MEET THE JUNIOR Kirin Kumar

Hi, my name is Kirin Kumar ("KK" for short). I am 12 years old and last October I rode my first 25-mile ride in Santa Cruz, California. It was one of the most fun things I have ever done, but probably not for my stressed-out mom. I was riding my mother's friend Dick Carter's horse, Sister, and my mom was riding her first horse, Cassie, a paint quarter horse.

We camped out in the provided camp spot with my mom's friends Dick and Sandy Holder, who were riding the 50. I was doing all of the normal chores like fetching 20-pound water buckets, lifting hay, and checking on our hyper horses. We slept in the truck, and in the morning we got ready and saddled up. My mom had been telling me about the starts of endurance rides, and I was really freaking out, but luckily it was a controlled start. .

At the beginning of the ride I was fine except for a few minor spooks, stops, and turnarounds! This ride was pretty flat and it also had a river crossing that I feared. After descending about 20 wooden steps 10 to 15 feet apart, we came to some nice hilly trotting areas, and I thought I could hear the treacherous river. .

Then the most favorite part of the ride for me happened: about 300 yards from the somewhat deep river, we heard a long groaning crack, I yelled out and stared to run back with my spooked horse. About 45 yards in front of us, an old redwood tree just crashed to the ground about 20 feet off the trail! .

After calming the horses down, we reached the river. "One horse at a time, please," was what the spotter said to us when my mom and I tried walking through together. I eventually made it through and was able to tell my tree story to a couple of people on the other side. The river was not so bad after all. Finally we came to a nice shady trail where we could trot up all the way to the first "trot by" vet check. .

After we passed the trot-by, we came to more trotting areas (I cantered), and then the long loop, which included 95% of trotting and cantering trails. We met a lot of hikers, ride-and-tiers, and photographers, many of whom my mother knew. We trotted for the longest I have ever done--about five miles without stopping. .

On the way back to the vet check after the loop I shed about three layers of clothes, trying to adjust to the weather, varying from the 45¡ morning to the 90¡ mid-morning heat. .

Finally we got to the long-awaited vet check, where I stocked up on cookies and energy bars. At the trot-out I was nervous about my horse vetting out but she did fine. On the way back we met two ride-and-tiers. We talked a bit and then trotted off slowly down the gradual slope. All of the hikers and bikers were very nice. When we got back to the river I was not scared but surprisingly my horse was afraid and my mom actually had to pull her through. On the way back I was not the least bit afraid of anything. We cantered and trotted all the seven miles back, pausing occasionally for water, hikers, and pretty sites. .

And finally we made it home. Every single person was clapping for me. I felt really proud. I made some funny faces while taking pictures, unsaddled and got my final vet check done with all As and Bs. We finished the day off by waiting for Sandy Holder and Dick Carter to come in, and then went home. It was a great experience! .

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