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[RC] 3 day 100's - rides2far@xxxxxxxxe good at CTR. It takes a special horse to ride nicely with a big mob of riders, come i>>>>nto a check and pulse down, not to just below criteria, but as low as possible...with no sponging except for natural water, along with the rest of the detailed exam they go through. I >>>still advise newbies to start out in CTR rather than LD, since it teaches you so much about >>>taking care of your horses. My problem with this concept is that some of the best things I learned about taking care of my horse would be illegal in CT. SPONGING the horse down at the vet check is such a great pick me up... getting off and walking a while if my legs are starting to cramp up...that was such an alien concept to me when I was a trail rider. We used to switch horses with each other when we were all just WALKING to give out butts a break and it honestly never crossed my mind that it would be a great idea to hop off and walk a while! Going my own pace...not somebody else's is another thing endurance taught me. I spent years trying to get my big fast walking App to stay with the group instead of walking off and leaving them. Endurance taught me there were other horses out there that could comfortably pace along with him and I should ride with them. Use my own brain now and then. Come up with new ways to make my horse more comfortable or to do things better and try them out...not wonder if they're legal... I think you could make a pretty good argument that in many ways endurance is a good place to start. I just prefer to start them in 50 mile endurance rides. I think they're a little calmer atmosphere. I don't know about the "detailed exam they go through" I could have sworn that at the one I worked they were just doing pulses on trail and the vet check was after they got back to camp. They lined them up down the trail like a halter class, everybody loosened their girth and pulled out a little piece of cardboard to fan with . The pulse takers worked their way down the line taking the pulse. I didn't see a good way to know which dropped fastest, the ones checked last had more time to recover. If they happened to be stuck in that line next to one that was showing body language of wanting to kick surely that affected the pulse. I was feeling very claustrophobic doing the pulses because this was a narrow jeep road and there was really nowhere to go if a lot of kicking cut loose. This was NATRC, others may be different. Angie McGhee ____________________________________________________________ Click here to find the perfect picture with our powerful photo search features. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTEuJElstO8xcLqQI6mbMJfbSXX3KOTC9hY8XPo3lDnIlHgzwNOs2c/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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