11/14/08 Little long riders

A while back I told you about equestrian long riders. I'm Jeff Keane; today I have a story that leaves me in total awe. Equestrian long riders are not tall horse riders, they are travelers who ride horses great distances to attain a planned goal. Two of the most unbelievable long riders might have been considered short riders. Bud and Temple Abernathy were Oklahoma brothers who completed their first long ride when they were nine and five years old. These two little fireballs rode their ponies from Oklahoma to Santa Fe, New Mexico and back for a distance of more than 1,000 miles. Nobody was holding these guys hands along the way  they did it alone. That's right alone! When I was five I didn't get out of the barnyard alone. The next summer the Abernathy boys rode from Oklahoma to New York City in one month. By now they were beginning to be celebrities. Orville Wright offered them a ride in his airplane and President Taft welcomed them to the White House himself. They actually rode beside Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders in a New York victory parade. These two rides just jump started the brothers, so in the summer of 1911 when they had reached the ripe ages of eleven and seven they rode almost 4,000 miles from New York to San Francisco in 62 days. Oh yeah you guessed it they completed the ride without adult supervision. You can read more about these two characters in the book, Ride the Wind. I just might have to do that. I'm Jeff Keane.