One thing that might drive home the bit
about pacing, since he’s doing the LD, is the pulse to finish. One ride
I did, I started off with the front runners – two of which disappeared
and I never saw again (1st & 2nd place, of course).
A group of about 8 was with me, some obviously new as they had heavy western
saddles, tie downs and jeans. <g> The first loop was interesting. They
would run full gallop down the forest roads, then almost walk on the weavy
single track trail. Fortunately, early on, they blasted past a turn into the
woods (which my mare saw the ribbons and nearly dumped me with her sharp turn
which I wasn’t ready for!) and I got in front of them. Scarlet LOVES
weavy single track trails, so we kept up our medium-fast trot; although it
would be a bit more at the fast end in the woods and the slow end on the
roads. She thinks road riding is boring. About 1 mile to the end of that
loop, they caught up to me. The last section of trail was the dirt road to
camp, so when I got off to walk in, I could see them blast into camp and a huge
crew swarmed over them, pouring water, taking heart rates and cooling the
horses off. I was in pain, so led Scarlet up to the trough, then straight over
to P&R – she was down. So, we passed them up at the vet check. The
2nd loop was a repeat of the first and I passed them up at the vet
check and found myself in 3rd place. At the awards ceremony, only 3
of that group were in the top ten and one didn’t even get a completion. Apparently,
while they were cooling their hot horses down, more people came in who paced
evenly and passed them up. It was a real lesson to me on how important keeping
a steady pace is for finishing with a healthy horse.
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Susan Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006
11:34 AM To: ridecamp Subject: Re: [RC] A sad story for
AERC
My first
impression is THANK YOU, Amber, for speaking the truth!
Remember,
he's not the first to think he and his horse are "all that". It
is VERY possible a vet will get his number. The HRM thing is humorous!
Ignorance will show itself if he's over riding his horse. He could have
the best horse at that ride that day...but I'm thinking he's talking about the
LA Gumbo (the first C.R. 2-day ride coming up). If so, there are PLENTY
of conditioned and experienced "hot shoes" there that'll give him an
education!
LD is NOT a
race and the clock is there because there is a time limit. Just the same,
these riders around here, both LD and endurance, can teach a person ALL
about "racing". It is my sincerest desire his horse doesn't pay
the price for his education. Other than that, there's nothing we can say
to him that'll make him think any differently.
Susan [Young], The Princess of Pink
Semper Obliquo (Always aside)
Glenndale Grace Farm, Ft Gibson,
OklahomaU.S.A.
"Ride on! Rough-shod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on!
Ride on over all obstacles, and win the race!" - Charles Dickens
(1812-1870)
