Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Truer words were never spoken.  Thank you Peggy, you have said it all for the majority of us LD'ers.  I've been up for BC a few times (can't recall how many. 3? 4?) and was thrilled.  NO, I didn't get the BC in any of the cases, but I was really proud of our accomplishment.

I love riding LD's.  And yes, I hope to do a 50 in the near future, but not until my gut says Doimas is ready.  With a recurring lameness problem I'm rather hesitant to do a 50 until I know what's wrong with him.

And yeah, I've seen a few people race, but you know what?  They're horses were in fantastic condition and passed thru the vet check and final vet check with no problem.  I know one woman in particular who lives near me.  She is very competitve, and rides like blazes, but her horse never breaks down or has metabolic or physical problems.    So there might be a few racers out there, but even they are generally pretty good about their horses.  

You are going to have yahoos in every aspect, except for the 100's.  At least that's my thinking.  But it gets very old, this constant blathering about LD riders "racing".  I get the impression some people think we're all just learning how to ride, that we don't know the first thing about caring for our horses.  Now before anybody jumps down my throat, I'd like you all to think about the posts that have been made in the past about LD riders.  

Before I joined AERC up to the present, I have tried to ride every day.  With Doimas in particular, I've ridden him since he was 2 1/2 (lightly at first, folks).  Before I rode him, I ponyed him with his mom and later with an older gelding.  He went out practically every day.  I don't think I'm different from alot of LD'ers.  And even some of the people who don't have their horses well conditioned that I pass on these rides are trotting along at their own little pace and happy as clams.

I'm just wondering what needs to be done to educate all those people who have the misconception about LD rides.  Sure, there are some who race, there are some who override their horses, but the same is true in the 50's.  You're always going to have one or two knotheads around.  That's just life.  

I'll say it one more time.  The majority of LD'ers take exceptional care of their horses and do not race. We are not novices.

Cindy Edwards
M33041
Buckeye, AZ