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[RC] I met a couple of real endurance role models - Kristi Schaaf

I'm pretty new to AERC. I've done a whopping 5 LD
rides, and we're usually the last in, or close to it,
and that's fine with me. But at the ride this weekend,
I surprisingly found myself a wee bit jealous of the
amazing ride times the other riders were putting up. I
reminded myself that my goal is always "to finish is
to win", even though at this point, with this horse,
it may mean coming in last quite often (I have the
utmost respect for riders who have high completion
rates while also logging speeds I can't even fathom
yet). Anyway, Sat nite I had a nice chat with a couple
of 'retired' endurance riders who were there to
camp/volunteer. They politely smiled and nodded as I
babbled on about my horse/our ride/our hopes. I asked
the husband of the pair if he had done much competing,
or mostly crewed (since his wife had mentioned him
crewing for her, and I knew that she had a really nice
ride record), and he told me he'd done a 'few' rides.
Well, today I checked on the AERC site for fun, and
his record is 92 starts/92 finishes in 50's and 100's
(and quite often Top Ten or better - so he's obviously
a rider who could do it all). AND, 75 of those were on
one horse (the horse is 75/75). To me, this is what
it's all about. If I had realized what incredible
riders were sitting there next to me Sat nite, I would
have shut my yap except to ask questions picking their
brains for tidbits of advice. So, as I start out 5/5
LD and 0/0 endurance, I now have a cemented goal in
place. Of course, sh** happens and a finish may not be
possible even when you do everything right, but in the
future when (I'd bet it's a matter of when, not if) I
get caught up in the ride and think about pushing my
horse a little harder than I should, I'll think of Bob
Achenbach's 92/92, and that will bring me to my
senses. : - ) Kristi  iluvdez at yahoo dot com  


               
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