Hello! My name is Maddie Anderson; I'm a 16-year-old junior. My family and I live in Western Michigan. My mom and I have always had horses and we have been in this amazing sport since 2004.

It was in 2003 that I decided that going around in circles for an hour every other day was to boring for me and my horse. My mom and I got online and found the world of endurance. We got in contact with a wonderful family, and I refer to them as my mentors: the Mieskes.

One weekend mom and I went up and met the Mieskes to ride. Our horses were beyond excited to be on trail with other horses. It was a short 10-mile ride, which gave me an awakening in what this world is really like.

That next weekend I found myself, my mom, a tent (yes, we did this in a tent for two years) and our horses at Wolverine, the hardest trail in Michigan. That was the longest 25 miles I have ever gone.

Even though he was conditioned, by the end of the ride, my 13-year-old thoroughbred gelding Pick A Nickname had a look of sheer exhaustion, but with a twinkle of joy in his eye. We had made it through our first ride; it was such a feeling of accomplishment that I had never felt before.

As we all know the first ride of the season, no matter the amount of conditioning we did, our body tells us. Well, this was my first ride ever and I knew it! That first summer I only did two rides. Staying with 25-milers for the next few summers everything went great, until the summer I knew it was time to retire my beloved companion from the sport.

The winter of 2007 we took the step from thoroughbreds and found an Arabian, HJH McCoys Magic. I got on him in the arena and in no more than three rounds on the prancing Arabian I knew that I wanted to run through the woods on this horse. We took him home with thoughts of the summer season ahead.

I was excited to train "JJ" for the trail. I spent that winter in the cold, conditioning and getting him ready for the season. His first ride was Grand Isle. My mom couldn't ride that day so I went with a sponsor, and it was her horse's first ride that day as well. With JJ being a typical 5-year-old, with no real experience riding with other horses, the start proved to be a challenge for both of us as a team, but we went slowly and everyone made it back still on top!

Mom and I share similar goals in completing races, and we talked about doing the Shore to Shore that year. I had crewed at Shore to Shore a few years before, and I wanted to ride it.

My adrenaline was pumping that first morning and, in turn, my already overly excited horse got more excited when mounted. Only two miles down the trail I came to the abrupt realization that my head, two very narrow trees and a young horse did not work well together.

I awoke to find my mom kneeling over me, looking quite frantic. Long story short, the paramedics took over an hour to find me because I was way back in the woods. I was taken to the hospital and had a concussion (and thanks to my helmet that's all I ended up with). When I got back to camp that night I was amazed to find out how many people helped my mom and me when I was unconscious deep in the woods. I want to thank them all again. I didn't get to ride my dream that year but I was convinced that this year that would all change.

The Shore to Shore was on my mind for months before the ride, I wanted to ride it so bad. Still doing 25s I would only go 125 miles but I wanted the challenge of completing five days. I didn't care what place I got or how long it took.

This time when I got to the ride I was calm (I didn't want to re-enact the year before). Mom and I made it the first two days, then she couldn't go on so Gwen Anrico, a wonderful lady that had taken me on many rides before, agreed to sponsor me for the rest of the week.

We made it through to the end with some bumps in the road. I could never have gotten as many miles as I did last year without her and the other wonderful people that have sponsored me and I'm very thankful of all of them.

By last summer I had collected 505 miles and completed 19 out of 20 rides with one best condition. JJ and I have stayed with 25-mile two-day rides because JJ is still young I want him to last well into his old age. Also because I set a goal to become the National Limited Distance Junior Champion, it was my last year as a junior as I want to make it count! [Note: Maddie did reach her 2008 goal.]

This year we're going to tackle our first 50 together, and on our own. Riding just me and my horse is something I have looked forward to for a few years now (don't get me wrong, I love to ride with my sponsors!).

As any true endurance rider would say, "It is the connection of you and your horse, knowing that you're 20 miles from anywhere and realizing all you have to get home, is each other."