Re: RC: Howard's story

[David LeBlanc <dleblanc@mindspring.com>]

At 12:14 PM 3/24/00 -0500, Carol Thompson wrote:
>I agree about not learning a lot from continuing LD (maybe 1 or 2 to
>rebuild some confidence).  

I don't know about this - I learn something new at every ride - and the
ride I learned the most from, I was crew!  Something I'd strongly suggest
is sitting near the vet check, in line with the trot out at a big ride, and
watch who gets pulled, and what they look like.  My friend Robin told me
I'd learn more from crewing than riding, and he was absolutely right.

>There are lots of us aiming at more
>conservative paces with our horses for whatever reason, should be easy
>to hook up with one or more of us.  

I think that any time you move up a distance notch, you ought to ride a
very conservative ride, whether that's from trails to LD or LD to 50's or
50's to 75's.  Once you've shown you can do it, then do the next one a
little quicker if you think it is safe.  You get the same points for 11th
as last, so if you're not going to top 10, take it easy.

>Carol in FL (better to be lucky than smart?)  

That, and hard working.  Saw a guy on TV talking about his success in some
sport, and he attributed it to preparation, hard work, [long list of good
traits], and 95% pure, dumb, blind luck. <g>


David LeBlanc
dleblanc@mindspring.com