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[RC] Newbie EDU,Count me in - Amy Cieri

In September 01', I held a clinic in Pennsylvania for people interested in getting started in endurance riding because there were many false ideas floating out there about what the sport was really about. People who had unmanageable horses thought that their horse would be great at the sport to " run it out of them." My clinic stressed control, LSD, and rider responsibility. It was a huge success and my way of giving back to the sport.
We started the day off with about 3 hrs. of talks and ended it with an 8 mile mock ride. Dr. Amy Worrell, vetted the horses using AERC rules and completion awards were home-made sponges and straps.
A varity of experienced endurance riders from PA volunteered their time to cover conditioning, vetting, elytes, tack, camping with your horse, crewing, and complications met in training and competition. I also made up a packet of info covering, in detail, the topics we discussed because obviously there was way too much to go over in a day. 
I called companies that advertise in trail magazines and most were willing to provide some type of product to give to the participants. AERC provided rider handbooks and some other little promotional stuff to give out. I also made sure to include CTR stuff and an AERC sign up sheet. 
Really, if you look, there is a plethora of info out there to be had. I took the time to educate myself before I went to a ride and did the best I could. The remainder of my hard core education came from experienced riders who took the time to share their knowledge. Ultimately, I took to heart the fact that my horse is my responsibility and I had better know what I'm doing and be conservative enough to catch problems before they arise.  
Endurance riders are unlike any group of riders I've ever known. In the heat of competition they will lend a hand, educate those that ask, and smile while doing it. I'm proud to be a part of it all.
I'd love to have some sort of mentoring program. Mentoring is a huge responsibility and could open up a can of worms when unexpected problems arise but there has got to be some way of helping the new riders responsibly. There are many riders like myself, not going for the top ten, just enjoying a long trail ride on a horse with a lot of gas left at the end.

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