Re: Pre-entering rides

[Lucy Chaplin Trumbull <elsie@calweb.com>]

Deena Meyer writes:
>  ...it's just human nature
>  to linger and "wait and see" instead of making a binding commitment
>  with a sizeable entry fee.

and Barbara McCrary writes:
> I don't
> think it is asking too much of a rider to commit to doing a ride one week
> before the event.  In most circumstances, it reflects lack of planning on the
> part of the rider, to just drift in at the last minute and expect all the
> conveniences and rewards.

I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of pre-registering. And I
am the least organised person in the world when it comes to
"prior commitments". I hate committing myself ahead of time.

While lying awake at around 4am this morning... 

(using my time totally productively, by fretting about how to 
find out if the EZ boot I just bought will fit, and how to 
practise fitting it - bearing in mind it was bought for when 
the shoe fell *off*, and while the shoe was still *on*, there 
was no way in the world the damn thing can be put on)

...I was pondering on the idea of ride-managership. My thoughts 
revolved around "what a shame it was that the Western States 50 
was no longer being run" (a highly civilised ride that starts 
around lunchtime, in order to mimic Tevis conditions - it was
run on the second half of the Tevis trail). "Hmmm, I thought...
and realised, "Lucy, don't go there". Ride-managership would be
a *total* nightmare. Which is why pre-registering is a must in
my book.

So saying, under the Murphy's Law that Karen Chaton threw out 
yesterday ("never, ever, let your horse know ahead of time that 
it is going to a ride at the coming weekend"), I still have a 
certain amount of superstition. If I pre-register, what's the 
betting that the horse will step on the only nail in a five 
mile radius the night before the ride? <g>

-- 
**************************************************************
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com
Repotted english person in Sacramento, CA 
http://www.calweb.com/~elsie

with Mouse and Provo
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