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Re: Equine Endurance Thrills



> Tell your story.  What gives you the biggest trill at an endurance
> ride?  (It's what is your thrill with horses over on Equine-l, but
> we should try to get back on topic now:-)

Good idea, Wendy!

For me, it's the feeling of being a part of something big, some great 
adventure, some actual Event, to which I and my horse belong.  After 
nearly 3 years of being the outcast at every barn I've been to, because I 
don't want to rodeo and I don't want to show halter and I don't want to 
do dressage or jumping or anything else that requires a uniform and hours 
in an arena and following lots of rules, it is the most wonderful feeling 
to be with a group of people who enjoy the same horsey activities I do!  
People who place priority on the health and happiness of their horses, on 
the relationship and communication between horse and rider, on the 
sheer enjoyment of riding, and not on the performance or ribbons or 
pedigree of the horse.  

And when we're all riding in a line on the trail, in our helmets and fanny
packs and sheepskin and nylon tights and brightly-colored tack, with big
wax numbers on our horses' rears, I feel like I'm a part of some Whole
that is bigger than the sum of its parts, and I am an important piece that
helps make up the Whole.  Even though I'm new and inexperienced and ask a
lot of questions and make a lot of mistakes, no one ever makes me feel
that the Whole would be complete without me there. 

At Oconee on Saturday, there was one section of trail down a paved road
that passed by some houses, and there was a family out there, bunch of
kids, and they were shouting and waving and exclaiming over the horses,
and they got me all excited too!  Because we were actually doing it!  We
didn't finish, but by God we started, and we got 3/4 of the way through,
and I came home with a healthy, sound horse, and I'm chomping at the bit
to try it again, a little wiser this time. 

That's my thrill, just being there.

Glenda & Lakota (who is eating ALL his beet pulp now that he's home again!)



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