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Re: [RC] so what, after all those years and all those finish lines, made the difference? - Joe LongOn Sat, 15 Jan 2005 08:02:23 -0600 (CST), Tina Hicks <tina@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Jerilynn Gray (now Huffman I think) rode a morgan called Lain. Joe would know since he sponsored her for many miles but I think Lain had somewhere around 8000 miles - and they weren't slow miles either being sponsored by Joe and Khalil :) She lives not too far from me and I talked to her once several years ago about Lain. The horse's day off was on Sunday - on the way home from the ride. He was ridden - lots and hard - the other 6 days. No special saddle, shoes, no HRM. Back to back to back to back *fast* rides where Lain was in the Top Ten consistently. Certainly not what riders today would recommend or do I bet :) 99 other horses would have gone lame, worn out, etc...but Lain didn't. You know, sometimes I reflect on how that little corner of north Alabama, in about a fifty mile circle, sprang forth such an amazing group of horses. Not only Lain (C Lain Winula) with 8095 miles of intense racing competition and Kahlil with 11,525, but Jody's horse Booey (Petit Jets Shadow) with 5340 and James Barnett's Sid (D.C. Sidka) -- who are not as well known or as high mileage only because they weren't taken to as many rides. Then Desert Ballad from Jackie Mitchell's farm in the same neighborhood, who Nina Warren rode to such success (and of course Amir Nezraff, from neighboring Mississippi and then Tennesee, but still part of "the group"). How often did that bunch end up racing against each other, week after week? And oh, my, what great times we had. Jody, Jerrilynne and I formed such a bond when I was sponsoring them as Juniors that even years later, when they were seniors and we were supposed to be competing against each other, we still felt like a team. For example, I remember a ride where Jerrilynne and I had about a half-dozen other riders still with us up front, and we turned off a road onto a winding trail. Jerrilynne was in front, I was right behind her. I said to her "Heads up, here's our chance to make a move." As we went around a sharp bend in the trail and were momentarily out of sight of the riders behind us, I said, "Now! Go!!" and off we went -- galloped around the next bend before they caught sight of us, and we never saw them again until camp. Jody and I were riding after dark in a Tennesee 100 shortly after glowsticks began to be used as trail markers. It was a very black night, and time and again we'd think we saw a glowstick ahead ... only to have it turn out to be a gloworm along the side of the trail! That'll give ya some vertigo! Kahlil is the only one of original group still with us, and at 32 I know it won't be long until he re-joins his friends -- Sid, Amir, Booey, Lain, will be waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.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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