Liberty Run

[Howard4567@aol.com]

I'm not going to post one of my stories on this ride since I seem to be 
running out of friends cause of what I write.  My fault, nobody else to 
blame, cause I write it like a personal diary and should probably keep alot 
of what I say to myself.  So, I'll just say the following about the ride:

It was just great.  Did you ever hit a trail and after a few miles say to 
yourself, "I just died and went to horse trail heaven?"  That's how I felt 
after the start of my 25 with Dance Line, who was on fire.  I'm sure Dance 
and me scared a few at the start when he started doing his imitation of a 
Lippizaner horse and got his rear legs under his body and lifted the front 
ones off the ground.  

After 5 miles or so I found a group of young riders, led by a very brave 
woman, who were all trotting, so Dance and I tagged along with them for most 
of the first loop.  I felt like I was intruding on a Girl Scout troop but 
they didn't seem to mind. When the leader said, "Girls, do you want to trot?" 
 I would chime in with them, "Yes Ma'am." One young girl, she looked barely 
8, was on this tiny pony who had the quickest trot I've ever seen.  How this 
tiny pony kept the pace with Dance Line's long legs is a feat I'll never be 
able to explain.  His hooves had to hit the ground twice as often as Dance 
Line's did.  Plum amazing to me.

Anyway, the trails were wide, footing was fantastic, and I want to go back.  
Even though they had well over a hundred total riders, the lines at the vet 
checks were never long and the 25, 50, and 100 milers were spaced out so well 
I couldn't believe this was the same ride I attended and crewed for last 
year.  

Debbi F, from Florida won the 50.  I'm trying to make a deal to get her to 
wear a GATOR T-Shirt while riding.  I'll let you know how that works out 
since her daughter keeps telling me her family is mostly of the Seminole 
persuasion.  Debbi's horse also got BC.

Even though Debbi won, the Queen of the ride was Susan K. who came in second 
in the 50.  I rode one loop with Susan and she never ceases to impress me 
with her horse.  Susan let me accompany her to the fantastic restaurant they 
have on site (you gotta try the schnitzel) and she has more jokes than Dennis 
Miller and Chris Rock combined.  On the last nite we had ten people at our 
table, all telling jokes, and we even got the waitress to sit down with us 
and she started telling some.  
The waitress kept flirting with James and never with me for some reason.  
Guess she didn't have a thing for short, fat men, but I kept telling her I 
look taller and thinner on my horse.

I should also mention Valerie Kanavy won the 100 miler.  No surprise there.  
I still haven't had the nerve to speak to her but I did meet her husband on 
Sunday.  I asked him what it's like to be married to such a famous woman and 
he told me it was kind of like being Arnold Palmer's wife.  Then he told me a 
funny story about this woman who called his house asking to speak with Val.  
When Mr. Kanavy told her Val wasn't there the woman said, "That's ok, I'll 
call back later.  I just wanted to get directions from her to your house."  
The Kanavy's were having some kind of clinic at their place.  The way he told 
the joke just got me laughing so hard cause the woman obviously didn't think 
he could give out correct directions to his farm.  haha.

Sunday, I went out for another loop cause I just didn't get enough of it on 
Saturday.  Plus, there was a lost horse and this gave me an excuse to look 
around and try to find him.  I didn't, but he wandered into camp later that 
day to a very grateful owner.  

I did not want to leave this place.  I was the first one to arrive there 
Thursday afternoon and almost the last one to leave on Sunday, around 2PM.  
Guess I miss the military more than I realize.  

Anyway, put the ride on your calendar.  It's held twice a year and is one of 
the best I've been to in a long time.

cya,
Howard