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Truman is right -- heart, and guts, is what
comes from deep inside and there
doesn't seem to be any visible sign except when you see it happen. My son
runs cross country, and I've been there to see kids give it everything they
had, falling across the finish line, on their knees exhausted, sobbing,
retching... but still -- they never gave up.
In the recent December 2002 issue of
Endurance News there was a story of the Ft. Valley Endurance ride (in
Virginia). When Troy Smith of EN received the story, she absolutely loved
it, but it was far too long, and she very reluctantly had to edit it down to fit
the space available in the magazine.
As a result some of the sections that were
cut was one very moving human interest piece of two riders
meeting up with a handicapped father out hunting with his two little boys
.... and a no-holds-barred, ears-pinned-to-the-head,
flat-out-galloping 2 mile horse race --at the very end of a very
grueling 50 mile ride-- between a gutsy little 14.1h half-Welsh pony, and a big,
strapping 16.1h Arab.
If you want to know what heart is... read
the ending of the complete and unabridged Ft. Valley story. Even
after years of eventing over tough cross country fences, and decade of riding
all types and breeds of horses in all sorts of horse sports -- I truly
know now what real heart is because .... I was the one
riding that little pony.
PS. Did I know beforehand that this
pony had a competitive heart and guts? Yes, but I honestly had
no idea it went as deep as to the extent he showed in that
race. It took me totally by surprise, because I was the one who was about
to quit, knowing we had virtually no chance in hell of beating that big horse.
But ...he believed in himself, and coupled with a competitive
drive to want be out in front, his innate athletic agility,
and months of training and work and focusing on our end goals... and made
it possible.
Flora Hillman
AERC #30079
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