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Wednesday, August 13, 2003 Local Realtor covers ground Kathy Armstrong, a local Keller Williams real estate agent, has a unique way of going the distance. In a business where the typical professional may drive several thousand miles per week in a car, Armstrong frequently spends her weekends adding as much as another 100 miles on a horse. Armstrong is an endurance rider, competing in events all across the southeastern United States that test the stamina of horse and rider alike. "It's like doing a marathon on horseback," said Armstrong, who grew up in the horse country and plantations around Beaufort, S.C. "I've always been crazy about horses, and I really like endurance riding because it's challenging, fun, and good for me and my horse." Though not as well known as the Olympic equestrian events of show jumping, dressage and eventing, endurance riding is nevertheless an international sport and one of the seven major international disciplines included in the World Equestrian Games competitions held every four years between the Olympic Games. Endurance riding may be added to the Olympic equestrian events as early as 2008. Armstrong became active in the sport after making friends with an international competitor while working as a volunteer at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 at the Georgia International Horse Park. "I had been into Tennessee Walkers - training, breeding, and showing - but by the time the Olympics came to Atlanta, I was tired of it," said Armstrong. "At the games I was exposed to so many different disciplines and met so many people. I met an Olympic official who sells and trains horses in the Middle East, he got me interested in Arabians and endurance riding, and now I'm hooked." Endurance riding events cover different distances. The shortest is 25 miles, and the longest is 100. As you might expect, the major challenge in endurance riding is fitness, of both the horse and rider. "You really have to know what's going on with your horse," said Armstrong. "And not just during the event. You've got to pay attention to its nutrition and conditioning for months. We ride with heart monitors on the horses, and of course, I have to be fit, too!" The average 100-mile ride takes 10-14 hours. "Most folks get tired of two hours in a car," she said. "Imagine what shape you have to be in to ride 10 hours on a horse." Armstrong got into real estate when she moved to the Atlanta area in the '80s. She's currently an agent with Keller Williams, working on the Hand Team, and most of her listings are in Fayette and Coweta counties. She's especially proud that Keller Williams, which has only been operating in Coweta for two years, now has the second most listings in that county. "Just like my favorite sport, I'm in real estate for the long haul," she said, "but it's nice to be near the front!"
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