Joe
Holloway: I have always thought that horses were
very magnificent creatures but had no firsthand
experience with them growing up � or for that matter
� not until very late in life. Then, when I was 72,
Dennis Tipton, a friend of mine who had been riding
in EXCA events, found that my wife, Sunny, and I had
been volunteering at a horse rescue. He invited me
to come and ride with him using one of his horses �
Solanos Moonlite Run, aka �Annie�. Annie came from
a Montana ranch and �knew the ropes�. Problem was �
I knew little to nothing. After some coaching and a
couple of months riding Annie in an arena, Dennis
suggested that we attend an obstacle clinic in the
Mid Atlantic Region of EXCA. We attended and I did
some slow motion work on simple obstacles and then
had a �fun race�. Happily, I was still mounted at
the end of that race and joined EXCA. The rest is
history.
After a couple of races it became very evident that
I had better learn fast if I wanted to stay safe and
ever be able to compete. It took about 3 and one
half years to learn enough to reasonably take Annie
through a race (at the Novice level). When asked
what it was like learning to ride at age 72, I
always replied that it was no harder than learning
to fly a Boeing 747 � only difference being that
none of controls were labeled. After about a year, I
attended Craig�s clinic. During a race that he was
calling, I kept Annie at a lope through the first
few obstacles and Craig made the observation that
�he is really smoking�. He coined the handle �Smokin
Joe� and it stuck. Eventually we improved enough to
win Novice Regional and National Titles, and place
in the top ten at the Worlds. Every ride is a
learning experience and now at age 80, I still have
a very long way to go.
I missed some races in 2016 due to quadruple bypass
open heart surgery. I was unable to attend and
compete in the Worlds even though I was honored by
being inducted into the Hall of Fame. After months
of recovery, I am able to ride again and participate
in races. One thing I find very rewarding is the
camaraderie among EXCA participants. I have been
assisted and encouraged by fellow competitors at
every step along the way and I find myself cheering
them along as I watch them ride. And � I am still
cheered along the way by my wife, Sunny, who
tolerates the things I sometimes neglect in order to
ride.
Channel 11 (NBC affiliate) in Atlanta decided to do
a story � again about me and the race. That piece
ran last night on the 5pm news and again this
morning on their morning program.
Here is a link to that story
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