It was a start (LD)...

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

...now I'm really hooked!  My friend and I entered a Bully Wully LD today
for the sole purpose of learning the routine, seeing how the horses handled
the vet checks, and checking our preparedness in all areas.  We did
great...in all areas!!  We came in with a pulse of 60 and had a great
completion check.  The horses were happy and the weather was fabulous.  We
even passed a major milestone today...Blaze drank from a running creek in
two different areas.  This was a big deal as I had yet, on all of our
conditioning rides, to get him to do this.  Three months ago he was so
green that he panicked at the sight of a creek!! ;-)

I found the managers and volunteers on this ride to be wonderful...did not
treat us (LD riders) with any disrespect whatsoever.  I was, in fact, told
by one that he *loved* the novice riders...it meant more people were
getting interested in endurance riding and they usually brought along friends!

Here's what I learned: This is a great group of people and it beats the
heck out of nodding to the judge at X! <g>  We were well prepared (only
forgot the manure fork) and the training schedule that we've been on seems
to be working well.  The horse's were calm and relaxed and we could've
pushed them a little bit harder...and a heart monitor has become very high
on the *need* list!  My new saddle (Big Horn that had just arrived on
Wednesday) was just what Blaze and I needed.

We're now planning to do as many as we can next season.  What a great sport!

Sue
 


sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.