Re: green horses and CTR

["GESA BRINKS" <gesaeqfx@pe.net>]

Except for the leading/not leading part, you just described the average
endurance ride. <bg>    In a CTR, ya just gotta use your brain more.
gesa n clovis
-----Original Message-----
From: Chelle Sherman <cms@fluent.com>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 11:01 AM
Subject: RC: green horses and CTR


>I'm sure it depends on the CTR, and the area where it is held, but I
>have had the pleasure of starting two green horses in CTR and I feel the
>format makes it quite difficult for the horse to stay calm. All the
>horses are basically clumped together, many are quite fast at the start,
>and as another ridecamper mentioned, most can see another horse in front
>of them that they want to catch. Pacing is very difficult when you are
>caught in a pack of riders on horses. It's sort of like be sucked into a
>vortex and spit out the other end 30 miles later! You can pull over and
>try to let them go by, but another pack usually follows close behind.
>Furthermore, if your horse does get overexcited, you can't get off and
>lead for awhile (without disqualifying yourself). The water stops tend
>to be very crowded, especially at the start of the ride. You can try to
>arrange to go last, but my experience with this is that my horse knew
>she was last, and got more and more frantic as the horses left camp. You
>can bet that she was ready to go when we finally hit the trail. I have
>also found on CTRs that many riders don't obey the rules about letting
>everybody in a group drink before they start down the trail, and letting
>everybody get to the bottom of the hill before trotting or cantering
>off. If you're unfortunate enough to be at the back of the pack, you can
>end the ride with a very sore and thirsty horse. My point in all this is
>not to bash CTRs - I really enjoy them and support them wholeheartedly.
>It's just that if you're going to do them with a green horse, it may not
>be as calm and easy an experience as you think. At least with endurance,
>you can leave camp when you want - let the whole pack leave and then go
>out. You can get off and walk when you need to, and you have the option
>of going much slower if you want to. I plan to do a short CTR with my
>new green horse late this Fall, and I think I've learned my lesson:
>train in groups before competing, teach pace control, and plan to ride
>with a buddy who has a calm horse and a similar game plan.
>
>Chelle and Mystik Star
>
>
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=