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Re: [RC] Dressage horses - Zephyr Arabians--- Cornelia Chamley <dr_elexus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: HI I am actually new to the group. I am mainly riding dressage with my Arabian (2nd level), but also love to trail ride. I did one CTR this spring and one LD ride 2 weeks ago. Now my horse and I are hooked on the LD/Endurance. I will continue riding dressage though, as I think the training helped us to go through our first ride as well as we did. I am pleased to hear that I am not the only person combining dressage and Endurance riding. You're far from the only one! :) I was a hunter/jumper show person as a pre-teen & teen. Then went on a couple NATRC (CTR) rides while I was in high school. I loved them, but was really still "into" showing. After high school I burned out on showing and got into dressage as a training disipline, but didn't want to show anymore. Spent over 10 years just training myself & my horses (dressage), pleasure riding, and breeding for dressage/sport horses. Then I got the bug to get out and start competing in something again. I started thinking about how much fun CTR had been, but really wanted to try endurance. However, back in the 80s when I'd done NATRC the rumor NATRC riders would tell you was that endurance riders were crazy and hyper competitive. So, it took me a few years to work up the courage -- including spending time lurking & "meeting" people on Ridecamp -- to go to my first LD. Like you, horse(s) & I were instantly hooked! Last year I started riding 50s and did 350 miles. I'd really hoped to repeat or exceed that this year, but a new home, new business, and a bunch of other stuff got in the way so it turned into an ultra-light year, but endurance has definately become my riding passion. I still use dressage for starting horses and for variety in workouts, but endurance has creeped in as more important to me (more fun!). Luckily the same traits I'd been breeding for in my dressage Arabians have transfered over to endurance and I've had zero need to shift my breeding "program" or even switch which horses are my main riding horses. :) I was affraid that I would receive a few "funny" looks when I showed up in my dressage saddle, but everyone was very nice to us. I bet your first LD ride showed you that there are few funny looks from anyone about anything! One beauty of endurance is that everything and anything is welcome as long as horse & rider are comfortable. That goes for breed, tack, shoeing, clothing, camping situation, rig, everything! :) I did all my LD rides & a couple hundred miles of endurance in a dressage saddle. Of course, with a fuzzy seat cover, ez-ride stirrups, and a pommel pack it didn't really look like a dressage saddle anymore. I only switched saddles because 50 miles proved that the saddle wasn't fitting as well as it appeared to -- the horse never had a sore back, but she did get white spots. I've now got a treeless saddle and love how it moves from horse to horse without worries. :) Anyway, this got longer than I'd intended! Welcome to endurance. I bet you'll be here a long time! :) ~Nicole Zephyr Arabians http://www.zephyrarabians.com KattWmn Web Design http://www.kattwmn.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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