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I just wonder as we have these discussions of saddle pads based on space age
technology, shoes of the same, supplements out the wazoo, the very best
electrolytes, to use or not use beet pulp, when to dose with elec., what the
best heartrate reading is on our on-board HRM, etc....if all this has made
that big of a difference in the sport/longevity of the horses.
To listen to us and read more recent articles it makes one wonder how anyone
even finished a ride in the early years :-). Yet looking thru an old EN I
see a photo of Lain and Jerrilynn Gray (I think they have 8,000+ miles in
the record books - Joe Long, is that right??) and they accumulated those
miles on plain old steel shoes on the horse (what? no equithotics or mustads
or easyboots), her wearing jeans and tennies in regular english stirrup
irons (ouch!) (what? no tights, Ariats and Hi-Tech stirrups), a regular
sheepskin looking pad (where's the equalizer pad?), and an older 3-day/hunt
type saddle (what about the sports saddle or orthoflex?). I'm sure the same
can be said for many other teams - I just happen to know Jerrilynn.
There are many other teams out there that have also done many miles the
"low-tech" way.
Are we (*we* could be anyone really involved in a sport - not just us on the
list or even endurance riders in general) just a bunch of junkies for the
latest thing? Is there really more now than there used to be or does it just
have better exposure with the 'net and increased membership/advertising?
Or have all these things conspired to give us faster times on sounder horses
for more miles?
Tina - herself a queen of the catalogs - not at all against these
improvements - just feeling philosophical today
hickst@nichols.com
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