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[RC] Stirring the pot...again!! - Lynn WhiteTitle: Stirring the pot...again!!Milroy Grosse <milroygrosse@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >It seems to me (as a casual lurker) that you often like to use this
Sorry, I have to disagree on this one. The reason endurance is so great here in North America is because it is affordable to just about anyone that has a horse. It is a sport that attracts people from all walks of life. It is the ultimate People/Horse sport. Half the fun of going to rides is just meeting new people and keeping up with my horsey friends that I may only see once or twice a year. Endurance is about the only horse sport where one can buy a horse for $200 at the sale yard and successfully compete with multimillionaires on their $20,000 horses, all the while sporting visible duct tape on themselves or their tack. Yes, having horses is pricey. It does cost a significant amount to keep an endurance horse up to par. I’m not complaining about that. I do endurance on a shoestring. I’ve probably got about $5000 tops into my horse, outfit, and tack. I get out of my old truck and feel like I should kiss the ground every time I make it back from a ride, and I’m scared to death to drive on the interstate because my top speed is 60 mph. For me, the real act of “endurance” is just getting to and from a ride! Gas prices don’t just up the cost of getting to rides. In an economy that depends on petroleum products, the price of crude affects EVERYTHING. There is only so much that can be cut from my operating budget to make rides and then I just can’t afford to go. When everything goes up and my wages stay stagnant, the hobbies are gonna get cut before my responsibilities do. That’s just a fact of life. So what I am saying is that I’d hate to see Endurance in the North America become a sport only a select few can afford. And if we stay complacent and put up with a cut here and a cut there, pretty soon we’ll be in a situation that people are quitting the sport because it’s just too costly ( Myself, I’m almost there). I’d hate to see that because I think endurance in North American is the best sport in the world…and it’s because of the diversity of the people that compete in it. So yes, this IS a subject we should be discussing on this forum. If the subject does not interest you, then don't read it! We should be writing our Senators and Congressmen telling them that they are being watched and will be held accountable. If we are complacent and just put up with the fumbling of our politicians, our kids will never have the option of having a horse or be able to get out and really ride. They’ll all just be regulated to living in condos and watching TV in the indoor daze…
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