15 mile novice ride?

["Susan Swope-Attardi" <ParrotPlace@worldnet.att.net>]

Hope someone can offer some help!  I've got an 8 year old son who is quite
determined to try an endurance ride.  He's dedicated to "training" for it
but I would like to see if we could find a 15 mile ride for him to get his
feet wet.  Anyone know of such a ride in the SE, MW or even NE?  Thanks!

Susan
-----Original Message-----
From: Erika R Achberger <eachberg@sophia.smith.edu>
To: Kimberly Price <PLOUGH1@ix.netcom.com>; ridecamp@endurance.net
<ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Thursday, April 30, 1998 2:50 AM
Subject: pulling


>I believe that it is much better to try to teach rather than use
>artificial means, and a friend of mine has retrained many horses by tying
>them to a tire chained to a tree, but I will share one other method that I
>know of, and is less severe/dangerous than tying with a be nice halter.
> A farrier/trainer taught this to a woman whose horses I used to
>ride before I got my own.  She has a big paint named Ranger who would set
>back and bust the snaps on the lead ropes when tied before saddling.
>A soft rope is looped and tied around the poll and over the nose in such a
>way that pulling puts pressure on the poll and nose, but the surface area
>is great enough (by using thick, soft rope), that it is not so severe.  I
>never got to practice doing it enough to get it to stick in my mind
>exactly how it went, because he soon quit trying.
> It's effectiveness lay in the fact that when he pulled back, the
>pressure on the poll and head was great enough-- it just tightened up on
>his head-- that it was no fun, and as soon as he let up, it loosened right
>up.  By comparison, pulling while in a conventional halter is not terribly
>uncomfortable, and worth it to the stubborn horse that thinks he will be
>free after.
> As I said, though, I prefer just looping the rope around the post,
>I personally never tie my horse anymore, just drop the rope on the ground,
>which means "stay" to him after our training.  This is really quite simple
>to do and just requires a few repetitions for the horse to learn (and some
>treats for obeying:)
>
>Erika R Achberger Smith College Box 6004
>505 Highland Ave. 98 Green Street
>Northfield, MN 55057 Northampton, MA 01063-0100
>Tel: 507.645.7937 Tel: 413.585.7666 (Park Annex)
>krach@stolaf.edu eachberg@sophia.smith.edu
>
>