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Re: [RC] Letters to the World -- showing - heidiI have no disagreement with what you are saying, Liv -- about appealing to people for trail riding and limited distance. Yet I still feel that trail riding is not going to first attract people to the breed as much as family fun events at shows. Bette, by your own admission, you are not an endurance rider. You have not seen the numbers of people who come into contact with Arabians because some friend who is a ride manager twisted their arm into coming to help at a ride, or the people who meet endurance riders out on the trail conditioning and are awed and amazed that these horses are calm, tractable, and friendly. I agree that local and fun shows are also a draw--but I don't think you realize how many of our endurance horses DO come into contact with non-Arab people and thus have an opportunity to change images. We do not live in a vacuum in the sport of distance riding--we ARE exposed to the public, even though they aren't sitting in bleachers watching. And it is even more overwhelming when a non-Arab person is running a clipboard or a stethoscope and comes into contact face-to-face and hands-on with these horses--they are right down in the middle of things, and are often incredulous about what they see from that vantage point. Heidi ============================================================ If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter horse. ~ Libby Llop ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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