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Re: [RC] [RC] Tevis trail accident - heidi...from Ridecamp Digest... I honestly hope that this last fatality is not in vain.My heart goes out to the rider and to the horse.I certainly also feel for the rider and most assuredly the horse...but please do not legislate us out of a trail to ride. My dream is to someday experience that trail in all it's original pioneer state. Too many things in our lives are taken away because they have, at one time or another, been dangerous to someone or something. To add my own nickel's worth to what Kathleen, Steven, and others are saying here--put the blame where it belongs, which is NOT on the trail! AERC could make rules until we are blue in the face, but it is impossible to legislate manners and common sense. In our culture, too many people do not realize how horses interact, being used to inanimate modes of transportation such as cars and motorcycles. I am appalled how some people will crowd and shove--they don't have a clue about keeping a respectful distance, etc., and they can't seem to look ahead a few horses and anticipate that trouble is brewing. I agree that the solution is NOT to eliminate trail sections. We might possibly be able to enable RMs and riders in assisting in the "education" of rude riders who crowd, but I doubt we will ever be completely successful at that, either, since some people simply do not have the capacity to "get it" with regard to spatial orientation and herd behavior, and are chronically not in control of their horses. It has been many years since I've been to Tevis. I'd gladly ride the trail in a heartbeat. What keeps me from going to the ride itself is the mob. For some reason, Tevis draws more than its share of people who can't seem to figure out how to manage their horses in a crowd, and THAT is the danger of it--not the trails per se. But just because Tevis has more than its share doesn't mean that's the only place where such behavior occurs. We see it here and there all over the country at all sorts of rides. It IS less of a problem if you have somewhere to escape it, so it is less of an issue in the wide-open spaces. But accidents due to out-of-control horses and unthinking riders still occur in more "ideal" circumstances. If any AERC action is appropriate here, it is to have RMs caution (and pull, if necessary) riders who behave irresponsibly toward other riders when mounted. And that still won't prevent ALL accidents--sometimes the proverbial used hay just hits the proverbial air circulating device, and there just isn't a darn thing one can do about it--except not to participate at all. The concept here is not that death is "acceptable" per se--it is simply a matter of reality that if we are gonna ride, no matter how careful we are, we can't foresee everything and every now and then, somebody is going to take a misstep and something bad could result from that. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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