[RC] Differences between a Duck ride and other rides? - David LeBlanc
I was considering going to the Death Valley ride, and wrote
to ask about some things I had a question about. Karen replied, and oddly
enough, discouraged me from coming. I’ve never had a RM do this before,
and it was apparently because she thought I required something these rides won’t
provide. I’m not really sure just what this might be – there’s
lots of things I like, but most of them aren’t required - and asked about
it, but haven’t seen a reply just yet.
I went to the web site, and found this –
“I hope that ride managers, offering rides with more
structure and amenities will continue to prosper and conduct even more rides,
so that everyone will have an opportunity to seek a venue they wish to play in.
Our rides are not for everyone, nor are they meant to be. They operate under
the direction of our family, whose style and opinions are well known. Distance
riding is a many faceted sport, and the variety of venues shows strength, not a
weakness. We welcome you to give our corner of the sport a try.”
I’ve been to rides where there were lots of nice
amenities – showers, dinner every night, running water, and so on, but
none of these are requirements. All I really require is a reasonably well
marked trail, and water for the horses along the way. Basically, if I know what
to expect, I can generally manage. Many of the rides I go to don’t have
much to anything I’d consider an amenity – just a place to park,
horse water in camp, a good trail to ride, and vets. As I’ve stated here
before, I strongly prefer a treatment vet be present – I rarely need one,
but the rides where no one has needed one have been the exception.
Since Karen’s apparently too busy to reply, I’m
sure plenty of you have been to Duck rides, and can hopefully explain just what
the difference is. I’ve read the bit about how you’re expected to
take care of your own horse, and that’s something I agree with – so
what else is there? Some of these rides are in some pretty cool places, and now
that I’m starting to get some vacation accumulated, travelling out of the
NW may well be an option next year.
