Re: [RC] question for Julie! - Steph Teeter - Mary Ann Spencer
Thank you for summing this up. I had no idea what
this had been about. Congratulations and thanks for the info that should
give us 'older' riders some encouragement. I am at a point in my own life
trying to figure out where the trail will lead next.
I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, those
people who have congratulated me on crossing the 30,000 mile mark. I
have had three things going for me—I was blest at birth with good health, I
have had tremendous family support and I have had the financial means to play
the game. Not everyone has been that fortunate. I hope by way of
payback, for all the sport has given me, to show others that the spirit and
the desire to ride a good horse does not lessen with age.
In addition,
on Saturday when I achieved my goal, I had the best people in the world by my
side. Kathie Perry and Sara Spencer, let me drag on them for 50 miles.
Alex North, Becky Glaser, Patricia and Mike Soffel cleaned my horse up for the
BC judging because I was too beat. And I know that Bob and our daughter,
Barbara, were there every footfall because they wanted this ride for me as
much as I did.
For those of you wondering if you are past the
point of taking up this sport, and to answer Nik's question, I was 40 when I
tried my first endurance ride in 1964. I failed miserably and was rightfully
pulled at the first vet check. I completed my first ride in 1965.
Bob, for whom it took 25 years of marriage to get on a horse, completed his
first ride, the Tevis Cup, in 1976 at the age of 58. He thought it would be
easier than crewing. He rode his last 50 miler at age 84. And
thank you, Nik, for asking how young we were rather than how old we
were.
Trilby and Les and Dave Rabe are the riders with many, many more
miles than I have. They are the only ones I know that have been more
privileged than I.
Julie
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