Re: NOT FLUFF

[CMKSAGEHIL <CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-03-13 00:11:45 EST, Merryben@aol.com writes:

<< My juniors have been from 5 to 11
 years old on their first rides  >>

Have taken a few juniors myself, always somebody else's kids, since I don't
have my own--nothing like taking somebody's 7-year-old, driving 350 miles,
dealing with tack, feed, etc. for strange horse, clothes, food, etc. for kid,
and doing 75 miles.  Had a ball!  The kid was Scotty Nance, who was Jr.
National Champion that year (long time ago).  The first thing he asked me when
he got in the truck with me was if I was ever in an accident--he didn't want
his horse to get hurt.  The next thing he said was, "If I was older, I'd help
you drive!"  After the ride, I took him to my parents' house in Boise,
Idaho--he was sound asleep when we got there, and I was a bit worried about
what he would think waking up in a strange bed, but by the time I dragged my
groggy body out of bed the next morning, he was up and eating breakfast,
cheerfully recounting every step of the trail to my ever-patient mother, and
all set for the drive home.  Just before the ride, some reporter stuck a
microphone in his face and asked him if he was going to ride 25 miles--he
calmly and matter-of-factly said heck, no, we wouldn't have driven all that
way except to do the 75-miler!

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)