I just had to share with you what a great time I
had riding today. You may or may not remember me speaking of my Dad as having
enduranced in the 70's. A friend of his heard of this new sport "and I think
it's called endurance," was the statement I remember hearing. My Dad raced (and
yes, that's what they did then) from 1970 until 1979. At one point (I think
1974) he was tied for 24th place in the nation in miles. Of course, in those
days, you couldn't really amass the kind of miles we can now. After he rode his
last ride in 1979 (The Devil Mt. 50) he quit. And he never rode
again.
When I purchased my new horse Tank from Brett and
Katey Gies ... I'm publicly thanking them once again for allowing me to be his
new Mommy ... he is the coolest horse in the world ... my Dad came by to
see him. Two of my other endurance prospects had been under his inspection in
the past two years and his comment for both was "Good looking horses." When he
came to see Tank he said "Now, THAT'S a horse. If I had a horse like that, I'd
start riding again."
Today, for the first time since 1979, he joined me
in a romping 10-mile ride in the foothills and he was so at home on my new
horse, it made me smile and laugh just watching him tear up the trail. He is 75
and I couldn't keep up with him. He looked at me with a big grin on his
face and said "I'd give you what you paid for this horse in a hot second." Not
even open for discussion old man ...
However, the Dad who has been giving me nothing but
grief about riding 25's instead 50's, when asked if he would like to join
me on a 25 said, "On THIS horse?" "Yes, on Tank," I said. "I think that would be
appropriate for a man of my age," he replied. I told him I'd be sure to tell
Trilby Pederson that the next time I saw her pass me riding a 25, while she's
riding the 50! LOL! Of course, he remembers her from the 70's.
Anyway, I just had to share with you all what a
wonderful day I had and hopefully will have a lot more of. I might have to start
riding faster to keep up with the old man though ...
:) Jackie (and Tank the Wonder Horse)
P.S. He also brought me a present ... a bagful of
silver belt buckles that he never wears from various rides he completed. The
only one he ever wears is the first Tevis buckle he earned, which incidentally,
was the very first endurance ride he ever rode.
