How about if we all accomadate each other?
> WHen you are in a horse race, it is unreasonable to expect the
>people behind you, not to come up behind you.
I disagree. *Any* horse can kick, if you ride up close enough behind
it. Is it really worth a trophy to take a chance on a broken leg for you or
your horse? Most trails have room to pass at decent intervals. Why not wait
for room, or call out to the person in front and see if they will yield the
lead to you safely?
>
>Yes, it is true that all horses can kick. This is not the same thing as
>a kicker, otherwise we would put red ribbons in the tails of all horses
>and they would lose their meaning.
This sounds like the Catch-22 of owning a dog--if you warn folks he
might bite, the insurance company says you knew he had vicious tendencies
before the fact. If you don't warn folks ahead of time, and someone gets
bit, you may be off the hook re: legalities, but you are morally culpable.
>
>I have already found this to be the case. YOu wouldn't believe the number
>of people I have seen with red ribbons in their horses tails who will say
>"he's not really a kicker, but I just want to be safe."
Sounds reasonable to me.
>
>If too many people do this (i.e. put a red ribbon in their horses tail
>because he is a horse--and all horses might kick), then the red ribbon
>becomes meaningless. Rather like the boy who cries wolf.
Or could we entertain the pleasant fantasy that CTRs and endurance
rides need not be so cut-throat that common trail courtesy is not
applicable? How about, as I said, just giving someone another 6 feet of space?
--CMNewell (grumpy from another 12" of snow...)
"The expression in a horse's eye is like a blessing on a good man's house."
--Sayied iben-el Rabil, quoting the Prophet