Great Britain: The Red Dragon Endurance Festival by Jo Bond

Hay-net.co.uk - Full Story

by Jo Bond
11 october 2016

The Red Dragon is a mythical endurance competition that people talk about being incredibly tough but incredibly beautiful. It takes place near Builth Wells in S Wales and takes you across amazing mountain landscapes. When we moved back from France this competition went on my Wish List for this year and I’m so pleased that we got there.

It really has something for everyone with Pleasure Rides through to the 2 day Red Dragon covering 80kms each day in a race ride. I decided to attempt The Dragon’s Days. This is 126kms over 3 days with 3200m of climbing.

The venue is stunning, being at the Welsh Show Ground and so there are lovely stables for the horses, trot ups indoors and even an on-site residential centre to stay at (but you do have to book early).

Day 1 was stunning with mild weather, red kites dancing overhead and the most beautiful views. I kept finding myself gasping at the views. There were of course big climbs but the going was nice and we both really enjoyed ourselves.

Day 2 was sent from hell. Torrential rain all day just destroyed the tracks and it got dangerous out there. It needed really steady riding...

Read more here:
http://www.hay-net.co.uk/jo-bond/9873/the-red-dragon-endurance-festival-by-jo-bond

Colombia - Heather Reynolds

Reynolds Racing - Full Story

October 7 2016
by Heather Reynolds

I have once again missed the boat in a big way on posting my blog! On our drive home from California to Florida (back in August!), just after we cleared Auburn, we received an invite from our friend Cristina Mutis to ride in the Colombian National Championship. Jeremy and I would be riding her horses on the 75 mile FEI ride. We thought about it very briefly and agreed to go...When else would an amazing opportunity like this come up?

This ride happened to be only a week after we left CA so we would have to get across the country and get things organized in a hurry and then head to the airport. We managed to get everything done and found ourselves sitting on a plane just a little over a week after leaving CA. CRAZY.

When we arrived in Bogota it was late in the evening and Diego Arboleda picked us up. We had never met Diego in person so I sent him a picture of a bright ball cap I would wear, to which he sent me a pic of an orange Bass Pro hat he would wear. It worked perfectly. When we were walking to the car we noticed that we were at elevation as our breath was short. Bogota is around 8675 feet.

Diego drove us to his farm where we spent the night. It was an amazing old house with a straw thatch roof, like from a fairy tale. In the morning we looked around his farm and met his horses.

It is colder in Colombia than we had imagined. The whole time we were there it was around 55-65 for the high and drizzling rain off and on.

We drove to the ride site, the road was a windy mountain pass. The roads in general are pretty rough. There are also amazingly random speed bumps in the middle of a two lane highway where you were just driving 50 MPH and then... SURPRISE! We managed to not meet the roof with our skulls but had a lot of really close calls.

Once at the ride site it was the same familiar territory of any endurance camp. The venue was really nice, it had an indoor lounge with full catering of breakfast, lunch and dinner that you could purchase as well as hot drinks and a fireplace going. Then there was music playing over a PA system all weekend. Just outside from this meeting area was a covered arena for vetting. There was a very nice social aspect to this event as far as being able to comfortably hang out. There were actually a surprising amount of spectators who had simply come to hang out...

Read more here:
http://www.reynoldsracing.us/heathers_blog/view/535/colombia_

South Africa Sandymont Express Day 4 - Devan Horn

http://www.endurance.net/international/SouthAfrica/2016SandymountExpress1000/

october 4
South Africa Sandymont 1000 Day 4!!!

I am thrilled to report we are halfway there!!! Coco Channel was stronger today during her loop than yesterday, Hidalgo beasted up to 160 kilometres sound and happy, and Avatrix came through for our 45 kilometre loop like a dream. We have wrapped up day 4, and I’m beginning to get my schedule down:

4:00AM – Wake up

4:05AM- Breakfast (1 banana, a piece of toast with peanut butter, and a double espresso)

4:50AM- Rykie drives me to race site. She also picks what music I will have stuck in my head all day. Popular choices include Avicii and OneRepublic, at top volume.

5:00AM- Get to the race site. Go through list of stuff I have to do. Find out Jaco and Elias have already done the stuff I thought of and everything I’ve forgotten as well.

5:30AM- Ride an awesome horse

8:30AM- Ride another awesome horse

11:30AM- Ride a fantastic horse

4:00PM- Dinner 1 (cheese and either antelope or springbok, preferably both)

5:00PM- Dinner 2 (Brai…I look around in expectation when anyone says this word. It involves throwing some sort of animal over and open flame and cooking it with delicious spices. It’s like a dry rub barbeque) and a potato if there’s room.

9:00PM- Dinner 3 (Biltong in bed)

9:30PM – Sleep

I’m chronicling what I eat because as every endurance athlete knows, at some point during the race you usually hit a wall, slump, mental droop, or low point. For me, it has historically been day 3 of the race. This time, I have had ZERO slump or fatigue, and my body feels like it hasn’t started working yet at all. It’s probably because I’m in fair shape right now, feeding it correctly, and have the best possible fuel. Every Hammer Electrolyte product I packed for this trip is worth its weight in gold. During the ride I’m fuelling with HEED, E-lyte electrolyte pills, and 1-2 Hammer Gels.

We’re going into the back stretch, and not only am I 100% fresh, I have two horses that haven’t even done any miles yet on my string. The horse that I have ridden so far are happy and sound. I got a really nice complement from the vet today on how my horses’ backs are looking extremely good, which makes me feel great!
On to day 5!!!

“He said, "One day you'll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember."
My father told me when I was just a child
These are the nights that never die
My father told me
When thunder clouds start pouring down
Light a fire they can't put out
Carve your name into those shining stars
He said, "Go venture far beyond these shores.”” -Avicci

The Spanish Peaks Endurance Endeavour - Christoph Schork

The Ride Manager and Team Easyboot Member Tennessee Lane at Base Camp

Easycareinc Blog - Full Story

Monday, October 3, 2016 by Christoph Schork

What a privilege it has been for me being able to join Tennessee Lane, ride manager and dear friend, together with other well known riders for the inaugural Spanish Peaks 100 mile endurance ride last week. The location was very close to La Veta, Colorado; in fact, just a few miles outside of this marvel of a small town in southern Colorado. After the National Championship Ride in Utah three weeks ago, (I wrote a Blog about it last month) this ride was another highlight of the season.

The base camp is situated at over 8000 ft with the magnificent Spanish Peaks as a background. I am using the present tense, because this base camp has been permanently installed with buildings, water wells and electricity by the Lane family and will serve as base camp for all future rides there. All pertinent info for present and future events there can be found on the SoCo Facebook page.

As to be expected, the management and organization were first class, trails perfectly marked. Exquisite catered dinners for riders and crew were the reward for everybody's efforts and labor...

- See more at: http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/bootmeister-natural-hoof-care-tips/the-spanish-peaks-endurance-endeavour#sthash.nGJLnyk3.dpuf

South Africa Sandymont Express Day 1 - Devan Horn

October 1 2016

(You better sit down this one!)

Well, I came here to fight, and Africa threw the first punch! I started out the ride on Cowboy, setting out with 9 other riders on our first loop. It was impossibly beautiful starting out at sunrise with the wild game, until the buffalo attacked! Buffalo in America are fluffy cows. Buffalo here are tanks happy to charge horses and chase them if you come up on them unexpected! Luckily, Rachel and I got to sit on our horses and watch them chase the front runners instead of being chased. We waited until we were sure they were gone and continued our ride. I had a great loop with Cowboy, he was the smallest of my string but had the biggest trot! We went all the way around the loop, and started making the decent into camp. Suddenly, he was tender going downhill. I thought to myself "Oh no, this isn't happening, this is my first loop and first horse, he can't possibly be lame!" But when we got to the vet, he was footsore. He could technically ride again in 2 days, but we will probably give his miles to another horse.

As you know, if there is something wrong with your horse at Sandymont, you must repeat the entire loop...

And that's how I ended up riding 160k (100 miles) on my first day!

I did it in about 12 hours. After Cowboy vetted out, I became conscious of the fact that I was now in last place by a matter of hours. But luckily I was able to instead focus on doing the best for my team that I could, which did NOT include bumrushing to make up time, but getting them around safely and slowly, so we could keep going through the week. The course is a huge challenge, and more technical than I had given it credit for. I re-rode my first loop on Aviatrix, then rode Zara and Hidalgo as well. Luckily, I was able to get around without further penalties. Aviatrix is a solid veteran, takes care of herself and won't be rushed! Zara did her first endurance ride today, and rocked it, even if she is a bit green under saddle! Hidalgo is also a veteran, but would happily gallop every loop if I let him. He was not impressed by my attempt to get him to slow down.

So everyone else finished in between 1 and 4. I finished just before 6. On my last loop, I got a really nice surprise when fellow rider Tines packed his truck with friends and beer, and met me on the turnaround one extra loop! It was really awesome of him, It was a fantastic pick-me-up, and made me feel better about being out there so long. What a great competitor.

Elias says a bad beginning means a fantastic ending. At the end of day 1, I'm hours behind and have 40k extra on my legs. But...my horses look great, and I feel fantastic! Have you ever seen a more beautiful challenge?!?

Follow more of Devan's adventure at
http://www.endurance.net/international/SouthAfrica/2016SandymountExpress1000/