Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

What if there was a program available whereby an experienced rider 
"sponsored" a newbie through their first ride..kind of like a junior..only 
coaching them along the way..a few calls with them before to discuss  
conditioning, timing of shoeing, use of electrolytes, what to bring 
etc...kind of like the mentoring, only a bit more formal..nothing 
manditory..but I have met alot of folks out on our trails who would love the 
support of one of us at their first ride. You would have to make it work 
financially for the person sponsoring of course...I realize this happens 
alot anyway, but not always!

At the Del Valle ride last weekend they had a fun ride of 15 miles. There 
were two young kids, brother and sister who were totally unprepared to spend 
the night with their horses..it would have been so much nicer for their 
horses if someone had given them some coaching. We talked to them a bit, 
offered some well-received advise and asked them how their ride was going 
when we saw them on the trail.

I think ride mgrs could offer some local riders an incentive to sponsor 
these folks through to increase the participation.

I have to agree with Amber though. I think LD gets the short end of the 
stick sometimes. I have only done one LD in my life..would rather wait until 
my horse is ready for a 50..but as I get older the day may come when I only 
want to do a 25 or 30. Hopefully they will still be around!

Ranelle Rubin
Coaching and Consulting Services
The Coaching Center
ranelle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
raneller@xxxxxxx

916-663-4140 home office
916-718-2427 cellular
916-848-3662 fax




> From: Diane Trefethen <tref@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: Ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [RC]   Are the LD's feeding 50's?
> Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:21:49 -0700
>
> Here we go again.  The emotionally charged, polarizing LD debate.
>
> Why don't we narrow-minded, prejudiced, mostly West Region/PS Region 
> members lobby AERC to add a new category of ride and call these rides 
> Novice Rides.  They would be for educational purposes only, no emphasis on 
> performance or winning or placement.  Experienced riders would be 
> encouraged to provide help to these newbies and/or their horses.  The most 
> important consideration for these Novice Rides would be safety and we could 
> even encourage Ride Managements to include a mini-clinic with a vet and an 
> experienced Endurance and/or LD rider.  The mileage accumulated at these 
> Novice Rides could be tallied in with LD mileage but there wouldn't be any 
> points given, just a completion award.  Anyone interested in piling up 
> points would graduate as quickly as they could to either LD or Endurance 
> where the REAL recognition was.
>
> With the new Novice Rides in place, the rules governing LD Rides could be 
> loosened up.  Gone would be the worry about policing LD Rides for speed. 
> Since only experienced riders on properly conditioned horses would be doing 
> LD, there wouldn't be any NEED to worry, at least not worry any more than 
> we worry about the 50-milers.  They could have placings, Top Ten and BC 
> just like the Endurance Rides.  No longer would their performance be 
> compromised by those inexperienced riders or horses.  No more arrogant, 
> condescending sniping from the self-proclaimed "real Endurance riders" 
> about how LD riders couldn't handle speed and they would just injure their 
> horses because all the Novice Riders would be in their own ride leaving the 
> LD field to just those well conditioned, experienced, ready-to-go athletes. 
>  Think of the new speed records that might be set... WITH the horses in 
> superb condition at the end of the ride.
>
> With three categories, and the freedom of RMs to decide which categories to 
> offer, gone would be the cat fight about reporting results.  LDs would be 
> run under the same rules as Endurance.  If the RMs didn't want to put on a 
> short, fast race, they could opt out of LD.  Or, if the RMs didn't have the 
> time or resources or trail to do a longer ride, they could opt out of 
> Endurance and just do an LD (LD and Endurance would be treated equally so 
> LD would no longer HAVE to be run in conjunction with an Endurance Ride).
>
> I think it would be good if the Novice Rides could only be sanctioned with 
> either an LD or an Endurance Ride to assure that more experienced riders 
> were available as role models and even briefly as mentors.  Perhaps right 
> after the Awards luncheon for the LD Ride, some of the top LD riders could 
> hold a little Q&A session where the newbies could ask about problems they 
> had encountered during their ride.  The newbies could then hang around and 
> watch the Endurance Ride's BC judging and learn what that was all about. It 
> could be a wonderful, educational experience.
>
>
>
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