In a message dated 11/21/2005 8:14:47 PM Pacific Standard Time,
donhuston@xxxxxxx writes:
But I
have to wonder what it is that you find so hard to believe about a newbie
starting in LD that does not have the advantage of your expert personal
guidance? Don Huston
Hi Don, I"m not Maryben, nor do I play her on TV (ok got that out of my
system :). Here's my personal take on whether to start a horse in LD or in
50s. It JUST DEPENDS on the horse....even if you are an experienced 100
mile rider (I've finished Tevis 4 times, but I'm nonetheless by no means
"experienced"). I've started two young horses in LD because they were
really inexperienced campers in large groups of horses and they didn't believe
in drinking away from home (quite unlike their owner). So for these horses just
getting used to being in a ridecamp, a ride start and the hectic=ness of
P&Rs WAS the training issue. Sure I can ride 25 miles to condition my
horse but I haven't yet found a way to camp with a 100 other horses so they
learn to deal with THAT. If I know I have a nervous horse who won't eat
when he's camped with a 100 other horses, I think its good horsemanship to take
it easy, expose him to the whole camp thing and THEN ride him 50 miles. I
figure 25 miles he can do in deficit mode (which he's in if he has been too
nervous to eat well or drink well the night before) so we just go camp and play
at an LD. Get used to all the extra stuff.. I think this is what LD
was designed for no?
I'm not one who thinks LD is endurance, but I'm really glad that I have it
to use for my baby horses. I don't think that making them "see Jesus" or
whatever term you want to call it is good for them....They honestly don't know
if they are doing 25 or 50, they just care if it hurts. So I use a few LD rides
to see if my tack is working well, if the horse is camping well, I don't let him
run his brains out, I rate him...so he is being trained every ride. I
honestly think you can do that on a 25 OR a 50...you just need to be a
horseman...its called training.
Sylvia (lest it be said I favor LD awards, unless they are combined with
50/100 mile awards...no!)
