[RC] Kids, Ponies, Distance Riding.... Get a Grip - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: Richard Sacks rsacks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== Enough Already! The precedent on this subject was set back in 1909. In four years between 1909 and 1913, the Abernathy boys (Bud & Temple)made six journeys. Three of them on horseback, one in their own automobile, another on a motorcycle, and yet another on a donkey and an elephant! They covered a total of roughly 12,000 miles, 7000 of them on horseback. They traveled by themselves starting when they when 8 & 5 years old. THIS IS A TRUE STORY. They dealt with hostile Indians, outlaws, wolves, bulls, raging rivers and a variety of weather. Their shortest ride and first ride was 1200 miles. They also rode coast to coast (4000 miles in 62 days breaking the previous record of 182 days. Their father was Jack "Catch 'Em Alive" Abernathy. He got his nickname from being able to catch prarie wolves with his bare hands. He was also a Rough Rider and friend of President Teddy Roosevelt. At the time his children made their rides he was the US Marshall for the Western District of Oklahoma Territory. Today most of you would be calling Child Protective Services to prevent this. Mr. Abernathy felt his children were capable and that this would help build his sons character. Most of the characters on Ride Camp today couldn't even begin to think about duplicating their feats. Heck, I bet most of us are inside where it's nice and warm letting our horses stand around in the cold instead of riding them and letting them keep warm by moving about. If you want to know more about the Abernathy Boys check out the August issue of Trail Blazer Magazine, get Bud and Me The Remarkable Ride of the Abernathy Brothers by Alta Abernathy (Temple's wife - yes he is still alive), or The Abernathy Boys by LJ Hunt. I think this is also going to be made into a movie. I sure wish my kids could do something like this rather than sit in front of a TV or hang around in base camp. Richard Sacks EquiPedic, Inc rsacks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx www.equipedic.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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