Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> When LD rides first became sanctioned, they brought with them a history of 
> being 
> Novice Rides, 
<snip>
> As time passed, more and more people realized that their horse's age or 
> infirmities 
> or THEIR age or infirmities didn't preclude them from coming to a ride and 
> going out 
> to enjoy the trails, "like they used to".  So the numbers of recreational LD 
> riders 
> began increasing.  
I would beg to differ with this comparison.  The riders who felt that
they didn't want to ride further due to age, infirmity, scheduling, or
just plain druthers have been with us since the beginning.  And in
fact, it was input from many of them who kept shorter distances alive
in conjunction with endurance rides during the time between removal of
rides under 50 miles from the endurance definition and their resurgence
as LD rides.

In fact, it was those very people who influenced the board (and rightly
so, IMO) not to call it "Novice Distance" since most of them weren't
novices.  The very name "Limited Distance" came about precisely BECAUSE
these riders have always been an active part of the scene on the rides
of "limited" distance.

And the old should-have-been-an-English-teacher always kicks in when the
name comes under discussion--"limited" is an adjective that modifies the
noun "distance," implying that the distance is not as far as some other
distance.  It in no way implies that the capability of the riders or
horses that ride those "limited" distances is also limited.  If it did,
it would be called something like "limited rider distance" or some
such...  

Heidi


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