News: 70-year-old man completes 225-mile trail ride

Having a harder time motivating out of bed for a ride on these darker, chillier mornings? Take some inspiration from Richard Holdship.

He and his trusty Missouri Fox Trottter Rudy (a spry 13 years old) completed the Michigan Trail Riders' Association Shore-to-Shore Riding Trail from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron last month.

The retired school teacher and principal told the Huron Daily Tribune that health issues prevented him from making the trip sooner, but turning 70 reinvigorated him and on his birthday, he decided to do the ride he'd been dreaming about for a decade. Though he'd had horses for 60 years, he'd never done a ride of this magnitude.

As critical to his ride as Rudy was Holdship's wife, Riki, who drove from camp to camp setting things up and tearing them down daily. Though she didn't get to ride, she said she had blast meeting people over the 10 days of the ride. “Horse people are the friendliest, nicest people,” she told the Columbus Indiana Republic. “They are just awesome people and they will do anything to help you. That made it an absolutely enjoyable trip.”

“Every day I thought, 'This is as close to heaven as I'm going to get,'” said Holdship. “Every day I was out there riding, it was very special.”

Accomplished septuagenarians are no strangers to the horse world. Just look at George Morris, out there showing the youngsters how it's done and riding unicorns well into his 70s.

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