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Hello David,

I have done 4 different "Duck Rides", 2 of them 
3-4 times. They are excellent rides for doing 
what I love to do which is as you say "ride in 
some pretty cool places" and compete my horse and 
myself against the trail. The Duck discourages 
racing. If Karen thought that you might want to 
use a "Duck Ride" to see how many horses you 
could beat then she might have tried to 
discourage you. It's not the lack of amenities 
that make a "Duck Ride" it's the attitude and 
philosophy of the ride manager which basically is 
IMHO that the riders are to ride within the safe 
limits of their respective horses and have fun. 
If you can do that and still be first then your 
horse truly won on that particular day. There is 
no special treatment vet. You are not to race on 
the ragged edge of your horse's maximum 
capabilities and then expect the vet to save your 
horse if you make an error. Just go and "Ride" 
and like John Teeter said, "You'll have a grand time!".
Don Huston


At 07:25 PM 10/20/2007 Saturday, you wrote:
> 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.

Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif  



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