Frank, that's a great piece of wisdom.
And as I've told you before, what you say is always very well thought-out and
wise. Quite possibly, I've never had a winning horse, but mostly I'm not a
person with a winning-type mentality. I'm not very competitive, and I
really don't care if I win. I have finished first on exactly ONE ride, and
when that happened, I expected there to be bells ringing in my head. When
I didn't hear any, I realized that for me, winning was overrated. The
biggest thrills I've had came from chasing someone to the finish
line......and placing second to their first, or third to their second. It
was the chase, not the result that gave me the adrenaline rush. We all
come in different mind-sets; some WANT and NEED to win, some don't care, and
some of us are just happy to be out there smelling the flowers, the sagebrush or
pines. That's one of the great things about this sport....it is many
things to many people.
In a message dated 2/19/2003 8:42:54 AM Mountain Standard
Time, steph@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
writes:
So... is it ok to be fast if you do
understand that there is something more important?
Steph, That's an interesting
question. I think the answer is
"yes." I was talking to a very experienced,
well-travelled and successful endurance rider a couple of days ago and I told
him, "You know, I don't know if I'll ever be able to ride fast. I've had
the horse(s) to go faster, but I don't think I know how to ride
fast." He chuckled and made a very kind remark
about my horses. What I meant by the statement was, I am
a "worse case scenario" kind of guy...I was trained by our government
to be that way. It's something I can't seem to
shake. So no matter how well-prepared my horse is, or I
am, or how benign the day and trail might seem, I always find something to
WORRY about INTENSELY. Ugh. It is torture.
So, I find myself concentrating on the feel of the sun on my face during a
cold morning start, or the sound of the hoof-falls around me in the dark, or
just let the electricity of the exciting riders and horses tickle me all
around as we move down the trail enmasse. .. ...and
before you know it, I ain't top ten anymore, I'm just moving down the trail,
usually gravitating to a rider/horse who travels with like
mind. And that's okay. There are
some unbelievably talented endurance horses/endurance riders in this country,
in every region who understand the gravity of asking a horse to approach
red-line and know just when to back away, or throttle down a bit.
They are awesome
horsewomen/horsemen. There are some unbelievably
talented endurance horses/endurance riders in this country, in every region
who understand how to attend ride after ride, multi-day after multi-day and
get the most from their horse, the trail and themselves to make the experience
and accomplishment something marvelous (as in "TO MARVEL
AT"). KNOWING, REALLY KNOWING WHICH SORT, WE, AS RIDERS,
ARE IS ANOTHER KEY. I think I know which sort I
am...and, sometimes, when I venture outside that sort, I can terrify myself,
or I can amaze myself...but it is something I truly am not comfortable
doing. That's it, for me.
---Frank
