I've just got to pass along MY hard-guy story. My
"hard guy" is a 27-year-old Arabian gelding named Electric Elite who has owned
me for 26 years. I retired him from competition (after thousands of
endurance miles) about 9 years ago. Since then, he has been ridden very
lightly and then turned out as a pasture companion. I recently started
riding him again to get his weight down to an acceptable level.
Yesterday, I took Elite and my 7 year-old gelding,
Corey, over to Clark State Forest in Indiana for a pretty hard ride -- not
too fast, but LOTS of hills. For those of you who know the Chicken Chase
and Top of the Rock trails, this trail was the infamous "Shaw Lake" trail.
My friend Sharon who rode Elite today, is a pleasure rider who had never ridden
those trails. It was magical seeing the beautiful forestry through new
eyes.
And Elite! The years fell away from him
yesterday. He seemed to remember competing there YEARS ago. He was
full of energy and had a GREAT time! What a day! All my concerns and
worries about him being too old for a trail like that evaporated! Clearly,
he thinks he is a 10 year old! What a great old guy! PS: This
morning, his tendons were cold and tight..... (huge grin.)
