I think that some of the reasons that the 3 day rides have lost
interest is that we have brought our juniors and our novices up in
endurance. First with the LD’s and then if they are good and want
to go on they enter the 50 mile to 100 mile rides.
Lets face it, it is easier to set up, vet in, ride, vet out, and
go home. Don’t flame me I have been on both sides and know that most
take better care of the horse when someone is going to take points off. And
unless you are top ten you are not treating your horse the same as if you
were going to be judged closely. You are not getting all the grime off your
horse before you are loading them on the trailer to go home for instance. You are
hoping that girth galls, maybe a slight lameness, or scrapes are going to heal
enough before you need the horse to compete in a couple of weeks. AND you
hope no one notices. There are a few that will go to the vet to check out
something that shows up but there are very few.
The CRT’s are where most of the really good 100 milers
learned to take care of their horses. We learned to fit our tack properly, pace
and to feed and dedicate time to the many miles we did to condition. I
remember that I rode in the cold, wind, and hot to condition to do these 3 day
100’s. Years later I figured out that once Orion was fit I could
just load and ride with less weekly conditioning. Did a great number of CTR
rides and they were wonderful conditioners for a one day 100. You found
out about what worked and what didn’t really quick because the 3rd
day after investing 80 miles you wanted to finish the last 20 more than
anything.
The mentality of today is do it quick. As in one day and
go home and heal up whatever happened. If you really want to know if you
have done it right try a 3 day 100 competitive. Lots of things can go off
normal and you learn to take better care of your horse. You meet people
and get to know them instead of just passing in camp and on trail. The
longer distance in one camp let’s you become friends and learn from them
and share your knowledge. You even try to keep your favorite secrets
until after the judging so they don’t use it to beat you.
I remember at the NJ100 several years you walked into the field
in the evenings walking your horse and looking at all the others trying to
figure out why this or that horse looked so good. We talked about the trail and
the meal and our kids. Wondered how Steve Rojek kept his clothes so
clean..LOL.
If you really want to get close with your horse learn all about
Him and figure out what keeps some of these wonderful horses going year after
year, enter the class of multi-day competition. ECTRA has a versatility award
and it is a hard thing to earn as it should be, but one of the most rewarding
awards ever.
If any of you out there that haven’t done a 3 day ride,
just try it once, you will never forget the experience OR the people that work
so hard to keep it alive..
And a great big Thanks to all you volunteers and ride managers out
there…
