Re: ridecamp forum and topics (fwd)

[Trishmare <Trishmare@aol.com>]

Dear Steph,
      
      "O!  Thou great thunder-darter of Olympus; forget that thou are Jove the
King of gods, and Mercury, lose all the serpentine craft of thy caduceus, if
ye take not that little, little, less than little wit from them that they have
. . ."
                                        -shakespeare, 
                                              Troilus & Cressida, II, iii,
6-10-

<< steph wrote:
 
 It seems that I've made folks a little edgy about what
 constitutes an 'endurance topic' - my apologies if I
 make the wrong call at times, but I really think that
 Ridecamp is back on track as a friendly and useful place
 to talk distance riding. 
 
 <SNIP>(following is a private e-mail posted among a group of former ridecamp
devotees . . .)
 
 Am I losing my grip on reality?  Am I the only one who thinks that 
 Ridecamp is now a very tense, uninviting and unwelcoming place to discuss 
 distance riding?  I was absolutely blown away when I read this message 
 from Steph.  I've posted several Qs on ridecamp lately and noticed a 
 disturbing trend of approx 4 private replies to every public one, whereas 
 it used to be the other way around.  This tells me that LOTS of people 
 are no longer comfortable posting a message on ridecamp, and I think 
 that's a serious problem.
 
 What do the rest of you think? >>

Steph, 
    I am not the person who wrote the above.  I do, however, agree with it
1000%.  I first subscribed to ridecamp a year and some months ago.  Have
enjoyed the forum, though not lately.  Too . . . edgy.  In the year which you
claim the quality of ridecamp when down and hit rock bottom, I never felt that
way . . . I see no mutual exclusiveness between serious discussion and a bit
of lighthearted fun.  "A light heart lives long," as my good friend Bill
Shakespeare once said.  I did not mind when some of the threads strayed off
topic . . . my keyboard has a delete key.  I believe most do.  
    Steph, you have done a great service to distance riding, and horses, with
the creation and running of ridecamp.  You have touched many, many lives with
this forum, and I add my voice to those who have already said a heartfelt
"thank you."
    That said, it is my feeling that your recent "this is MY ball and if you
kids don't play by MY rules I shall just take it and go home and not let you
play with it NO MORE" attitude has done a severe disservice to this forum.
Recently, in a fit of angst (pms?) you "shut ridecamp down" for three days, to
teach all us bad kiddies a lesson apparently.  Your forum, your choice, and I
would defend to the death your right to do what you did.  When ridecamp signed
back on (as it were) you then made a post in which you reminded all of us on
the "fringe" of reality out here that it is only by enormous personal
sacrifice on your part that ridecamp exists.  We appreciate that fact, but, no
one has ever held a gun to your head over this thing, and one should never do
a favor, as though you expected a receipt.  You either do it for love, or you
do not do it . . .
    There.  Now that I have got my own personal angst, pms, and assorted
bitchery out, I can add . . . 'tis a great forum Steph, and believe it or not,
I think you are a terrific person for putting out the effort to do it.  Just
hate to see it turned into Serious Business dominated by Serious People.

Sincerely,
Trish Marie