Sam competed again in Chisholm Challenge this year, and he earned another belt buckle for his English equitation ride, his sixth in about 10 years.

I started thinking about Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, and this concept of how long it takes to become an expert at a thing.

Sam looks like an expert on horseback to me. See for yourself (brother Michael is the videographer):

Michael says that when Terry Evans interviewed Sam and him for this piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Evans was surprised that we didn’t own a horse even though we lived in Argyle. (Dude, it’s Aubrey where the horses outnumber the human population, but I digress.)

But I thought, I should count up the hours he’s been riding. Maybe he comes close to that magic number in Gladwell’s book at one hour per week, and about 40 weeks per year, over 21 years …

840 hours – not even in the ballpark and couldn’t even get close in 40 more years of riding. But I’m sure he’ll have a blast trying.