25's vs 50's

[Todd & Toni Jones <tjones@coinet.com>]

I am a newbie, but I've listened,
asked questions, and read, and read,
and read up on this sport we call
endurance. My friends are, no doubt,
sick of me and my preaching about
the going slow and easy for 2 or so
years. They all do anyway. I just
keep harping on it when I see others
we know racing for 1st place in
their first year on a given horse.
And these are 25's and 50's they are
racing on. Our rides and region
gives placings and top awards in the
Limited Distance class and so quite
a few people here (Pacific
Northwest) have made a career out of
racing Limited Distance and have no
intention of moving up. My intention
is not to knock these career people.
Some people either because of health
or physical limitations enjoy this
distance and I say all the power to
them. It's the first year people who
naively race Limited Distance and
think they now have an "endurance
horse".

My own personal experience with
doing Limited Distance was that my
horse would not drink until we'd
gone at least 20 miles. No matter
how many rides we'd do, he wouldn't
drink. I didn't feel I should move
up to 50's until he'd drink. I felt
like we were in a catch-22. Until I
talked to some very experienced
riders. Basically what they passed
to me was that my horse KNEW he was
only going to go 25-30 miles and saw
no reason he should drink before. So
I probably should have moved up to
50's a long time before, going
slowly, so he could figure out that
there is life beyond 25's. Or as a
friend's favorite saying from an old
book, "That life is stern, hard and
earnest".

I never did move up with that horse
as I sold him and started over with
a 4 year old Shagya stallion. I had
every intention of going in L.D.
rides with him to go slowly. But
after talking with the experienced
(read many years of mileage
champions, Pan Am riders, Dubai
riders) endurance folks, I decided
to just wait. It just about killed
me to wave goodby to my friends as
they would take off down the trail
at the rides as I wanted so badly to
go with them. But I placated myself
with helping and P&Ring that year
and doing paperwork. For those of
you who think that once the ride is
over, it's over, well think again.
The paperwork involved between the
AERC forms and the regional ride
forms takes our club 2 evenings with
3 or 4 people helping to get it done
and done right. AERC's computer is
very quick to let you know you owe
more $$$ because you let some rider
enter that said they were current on
their dues but didn't have the card
to prove it and you took them at
their word.

I did a couple 25+ trail rides on
O'Biwon by pre-riding the trails for
local rides and discovered that he
could cover that distance just fine,
thank you very much, so I decided to
wait until he was 5 to just jump
into the slow 50's. He was over
5-1/2 when he did his first 50. He's
eating and drinking because he KNOWS
how far we are going. Well, heh,
heh, wait until we start the 75's
and 100's (a year or so away)...
which we will also do slowly... I
think, hope and pray I have a 100
miler horse here and want to insure
he gets to that distance in as good
a shape as possible. I realize that
many things can "mess" us up before
this goal is realized and I will
have to take the good with the bad.

Anyway, to those of you who are
worried about moving up and it isn't
a physical problem that prevents you
from doing so. Just DO IT! Go slow,
have fun, spend time with your horse
and get to know him/her. You can't
get to KNOW your horse if you are
racing on your first rides. By going
slow you'll find out if your tack is
"working" for you and the horse,
you'll find out if you are taking
care of yourself and if you are
bringing along the right items.
You'll be able to streamline what
you do and learn what you'll need to
send to the checks. You'll have a
lot of time to think, or yack if you
are with a friend. And you'll be
very appreciative of your equine
friend and will bond with him/her
deeply when you think about how they
are carrying you that distance (and
beyond when you get lost) simply
because you are asking him/her too.
And if your horse isn't drinking on
the 25's no matter how many you do,
then move up to the 50's, go slow (9
hours or so), and I'll bet he/she
will get it figured out.

Another thing that really impressed
me was a story/interview in the
Endurance News about a lady with a
horse named "Tor" from a few months
back. (I can't remember her name,
but she's been at this sport for
years and years) She said she just
waits 15 minutes after the start and
then leads her horse for the first
mile or so and then climbs on and
she still manages to top ten most of
her rides. No fuss, no muss. Read:
no wild racing out of control
starts. A t-shirt at the last ride
made me laugh! "Ride like you've
never been bucked off!"

This sport is many things to many
people and there's room for most
everyone regardless of your goals. I
use to sled dog race and while it
was lots of fun, and I was strictly
in for fun, i.e. racing show dogs, I
found the people to be a very close
knit group who were loathe to let
outsiders (me) into their ranks. And
if you didn't win, you were a loser
was the general mentality. Without
the camraderie I sought, I soon
quit. (2 years). I've found
endurance to be a fun sport and the
people are second to none in
friendliness, lack of politics (I'm
sure there is some, but I've not
found any yet) willingness to help
and share their insight. Money
doesn't determine your standings in
the sport and most everyone I've met
from the vets to the top level
competitors to the people just
racking up the miles with no thought
as to placement are very supportive
to people like me just getting
started. And no one makes fun of my
ugly saddle! :)

sorry it's so long!
Toni Jones & Shagya stallion O'Biwon

Central Oregon
Prineville Ride - May 2000
Bandit Springs Ride - July 2000





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