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Re: 25, 50 & 100 Just do it!
BRAVO!!!!!!
----------
> From: Marinera <Marinera@aol.com>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> Subject: 25, 50 & 100 Just do it!
> Date: Wednesday, January 28, 1998 1:08 PM
>
> I was going to keep quiet for awhile, but find it too hard. First of
all, if
> we all spend as much time on ridecamp as I do, we'll never get around to
> training our horses for any length and that will be the end of endurance
> riding!!
>
> I would like to encourage riders to be less afraid of moving up to the
longer
> rides. Hundreds of riders have started out with hundred mile ride as the
> first effort. Honest, that is a fact. A 50 is not twice as tough as a
25, a
> hundred is not twice as tough as a 50. You can do it. If you are in
over
> your head, pull at the next vet check. So no harm done except maybe to
your
> ego, but not the horse. At least then you'll know what you and your horse
can
> do. Every experienced rider knows that a fast 50 is harder on a horse
than an
> average 100. So just keep your head screwed on right and at least try.
> I would like to add my voice to those of Kim Fue, Joe Long, Bob Morris
Ramey,
> Peticolas-Stroud, Ann Blankenship, Truman Prevatt, Terry Wooley-Howes,
Glenda
> Snodgrass, Peggy Norton and many others. Since there are many new members
of
> ridecamp, and at the risk of being redundant, I am re-posting something I
sent
> to ridecamp over a year ago. I still feel the same way.
> Julie Suhr
>
> Originally posted in Jan. 1997.
> Maybe some background on limited distance rides is in order. Endurance
riding
> was flourishing before the advent of 25 LD rides and there are hundreds
of
> people out there who have never done a limited distance ride. Nobody
> fought the concept of limited distance rides more than I did originally
and
> few are in favor of it as much as I am now. My antagonism was that when
I
> started endurance riding there was one ride only..the Tevis Cup Ride.
There
> was no one to go to for advice except Wendell Robie who said "keep them
lean
> and have a wet saddle blanket in the barn at night". And so I overrode
and
> underfed. There were no electrolytes, fanny packs, heart monitors or
other
> of the accouterments that we consider so necessary today and which I
depend
> on totally. The pulse requirement was 72. Both the horse and I sank
> miserably at the first vet check on our maiden voyage. I learned that
the
> backbone of the Sierra was more formidable than the golf course I trained
> around. I learned that I was not fit and I learned that I was riding the
> wrong breed. Help came in the form of a horse loaned to me that lived at
the
> end of the Tevis trail, was trained on the trail and it was a walk in
the
> park. And I was hooked. Hooked to the point where I could not wait a
whole
> year for the Tevis Ride to come back (still the only ride, remember).
And so
> in 1967 I started the Castle Rock Challenge Ride..the oldest 50 miler in
the
> U.S. The Auburn people poo pooed a little ride of fifty miles, but I was
> trying to draw on a local group and they simply were not as turned on as
I by
> the challenge of a 100 miler. Well, as time went on, many people for
> various reasons did not want to go fifty miles, but they wanted to be
> endurance riders so the concept of 25 milers arrived upon the scene. For
> those of us who egos were for whatever reason somehow tied up with being
> "endurance " riders, the thought of others coming along and diluting our
> sport was awful. Some ride managers were convinced that they could not
make
> ends meet without the added income from LD riders. And so LD rides began
to
> be incorporated into the 50 and 100 mile events, but ONLY after it was
> written in the AERC Handbook "that an endurance ride by definition, is
not
> less than 50 miles". Our fragile egos were preserved and less ambitious
> riders had the shorter trail to fulfill their needs. As time went on, I
> became a fan of LD rides. I saw the benefits for young new horses, the
> introduction to a sport for new riders who could make a personal decision
as
> to whether to set their goals on higher mileage, stay where they were or
> decide it wasn't for them anyway. In addition, it did bail some rides
out
> financially.
> With the risk of alienating some, which I regret, 25 miles does not
require a
> tremendous amount of training and its participants have not really
proven a
> whole lot. I can swim, but I am not an Olympic swimmer. I can jog, but
I am
> not a marathon runner. I do not think this makes me a lesser person. It
> means that in these particular fields I am not a shining star. But I can
> ride fifty or a hundred miles and this does make me an endurance rider.
It
> means that I have done my home work and I have had personal aspirations.
> There is another category of riders.... those who because of personal
> problems, physical disabilities, time restraints or other reasons cannot
opt
> for the longer distances but they love their horses, they love the
trails,
> they want to be a part of the whole scene. And so we have 25 milers and
> everyone should be happy. I realize that I, sooner than 99 percent of
the
> people in this sport, will be forced to cut back to 25 milers. (I just
seem
> to pre-date most of the people riding). When that time comes, I hope
that
> God will give me the grace to accept the fact that I am no longer an
> endurance rider, I am an ex-endurance rider. (Hey, if Joe Montana can be
an
> ex-football player, I guess I can be an ex-endurance rider). I watched
my
> wonderful Gazal's dam at age 25 do her first LD ride with an 8 year old
on
> her back. That didn't make either of them an endurance horse or an
endurance
> rider, but, boy, were we proud. One of the best horseman I have ever
known,
> (now gone) could not have ridden 25 miles due to a disability. My
admiration
> for
> him was greater than for any of my 100 mile cohorts. No, he was not an
> endurance rider in my book but he ranks higher in my mind than any that
are.
> So let's each find our place in the sun and be happy that we can be out
there
> at all..regardless of our chosen distance.
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