It seems like this discussion started after the PanAms because of the loss of horse life and now it's about new riders and restrictions. I'm curious - have any of the lost horses in the last two years been new riders?
Strict definition of new riders seems a grey area to me. My neighbor, Jan, rode her first rides this year but has been a true, genuine horseman for years. Her very first ride was with me - and it was my 4th lifetime 25 mile ride. It was 6 months after a total knee replacement for me and I could not go fast. In fact, it took us 6 hrs. and 10 minutes to finish the ride, but we did finish and do have the completed vet cards to prove it in spite of the fact that my personal records read: Pull, O/T. We were not pulled but we were indeed overtime. My second 25 miler this year was completed also and this time it was 10 minutes before the cutoff so I actually have a completion and a healthy horse. My first rides were in the early 70s and early 80s so there is no record of them. They were also end of the pack finishes. That's the way I prefer to ride but I want to do it because my horse and I enjoy it that way, not because I "have" to do it that way.
Jan's second ride was at the Oregon 100 and she entered the 50 mile ride and completed in the area of six hours in 19th place I think. Her horse had previous experience but by the definition proposed she would not have been allowed to do that. For her it would not have been fair to be excluded from that competion. Jan was riding with an experienced rider but a rider who was not, and has never been, an AERC member. They still had healthy horses at the end of the ride.
Perhaps clinic rides for beginning riders in all areas of the country would help new riders. I know that I hope to enter some of the training rides offered on the Tevis trail as I hope to do that ride in two or three years. But first I have to be able to comfortably complete a few more 25s and then start on the 50s. My horse does have 50 mile experience. Not a lot but some and she has completed healthy. I hope to keep her that way and I read every word on Ridecamp. I'm had horses for over 40 years and I'm still learning a lot.
I left endurance many years ago to return to the showring because we had a colt born that was very special, but I have always remembered, "To Finish Is To Win." I'm back to do just that.
