I was about Josie's age when I did my first 50
on Whatta, my first horse that was just mine; before I had always had to
ride mom's old horse. He was a big 15.3h Anglo and I rode in a little Stubben
english saddle. I was still a skinny kid and when I got sore from the saddle I
just slid behind it, like I would if I was riding double, and go for a couple of
miles until I was ready to get back in the saddle. LOL Freaked mom out the first
time she turned around and saw me doing it. She was like "What on earth are you
doing!" and I'd say "What...?"
Then I figured out a way to loosen up my legs coming into
the vet check, you know when you first get off and your legs are a little
wobbly, I would lay across the saddle in my best "dead man" impersonation and
let my horse just walk on into camp behind mom. It was fun for a kid and always
raised a few eyebrows. I used to do all sorts of silly stuff like that as a
junior (and skinny).
Katrina Mosshammer - Manager Mid-Summer Night's
Madness Clayton, Oklahoma Central Region
<<When Josie did her first 50 at age 10 she would say something about
her knees hurting and I'd say, "let me change your stirrups" and she'd argue
with me that she was "*fine* keep going". I would ignore her and change them a
little and soon she would admit they didn't hurt any more. You might last 25
miles in pain (why would you want to though?) but it will get you on longer
distances. You don't get "tougher" and learn to stand 50 miles of pain, you get
smarter and learn how to fix the cause of the pain and move on.
