Re: Newcomers

[Merryben@aol.com]

I couldn't agree more with anyone.  I have wanted to post re this subject but
don't want to be misunderstood.  However, someone posted today about taking
six months preparation and training to do a 25 and people seem to agree with
that.  For the life of me, I can't see how it could possibly take that long to
prepare and condition for a LD ride or for a first 50 for that matter.  I
personally think you can get a horse ready for a 50 in a lot less time than 6
months.  You are not building a piano.  We used to figure a minimum of 6 weeks
for a horse in fairly good shape and maybe 2-3 months for a pasture maggot.  I
still feel that it is plenty of time.  Don't worry about all that other stuff.
Feed your horse, ride it a lot and go do the ride.  I think almost any horse
can do a slow paced ride without all the high tech stuff people use.  Learn
what you need as you go.......MB