May I ask if you have children? I happen to know this young lady, and she was 17 when she did Tevis (thus the sponsor). She was relatively new to the sport, but grew up next door to Hal and Ann Hall. She dreamed of doing Tevis most of her life, so she set out to get enough rides in to qualify. Now, let's for a minute look at the fact she did not even own a horse, and her parents were willing to help her with this only to a certain extent. I took her riding in the spring last year as we were trying to come up with enough mounts for her to get one or two (I can't remember now what she needed) more 50's in so she could qualify. Ann had called me because she knew I had an extra horse.
She happened to work at our local Echo Valley Feed Store (huge sponsor of the Tevis-they provide hay, water tanks, etc). The owner is a great guy named Greg Kimler. He and his wife are both endurance riders. He offered her HIS horse, and his sponsorship, as well as his training time. So, against all odds, this young lady managed to get enough 50's in before Tevis, AND finish.
So, she writes an article..OK, I will admit, some of the "must do's" in it are just her opinion and may have been better stated as such. I do feel, Kat, that you have a very mean-spirited way of showing your opinion of others. Generosity toward other humans for their differences would serve you well. I have seen you do this to others on this list when you don't agree with them, in fact you have done it to me. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and there are only a few things I stand firm on, and those have to do with how our horses are treated. I try hard not to offend others for their opinions, unless they are blasting others for little or no reason.
So, maybe this young lady did not have the education *you* did, and is not as articulate at age 17 or 18 as you were..big deal. She did take on a sport, and a ride, that many don't..even as adults. And she succeeded!! She wrote a concise article, with a lot of good information, and encouragement for other juniors. Her personality type happens to be very straight-forward with little sugar coating, and not much fluff.
If you differ in your opinion, why not write your own article with your training ideas??? I am sure you have a lot to offer those new to our sport..go for it!
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. ~ John Wayne
530-885-3510 home office
916-718-2427 cellular
916-848-3662 fax
> From: katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [RC] Nineteen? (was: Big Ride Training) > Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:19:47 -0700 > > Lisa Salas said: > > > You are critiquing this young person as if she were > > a professional rider and writer. How old is she? > > Nineteen?? NINETEEN! > > So...which of us has more respect for the author of this article. Me? > Who thinks no matter what her age that the article should be evaluated > on its merits of the information it contains and how it is presented, or > somebody who thinks that it shouldn't be held to any standards because, > after all, the author is too young and inexperienced to know any better? > > _I_ am unwilling to dismiss the less that perfect language in her > writing as irrelevant because I am willing to treat her as an adult, and > I think to do otherwise is condescending. > > And, FWIW...when _I_ was nineteen, my first summer job in college was as > a professional technical writer. And if/when I had written something > that didn't come across successfully for my intended audience, then my > boss (my editor) would have/did help me fix it so it did....and I am a > better writer for it. I wouldn't be if he hadn't bothered but instead > just patted me on the head and said "jolly good effort for a teen-ager." > He had more respect for me than that. > > Of course, since he was the editor, it was his job to do more than just > pat me on the head... > > I don't know how many of you read books or the "acknowledgements" > section in them, but almost invariably authors give praise and cudos to > their great editors, "without whom it could never have been done." > > Publishing without an editor (which is what the Internet is) or > publishing without a competent editor (which is what Lisa is suggesting > with this statement: "This was an article for EN, (which is a great > magazine but it isn't TIME magazine ...)") is fraught with danger > because you are, in essence, asking your audience to be your editor. > > However, imagine this, you are another junior rider who would is keen to > get your horse ready for Tevis or some other big ride, and you read an > article in the Endurance News under "junior news" that says you must > ride your horse every other day, you have to get in 90 miles in the week > exactly 8 weeks before the ride, that you have to do a 50 miler exactly > 6 weeks before the ride...and your response is... > > "My god, I could never do that. I will never be able to do Tevis or any > other big ride." > > And you are discouraged to the extent that you give up your hopes > entirely. > > Or...you are the inexperienced parent of said junior rider, and YOU read > in the Endurance News that this is what your kid is going to have to do > in order to ever do a big ride. You don't know any better and it IS > published in the official publication of the American Endurance Ride > Conference... > > SOMEBODY needs to tell all the other juniors and inexperienced riders in > the audience of the Endurance News that this ain't necessarily so. > > And personally, I am of the opinion that the author of the article, no > matter what her age is grown up enough to be able to accept that she > might have been able to convey her point more successfully if she hadn't > used language that is so dogmatic. > > Pardon me for treating her as an adult. > > kat > Orange County, Calif. > :) > > > > > > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > 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!! > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >
