I was walking him around the block this morning. On one short street the residents were setting up for a big block party this afternoon / evening. As we walked down one side of the street a man on the other side called over to me, "Two or three?"

"Two or three whats?" I thought.

"Your horse. Is he two or three?"

"Well, actually, he's sixteen."

"Wow! He wears it well!"

 

Here's another one Magician. On the 3rd of July some ladies we know in Florida decided to take a night trail ride. Not very smart, eh? When the fireworks started in the air the fireworks also started on the ground. One of the horses spooked, reared, slipped and fell on it's side. The rather large rider tried to jump off the high side but couldn't get her foot out of the stirrup. She did however have her leg in the worst position when the horse landed on it. She will need surgery(s) to repair the leg and will not be able to but any weight on it for at least 3 months.

 

In the horse/rider equation I thought that the rider was supposed to be the intelligent one.

 

Khaleel is Arabic for friend. A gentleman who speaks Arabic told me that it means the sort of friend with whom you could sit up all night chatting and simply enjoying each other's company.

I cannot imagine a better name for my horse.

 

What do you two talk about?

EDIT: To put it properly, "About what do you two talk?"

 

For the last couple of months Khaleel and I have been running together twice a week. I ride him over to Santiago Oaks Park, cross the stream just past the entrance, hop off, and jog along side him whilst he's trotting. We cover about five miles in forty minutes or so, including two very steep uphill sections on which I tail him - I hang onto his tail and he pulls me up. (Sometimes I unsnap one rein and hold that as well, in case he tries to canter uphill; sometimes I don't. The latter is known to endurance riders as "the honor system".) Then I hop back on and ride him back to the barn. (It's funny: now when we cross the stream he'll pull over and stop, even on the days when we're riding with a group.)

Usually the conversation goes something like this: "Trot. Slow down. Catch up. Stay on your side of the trail. Don't crowd me. Let go of that. Khaleel, you're a good horse." That sort of thing.

 

I should have figured that there'd be a real answer to a teasing question. Sounds like you're giving him an enjoyable last few years (aside from hanging onto his tail)...

 

Magician, have you ever ridden endurance? My sister raises Arabians and does the 25, 50 and 100 milers. Someone posted about riding at night- try it when you're racing against the clock and you can't see where you're going.

 

Not yet.

At sixteen, Khaleel's too old to try to start in endurance riding - he cannot build the bone density required for, say, 100-mile rides.

It's a shame because he's a cousin to one of the horses that won the Tevis Cup last year. And because he's a gelding I can't even breed him. My trainer keeps telling me what a shame it is that I didn't get him as a four-year-old.

Last November we got a Polish Arabian gelding - Boris - who had his tenth birthday three weeks ago. I'm hoping to fit him (and myself) up for endurance riding; I'm told it will take about eighteen months to get his bones, tendons, and ligaments tough enough for hundred-milers. I run with Khaleel twice a week to start getting in shape for endurance riding; Boris isn't trustworthy enough yet for me to run along side him; that'll take a few more months.

My goal is to complete the 2007 Tevis Cup on Boris. One hundred miles across the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Lake Tahoe to Auburn. Seventeen thousand feet of uphill, twenty-three thousand feet of downhill. Twenty-four hours, including at least two hours of manditory holds for vet checks. The quickest horses do it in about twelve hours on the trail.

(The Tevis is held on the day of the second full moon of the Summer so that when you're riding up the switchbacks in the middle of the night you can see where you're going.)

In 2004 the team that was leading the Tevis Cup went off-course sometime around 9:00 - 10:00 pm and ended up going eight miles too far. They finished third, I believe.

 

Yeah, my sister has run the Tevis at least twice, if not more. She has won one hundred miler (not Tevis) and usually places in the top ten. She's also insane, IMHO.