Re: [RC] attracting new riders to 100s - Ibiteraaarr
Seems like you're the first person to really hit on the root of the
problem. Trying to figure out what the reason is for the decline in 100's is
imperative to rectifying the situation. Time and cost are probably major
factors. Time is mine. My goal is to make a 100 mile horse out of Loki. But I
would like to get a handful of 50's under my belt (and his) before moving to
that point. Perhaps there are many others that feel the same way.
I think recruiting for this sport is difficult though. Advertising might
work, but how would you go about ensuring that the random equestrian who
stumbles over an endurance ad in Equus would prepare well enough? A massive
influx in numbers for endurance rides (and 100's) would mean nothing if the
people coming in were ill-prepared, whether out of ignorance, overly ambitious,
whatever. An increase in treated horses or horse deaths would be catastrophic
for us given how much endurance riders as a group tend to pride themselves on
their first-rate horse husbandry, which I completely agree is unrivaled by
participants in so many other horse sports. I am constantly surprised by
people's reaction when they ask me what endurance riding is. Even after
explaining that it takes months if not years to bring a horse into that sort of
conditioning, I am commonly met with a reaction that the individual has a horse
that could probably do that no problem. Getting them to understand about the
horse's physiology and limitations, nutrition, electrolytes, precarious
digestive nature, vet check perimeters and so forth nearly fall on deaf ears as
the person I'm talking to is CERTAIN they could bring their horse along and do
just fine. How do you combat that sort of mentality without letting them run a
horse into the ground when they learn the hard way that horses don't possess the
natural ability to run lengthy distances. Hell, a woman last night who asked me
about it insisted her sister had a horse who could hold a 12 mile an hour
trot for 50 straight miles non-stop. I don't want this woman showing up with an
unready horse at a ride because she believes she's right, for the sake of
generating interest and recruiting more participants.
How then would we as an organization ensure that the people we bring in
have done their homework? How do we grow the numbers without the exponential
risk? I'm all ears on this one, because I don't know how to counter people who
are interested, but don't understand and/or listen.
