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Elmer Bandit celebrates 38th birthday
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On April 8th Elmer Bandit celebrated his 38th birthday with his lifetime owner Mary Anna Wood. The 15.1 hand gray half-Arabian lives out on pasture with about a dozen other horses when he's not out breaking records. However, since Elmer's teeth are severely worn down from age he also recieves two meals a day consisting of soaked beet pulp, senior feed, and up to two pounds of alfalfa cubes soaked in water. These extra meals are a must because his teeth no longer allow him to eat as much grass in a day as the other horses, although a meal can take him up to three hours to finish!
Elmer's teeth, a touch of arthritis in his hips, and limited vision in his right eye due to an ulceration that occurred in 1998, seem to be the only indicators that he is past the usual retirement age. These factors obviously don't slow Elmer down one bit and we had ample proof of that when he surpassed Wing Tempo as the national mileage record holder in 2008. As of October of 2008, Elmer, at the age of 37, had completed a total of 20,720 certified competitive trail miles. He certainly stands as a living testament that just because a horse is considered old does not mean he is ready to be retired.
Elmer and Wood are scheduled to compete in yet another competitive trail ride event on April 25th in Cherryvale, Kansas. They're setting the bar high for any challengers in hopes of becoming the next national mileage record holder.
Click here to read about how Elmer Bandit and Mary Anna Wood celebrated Elmer's 38th birthday, and Wood's recollection of the day Elmer was born, in an article by The Horse.com.
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