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[RC] - desertrydr1Not all of us crew stand around and b!tch about our riders. I crewed for 2 different guys at the national championships, the winner of the 55, and and end of the pack 100 miler. The 55 miler I did with his wife, who was the most charming woman I have met in a while, a true lady with NEVER a bad word to say. We talked about all sorts of things, but didn't dwell too much on the fact that her husband was overwrought at times, and somewhat rude at times. We were having too much fun talking about all sorts of other things to have time to complain about him.
My 100 miler came with no crew, and I kind of adopted him starting at the first vet check, then stayed with him til he was done at 2:45 AM. He was the nicest guy to crew for, very appreciative. He even sent flowers afterward! I spent the LONG hours waitinng for him to come in talking to a wide variety of people, bummed rides wiht others because I wasn't really supposed to crew, and didn't have my own trasnportation. Learned all sorts of interesting things about endurance, endurance horses and endurance riders. Spent a fair amount of time with Naomi Preston, who is a delight to be around, even after midnight. In all, I just absolutely had a blast. Seriously have considered giving up endurance riding for crewing. (Well, maybe not quite yet, but I am out of a horse for next year...)
I think you just need to find different people to crew for you. Complainers are going to complain when they crew, positive people are going to find positive stuff in crewing, even if it means sitting out in the hot sun for hours, bumming rides to the next vet stop, eating what was left in the pocket from the last ride (it looked kinda like chocolate something, or maybe trail mix with M & M's). I'll be the first to say that I'm not always the most positive person, and defintely do my share of b!tching, but if you decide to have a good attitude you can, no matter what the circumstances. BUT--it's probably not real wise to ask someone to crew who knows NOTHING about horses without a trial run. Some people just can't tolerate dirt, confusion, and boredom. jeri
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