In a message dated 8/9/2005 7:50:25 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
More
often than not, these are people who believe they're in control and don't want
to lose that control to new ideas that they cannot grasp or cannot implement
because they've already been left far behind.
I welcome Discovery home...science is awe-inspiring.
It's funny about being "left far behind"...in endurance, though, you keep
going, and you get there, eventually.
Maybe not as fast as some, maybe not with the same degree of
chest-thumping, accompanied by whoops and hollers...but you get there.
(...and, as the rigs pull out of basecamp, you dismount your horse, slack
cinch, and make your way to the water tank...your horse doesn't note the
trailers pulling out of camp, doesn't note that many are wearing new t-shirts
saying "To Finish Is To Win"...he sees his trailer, his bucket of water, his
hay. He sees the shade of a tree and feels your hands as you go every inch
of body and discover that the miles were long, but somehow, this magnificent
animal performed as God designed him, and gave the rider the Grace to
Honor.)
Yeah, technology and science are not a bad thing...they can (and do) help
horse and rider perform at surprising levels, often with little degradation to
the horse, and (more importantly) for some of us, technology and science help us
live our lives more fully than would be possible without the "brains" out there
trying to help society.
But horses and riders can fly without wings (sometimes very slowly, but
silently and persistently) and that's something that all the
supplements, fancy tack, fancy rigs and fancy titles can't replicate....it was a
Gift to us.
And, though some try to "improve" this or that aspect of the horse and
rider dynamic...it comes down to actually "riding" and spending time
together. Not everyone wants to win, not everyone has to be the World
Champion, the National Champion, the Regional Champion or even the fastest rider
in the family. But for people who love horses, EVERYONE wants to RIDE..and
that's where I'm headed.
And know that it is a wonderful time to be alive...in a time when an
individual can choose how to live his life, incorporating aspects from time and
space, nature and science, as that individual chooses...endurance riders who
actually tack up and mount up, venture forth to discover the trail, to discover
the day in a manner they choose. Others watch and try to find a way to
insert themselves into that evolution without actually having to pick the rocks
from he horse's hoof or experience the responsibility of caring for the
horse...out on The Trail.
