Re: Manners/LD riders Hahira

[TrotALongK@aol.com]

It's all so easy to judge others when we think that we're doing it right, but 
are we really?
At my first 25 mile ride I was almost run over by a "pack" of 50milers racing 
for top ten. Scatris ("Slim") and I didn't get out of the way fast enough at 
a narrow creek crossing and I was shocked about how ruthless these riders 
blasted past us. Well, we were about a 1/4 mile from the finish line.... 
Lesson learned that day: Endurance isn't always just about "finishing". <g> 
Almost exactly 2 years later I experienced a similar situation while doing a 
50 mile ride, however with a different twist. Things had been going well for 
me and Slim that day. The last vet check was 3 miles from the finish and we 
had come in with 6 or 7 other riders, while the first 4 or 5 were just 
leaving. My horses pulse came down faster than the others and I saw my 
chance. I left a couple minutes in front and figured that it would be easy to 
finish without a head-to-head race. The footing was good and as soon as we 
hit the dirt road I let Slim canter. I came around a corner and saw 2 slow 25 
milers riding side by side. While they were still about 80 feet ahead I 
called out "On your left". To make a long story short, one rider went to the 
left side (which I was planning on taking), the other one was swerving 
around, and since I hadn't slowed my horse down in time, Slim had to do a 
full stop behind them. I immediatly felt that something went wrong: he was 
off in the rear left. The two 25 milers just gave me big looks and kept on 
heading down the trail while I was almost crying 'cause I was so angry about 
MYSELF for not having been more careful. Anyway, we got lucky after all. I 
walked Slim the last mile and by the time we reached the finish line he 
trotted out fine again. Of course all the riders that I had hoped to beat 
past me and I ended up in 12th place, but I was really, really glad that 
nothing worse had happened. (Btw, top ten awards were buckets - got enugh of 
those at home ;-)). Lesson learned: Don't assume that another rider is able 
to realize you're coming and get out of your way within a few seconds. Even 
when you think there's plenty of room and you did announce that you want to 
pass, you still should slow down. 
My point: I've learned to better play it safe, leave more room and be 
prepared to take a step to the side, no matter wether I'm the one passing or 
being passed, wether I'm racing or not. At the same time I think we all 
should keep in mind that everybody makes mistakes. Of course there are people 
who are just plain ignorant. But maybe the person who's racing by really 
didn't mean to run you over, and just as your horse might be difficult to 
handle when others are blasting by, so might be the one that's racing down 
the trail. That doesn't make it right, just a little more understandable. I 
think a seasoned 50 or 100 miler should have his/her horse under control, 
versus a 25 miler doing this as a training ride for green horse and rider 
should be met with more tolerance. But I wouldn't expect a 100miler at mile 
95 to necessarly consider this. 
In the end what it boils down to is that this is all part of the sport and 
one has to figure out how to deal with it. Blaming others is just a waste of 
time and energy.

Kirsten


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