I'm with you, Susan, I'd rather go to a ride where I
really camp, with no frills. To me that's a big part of the fun - getting
out in the beautiful 'wilderness' to camp and ride.
This is a classic case of "you can't make everyone happy all of the
time".
Personally, I would rather go to a "no thrills" ride, pay a little less,
and be able to afford to go to more rides, more often. Breakfast,
snacks, etc. I can provide for myself. I don't go fast enough to win
anything. I don't require a sink to wash my
hands in a porta potty. Between gas costs and $100 ride entry for a
25, I can only afford to go to 2-3 rides a year, and only if they are within a
few hours of my house. I had to *not* enter 2 rides in the past 2
months due to costs/distance, which made me very sad as I do love the
sport.
What it boils down to is that some of us will just not be able to go as
the total costs increase regardless of how much we perceive to get out of it,
which distance we ride, or what "bells and whistles" you attach to your entry
fees. My other thought, at the risk of offending, is that it seems
to me that a lot of people place a lot of value on creature comforts at rides
(meals, showers, special porta potties, etc.) Too bad more aren't happy
to just go rough it like camping use to be...... Not saying it's wrong
to like the nice stuff, but just seems to be the way the sport is
evolving.
>>>> Everyone puts a
different value on different things........ At our ride you
got:
Use of a beautiful base camp that we rented from a local
ranch Porta Potties at base camp complete with sinks and a potty at one
of the = vet checks. Horse Feed and Horse and People water at
the vet checks Water sources throughout the ride Continental breakfast
the morning of the ride Awards dinner Buckle or Wine glasses to all
that completed Riders packets that were full of samples and
advertisements Lots of cool awards (including a little gold nugget for
the top ten in = the
50)
