Re: RC: Re: Difference between LD and other distances

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/16/2000 9:06:39 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
sbrown@wamedes.com writes:

<< Their reaction -- "Why would anyone bother riding the lower
 distance if the organization won't even count their miles when they're
 helping support the organization?"  This is just the unanimous viewpoint in
 my half-dozen rat study of people involved in other disciplines. ;-)
  >>

Answer: to TEACH and LEARN.  To teach a horse how to play the game, to learn 
how he is going to react to the game, to test whether a young horse can 
tolerate a lower level of stress before subjecting him to the higher level, 
to discover whether a horse has recovered sufficiently from an injury to go 
back to the higher level, to discover whether the rider is well enough 
conditioned to handle the greater distances...  any number of good reasons.  
And besides, LD is just fun once in awhile...on those days when you (generic) 
just don't feel like working that hard, but you want to go for a good long 
ride and you want to visit your friends.  And as far as sampling the sport, 
that's exactly what LD was originally designed to offer.  And there are a 
great many who still feel that is what LD is designed to do. 

Barbara