Eight (8) Principles for Finding the Fountain of Youth- Part 3

* So much for the scary information, let us turn to my journey. This is my road map. Remember, there is more than one way to reach the fountain of youth, just make the right choices and decisions and with a little luck you to will find well-being or the fountain of youth.


I am currently 72 years of age .However, I want to flash back to 1997 when I was 57 of years of age to give you a framework or background into how I stumbled and I do mean stumbled in finding my fountain of youth. You have heard the expression “It is not the destination it is about the journey.” So it is! Back in 1997, I was a trail rider, and entered a limited distance endurance ride with my Arabian steed Running Bear. The event, the Mustang classic, was held at Mt. Hamilton in San Jose, California. This was my second endurance ride and, I was thinking, at the time, about becoming more involved in the sport of endurance riding. While competing in that horse event, I became knowledgeable of another competition being held there, at the same time, called ride and tie. You may or may not know about the sport of ride and tie? I certainly knew very little about ride and tie other than the competitors were ultra- or exceptional athletes. I later found out that to be true and they were in fact exceptional, motivated, competitive, and fun.


A brief description of the sport is in order. Ride and tie consists of two people and a horse – the team. One person rides the horse while the other (partner) runs on foot. During the event, the rider dismounts, after certain distance, ties the horse’s tie rope to a sturdy tree limb and then begins running, on foot, down the trail in the direction towards the finish. Meanwhile, the other partner, the runner, locates the tied horse, unties it, mounts and rides down the trail in order to catch the runner ahead. The two partners continue making these ride and tie exchanges, like leapfrogging, until they all cross the finish line together, mostly 22 to 35 miles later. In order to get a completion, the team must cross the finish line together. You might be wondering if there is strategy involved like running fast and riding hard. As Sarah Palin said campaigning, “you bet cha.” For a more detailed description about the sport, visit the website: www.ride and tie.org or read the book “40 Years of Madness: A History of Ride and Tie Championships.”

To Be Continued