Long before Elmer Bandit set the record for competitive trail miles, he and his lifelong owner Mary Anna Wood of Independence, Mo., worked together to raise money for the North American Trail Ride Conference’s Trail Fund. The approved tax-deductable fund supports the expansion, improvement, and maintenance of America’s equine trail systems.

Back in the 1980s Elmer impressed competitors and spectators at trail events with his ability to nimbly hop in and out of the bed of a pickup truck, his usual conveyance. (Today, with entire clinics devoted to the art of teaching a horse to step into a trailer, Elmer can be considered a horse ahead of his time.)

Elmer as a 5-year-old

Elmer as a 5-year-old, May of 1976

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