Re: RC: Re 50's for newbies..irresponsibility???

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/14/00 10:40:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Merryben@aol.com writes:

<< Oh yeah, I forgot about Bob Suhr.  He rode a horse the first time when he 
was 
 50 and his first endurance ride was when he was 55 and rode the 
Tevis....Even 
 I do not recommend that.  I have my limits...... >>

My Dad started endurance riding when he was 60.  He never joined AERC, so 
never got "credit" for his miles, but rode something over 1000 AERC miles 
between then and when he was 68.  He only Top Tenned once or twice (by 
accident) but I don't ever remember him getting pulled, either.  He even did 
all 6 days of the first multi-day in the NW his last year riding--he rode 
with Frank Bennett, who was the same age at the time, and they had a 
wonderful time.  (He's 81 now so this was awhile back.)  I don't think he 
ever rode a LD ride.  His feeling was that he had ridden 25 and 30 miles 
plenty of times at home on the ranch as a younger man, and didn't see any 
point in paying an entry fee to do that.  (Please, no flames--this is not a 
slam on LD riders--just an old rancher's commentary on his own goals in 
endurance.)  While that is nothing compared to Bob Suhr's record, it just 
further illustrates that people have different levels of entry skills and 
different goals about what it is they want to do.  It would behoove us to 
remember to treat people AND horses as individuals, and not try to push 
square pegs into round holes...

Heidi