I have been riding horses almost all of my life. I started off riding my granddad’s old Morgan Horse, and taking care of her in the summer, when I was not in school.
When I Was in my 20s, I wanted to learn how to ride English and to jump. I went to a barn in Chicago were I took lessons..
Then later, I started riding show horses in northern Illinois.
When I came back to Indiana. I met a gal that did endurance riding. I bought an Arab. and that was the beginning of many special long distance rides on my wonderful Arab, Dark Hero. He is a Certified reining horse. Turned out Hero had the spirit to stay ahead of the pack and he loved to win.. We won 6 out of 10 rides. It’s a very intense sport. I retired him after two years.
I rode Hero for maybe five years as the trail horse. He was fine if we rode with horses that weren’t gaited, but he really had a hard time with the beat of a gaited horse. So when I started riding with my friends who all had gaited horses, I retired him because he was so frustrated..
That’s when I bought Dustin Johnson. Riding a gaited horse like Dustin is like riding Pegasus. I will miss him dearly. I am 74 years old and have developed balance issues and a familial tremor. My doctor recommended I stop trail riding other than around the property on Hero.
