Training experience/training ride......I think you
are nitpicking at word usage here. However, I don't think LDs were
intended to be a competition as you are now stating. I feel successful
after any distance I ride whether it is a sanctioned ride or
not, as long as I know my horse is well. I have a hard time understanding
why you feel put down because someone else considers LDs training rides since
that is what they are to many people, no, not all. My friends who do LDs
don't feel as you do. They are very satisfied with their accomplishments, a
couple of them like to top ten, as they condition/train with riders who do
50s & 100s, and one of them does not want to be in the saddle for more than
4 hours, but her horse is fit for 50s. I'm trying to talk her into doing a 50
with me and if she does, she'll have had lots of experience (training) by
having done the LDs. And, the reason I do 50s (haven't done an LD) is to
train for 100s. It's too hard to set up a 50 on my own, getting water, feed,
etc. out on the trail. I've only tried one 100 so far, but I'll try again, and
until then, I'll keep doing 50s to train for it.
Kathy
Grass Valley, CA
That's just using LD as a training experience. Some people go
straight to the 50's and use that as a training experience. That doesn't
make it a "Training Ride." It doesn't matter what you use it for, it's
still a competition and to call it anything else is a put down to those that
work their butts off to compete.
I see no belittling in the term Limited Distance - that's referring to
the distance, which is true, not the event.
