Re:A repsonse: long; ridecamp bandannas and camaraderie

["LINDA SWARTZ" <rudeco@worldnet.att.net>]

L-C

Thanks for such an encouraging post!   ;^ }  LOL....

It's funny, but I have an editorial that has been bubbling up inside me for days...the caldron churns and gurgles first.  Have been at the horse thing since I could walk.  I told my grammy when I was 5 that I would marry a horse someday.  I stole horses to ride; I wouldn't wash for days after a horse contact; I let my cousin's horse chew my hair off at 8.  My parents were poor and I couldn't have my own but I sure did offer our yard for hobbled grasses and sit on the backs of happily munching equines for hours.  I could cover 32 years of horse yearning...when (at 33, I acquired my first two boys (now ancients) I was in heaven.  Then, it started. Because one was registered AQHA out of fabulous Florida Racing Stock...it was suggested that we

1) show halter cause his look was in (yikes were the people ever focused and yikes I just didn't fit )  2) because he was racing stock you must do games (yikes, he was flat footed and yikes were those people ever focused)

Okay, then, take your Tennessee Walker and try dressage aka hunter or what was passing in 1982 for "proper riding"  Oops, didn't fit there!

Same old focused attitude.  Hmm, so, we just kicked back and rode our guys on wonderful timber lands for 10 years.  Then we moved to our ranchette and enjoyed that and the surrounding riding for another 9 years.

   Then, enters a neighbor who has a burning desire to do (shshshsh, barrels).  She buys a western pleasure trained, gorgeous paint.  Guess what?  He hates barrels, hates moving at any speed other than 1st gear. But, relentless in her pursuit of focus, she buys a trailer and I take her shopping for horse mats where I meet  " Trail Riders who Camp and Ride and Yikes even compete!"  Well, that outing has cost us a fortune.  Our two original guys hated camping!  They hated being with a group.  Yikes were those folks focused!  And, on a " pleasure outing following a focused leader" my TW and husband entered black water (no, no) and mired in Florida quicksand.  (That's a entire other adventure) And, as I dove under water to did them out, spewing mud and prayers, I bargained with the dear Lord about my future duties.  So, not wanting to be quitters, we purchased over 2 years, two younger  mounts,  a computer for home, and memberships to every ride club we could.  Because of the computer, I've met wonderful people in Ridecamp, bought my bandanas that hang as deco on my trailer, laughed, cried, and shouted hooray, vicariously and have ridden with very focused people only in non competitive situations.  Each time my very focused friends suggest I do a ride with them for miles, points or other goals, I suggest that I crew, cook, or cheer them on...

     Don't get me wrong, I'm no wimp. I'm extremely competitive and that's why I can't compete...I get nasty and too tunnel visioned when I'm so focused.  In the corporate world, I held my spot with the bigdogs. I wasn't afraid of water-potty contests...but I just love my horses so much that I know my lolly gagging and moddycoddling would not be conducive to what I'd have to do to be "good"... and, oh yes, there is something called "Road Rage" that I try hard to avoid and twice, on trails, with a smile in my heart and a song on my lips, I have had Trail Rage and nearly killed the dumb bunnies that ran us off the trail.  And, then there were the X#@!'s on hunter's galloping toward me on a track, the wrong side...which resulted in my acquiring a fractured ankle (of which stitches for hardware surgery received attempted removal, today, yanked but no release! Durn, the burn)...which has kept me from doing anything more than round pen work or very low key rides for 9 months.

 

People with common sense and a sense of discretion seem to lose it when a goal blocks their vision and their focus becomes tunneled.  The world is full of it...deep breath, shake it off, vent, and keep doing what is fun for you.

 

But, always ride and drive defensively, expecting someone else to bury you without a clue.

 

Happy Trails ( no pun intended)

 

Linda in DeLeon....dad burn stitches!

-----Original Message-----
From: llayman@neorx.com <llayman@neorx.com>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Wednesday, September 09, 1998 3:42 PM
Subject: ridecamp bandannas and camaraderie

     I bought a ridecamp bandanna at Bully Wully, wore it throughout the
     entire 50 miles to keep my neck cool, and nobody said a word to me
     about it. I'm not so sure about this camaraderie. Me and my two
     teammates had 25 milers crowding us on single track trails with bad
     footing (we pulled off at the first SAFE opportunity). I had 50 milers
     crowding us on a single track steep scary trail wanting to pass while
     I waited for a team mate to pull himself out of the sticker bushes and
     haul himself back onto his horse. Granted it was steep, but they were
     not slipping off the side of the hill, and dang, we had a rider down
     (way down, on the side of the hill).  As we moved to a wider spot (the
     middle of a creek) and they passed us (rapidly and rudely) I asked
     them to have a first aid team to meet us at the finish line to check
     on my teammate (now mounted and moving), and they ended up sending out
     the head vet with a trailer to find the horse with the broken leg.
     That scared the hell out of our crew, who sat biting their nails and
     shaking until they saw us come in safely.
    
     I have yet to go to a ride and find this all wonderful group of
     ridecampers that will go out of their way to help their fellow riders.
     I talk to them on the internet, but they are not out on the trails.
     Two years ago, my horse and I nose-dived into a erosion control gravel
     pit (the really big kind) and the two women in the lead I had been
     tailing left me there, in a gravel pit, hanging onto my horse for dear
     life, while they galloped away to win the race! (I came in fourth,
     with gravel embedded in my hip, after regaining control of my mount).
     So all you nice ridecampers out there, get off the keyboard and out
     onto the trails where you can set a good example for the rude, unsafe,
     snotty, selfish riders I usually meet!
    
     Linda-Cathrine
    
    
    
     Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 09:02:43 -0600
     From: Jerald Thiessen <thiesj@tdbank.ca>
     Subject: Re: RideCampers Bob and Amber Roberts and "Comaraderie"
    
     Bob, There is away identify yourself at a ride. Just buy a ridecamp
     scarf from Steph and tie it to your trailer or truck antenna. They are
     bright yellow and do get noticed. Jerald