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I'm with you again on that, we're on the same wavelength,?I also disagree?that people will only take care of their horse (or better care) if they are going for points.? Having ridden about the same mileage in both disciplines (around 750 miles in each - not much compared to most of you on Ridecamp!) I've seen most, far and away most, riders take excellent care of their horses.? And if it wasn't "excellent," it was the best they knew how, on that day, at that time.? And it wasn't for points, it was because they cared about their horse.

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Now I know what you mean on the P&R's.? You're right, it's not "legal" to have crew help?on a ctr (in NATRC).? The whole point is that the rider and horse are a team, so no outside help, on the trail or in camp.? No crew.? I haven't had a crew in endurance, either, so it's no different to me.

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As far as newcomers doing dumb things, or inconsiderate things, well, that can happen at a ctr, too.? And I'm certain that I've done my share <G> in both ctr and endurance.? It takes a while to learn things, but eventually it sinks in.? Here's what I love about both sports -- I love to watch riders who are in sync with their horses as they ride by, and seeing the well cared for horses back in camp, relaxing, eating their hay.? What a wonderful sound, horses munching hay all night long.? :)

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Carla Richardson

Colorado

On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 7:36 PM, rides2far@xxxxxxxx <rides2far@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

?Believe me, I have no gripe against CT and am happy those who it suits have a sport that suits them, just take exception with a blanket statement that people take better care of their horse if they lose points otherwise.

>>>How long ago did you ride in NATRC, Angie? ?:-)

Never. I helped with pulses and rode drag.

>>>In defense of NATRC, I will say that sponging a horse down at a P&R is completely legal.

I believe it was crewing that was illegal. The P&R checks I saw were on top of a mountain with no access to water. There may have been a tank that I don't recall. There had been streams on the trail so maybe not.

>>> There has also been a change about checking metabolics more, out on the trail, rather than waiting til back in camp. ?That's another very positive change.

This would have been early 90's so that probably happened after this. One of the main differences I saw was that people were far more likely to ride very heavily muscles horses, so though they were going slower, I thought they were working as hard as many faster endurance horses.

>>>Two things that NATRC taught me was how to camp with my horse, tying to the trailer correctly and safely,

I'd say that's learning *one* way to camp safely. :-) I do love my high line but it's hard to carry a tree everywhere I go. >g<


>>>I agree 100% with you that starting a horse on 50's is better than starting with LD's.

I'll admit I might prefer starting a horse in a CT over an LD if that was the only choice, simply because the LD distance gets most rookies and so you are subjected to more erratic pacing, or just doing stuff that's not kosher like trotting past a horse that's drinking, etc. It's not the full time LD people who do it but newcomers who don't know any better.

>>As far as 3-day 100's teaching you more about caring for your horse, I'll say that a multi-day, 3 day or 5 day endurance ride will teach you a heck of a lot about how to care for yourself, as well as your horse.

I can imagine. I have never done any multi-day ride simply because I knew that I myself would rather do 100 in one day and be left alone the next than have to go out again. I think it would take a great deal of effort on the part of the rider to make sure the horse wasn't sore the 2nd & 3rd day, but at the multi-days I've observed, it seemed to me the horses sometimes *were* sore, more than they would be on a one day, and people considered it something you dealt with and carried on. Since I haven't done one, I've got no business commenting on how or what it's like. I just took exception with the idea that losing points would be a greater incentive to me than the idea I wanted my horse to be pain free.

Angie McGhee


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