"...?I would love to hear more how this sport has progressed and the positive changes that have taken place."
Christina McCarthy
Ah, Christina...I think you missed the whole point of the old timers' musings.? While it's all up to your point of view, lots of us don't think much of the "progress" and "positive changes."? We were missing the days when riders spent much less time whining and complaining and demanding more rules and more awards for less effort and much less risk.? A time when riders thought 50 miles was a training distance for 100s.? Glad you enjoy our tales, though. They get better every year.? ?Wish you could have ridden along with Smokey Killen and Bandit on the early XPs...we had to stop every 5 miles to take a sip out of his bottle.? The bottle was stuffed in a nasty old sock!? If we were along a passable road(I use this term very loosely), his crew drove ahead with the motorhome and handed out the bottle every 5 miles.? If it was too rough for the crew, the bottle stayed with Smokey :)? Don't think there wasn't some "science" to this operation, though.? Smokey had this routine of walking a certain number of mins., trotting a certain number of mins., then cantering a certain number of mins.? When you got back to the walk, it was time for the bottle!
