MEET THE JUNIOR Michaela J. Anderson

My name is Michaela J. Anderson. I have done six rides in my first seasonÑthree 25s and three 50s. I have finished all six rides, and I have gotten four first junior awards. My most recent ride was the Lake Oroville Vista endurance ride ("LOVER") in the West Region). The vet check was five minutes from my house!

I won first junior and youngest rider for the 50-mile endurance ride, and the oldest horse award (my horse is 16 going on 17).

I owe it all to my horse, CRM Xpressions (Tonka). He wasn't doing well with my mother on the last six rides she had done on him; he had only finished two out of those six rides for metabolic reasons (heart rate), so she and the ride vets decided to retire him to 25s. I wanted to start endurance, and Mom decided that Tonka would take good care of me on the 25s.

Tonka and I have made a great partnership, and after finishing three 25s so well, the ride vets suggested we try him on 50s again. He has done great! We think it is partly because I ride him and lunge him almost every day, so he gets more regular cardio work than before.

Tonka's grandfather is Bask*. Tonka was a show horse until he was 3 years old. He was bought by my good friends Hugh and Gloria Vanderford, who broke him in to riding and endurance. They sold him to my other good friend Dianna Chapek, who let us wheedle her into selling him to us. Now after my mother rode him for eight years, it is my turn to ride endurance on him.

I hope to have 500 miles before December 2006 (I will be 14 then), so that I will be able to do rides on my own.

I want to say thank you to my mom for sponsoring me on the rides, and thank my dad for paying for them; and all the very patient ride vets and managers and volunteers!

P.S. I also want to thank my friend Haily Daeumler. I got to crew a few rides for her as she would race through the LOVER ride, etc. I always said to myself that someday I would ride with Haily on an endurance ride; hopefully 2006 will be that year!

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