 |
RE: [RC] Nineteen? (was: Big Ride Training) - Kitley, Carrie E Civ USAF AFSPC 30 MDSS/SGSLFIMHO - I think that we all get our information from more than one source and that this young lady's article was meant to be taken as a guideline and advice from her OWN personal experience. There is nothing wrong with that. Endurance riders, are supposed to use this guidance and advice with discernment and also get our information from various other sources. It's called research. I've read MANY articles about supplements for instance, that contradicted each other, therefore, I had to use discernment and my own judgment and fit it to my own situation and my own horse then decide which direction to go. I appreciated ALL the articles, and I didn't presume to criticize any of them as I'm sure they were ALL valid for various different situations and horses. I don't think ALL the Jr. riders are going to take this ONE article and use it as gospel. It was a vehicle for more information to take with and use as you deem do-able for your own scenario. Just my opinion. I think she did a good job and it took guts and confidence to put herself out there like that. She may never do it again. I know I wouldn't, and I'm 49. Carrie Kitley 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 con [Kitley Carrie E Civ 30 MDOS/SGSLF] tains 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|