when the horses are tired at the end of the
ride, we have to leave by end of day on Sunday."

Don't know for sure, but I would hazard a guess that this was
dictated by the management of the 4-H Center, not the OD
management.  Unless the OD can buy/build their own permanent
base-camp, they will always be at the mercy of the folks who own
the facility.

"Trail marking leaves much to be desired. For a ride of this
stature, this is unacceptable. I have done the 50 three times,
and I always get lost at least once.  Turns should ALWAYS be
well marked....if you're gonna get lost, that's where it will
be.  "

Management did mention that they have problems with trail
vandalism in some parts of the trail (it was high school
graduation week), and tried to mark those area with lime and/or
paint, but I suspect the rain may have washed that away.  And
for what it's worth, I heard other riders comment on how WELL
the trails were marked.  

"Quite a few of us were really upset by the Vet Check at Liberty
Hall.  It was disorganized, the timers were confused at times,
and they were unreasonably hard on crew and riders.  

The chaos was in part a result of (a) loss of their usual
communications cordinator, who had to bow out at the last
minute, and (b) a real shortage of vets, exaserbated by a high
number of treatments early in the ride.  Management shuffled
vets, and Art King, head vet, had no clue where they were.  I
have suggested to management that they approach a local ham club
(and I offered to do it)to get volumteers for communication,
and (3) an even greater shortage of volunteers.

"This (Liberty Hall) is a tiny place and there were a lot of
riders.  They did not allow crewing on the road. They even
chastised riders for stopping to allow their horses to just
DRINK at their truck along the road!"

Yeah, Liberty Hall did seem like a less-than-ideal spot for a
v.c.  I think the reason they did not want people crewing is the
road was to leave it clear for traffic.  Keeping the locals
happy is a BIG issue, since much of the ride goes over private
property.  The have lost permission to use some sections of
trail because the owners got P.O.ed at rude riders (at the ride
meeting, they told the story of one rider who told a man to "get
his $^$&#! tractor out of the road".  Unfortunately, the tractor
driver OWNED that section of raod.  Guess which road the OD was
not allowed to use the following year.

"Unbelievably, you could not let your horse drink directly from
the tanks....buckets only. Huh? Suppose you didn't have a crew
and therefore no bucket!"

I can't sympathise with you there: letting everyone drink out of
troughs or other standing water is a dandy way to spread
strangles and other nasties.  Collapsible buckets are cheap, or
you could have begged another crew to carry a bucket for you.  I
am considering buying some collapsable buckets to donate to OD
for use by riders of pulled horses that need water but can can't
be taken back to the nearest water source (I'm thinking about
the check by the ford).  This happened to a couple of riders and
Joy Watkins, a vet, kindly lent her very pricey stainless bucket
for use by pulled riders.  The other thing that amazed me was
how few people had coolers, sheets or rump-rugs with them.  I
lent my cooling sheet to the horse that went under in the river
and tore up it's knee. People left-and-right were using their
jackets as rump-rugs.  On a ride that long and hard, with a
river crossing, carrying at least a rump-rug seems prudent.  I
might donate some fleece blankets for use by riders of pulled
horses as well.

As I mentioned in another post, the OD this year had a grand
total of 14 volunteers commited before the day of the ride. 
That is not very many. Confusion and disorganization are the
inevitable result.  

I am not saying the problem pointed out did not exist, just that
it was not intended to go that way: STUFF happened at the last
minute.  Had things gone as planned, it would have run much more
smoothly.

I am glad I volunteered at a ride before riding in one: I will
be much more understanding of the short-comings in management
when I finally do a ride: it's a huge effort to put on a ride,
and pretty thankless.





________________________________________________
Get your own "800" number
Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more
http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag
============================================================
Prudence and focus will carry you a long way on a horse. 
~  Frank Solano

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

============================================================