Honestly, that's where the ride was, and lots of
riders apparently took the sign literally.
And within minutes of my arrival there on
Sunday afternoon, I saw a swaggering cowboy, rodeo buckle and all, swearing as
he rode in to a vet check, then dismounting and slapping the reins at an
obviously distressed horse. If I hadn't been forewarned by recent posts, I
probably would have left right then. But I waited to see what would happen, and
yes, the horse was pulled after an hour or so. I overheard someone say the rider
had been advised to take the horse into town for observation/treatment, but I
don't know what happened. The same rider was
allowed to start the 50 mile the following day more than 3 hours late, and it
was partly the dread of seeing him come in with another sorry-looking horse that
led me to leave right after BC judging for the previous day's 100.
I've recorded many other observations but won't
include them here for fear of offending people or inciting their
wrath.
I'm still interested in traditional endurance and
will continue to condition my horse with that goal in mind, but endurance
"racing" does not interest me at all.
