Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi folks:

I was at the Western States 50 myself and would like to make a general 
comment on the accident.  I know many of you seasoned riders know the WS 
trail very well, and many of you have not yet had the opportunity to 
personally experience it.  Some of the posts talk about the rider having to 
take responsibility, others talked about a tail-gaiter being responsible, 
others talked about the need to get off your horse, etc.etc.etc.

Let me just say that this trail is tough.  There are many portions of this 
magnificent trail that leave absolutely no room for error - may it be the 
rider or the horse.  One slip, one stumble - whether walking or trotting - 
one bee sting, one single "anything" could cause gravity to take over and 
send you and your horse into tragedy.  Folks, this is indeed a tragedy - but 
to put blame on anybody without having been there personally, is just not 
fair and way too heavy of a burden to put upon anybody's shoulder.  This was 
a terrible accident.

Let me just share my own little experience:  A few miles before Francisco's 
where the drop off's from California Loop are still very steep towards the 
river below you, just when I thought I was paying attention as well as I 
could, I got stung - including two riders that rode with me - by a swarm of 
hornets.  I was stung 4 times myself, and later that day I heard numerous 
stories of others having gotten stung.  This incident - whether it happened 
to me or the horse that I was riding, could have caused MANY moments of less 
than 100% concentration and cause disaster.

The Western States Trail is known for being unique, beautiful, incredible, 
and probably the toughest ride in the world.  There is a reason for that - 
and it goes beyond the challenges of simply steep hills and elevations.  
This accident was truly an extremly, most unfortunate misfortune for the 
rider, the event, and above all - the horse.  Hopefully this will continue 
to remind us to respect this trail and any other trail we try to conquer so 
that we continue to ride safely at all times.

I am signed up for Tevis this year - it is my first Tevis Cup Ride.  After 
endless preparation I have had high hopes.  I rode WS50 this weekend and 
unfortunatley did not finish.  After this weekend and riding the Western 
States 50, and after personally "actually beeing" on the trail, I am 
humbled, have a lot more respect for the trail, and learned that there are 
many, many things that can indeed happen on the trail that may very well be 
beyond our control.

Catfish



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