Carolina Ride

[Naztari@aol.com]

I just got back from the Carolina RIde. Don't ask me who won because I don't
know. I do know that my horse Sawyer carried this fat ol' lug a full 50 miles
with 35 minutes to spare. He was close on his pulse at the 2nd vet check and I
couldn't get him past a walk on the last 8 mile leg of the journey. It was our
first 50 completion (he came up limping at about 35 miles at our 1st attempt
at Liberty in May). He looks great today and was trotting around the pasture
when I let him out there a little bit ago. We definitely need to do more
training before next season starts so that we don't have this close a call
next year but we now KNOW that we both CAN do it. It was fun. It became a bit
of a survival test as the sun went down, the temperature dropped and I had
failed to wear more than a T-shirt. It got plenty dark and the last 8 mile leg
was new territory and finding the trail got to be a little tricky. It is
satisfying to have finished and I do believe that .....to finish IS to win.

Ed Roley and Sawyer