Re: starting as an adult

[flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)]

I grew up in a non-horsey family, also.  I managed to ride anyway, despite
discouragement from my mom & dad, thanks to great grandparents.  (Rode before I
could walk w/ them.)  I rode hack horses in exchange for cleaning out stables, rode
w/ friends, trained friends' horses for halter.  Whatever I could find while I grew
up.  Folks would drive through Yellowstone & I would save money for a 2 day pack
trip!

In college, I was into shows on the QH, Arab, and Saddlebred A circuits... Western
Pleasure, Reining, Hunter/Jumper, Saddleseat w/ Saddlebreds (3 gaited), Fine
Harness Driving, Sidesaddle, Dressage, and then breezing race horses & Fox
Hunting.  I found showing to be a lot of work for a few moments of glory.  Fox
Hunting was better - get out & see the countryside, but it was still so
regimented!  (Too many of the thoroughbreds I rode were just out & out dangerous,
but it was a fast way to earn money for textbooks!)

A friend invited me to be her riding partner for training/competing in an upcoming
CTR in Florida early 80's.  We used horses that the Universoty of Florida owned.
(They had students assigned to keep the horses in training so that vet science
classes could come see the different riding disciplines.)  It was the answer to
what I loved.  Solitary riding on gorgeous trails, competing against your personal
best.  I found that CTR was too slow, too picky, and too political and drifted
towards endurance over time (before there was limited distance endurance!)  It was
a bigger jump than I thought - going from 3 day 100's at a set pace to one day 50's
where you could race, but it certainly gave you more bang for your buck than a 15
minute class at a show.

I came into endurance riding in my early 20's even though I had ridden all of my
life.  I think I was "shopping around" for the discipline that pulled at my heart.
I found it in endurance (and all the training rides that goes with it).  The other
background certainly didn't hurt, though :-)  Could this be a common thread for
adult riders?

Linda Flemmer