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RE: [RC] [RC-Digest] Vol: 03.3862 - Natalie Herman<<<We won the turtle award at our first two 50's( on purpose I was terrified of hurting her) and I decided to accept the fact that we would always be close to last and never win anything-- that is o.k.as my horse is my very best friend- and I was not trading her in for an Arab so I could seriouslycompete.> <<snip>> <I recently read an article giving tips on doing a 100 miles- one of the things that it said was that one should have an Arab or Arab-cross- I am planning on doing a 100 this October on my little Morgan and after reading that article started having doubts about whether we should as she wasn't an Arab - then remembered that I wasn't going to do that anymore!!!! <g> It is waaaaaay better to come in last with your best friend than first without her/him anyway. :-) :-)>>> I'll chime in on this one...I got into endurance 3 yrs or so ago, when I already had my mare. She's a 14 hand Morgan/QH cross with not the best feet, not the best tendon tie-in, a longish back and a non-competitive attitude, but was an AWESOME trail horse and HATED arena work of ANY kind. I had dreams of one day riding across that Tevis finish line with her, first. middle, or last place, it didn't matter.... I got a couple of books about endurance (most those, in retro-spect, were geared towards competitive endurance "racing", not "riding") and proceeded to overtrain, underfeed, and generally make all the "newbie" mistakes on that poor horse, including bowing a tendon and almost overriding her at one ride (didn't have a mentor, didn't know about AERC much, was just plain STUPID...in fact, was OT my first three rides cause I didn't even know that Vet checks count into your completion time....ooops :P). So I decided that this little Morganish mare, not being an Arab, was NOT suited for this sport(and lots of ppl told me I was making the correct decision by taking her out of the sport)...but I SOOOO enjoyed being out there with her. So I bred to a top endurance stallion, in hopes her baby would be my half-arab that would take me over that Tevis line....I love her dearly too, but she is only a yearling, so in the meantime, I was riding everything but my mare. Two years later, I decided that I had learned a WHOLE lot more about this sport (though SOOOO much still to learn, sigh...) and what the heck...maternity leave of 2 yrs is plenty of "mistake recovery time" for my mare. So this past winter I tried conditioning her up again (we are still working on that part, due to the bad weather this past year) and try a few rides. The first was ok, but not so successful...turns out that it was one of THE hardest rides ppl have done (due to an emergency change in the location of Ridecamp) and about half the ppl in both distances either OTed or RO pulled....so not exactly a good test for a first ride back... Took her as a "backup" to a multi-day, and on the third day decided what hte heck, she NEEDS out. So I rode her, Long story long, she is more competitive than I thought, has great recoveries (and is not even "in shape" yet) and great CRIs and just buzzed through that ride with energy to spare and all A's all day except one tiny B at the end Vet. We were not first, but we had FUN ( I can ride in a halter and loose reign most the time and she takes good care of herself and me) and I was the PROUDEST "mommy" at the ride...I have now decided she will do her first 50 at the end of the season, and the goal is to chase that Tevis dream once again in a few yrs...and that buckle, on that horse, will mean more than anything to me...more than any Tevis Cup or Haggin Cup I could potentially win on a "Bred for Endurance" Arab...(though I DO love Arabs too, and have ridden/still ride many of them...they just aren't "my mare" :) ) Natalie (and Hoanna, the "little pony that could") "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... wow! What a ride!' " =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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