Sky's first ride/Sportsmanship

[heidi sowards <ribbitttreefrog@yahoo.com>]

Sky is a friend's chubby (not so much anymore) pinto mare,
4 years old. I rode with friend's to the Alpine ride. Very
nice ride, great campground, well organized, (Thank you
Betty!!!) Anyway, Sky camped like a pro, tied to the
trailer 2 nights in a row and does not become herd bound at
all. (This is a huge plus!) I rode with a friend on her and
her horse's first ride, so we went really slow and just
gabbed and enjoyed the day. Sky recovered well at the vet
check and at the completion check, receiving all A's and
A+'s with one B in gut sounds. I saved her vet card for her
owner (all our NW rides give you your cards after the award
ceremonies, BTW.) So, all in all, she was wonderful, a
little frantic for the first couple of miles and then
settled right down to business.

Now on to the sportsmanship section. In the good category
(and I wish I knew this gal's name, maybe someone out there
can put her name to this description.) Short dark hair,
rides a gorgeous bay gelding, white star, she is at most of
the rides and is Betty Keppeler's neighbor. She was in the
rear most of the day with us, but passed somewhere on the
first 15 mile loop. We caught up with her and she was now
with a younger girl on her QH. She said she was going to
ride with this girl, as her horse was pulling so hard and
needed a buddy horse. The girls hands were raw and sore
from pulling her QH back, so this wonderful endurance
person that epitimizes the sport gave her an extra pair of
gloves and rode the rest of the day with her. It was so
very nice to see.

BUT, now, here is the second, what I would call the bad
category, (Someone correct me if I and my riding partner
overreacted!) We are in line for completion in a covered
arena, wind is blowing, so although we are out of the rain,
it is a little cold. I take off my coat to put over Sky's
rear and a gal approaches. Her horse is untacked and has a
cooler on. I ask if she is showing for BC. She says yes and
since it is my turn with the vet next I offer for her to go
ahead. It's only one horse and showing for BC is important
to me. She is totally nice and thanks me profusely. As she
is finishing her exam (remember, its still cold and we are
walking to keep from getting stiff, both my friend and I
and are the only ones left in line.) A gal approaches and
says she is going to go ahead of us because she is
continuing on for her 75. Doesn't ask, just tells us this.
Now I consider myself a nice person and don't say anything,
my friend says, you know, our horses are getting cold and
we need to get out of here. Well, she approaches the vet
and says she has priority since she is continuing on. The
vet is sympathetic to us and tries to deter her. To now
avail though, she demands someone else to come over and
give her priority over us. They all just finally let her go
first, although the vet totally sympathized with us, but
also felt pressured. Now here is my dilemma. If this would
have been a stop & go, I totally would have tried to be
accommadating! But she was there on a hold of at least 30
min. I know this to be true, because we got through our
exams, took the horses back, covered and fed them and then
I went back to the arena to get my helmet that I left
laying on the ground. This person was just standing by the
campfire with her horse, waiting for her hold time to
expire so she could leave. In my opinion, there is no
excuse for poor behaviour and was out of line, although I'm
too much a wimp to cause trouble and figure sooner or later
people will get tired of them and they'll not always get
their way. Am I wrong to feel she was being pushy and a
witch with a capital "B"?

=====
Heidi-aerc#M20935  /\_/\~
                 ~~/~~  \\~~~~
                  /   O> ) \~~~~~
                 /    __/   \~~~~~~
                (_@_/  |     \~~~~
                       |      \~~~~~~
                       |       \~~~~

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Photos - 35mm Quality Prints, Now Get 15 Free!
http://photos.yahoo.com/