October 30 2012
The weather was spectacular, the scenery gorgeous, and the trail (as always) a challenge. As Head In/Out Timer for both days, I kept asking riders how they liked the trail, and they all gushed over how beautiful the mountains were, how colorful the trees were, and how much fun they were having. Big smiles on all - 30s and 50s, all weekend. The trail can really kick one's backside, but that makes the triumph of riding it all the bigger in terms of the grins we got as riders timed in and out....and finished.
Average about 50 riders on Friday, close to 100 on Saturday. Friday temps in low to mid 70s - and cool/humid in morning. Horses came off trail and those we saw around us at the crew tents dove into the water buckets right away. Top ten horses looked great all day long. Pulls on Friday were a few lameness (lost shoes or boots) mostly, I think only two metabolic (tie-up) Horses that were treated were both experienced horses (one was a 100 mile horse that passed the vet check, but later owner observed NQR symptoms and returned horse to vets), and the one horse that ended up being transported to Morven Park was reported as doing fine, but still taking in lots of fluid, and was expected to stay on for a day or so. Unusual seasonal warmth and high humidity in the air were contributors.
Saturday was significantly cooler, overcast with with a short period of rain showers mid morning as 50s were coming in from their first loop. Morning was cool, afternoon warmer (high 60s), but then breezes picked up by late afternoon with temps dropping into the low 60s, and jackets made a reappearance. Times for the front runners were faster, but about average for the middle of the pack. Again, lots of huge smiles and riders simply glowing about how beautiful the trail scenery was - one rider described a section of trail as "this long tunnel of golden leaves all above and around you as you rode along - it was magical!" The photographer (Becky Pearman) showed us some raw shots from the trail, and we were in awe at how spectacular the background was for the rider photos. I was told that a change of trail this year on the final loop took away a particularly rocky stretch - a change I'm sure many riders appreciated as that stretch had been a bane to riders and trail markers for years (including moi during the many years I competed in this ride).
We had several juniors in the Sat 30 (hooray!!), and a number of newbies in both distances on both days. We passed around smiles and jellybeans freely as we made sure that everyone felt comfortable, understood the protocol, knew which way to turn going out of ridecamp for whatever loop they were doing (most common question asked "do I go this way??"), and most importantly cheered riders coming in and going out on the trail. ALL the ride-and-tie riders got huge applause (practically standing ovations) and cheers as they came in and went out. It was great fun, and especially nice for the nearby landowners who stopped in to watch and chat, particularly one landowner and her little granddaughter who visited the ridecamp to see the horses and activity close up and personal. Tons of new "endurance" puppies of all breeds to coo and cuddle over, too. The OD rides are very dog-friendly, and all the canines in attendance had well behaved humans on their leads.
This is one of the most popular fall rides, not the least for the lovely ridecamp in a spacious flat field on the valley, but also for the mouthwatering dinners prepared by RM Claire Godwin's culinary husband Pete who (with a staff of ever smiling volunteers) can whip up soups and dinners that would rival a 4 star restaurant...and have the entire ridecamp come running to the food lineup as dinner and the ride meeting got underway. They even had big screen set up for showing (horsey) movies each night after dinner - "War Horse" on Thursday night had me sitting in the audience (I'd read the book, hadn't seen the movie).
Don't know who won the Asgard Arabian raffle horse drawing on Saturday night (I have my ticket!!) as I had to leave by sunset, but the winner will be announced on the OD website. Stunning chestnut horse that exhibited a lot of Crabbet features (as breeder Tom Sayvetz explained to me). Whoever wins this horse (and I know a lot of people were walking around with pocketfulls of tickets) will get a wonderful endurance prospect.
Again, massive kudos to RM Claire Godwin and her enthusiastic, fun (ever growing) staff of volunteers for putting together yet another outstanding Fort Valley weekend of rides. If you come next year, look for me as the Head In/Out Timer again. This annual long-running OD autumn ride is WAY too much fun to miss, either as rider, crew, or volunteer.
Final results and link to photographer's photos will be on the OD website (olddominionrides.org) this coming week.
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