Re: Ride Costs

[LSimoni197@aol.com]

Fees and membership costs affect some of us differently than others.  I live
in San Jose, the land of the upwardly mobil, this is where it is easy to
charge whatever fee or price the traffic will bear.  I have 6 children, my
husband was a school teacher.  We could get horses and ponies, people just
give them away.  Through the years I have had a couple of good horses and 3 of
my kids are way above average horsemen.  We would ride 30-40-50-60- miles in a
day just for pleasure.  We could not afford to spend any money to ride.
Between all of us, we have only been in about 10 endurance rides.  Conditioned
horses who could top 10 or top 5 when taken out.

Please just remember that the high cost of endurance does keep many great
horses and riders away from the competition.  A person can ride the same
mileage that day who cannot afford to pay the entry fee.  My first LD ride, a
teenage girl hauled me to, paid my entry fee, and got a picture for me because
we got the BC award.  My horses and I could ride with those who got National
Titles from AERC, but we could not pay the entry fees to compete.

My situation is improved now.  My Baby graduates from Collage in a few months.
I hope this story reminds us all that this is still an elitist club, and that
there are still many others who cannot afford the fees to race, with or
without an additional $10.00.

Lynge