Mostly I have a bad taste in my mouth over endurance riding because we have a neighbour that's very very bad and has an awful reputation around here.
I think there are some bad apples in every discipline. We have seen some pretty abusive riding done in the name of endurance, but the ones I've observed were new riders who somehow got caught up in the race part of endurance and didn't understand the management part of it. WIll you check your neighbor's AERC record and see how any miles he's ridden? On one horse in particular. If he's gone through a bunch of horses, that's a clue to how he's riding. It would be blasphemous to say this in front of my friends, but I'm still not very comfortable with miles beyond 50. Some of the horses finish looking pretty used up and I have to assume they would not have chosen to go 75 miles or 100 miles that day. For my horse, possibly horses, I will be sticking with Limited Distance (usually 25 or 30 miles). I know Hunter can do that and finish fresh and still a little full of himself. I don't want to see him so fatigued that his eyes are dull. Nancy
