thanks, Kat, for a great answer to this whole recruitment idea...your experience mirrors many of us who are just left astonished by the fragile egos of some.
In the fall of 1978 I read an article (very brief) in the Cody (WY) newspaper about a meeting of the BigHorn 100 Mile Ride, Inc. group.? It said they were meeting to discuss the July 1980 endurance ride in Shell, WY.? All interested people were welcome.? The meeting was being held in Greybull in a bank basement.? Greybull was 50 miles away and I didn't know a single person there.? However, along with another friend, I drove to that meeting.? Then, I joined AERC.? I bought all the books available at that time.? Even though we moved down to Arkansas in 1979, I was so excited from that one meeting that I found out about a 50/25 mile ride in Alabama.? Still basically clueless, I took my 4 year old Arab gelding to the ride.? My husband and I met Joe Long at that ride.? Joe said, "Just stay with me and Khalil!"? The rest is history.? No one recruited me.? I watched the masters of the sport and tried (not always succesfully) to emulate them.? I learned all the hard lessons that so many of us learned...by jumping in and just doing it.
