Re: NOT FLUFF/mileage

[CMKSAGEHIL <CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-03-15 00:37:43 EST, Sully@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU writes:

<< On the other hand........it's pretty awful to see children dragged
 on endurance rides becuase their parents don't have babysitters, or
 are trying to accomplish some sort of family mileage. >>

I, too, find this pretty nauseating, but have really only seen it happen a
handful of times.  I agree with Maryben that most times it is the junior
begging to go on.  I would hate to see rules to limit kids that need an outlet
to achieve--I was an overachiever at a young age, and would have given an arm
and a leg to do endurance even sooner than I did.  I already shared the Scotty
Nance story on ridecamp--he was such a trooper on the Boise Basin 75 at age 7,
and his parents weren't even along on the trip!  I strongly advise parents to
start their kids on LD's to see just how much they really want to do, but in
most cases, that is the last LD they do, because they can't wait to get back
on the horse and ride around camp all day after they have passed the post-ride
vet check.  Next time out they do 50, and they STILL ride around camp
afterwards.  I have parents that are still doing LD's, sending their kids on
with other sponsors to do the 50's, because the kid is ready, but Mom is not.
I would hate to penalize 10 kids that excel by passing a rule aimed at the one
Little-League mom with the whiner.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)