Ridecamp: [RC] some LD and quit picking on howard

Merry Christmas, all.
The last time that I was the AERC web site I pulled up the calendar for 2003. 
There are 3 endurance rides on there for the NE (New England and a little 
south of us) region so far. I hope they add more.
it seems that if you live up here you have a lot more LD rides to choose from.
ECTRA's list if full of 25's there are a lot of 50's and 100s but tons of 
proposed 25's.
i would ride them all if i could :-)
so far being a LD'er has not been bad  experience for me, all the rides we go 
to are all 25's so there is no different treatment, from people doing 
different things.
yes, sometimes a ride official will "talk down" to you like your 5 years old, 
but its only cause they care and are trying to help you.
but if i ever went to a ride and got treated like some of you described, i 
would never go back, and wouldn't recommend the ride to any one. that is not 
a good way to attract new competitors, and new customers.(for those of you 
that run web sites and have stores and horses for sale)
Gee, when I get out to more rides and more 50's I hope people are as nice as 
I'm used to. I'm excited to get out, I plan my vacations around the rides. I 
hope to have a good ride and be treated like royalty.
I've noticed that you guys give kudos to the real good rides and rave about 
the food and the management, and hospitality. that's what would keep me 
coming back for more!
this sport involves a lot of training and commitment, research, travel time, 
money equipment.you have to love it to stay interested.
i hope that i ,or any one else who try's this out would be welcomed with open 
arms and not made to feel 3rd class, or un- welcomed, or in the way of the 
other regular riders.
on another note, i notice that its the same handful of people who post  on 
this list all the time, reply to every post, correct everybody, drag Howard 
through the mud, and seem to control this list.
i hope that people aren't becoming wary to post new things, because they are 
afraid that the regular contributors to the list are going to pick them apart
this is the best horse/endurance list on the web.
when someone new clicks on to this fine site you know what they find?  15 
posts from people who hate Howard, and
feel the need to advertise this fact in long drawn out posts, or with quick 
snide remarks, to almost every contribution he makes.
it seems like bad manners to be so rude to someone on a public forum.
i check this list almost ever day, i love it, don't get me wrong.
but i come here to get the latest news, learn things, read about how rides 
went (i love the ride stories!) and get opinions on new ideas, and what's 
working/whats not.
every time Howard gets to writing, well, here come the remarks.
I happen to like to read Howard's stories, at least he's adding to the list.
But you guys who love to hate Howard should lighten up a little, it sends a 
bad message to folks who are "just visiting" the site, and the regulars get 
tired of all the bickering.
 And lets keep those stories rolling in!

                                                                    RENE

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