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[RC] Riding alone, drafting , securing horses, a T-Shirt for Bruce - Judie Ricci
Again I am catching up on reading RC.
. I ride alone almost every day. When I take a young horse out for the first trail ride Im usually alone , may have a dog with me. If you do your training correctly and carefully, you should know if your horse and you are ready, I do agree that some one needs to know where you went just in case, but horses that never go out alone will not have been exposed to thier true thinking abilitys.. If your partners get pulled at a ride you will be alone , then what?
My horse Chief will draft on his own during endurance rides, I let him draft for a while when he feels like it, he does not crowd, and this gives him a mindless rest with the horse in front being the one to look for danger. I will not bother any one with mindless chatter, nor will I be cruel to any one draftimg me. If thier horser is breathing on my back I will ask them to stay far enough back where they can see my horses hocks. When I come to the finish line and have been riding along with some one either in front or behind I always say "Come on lets race in" My horse Chief always has saved something to fly into the finish, no matter what the placing is, we run it. Anna G blew our doors off last year at the Biltmore , but we had FUN. Sue Anne A and I raced in at the Cranberry and Chief blew her doors off. We were miserabley tired and sore, I rode the 50 the day before , and Sue Anne was just riding the second day
, but riding a flat 50 gets your body sore, any way we finally saw the finish , our horses had been taking turns leading and following,and we galloped in to 1+2 place, We did not know where we were placing , but knew it was in the top ten.
Really , riding endurance is not working in a corporate office where "sensitivity training" is the main focous now days. I am always polite, will ride my Horses ride, visit many people on the trail as we go. As far as passing I always call to the ones ahead to let them know so I dont get kicked, or scare some new be. I do get a little aggravated when I come along and need to pass and some one starts getting all whooped up becaus thier horse has some certain agenda to being passed, one lady started screaming at Pete when we called out ON YOUR LEFT, we were on a big fire road, and the lady starts pulling and screaming, wait wait !! I have to move over WAIT!!!! You are going to get kicked!!! (no red ribbon) She was scaring her horse and ours. in the amount of time it took to scream and yank we could have been a mile up the trail.
Endurance riding is going with friends, going alone, being passed often from two directions, getting crowded, getting stopped, getting ahead of the pack , or not, but there are no set standards on how to, or with whom , we should all respect the fact that it is a hard , but fun and hopefully a fulfilling EXTREME SPORT. You will get tired, hot, cold, wet, chafed, dirty, sweaty, hungry, sick, sore, and you will pay money for it!! Please dont expect every one to be cookie cutter stepford wives riders, People can be quite mean and miserable, but most endurance riders are friendly and considerate .
Bruce there is a t shirt that says PASS OR GET OFF MY A##.
And I totally agree with Angie., look what happened to Roger years ago, and it dosent matter where you come from , from the minute you enter a ride camp area YOU are RESPONSIBLE to keep YOUR animals contained. If you dont and some one tells you about it , that is OK!!!! I F you know you have a horse that is difficult to contain, dont bring it until you find a way to keep it in. If your horse is bad to kick on the trail go last or alone or leave it home, Tell the Vets and P&R people if your horse is an idiot so no one gets hurt, If you know your dog barks leave it home. IT is about EVERYONE IN CAMP. We all work hard to do this sport. IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT YOU. As Susan says occasionally,,,,"Nuff Said"
Judie Ricci
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
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