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No need to butt out..  :-)  Your story from another discipline underscores exactly what I was saying--GETTING to that level and WINNING at that level are two different things.  Just like endurance riders new to the world level of competition, he started off well, but something came unraveled, and he was nowhere near the medals.  But he WENT, and had the time of his life.

 

Heidi

Thanks, Heidi.

 

I hear what you’re saying.  I have ZERO endurance experience, and I guess my focus is a little different.  A close friend of mine qualified to ride at the WEG this year (showjumping).  He sold his property to afford to go, spent six very lonely months out there, living in a country that didn’t speak his language, work-riding for his keep, managed to lease a young horse that had never jumped at International level.  He qualified it himself for the Games and then the fun started when the owners tried to take the ride away.  He managed to keep the ride and rode at the Games.

 

He was clear in the first round until three fences from the end when his rein broke and he had the last three fences down.  That effectively put him out of the running for a medal.  I know how proud he was to have gone and how much effort he put into it.  See, South African riders are unlikely to be able to ride their own horses in Europe, because of horse sickness, unless they base themselves over there permanently.  That means that we usually wind up riding horses that other people have brought on.

 

Sad, really, but inevitable.

 

 

Hope you guys sort out the problems.  Me, I’ll stick with what I know and butt out now.

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