-I mostly lurk or respond privately, but just can't let
this go past....
Are ya'll serious? I mean
it. You are putting in your wish lists for awards like you are registering
at Macy's or Dillard's. Shame on you.
-But, the
original posters asked what we WANTED for awards, the best and the worst we remembered and folks shared
these wants, likes and dislikes. After all, that is what they were asked
to do.
How many have shown up early to flag trails, chalk lines and
replace signs that motorcyclists and paint ball bean heads have
stripped.
-When one has driven 4, 6, 8 or more hours to get to a ride on
perhaps unfamiliar trails, I just hope to get there in time to vet
in before dark and hope I can read the map well enough to follow the
trails, let alone help mark them.
How many have help set up registeration packets, making sure maps, dinner
tickets, vet cards are in them.
-Again, by the time *I* arrive in camp, these thing are usually already
done and are being handed out. At our club's ride a few weeks ago, the
registration chairman got tied up in traffic and was late. Many riders
gathered to help her finish stuffing the packets with maps, meal
tickets and some vender donated goodies.
How many of ya'll have gotten off your pathic pity party butts to
help check pulses, vet cards when you are pulled or RO?
-If
I am pulled because of my horse, it would depend on why she was
pulled. If for lameness, I might feel ok leaving her to go help with
pulses, etc, but if for metabolic, I might feel that it was in our best
interest to stick around the campsite and monitor the horse. If I rider option, I am so sick or so sore
that just driving home is going to be challenge enough. I'm sorry, but
my first thought in these situation is not oh, I am no longer riding so I
should be helping, even though my horse needs to be watched or I am puking up
my guts every 10 minutes. Call me selfish, but, we paid the money and
tried to ride the miles. Sometimes we can help, sometimes not, but
tending to your own needs first should certainly not be construed as
having a "pity party".
And How many of you have stayed a little
longer on Sunday morning to help clean up cups, paper plates, horse crap, dog
poop.
-I
make sure that *MY* camp is clean before I leave for that 4, 6, 8 or more hour
drive home. If everyone cleaned up their OWN area there would be no need
for everyone to stay later to clean up after their neighbors too.
-At
our club ride, because of the location, the campsites had to be "pristine"
when we left. Grass seed was even provided to scatter on bare spots the
horses my have made by rolling, digging, pawing, etc. There was a $20
refundable clean-up fee that each campsite paid at check in. Before
leaving, you came to management and told them you were ready to leave, if
your site was deemed in good shape, you got your $20 back, or had to clean
some more. If you just pulled out, you did not get a refund and the
club had a volunteer clean-up crew that then went and cleaned up the
site.
And my least favorite, HOW MANY OF YOU TELL the ride manager THANK
YOU???? Shameful, Shameful
-Most people say thank you when receiving that award that started
this discussion, be that award a t-shirt, trophy, piece of paper or
a rock. It may not be the actual ride manager handing out
the award, but it is someone on the ride management team. Maybe I
was just raised the right way, but I thank everyone, the registration chair
when they give me my packet, the vets when they are done vetting us, the timer
when they give me the card back, the person who served my dinner, etc.
May not have been the actual ride MANAGER, but is was someone on ride
MANAGEMENT.
