A little chicken soup for endurance riders

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

I've long believed that part of our responsibility as horsepeople and
trail stewards is to foster good public relations with the general
public. How often have you been riding along, perhaps along the edge of
a public park or on multi-use trails, and encountered hikers or families
with young children? How often do those kids cry out "Horsie!" and plead
for an opportunity to "just pet the horse"? 
We often do, especially at the end of a ride, when the horses are in
their (quieter) cooldown phase. Recently in Southern California, I
encountered a classroom of kids out doing nature studies. I was riding
alone and stopped briefly to let the kids (who were actually on a trail
just below us) have a look at April, who seemed to soak up their
admiration. They called out her name and a greeting in unison.
In Maryland, my riding partner would sometimes even put a wide-eyed
youngster on top of his 21-year-old Saddlebred, who would stand like a statue.
Of course, not every horse is suited for such interactions, and I know
that liability is an ever-present concern (we always instruct the kids
to approach slowly, from the front, and pet the shoulder or neck first).
And I'm not suggesting that you abort an intensive interval training
bout to give every kid the warm fuzzies.
But all of this hit home with a story in today's Los Angeles Times about
a 12-year-old girl struck and killed by a train. What stood out in her
brief life was the youngster's love of horses. "She wanted a horse," her
father told a reporter, as he broke down in tears. "She was saving the
money we gave her to buy a horse." He said Elizabeth rode a horse only
once..."and remembered the experience fondly."
So the next time you are riding past those young pleading eyes...think
about taking three minutes out of your life to give a young person a
potentially life-changing experience...and who knows, perhaps play a
part in the creation of an endurance rider of the future.
Bobbie (we now return to normal RC programming)