An Old Wife’s Tale — OD 100 - Patti Stedman

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By Patti Stedman | June 16th, 2015

[Disclaimer: As I write this post, I do so knowing that my husband may veto its publication. While he grudgingly tolerates my it-sounds-over-the-top-to-say “public” persona, he’s a pretty private guy, and while I might be okay sharing with the world where I peed behind a bush in Vermont, being the subject of a blog post might cause a nay vote. We’ll see.]

My close personal friend Oprah says that everyone has a story.

Without question everyone who rides a horse 100 miles in one day, on what is arguably the toughest 100-mile endurance course in the world, the Old Dominion 100, renowned for its rocks, its heat, its humidity, and its unrelenting climbs and descents — they have a tale to tell.

It was not Richard’s idea to ride the OD 100. It was mine.

He loves the Vermont ride, and rode his first 100 there on Sarge last year.

But over the course of the now eleven years that the two have been competing, I’ve always believed the OD course was right up Sarge’s alley. He’s a mountain goat of a horse, able to climb nimbly over rocks and boulders without slowing, undaunted by huge climbs, able to make time on hard pack with his Amish road buggy trot, and possessed of a work ethic I’ve frankly never encountered in a horse. In short, and I say it repeatedly, Sarge is a rock star.

I’d suggested the OD 100 to Richard, I don’t know, perhaps 47 times and this year he said ‘yes.’ With an important out. As long as it wasn’t too hot. (A prophetic man might have said ‘as long as it isn’t too humid...’)

Read more here:
http://enduranceintrospection.com/an-old-wifes-tale-od-100/