Re: 25's

["Mary Burgess" <mburgess@theglobal.net>]

Ann -
	I couldn't agree more, and your story about the King of the 25's really
made me smile.  This past year my 10 year old daughter got the endurance
"bug" and to my great delight has been competing with me successfully all
summer long.  Her first 25 mile ride last spring was "won" by a guy who was
a polo player, on a TB gelding that was 4 years old and had never done an
"endurance" event before (neither rider nor horse).  The course was poorly
marked, and the 25 mile course ended up being more like 35 miles counting
all the times everyone got lost, and this "genius" galloped his horse the
entire way.  It took him 59 minutes to reach criteria after the finish.  I
was doing the fifty on my stud, so I didn't run into him, but my daughter
said he galloped past a group of them scattering horses and riders in all
directions.  I didn't know the guy, but after the race, the local
newspapers published the top finishers and Kate and I were on the list, so
he looked us up in the phonebook, and called, exulting over his "victory." 
He thought the sport was exactly what he wanted to do with his horse, and
couldn"t understand all the hoopla about Arabians, since his TB had passed
them all and won so easily!!!!  I didn't have the heart to tell him he was
the only one that was racing!  I suspect I'll have to break it to him at
some point, since he consistently gallops through bunches of riders on the
longer distances with absolutely no thought of trail etiquette, and my
stallion is definitely going to discourage him with his rear hooves if he
keeps it up!  Mary

----------
> From: Blankenship, Ann <ABlankenship@commerce.ca.gov>
> To: 'ridecamp' <ridecamp@endurance.net>
> Subject: 25's
> Date: Tuesday, January 27, 1998 02:10 PM
> 
> I don't think there should be any acknowledgment for the "winner" of a
> 25.  I think the finishers should be announced in alphabetical order (as
> they almost always are here in our area) to discourage the weekend
> warriors from killing their horses and thinking they're something hot if
> they come in first.