Entry #1, Anonymous: 'The Young Riders' has had a great impact on my life. Although I had not started watching the show until the last season, I immediately fell in love not only with the characters but of the message it brought. In 1991, I was a freshman in high school and was diagnosed with having leukemia. I had rutinely gone through radiation and chemotherapy treatments and I was often confined and restricted from many daily activities. There were many times I wanted to quit and give up on myself.
Many people have said that television is a bad influence, but I beg to differ. If anything 'The Young Riders' has tought me that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and your dreams. I am LIVING proof of that. I remember actually counting down to each Saturday night thinking 'If can get through this week.'
I would like to dedicate as well as thank the actors and actresses for making this show possible. They really made me feel that I had an identifiable bond with each of them. I would especially like to thank Yvonne Suhor (Lou) and Ty Miller (Kid). Lou was a character who showed me how to fight in a world that was often cruel and unfair. She had the strength and conviction to go for her dreams and not let anyone or anything stand in her way. She showed no fear and put forth courage in fighting her battles.
Kid was one who always believed in what was right. To me, these characters are worth looking up to. True they are fictional characters, but they sends across a message that life is worth fighting for. To me that is as real as anything can get. This is why the show means so much to me.
I would also like to thank the fans of the show! You are a great bunch of people!
Entry #2, Danni : I have to admit, that "The Young Riders" impacted my life somewhat. I think myself very lucky to have been able to experience the magic of the show that was "The Young Riders", and i guess this is my way of saying thank you to all of those involved with the show.
I don't really know why the show had such an affect on me, all i know is that it did, and for that i would like to thank everyone involved. Most of all the very talented actors and actresses who brought these truly inspiring characters to life.
The characters that hold a special place in my heart would have to be Kid and Lou. Even though they are merely fictional, it was hard not to feel a little sad when they were going through tough times, but also feel the happiness in the good times.
I guess another thing that drew my attention to the show was the closeness of the characters. Brought together by circumstance, not blood ties, they were closer than most families. Always willing to help one another no matter what the conseqence. I don't know, but maybe the lack of closeness in my own family is the reason that this affected me also.
One thing i know for sure, is "The Young Riders" has been very special to me and always will be. It has brought much happiness to my life and continues to do so. I guess no one ever dreamed that the show would be so special to its fans, but it is, and for that, i would like to say Thank you, Always and Forever.
Entry #3, Kirsten : When The Young Riders first came on air, I shamefully admit that I didn't pay any attention to it at first. It wasn't until we started taking family trips to my great- aunt's house (where she watched it every week) that I even knew it existed. I remember sitting on her couch sipping hot tea and thinking how cute all of the riders were, and that I couldn't believe that a TV show in the 90's, actually had a story line about one of my favorite time periods in history ! Don't ask me why, but I always left her house and never came home to watch The Young Riders. It was one of those things where I enjoyed it, but didn't completely APPRECIATE it. Boy was I stupid ! Then about a year later, when my dad was in service, we were sent to Kentucky. Now, mind you, many people call that home, but I couldn't even find one activity (save horseback riding) that I took pleasure in. I missed my aunt, and our times together....shoot I even missed The Young Rders, the show I didn't think I truly cared about ! I've never had a true hom, so being born in Kansas and shipped all over the country and parts of the world, I managed to suck it all up and adjust once again. Imagine my surprise when I found out the Family Channel had put TYR on their station !! Finally I had found something that I knew about, and something that would remind me of the good times I had with my dear aunt. I used to spend hours, down in our basement watching the show drinking sarsaparilla by the cases. I would sketch pictures of the horses, work with my wood turning kit, and bead projects. Things were rough with my family. We were all drifting apart and I lost track of the amounts screaming fights between my parents. So consequently that caused me to draw closer to the wonderful family of the riders. It got to the point where I would shut myself off to the rest of the world and live in my Young Rider fantasy. It was my "salvation". I had wante to run away from home, be on my own, and start a life that I thought might be better than the one I had known in that place I hated. But there was something about the bond that everyone shared in the show that made me realize I need to stick by my family. I did that through the hard times, and the good.....and I couldn't have made a wiser decision. I learned from the characters what family and ture friends are all about. Putting others before yourself would probably be the main key to what they were all about. I think back on it all, and there wasn't one character that didn't get help or need it from a friend when they made a mistake. Which makes me hope that I am there when someone needs me in that same manner. And too, Kid and Lou showed me what true love was all about, and that only true love can defy all odds ! :-) But more than that, I found a family; I found a family with the characters in the show, and i've found that same camaraderie with all of my fellow devoted Young Rider fans. It is a bond we have, that will last forever.
Entry #4, Jessica: I must admit that I wasn't really a fan when the show first came out. I was about ten years old and the only reason I watched it was because it
was my older brother's night for t.v. (Yes, we actually had t.v. nights
because we couldn't agree on *anything*, let alone a television show).
However, as I started watching the show, I really, really began to like
it. Of course I liked Lou the best because I could identify with her
since I was a huge tomboy and always tagging along with my brother and
his friends.
Anyway, at one point, my brother and I had to go live with my father
and *WICKED* stepmother in Washington D.C. because my mom was being
transferred (she's in the navy) and she didn't have a place for us yet.
So, as most people who move know, you try to hang on to anything
familair, and that something just happened to be a t.v show called the
Young Riders.
Well, by the time the show went off the air, I was back with my mom
and I didn't feel the loss too acutely, although I was sad. Well, when
they started showing re-runs again on the family channel, thet showed
them at like 2 pm on saturdays, so I never got to watch them because I
was out playing, or something. To tell the truth, I'd actually
forgotten how much the show meant to me until this past Christmas I was
coming home from school out in California (UCSB rules), and by chance I
stumbled onto The Young Riders Expres Station Page. All the memories
came back and I was glad that I re-discovered the show again after all
these years. I'm alot more mature at 19 then I was at 10 so the
story-lines are alot more meaningful then they were before. Anyway, to
anyone that has a Young Riders' web page, Thank you!!!!!
