Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Title: Message

IMO it was rude, but sometimes riders forget their manners especially when they are also dealing with a difficult horse, or if they truly are "new" endurance or LD riders, maybe they haven't been taught proper trail manners yet.  In either case, I would NOT consider it rude if you spoke up, requested that she stay until your horses had a chance to drink. In fact, it's almost like protecting your child, you need to be the advocate for both your child and your horse, take measures to keep them safe as much as possible, sometimes that means speaking up and telling someone they are causing a problem for you even if it's not in your nature to do this.   I learned this the hard way, not speaking up when a group of 6 or so riders trotted up to the trough when my horse had just started drinking. He was intimidated and was pushed out of the way, wouldn't drink, they all trotted off, and then he wanted only to leave with them even though there were 2 horses with him. I was ahead again at the next trough 5 miles later, that time I yelled loudly (and politely I hope) for them to please stay back until we were done, they waited,  I thanked them and walked away quietly but only after asking if their horses would be okay. Hopefully, we all learned something that day.

 

Kathy

RHONDA LEVINSON wrote:

I have a quick ride etiquette question.  I did an LD last weekend at Eagle Ranch in Collins, MO.  [Great ride, btw.  Well managed and a lot of fun.]  Anyway, I ride a fairly stolid, placid paint mare that I'm training for my daughter and she walks pretty slowly, so I knew people would be passing us on the rocky areas we had to walk.  But, this one person passed us, and then each time she got pretty far ahead, kept turning her horse to face us.  The horse would start to take off with her, so she'd stop him and turn him to face us, and then turn and go again. 
 
My mare didn't care all that much, but the horse we were riding with got pretty anxious very time the horse would leave us again.  And the part *I* minded very much is that the woman did it at the water places.  We'd come over a hill and they'd be at the bottom at the creek.  The horse would see us, calm down, drink, and then the woman would take off as soon as he was done, so even my calm Paint mare wouldn't drink. 
 
So, is that kind of behavior okay at rides and I'm just out of line to resent it a bit?  It wasn't a huge deal because it was only a 17 mile loop and the mare drank when we got back to camp; just a little irritating. 

Rhonda