RE: [RC] to Ride Alone in competition - Alison Farrin
This is a
question I have wondered about since an incident on a recent ride.? Two riders
passed me; as they continued on my horse was willing to pick up a trot and we rode
about 5 to 20 horse lengths behind them.? I did not feel that I was drafting on
them, as I was keeping well back.? However, they would occasionally drop to a
walk, so quickly that I would get up to a couple horse lengths away before I
could get my horse slowed down.? Since I abhor people who constantly pass then
walk so you have to pass them, I was careful to keep far enough behind to not be
a nuisance.? One of the riders turned around and said, if you are going to
draft off of us, you should make your horse go ahead for awhile.? Somewhat
surprised, as I wouldn’t have called it drafting, I replied that I would
certainly try it, but he was a still green horse that was having issues with being out on the trail alone. (It was his first time
alone on a trail in competition).? Sure enough, he didn’t go more than ½ a
mile before all he wanted to do was walk. They passed me again and the woman in
a somewhat snotty voice, said, at least you tried.? At that point, I dropped
back until they were just barely in sight, enough to give my horse confidence
that we weren’t out there all by ourselves.
So, for those of you who like to ride
alone – what’s an acceptable distance to share the terrain with
another horse without feeling like they are sharing your space?!
Alison
A. Farrin
-----Original Message----- From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of EquesB@xxxxxxx Sent:Thursday, April
27, 20068:06 AM To:ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] to Ride Alone in
competition
In a
message dated 4/27/200610:30 A
Eastern Standard Time, guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
so my
choices are, run like heck and try to get away, stop and hope they go away,
This
is a touchy situation, I am not particularly fond of having to use my horses
energy to get away from people, but at the same time I sure don't own the
trail, so I can't really tell someone to get away. So there must be
"courtesy zone" that a rider can expect to be their own, sounds
like earshot would be a good distance in Bruce's case, but those who do
not care for someone drafting, do you think you should control the trail within
eyesight? Those who do not like drafting, what do you do when you come up
behind someone else, pass? What if they are only traveling a smooch faster than
yourself and it takes a while to overcome them?
Jackie
Baker
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