> One good reason for doing LDs is that some of us don't feel like going
> back out on an event which loops back through 'home'. If the 50 has a
> loop in it through home I'll stick with the LD. Now a 50 which is new
> scenery all the way and not through home would be a definite goer. I
> like the elevator ride idea.
Funnily enough, I am of exactly the opposite opinion on this subject. I
would much rather ride a 50 that loops back to base camp (logistically
speaking, because I ride without a crew, this is much easier). And my
horses don't have a problem with looping back to 'home' because this is
something we practice at home.
When I first started training endurance (being the only person in the
whole 100 horse stable that rode endurance) I would go out on a trail
ride with one group, come back, go out again with another group, come
back, go out again with another group....
You get my point.
Now, I make a conscious effort to teach all my horse (and yes, the babies
too) that a) the excursion isn't necessarily over, just because we are
back at the barn and b) some rides end a mile (or more) away from the
barn. If a horse give a particluarly good work out and we happen to be 2
miles up the hill...I will get off, loosen the girth, run up the
stirrups, and saunter back...nibbling and snacking along the way
(especially now...as there is all that grass).
The horses must learn to turn away from home, back to home, away from
home, past home, work out in the pasture (i.e. at 'home'). I have never
had a problem with a horse not wanting to leave base camp to do the rest
of the ride (although I must confess that I would avoid a ride that made
me do the same loop 3 times to get the milage in...but that is for an
entirely different reason).
Just my preferences...the looping back to home doesn't bother me a bit.
50 mile loops are harder ('cuz I have to take more with me), and point to
points are even harder yet (not for the horse, but for me).
kat
Orange County, Calif.