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Lisa,
You've actually asked the RIGHT question. For some,
it's all about FUN, regardless of the experience for the
horse. (I do believe we can have both).
It goes back to what Tom Sites was talking about - this
isn't a sport about US, it's a sport about horses, that we have to set our egos
aside and rise about that need to feed them. THAT'S what I feel
endurance is all about. I want the horse I bring to an event to have a
great time, not be a basket case because we couldn't take the time to do some
basic homework before getting there.
Does that mean accidents won't happen? Of course
not. Does it mean I've made the experience safer for my horse and my
fellow riders? Definitely.
A couple of days ago I took my green horse on a normal
training ride, following a really sensible and slow horse. A few hundred
yards into the ride, we had to cross a sandy creek which I'd only crossed later
in the summer when it was lower. We followed that horse into the creek,
but not right behind, a couple feet to the left, and sure enough my horse found
the deep spot in the creek and as soon as he felt the water touch his belly, he
gave one big buck, throwing his head under water and me into the shallow water
ahead of him (thank God for sandy creeks).
He scrambled out just fine, and to my astonishment, didn't
step on me while doing so. I climbed out the creek, my shoes squishing,
soaked head to toe. My riding partner looked at me and started laughing,
and I had to join in of course. My poor horse was standing there looking
very disconcerted and I know I'm now going to have to spend some time
re-training him for water crossings. In a literal sense, I won't be
throwing him into the deep end of the pool - we'll go back to the little creek
crossings and work back up. We ended up having a fine ride, although
riding soaking wet is not my favorite experience. [note to underwear
conversation - there is no cure for fully soaked underwear... :-)
]
A bizarre twist to the end of this story: on our way
back, not 200 yards from coming back to that creek crossing, a large (4'
diameter) tree had fallen across the trail, sometime between when we had started
and our return (2.5 hours later). That would have been a fatal accident
had we been under it when it fell. As it was, it saved me from having to
figure out how to get that horse back across the creek because we could not even
get there. We doubled back and took a loop to the road and walked back
that way.
What does this all mean? Nothing...it was just a good
story for a Saturday night. :-)
Mike
This might be a stupid question, seeing as how my experience with horses
in groups comes from trail horses and show horses...but: Why would
sensible people who supposedly have some idea of horse behavior (one would
hope) bring horses to an endurance ride without knowing how they react around
other horses, then controlling them accordingly? It doesn't make much
sense to me to throw a green horse into a pack of other animals and riders
that are all on edge and simply assume it will behave itself just because I
want it to. I never made that assumption when I was showing pleasure
horses, and those are deadheads a lot of the time. Excitement and
anticipation are contagious in herd animals. And if they are animals
that don't play well with new acquaintances in the sandbox, it
stands to reason they won't react well to the environment at the start of an
endurance ride.
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