Re: Gee Steph, Off-Topic?

["Steph Teeter" <step@fsr.com>]

Hey guys,

Before too many of you get bent out of shape - I picked on the
Great Horse/Great love topic because it is the kind of topic
that really engages everybody's imagination and all of a sudden
we have hundreds of folks that want to post their ideas. It is
not a 'bad' topic - it's just 1) not endurance related, and 2) it's
a real grabber - and a 'party' topic. And the net (no pun intended)
result is that for a week or so most of the discussion is centered
around this rhetoric.

Please, don't take it personally - there are a million things
about our horses that arouse our passion, let's just try to
keep the Ridecamp list focused on endurance and distance
riding .

Steph

p.s maybe we should talk about helmets for a while...

-----Original Message-----
From: DVeritas@aol.com <DVeritas@aol.com>
To: step@fsr.com <step@fsr.com>
Cc: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Monday, January 25, 1999 5:52 PM
Subject: Gee Steph, Off-Topic?


>I started the One Great Love/One Great Horse thread.  Sure, I know it is
not
>endurance-related.  But, it is "horse-related" and "people-related", so,
>sorry.
>    I could pontificate a whole bunch on incompetent riders "hot-shoeing"
>along on under-conditioned horses who, wanting some say in the matter,
pitch a
>fit every time they are dragged to the next endurance "race", and then find
>themselves getting whipped severely when out of eye-shot of the rest of the
>folks trying to do it the right way.  I could lament the loss of the true
>"amateur" aspect of endurance and the "internationalization" of focus
>presently bleeding throughout the leadership of AERC.
>    But, I won't.
>    So, from what I can gather from your inference and intimation regarding
>what an "Endurance List" should consist of, I'll try to stay on topic.
>    But, I don't for a minute think "endurance" as I view it can be
anywhere
>the same sport as you view it.
>    It is about horses, wives and husbands, goals strived for and goals
>attained.  It is about good horsemanship (and THAT is something that
happens
>everyday, not just at this weekend's ride).  Sure, it's about nutrition,
>saddle fit, the benefits of riding with or without a heart monitor, etc.
>    There are many aspects to "endurance", and the delicate balance
required
>to ACTIVELY pursue the sport as it relates to the one you love and the one
you
>ride, can be a difficult thing to maintain if you deeply, deeply love them
>both.
>    Particularly if the one you love requires your emotional and physical
>support twenty-four hours a day to just get through the day.
>    So, I sit here, ready to "talk endurance"...
>
>     Peace and Love To You,
>
>     Frank Solano.
>
>