 |
[RC] That's enough of hate mail. :-) - rides2farOK I've been a good girl and sat very quietly until I was pretty sure that anyone who had anything to say could get it off their chest. I spent most of the time since this thread started just kinda baffled. I kept thinking...*what* could have them so upset??? Which group did I put down?? If anything I have irritated my horse friends across the spectrum from jumping to barrel racing by trying to convince them *and their present horses* that all they'd be happier if they'd do endurance. Heck, somewhere around here I have a long essay I wrote in 1987 to a TN horseman's publication (they didn't print it) about how I thought all breeds should compete in endurance for their own breed awards. My logic was that you have TB racing, QH racing, Appaloosa, Arab and Standardbred racing but they don't race on the same track at the same time. However, there's too few endurance rides to have them separate, so they should all compete and get a "first of that breed award" to encourage solid breeding practices in each. When I managed the TN Spring Ride I promised to give a "first of breed" award to any breed that let me know they were coming. They were halter plates saying "first whatever" and I gave Arab, 1/2 Arab, QH, Morgan, Appaloosa, TWH, Grade & Mule (that I recall). For anybody to say I'd actively discourage non-Arab breeds is just wrong and nowhere in the article does it say that. We all have a point of reference when we mention something. At the time I heard the term "Lead'em & Feed "em (which I heard from a good friend who showed halter and swore that if he could have 100 horses and not ride one he would) I rode Appaloosas. I was once at a show where my 4-H instructor's Grand Champion Halter horse bowed a tendon as he shuffled into the ring for a halter class. My horse was very athletic but she assured me he wasn't built right for halter. She is the person I pictured who would never "get" endurance thus I wouldn't recruit her. I tried to think what other "type" I insulted that someone might associate themselves with and get offended. All I could think of was the statement: She looked more like the sort of person that would carry viruses, fungi, and plagues that army sergeants warn young soldiers about before they go on leave in Hong Kong. For days I watched my tongue for white spots and waited for signs of Herpes type 6, or some comparable disease<<<<<<< I didn't think there was a Herpes type 6 when I wrote that, and maybe there wasn't in 1997 and is now...if so and you have it, I'm sorry I offended you. I carry 2 waterbottles now so it's not a problem. It took Michelle Aquillino's very logical post to make a bell go off. She wasn't recruited and that worried her. >slapping of forehead<. I think *here's* the problem. That article was originally printed in Trailblazer in 1997! Think back to 1997, any of you who were around, and tell me how you found this sport if you weren't recruited. It was practically impossible. It was literally an underground society. The whole "gotta check them out before we invite them in" thing was to make sure these people had a little information in them *before* they showed up at a ride. That was a big deal! I was dead serious when I said our riding club almost hung me for putting entry forms at a local feed store. There was not the time, or the ability to train newcomers on the spot and this was a time when vets knew less about treatments, were just starting to use the CRI, didn't know much about electrolytes, were just getting pretty regular about even having gates into holds. Nowadays the internet has changed how people can find out about us. They can google trail riding, discover endurance, go to AERC.org and let the education articles mentor them. That's great! We probably have more problems with information overload on these self recruited people than we do with them being underprepared. The only problem I see with this is that they may get to a ride and not have someone to introduce them around, which can make them feel left out. That's one thing that was nice about being someone's recruit. This just makes it doubly important for the ride manager who they contact to hook them up with someone who'll notice they're alone and make a point of asking them how they're doing and just helping them break the ice. You know we're bringing back the "Each One Add One" campaign to bring more people into the sport. At the time Maggie Price introduced that *recruitement* was pretty much the only way to up membership. Maybe in addition to that, we should acknowledge the internet as an improvement on the recruiting scene and say, "Each one refer someone on another list to AERC.org" :-) To everyone who said something nice. Thanks! It was kinda like getting listen to my own funeral. Don't worry, I didn't take it seriously. Angie =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|