RPM - he was a 14.1 7/8h (AHSA carded) Welsh/Arabian cross bred by Baileywick Farm in Wisconsin. His Arabian dam was from performance and halter winning lines; his Welsh Section B sire from hunter pony lines. The breeder bred him for carriage driving, and she herself would later become the president of the CAA (Carriage Association of America). He was her tandem leader and part of her pair. I have lots of his photos (she gave me later) with him in competition, and put to a sleigh during the winter.
The photo below was me “tailing” him up Indian Graves Trail on the Fort Valley endurance ride back in 2008. His carriage driving training and knowing all the driving commands was a blessing because I could “drive” him from behind with my voice and just one end of his rein on his halter (he didn’t need a bit) and the other end in my hand, with my free hand wrapped in his tail.
(and Lynnc) - you can read all about us on the AERC website under the Decade Team awards. If the pics don’t come in (as they are supposed to since they are archived on the AERC website), just right click on them and chose to view them on a separate page. One of the pics of us (at a Virginia ride that was taken as it was sleeting and snowing) was used as AERC’s Endurance New’s full page ad for the Modern Arabian Horse magazine. (below) I was grinning like a crazy woman from listening to all the pinging of the sleet and ice hitting my helmet as we trotted down the trail - and the photographer got that ear to ear smile as I saw him on the trail. That ride was a blast - we had rain/sleet/ice/snow/and fog - all in one 7 hour stretch. I loved it!!!
I have written a number of articles for carriage driving magazine over the years, and also for the Endurance News, and in 2006 one of my EN articles won the USEF Pegasus Media Award for Best Single Feature Article. USEF president David O’Connor presented me the award at the USEF annual meeting, and I now have a stunning bronze winged Pegasus statue to remind me that being pulled for only the second time in my career and then writing (for the sheer enjoyment of putting a story together) about a friend’s horse getting pulled at the same ride can have unexpected benefits when people love what you put on paper. 
For the last few years (since I put my Decade Team partner down 2 1/2 years ago) I’ve been only carriage driving my Welsh pony pair, and “in” Endurance only on the volunteer staff side (Timer) for the rides while gently conditioning my next project - one of my purebred Welsh ponies who, while athletically quite brilliant, is also an EPM survivor. It will be interesting to see how far I can take him, considering the damage the EPM did to his back end neurologically. I did foxhunt him (2nd Field) and he was fabulous, but…hunting isn’t the playground for any horse handicapped by EPM damage. Too dangerous. But Endurance, and LDs - well, that’s in the ballpark. Should make for a very interesting article one day in the future, I imagine! This is him below - 14 hands of cute, sweet, lovable, cuddly, adorable, gentle, biddable, happy, and smooth-as-silk talented Welsh Section B pony.
So again, JMHO, but - 10 years old is a fine age for a horse to start, and with the horse already having a good education under its belt, and hopefully a good work ethic as well, you are already ahead of the game in building a successful partnership in the Endurance sport.
