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Re: [RC] [RC] Time and Money to Do This Sport... getting philosophical - Mike LewisMy wife and I are in the same kind of situation. I did this sport for years before we married... now I'm finding that I've brought another person into the sport!! I grew up south of Houston... might be one of your neighbors one of these days. How friendly are the Texas crowd? I've really found the Southeast region riders very friendly--for the most part. Mike --- Dawn Carrie <rdcarrie@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Well, first of all, it depends on how you define "successful" in the sport. If you mean "racing" at the top levels, well, that leaves me out, simply because I have no interest in doing so. But if you mean being able to attend lots of rides, and usually completing, then I'm successful. My husband and I do most of the rides in our state (Texas, so large geographicl area and lots of rides), and have done a few in other states and regions as well. We haven't found the money tree yet, so we have to plan for the expenses of going to rides. We have 7 horses, 5 of which we ride. We both work full time. We ration our vacation time, jealously saving it for rides. My boss is good about letting me take time off to drive to rides on Fridays. Being able to attend lots of rides, as well as find time to condition horses, is all about organizing your time and making sure you get it all done. Conditioning my horses is my number one priority, and I just make sure it gets done. It might mean we do our grocery shopping at Walmart at 9 pm, that we eat a lot of simple meals, that the house doesn't get cleaned all that often, laundry is being folded at 10 pm, etc. But it can be done. It helps (in a way) that my husband rides too. I say "in a way" since the fact that he rides means that he understands the need to condition and that other things often go by the wayside. But it also means double the entry fees, two more horses to shoe, etc. Dawn in East Texas On 2/12/07, Mike Lewis <mlewis73@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:I've been riding endurance for about 9 years now, including a 4 yearbreakdue to work duties and graduate school. I have been wondering howfolksafford this sport financially and in terms of time. Big changes sinceIlast rode endurance regularly: got married and started a family, andwaspromoted at work. My desire is to ride at least 90% of the rides in my region during any given season, and to go as far with this sport as I can. I want toridewell in some big races overseas sometime within the next 40 years.:-)After riding an old gelding for years, I finally have a horse whomight becompetitive in long races (and want more such horses in my stable),andbeing an avid athlete myself know I can take just about anything thetrailoffers. Bottom line from what I've observed is that it looks like most folkswhoare successful in this sport are self employed, are part of a wealthy family who share this hobby, or are employed by a gracious employerwhoallows plenty of time off to trailer to rides on Thursdays/Fridays.Itseems difficult for us mid-30-somethings with a "regular job" andfamilyresponsibilities to dedicate the time and money endurance racingrequiresto be successful. I'm not here to gripe as much as I'm looking for folks' anecdotestellingme I'm not so unique in my search to give endurance racing morepriorityin my life despite job responsibilities and pay situation that makesdoingso difficult. :-) Would be interested in hearing from folks who are excelling in this sport despite demands of job/family/pay situations. How'd ya do it? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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