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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC-Digest] Vol: 03.5937 - Kathy MayedaI think this "advice" I received earlier about pulling a horse out of pasture also falls into the category of doing a 50 miler right off the bat, which some old-timers advocate.
My lessee is doing her first 50 on my semi-retired endurance horse because she is riding with me and my older mare on my mare's first 50. It's supposedly an easy ride, and the two horses are extremely bonded so it is as much for a convenience for me as anything else! Beau could mentor Beamer, and I could watch Beau's metabolics easier than worrying about them while they ride an LD without me. I decided this after doing an extreme ride with her this last weekend - if she could do 30 miles and survive getting lost with me in Big Basin without water troughs - she could survive 50 miles on well-groomed, well-marked trail in local county park with lots of water. And I ain't riding another stinkin LD until I get my other crazy horse sane enough to do endurance.
I'm glad a did a 25 miler 1st because we did it without a mentor, made our mistakes, had a blast, but I was so emotionally drained afterwards there was no way I could have done a 50.
Let's face it - the old-timers were probably more experienced with horses anyway. A lot of us are having our first horse in middle age without any basic horsemanship skills. It's true that an experienced horseperson/endurance rider could nurse an iffy horse through a ride that a total horse newbie couldn't. I had my horses for several years before I did my first LD, and I think that I still lacked a lot of horsemanship skills at that time (and probably still do!).
Or maybe you have good horsemanship skills but not endurance specific skills. I certainly couldn't navigate a jumper course or cut a cow.
I still say just do it, and you will learn things as you go along. People are glad to help you out on rides - I made a lot of friends riding as a newbie on my first ride. Ask a lot of questions and just take it easy.
K.
On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 11:49 AM, Natalie Herman <aylisha@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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