Re: [RC] Kids, ponies and distance riding - heidiWell you have a kid that could handle the 50s the first time out. Thats very cool and quite amazing. Many kids I know around camp start out with the 25s. They don't get as tired and are more willing to come back and do it again. One of my fondest memories of the "old days" endurance riding is when the Nance boys and Lewis Hollander were little sprites, and they would come in off of 100s with daylight left in mid-summer and go around camp getting other kids to come out and play football with them! I also cherish the time I sponsored Scotty Nance (a couple of weeks before his 8th birthday)--his big brother had been Junior National Champion the year before (on the old system of season points) and it was Scotty's turn. But his mom, who had started off the season with him, was in a horse accident and was on crutches. I was leaving after work on Friday night from central Oregon to drive through the night to Idaho City, Idaho to do the Boise Basin 75. I happened to be in Prineville and stopped by Gene's clinic for something, and mentioned that I was going, and asked if he knew of anybody who would like to go. He asked if I'd be willing to take Scotty. I said SURE! He called home and asked Scotty if he'd like to go with me--no pressure, no dragging, just asked. Scotty said yes, so his mom packed him a suitcase and his dad went home to help get his tack and horse ready, while I went home and loaded up. I picked Scotty up in the early evening, and the first thing he asked me when he got in my truck was, "Have you ever been in a wreck?" I told him no, and he said, "Good! I don't want my horse to get hurt!" The next thing he said was, "If I was older, I'd help you drive." Scotty stayed awake as far as Burns, where we stopped to get something to eat. Then he slept on the truck seat on through the night to Idaho City. He was too little to saddle and bridle his horse, but he knew exactly how tight his girth was supposed to be, he vetted his own horse, he took care of himself and knew exactly what he was supposed to wear and eat, he knew what his horse was supposed to eat, and the only things I did for him were the things that he was flat too little to do. Just before the ride, a reporter from the local paper spotted him and asked him if he was there to do the 25-miler. Scotty looked REALLY insulted, and said no, we sure didn't drive all this way to ride 25 miles--we were doing the 75! The look on the reporter's face was priceless. <g> Scotty was a trooper the whole way, vetted his horse at every check and at the finish, and did all of the horse care he could--and instructed me in great detail about those things he couldn't do. Late that night, after awards (or "rewards" as Scotty called them), we drove to my parents' place in Boise where we could turn the horses out. Scotty fell asleep in the truck again, and my dad carried him into their house and put him to bed. When I woke up the next morning, he was already up and was happily eating breakfast, while giving my mother a cheerful and detailed blow-by-blow description of our ride the day before. (We were 3rd and 4th overall on the 75, and he was the first--and I believe only--junior.) All kids are different. Scotty had had some learning problems prior to his first big endurance season--and it was the accomplishment of riding that brought him out of his shell and caught him up with his peers. Thank goodness nobody tried to tell him he was too young... (And yes, he DID go on to the AERC Junior National Championship that year--and we all practically fought over who got to sponsor him!) Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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