Re: 25, 50 & 100 Just do it!

["Shelley @ TRC" <trc@gte.net>]

BRAVO!!!!!!

----------
> From: Marinera <Marinera@aol.com>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: 25, 50 & 100  Just do it!
> Date: Wednesday, January 28, 1998 1:08 PM
> 
> I was going to keep quiet for awhile, but find it too hard.  First of
all, if
> we all spend as much time on ridecamp as I do, we'll never get around to
> training our horses for any length and that will be the end of endurance
> riding!!
> 
> I would like to encourage riders to be less afraid of moving up to the
longer
> rides.  Hundreds of riders have started out with hundred mile ride as the
> first effort.  Honest, that is a fact.  A 50 is not twice as tough as a
25, a
> hundred is not twice as tough as a 50.  You can do it.  If you are in
over
> your head, pull at the next vet check. So no harm done except maybe to
your
> ego, but not the horse. At least then you'll know what you and your horse
can
> do. Every experienced rider knows that a fast 50 is harder on a horse
than an
> average 100. So just keep your head screwed on right and at least try.
> I would like to add my voice to those of Kim Fue, Joe Long, Bob Morris
Ramey,
> Peticolas-Stroud, Ann Blankenship, Truman Prevatt, Terry Wooley-Howes,
Glenda
> Snodgrass, Peggy Norton and many others. Since there are many new members
of
> ridecamp, and at the risk of being redundant, I am re-posting something I
sent
> to ridecamp over a year ago.  I still feel the same way. 
> Julie Suhr
> 
> Originally posted in Jan. 1997.
> Maybe some background on limited distance rides is in order. Endurance
riding
> was flourishing before the advent of 25 LD rides and there are hundreds
of
> people out there who have never done a limited distance ride.    Nobody
> fought the concept  of limited distance rides more than I did originally
and
> few are in favor of it as much as I am now.  My antagonism was that when
I
> started endurance riding there was one ride only..the Tevis Cup Ride. 
There
> was no one to go to for advice except Wendell Robie who said "keep them
lean
> and have a wet saddle blanket in the barn at night".  And so I overrode
and
> underfed.  There were no electrolytes, fanny packs, heart monitors or
other
> of the accouterments that we consider so necessary today and which I
depend
> on totally.  The pulse requirement was 72. Both the horse and I sank
> miserably at the first vet check on our maiden voyage.  I learned that
the
> backbone of the Sierra was more formidable than the golf course I trained
> around.  I learned that I was not fit and I learned that I was riding the
> wrong breed.  Help came in the form of a horse loaned to me that lived at
the
> end of the  Tevis trail, was trained on the trail and it was a walk in
the
> park.  And I was hooked.  Hooked to the point where  I could not wait a
whole
> year for the Tevis Ride to come back (still the only ride, remember). 
And so
> in 1967 I started the Castle Rock Challenge Ride..the oldest 50 miler in
the
> U.S.  The Auburn people poo pooed a little ride of fifty miles, but I was
> trying to draw on a local group and they simply were not as turned on as
I by
> the challenge of a 100 miler.   Well, as time went on, many people for
> various reasons did not want to go fifty miles, but they wanted to be
> endurance riders so the concept of 25 milers arrived upon the scene. For
> those of us who  egos were for whatever reason somehow tied up with being
> "endurance " riders, the thought of others coming along and diluting our
> sport was awful. Some ride managers were convinced that they could not
make
> ends meet without the added income from LD riders.  And so LD rides began
to
> be incorporated into the 50 and 100 mile events, but ONLY after it was
> written in the AERC Handbook "that an endurance ride by definition, is
not
> less than 50 miles".  Our fragile egos were preserved and less ambitious
> riders had the shorter trail to fulfill their needs.  As time went on, I
> became a fan of LD rides.   I saw the benefits for young new horses, the
> introduction to a sport for new riders who could make a personal decision
as
> to whether to set their goals on higher mileage, stay where they were or
> decide it wasn't for them anyway.  In addition, it did bail some rides
out
> financially.  
> With the risk of alienating some, which I regret, 25 miles does not
require a
> tremendous amount of training and its participants  have not really
proven a
> whole lot.  I can swim, but I am not an Olympic swimmer.  I can jog, but
I am
> not a marathon runner.  I do not think this makes me a lesser person.  It
> means that in these particular fields I am not a shining star.  But I can
> ride fifty or a hundred miles and this does make me an endurance rider. 
It
> means that I have done my home work and I have had personal aspirations.
>  There is another category of riders.... those who because of personal
> problems, physical disabilities, time restraints or other reasons cannot
opt
> for the longer distances but they love their horses, they love the
trails,
> they want to be a part of the whole scene. And so we have 25 milers and
> everyone should be happy.  I realize that I, sooner than 99 percent of
the
> people in this sport, will be forced to cut back to 25 milers.  (I just
seem
> to pre-date most of the people riding).  When that time comes, I hope
that
> God will give me the grace to accept the fact that I am no longer an
> endurance rider, I am an ex-endurance rider.  (Hey, if Joe Montana can be
an
> ex-football player, I guess I can be an ex-endurance rider).  I watched
my
> wonderful Gazal's dam at age 25 do her first LD ride with an 8 year old
on
> her back. That didn't make  either of them an endurance horse or an
endurance
> rider, but, boy, were we proud. One of the best horseman I have ever
known,
> (now gone) could not have ridden 25 miles due to a disability.  My
admiration
> for
> him was greater than for any of my 100 mile cohorts.  No, he was  not an
> endurance rider in my book but he ranks higher in my mind than any that
are.
> So let's each find our place in the sun and be happy that we can be out
there
> at all..regardless of our chosen distance.