Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Age Distribution for AERC Members and Riders Revised

>
> What? Nobody told me!  No mom kept saying something about that stuff but
> I thought she'd made it up.

Yeah, my mom was kinda like that, too....  <g>

>Personally, I don't think it's that they're competing...then they quit
> for a few years and come back. I think you have youth (family members)
> whose parents have brought them with them, and adults who just don't find
> endurance until they're close to 30.

I think the majority of the riders are ones who didn't find it until they
were in the over-30 crowd, finally had enough shekels to rub together to get
a horse, went lookin' for something fun and exciting to do, and found us.
But I have seen several juniors come back after a hiatus for college and
early career.

> Sounds stupid, but I really wanted to do endurance at age 17. Wrote a
> paper about it...but it was "far away". I did hear of one ride 2 hours
> away, but to me that was "far away". I had a truck & trailer, but horse
> shows are local...then when you get good you go far away. I guess I just
> thought you had to start local and move up.  When you do a graph that
> includes family membership I think it skews your stats. Those 5 year olds
> just don't join on individual memberships.  Can you do a graph of the
> average age of the first time, non-family member? (since you have nothing
> else to do with your time right? >eg<)

Well, I started at 17, too.  But AERC was only one year old then.  And my
problem was that I'd only heard of one ride--Tevis--and it was during haying
season.  For some reason unknown to anyone, I somehow got on the mailing
list for the Nevada All-States (Virginia City) 100--and it WASN'T during
haying season, so I conned my parents into going down and crewing for me.
Sum total of exposure to the sport was that I knew two people who had done
Tevis.  :-)  But boy howdy, we finished, and after that, 50's sure looked
good.....  And I think the longest hiatus I've taken from riding has been
the past couple of years--and I'm much more chicken than I was then, and
started back on LD's....  :-)

Heidi


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