Re: [RC] RAT as a sport for old people - Barbara McCrary
One of the things I liked the best about R&T was
teamwork. My only partner in all my R&Ts was my husband, and having
lived with him for so many years, I came to know his thought processes.
Therefore, about the time I was really needing the respite of riding the horse,
I would come around a turn and there was the horse. My husband knew me
well enough to know when I would need rest, and I the same for him. One notable
exception occurred when I instinctively felt the horse should be near, but he
wasn't. So I kept plodding up the hill, on and on, finally reaching a
couple of trail marshals. One of them said, "Oh yes, #47, your partner
said to tell you that he left the horse at the bottom of the hill". Since
I had just come up TWO hills, separated by a level stretch, I asked, "WHICH
hill?" They thought it might be the closer hill, but no...it was the
farther of the two. As I ran down the hill, of course I could see our
horse clearly. On my way up the hill, the horse had managed to get himself
behind a tree and I didn't see him. The horse was hopping up and down,
clearly quite rested and ready to go. I untied, mounted and galloped up
the trail, finally catching up with Lud. He had been running for about 7
miles, too much for us folks. As I came up behind him, I asked, "Are we
still married?" He admitted that the place he had tied the horse, slightly
off the main trail, was a poor tie, but other options were already taken by
other horses. We did finish the race, we bested the time we had done the
year before, and we were quite content with the results. Great fun,
indeed.
When my daugher and I did Quicksilver, we played leapfrog
with a team of ladies, one of whom had just had a knee replacement.I was told
at that ride, and encouraged by being told all you do is keep putting one foot
in front of the other....run, walk, hobble, whatever! The main thing is,
that it was extremely fun!
Merryben just about had me convinced that RAT would be
a sport for me when and if I ever can afford to retire. Since the
years are passing and the pounds are hanging on..... I
thought yeah, RAT!
Then again, Barbara, maybe not....
Dyane (and Akela, the way low to the ground model)
Yes, my husband entered it once. He rode
the horse part. That's the even when he was
off his horse, running down a hill and someone's stallion ran right
over him and knocked him flat on the ground. So much for the theory
that a horse really would try hard NOT to run over a person.
