Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Calamity at Every Turn - Traveling the Pony Express

Outsideonline.com - Full Article

Will Grant
Sep 15, 2017

To travel the Pony Express, riders had to brave apocalyptic storms, raging rivers, snow-choked mountain passes, and some of the most desolate, beautiful country on earth. To honor the sun-dried memory of those foolhardy horsemen, we dispatched Will Grant and a 16-year-old cowboy prodigy to ride 350 miles in a hurry.

It took us 60 miles and two days on the Pony Express trail to lose our horses. That morning, the four of us had hauled out of Granger, Wyoming, near the Utah state line, with a tailwind blowing scarves of dust before our cavvy of nine horses. We were rich in horseflesh but shy on ex­perience, and we took our horses’ quiet demeanor as evidence that all nine had set­tled into the ride. We were mistaken.

That night’s camp lay on the east bank of the Green River. We rode in from the west, with the setting sun at our backs, and found the water running dark and dangerous. We crossed over the river on Highway 28, where the road narrowed to a two-lane bridge with no real shoulders and a rarely observed 70-mile-per-hour speed limit. Once across, we made ourselves at home, about a mile from the road in an oasis of grass and mosquitoes. We failed to notice, though, that our access road didn’t have a cattle guard—a grid of pipes set into the ground to prevent livestock from venturing where they shouldn’t...

Read more or listen here:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2237451/calamity-every-turn?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Dispatch-09262017&utm_content=Dispatch-09262017+Version+B+CID_137d0e8e1f0f97f09c3f810770d6c835&utm_source=campaignmonitor%20outsidemagazine&utm_term=A%20Cowboy%20Prodigy%20Rides%20the%20Pony%20Express

The Kenny Chronicles: Chamberlain Creek 50 miler 2017 - Aurora Grohman

Redheadedendurance.com - Full Story

September 25, 2017 / Redheaded Endurance

After a successful day AND a night LD (total:50 miles) at Bandit Springs in July , Kenny enjoyed his usual 2 weeks off plus another while I traveled on a really fun 10 day trip to Maine with my mom and nephew to visit more family. I had a lovely time, squeezed in a horseback ride, and ate as much lobster as possible, then returned to yet another excessive run of California heat (105+ for days) which meant not a lot of riding: a total of 63 miles on Kenny, mostly un-marking local endurance trail, in the 7 weeks from back-to-work to the Chamberlain Creek ride. Kenny is estimated to be 12 years old, lives in pasture barefoot year round, and he has now had almost 2 years of endurance conditioning after an initial base of light trail work. My does it show come a cool September ride morning...

I will get to the ride story soon, I promise, but first some ruminations in gratitude. (Pre-Chamberlain creek) I have had the privilege to go to 5 different endurance rides in 4 different states for a total of 335 completed AERC miles and one 100 mile Rider Option pull so far this season–all trailer-pooling!! I’ve ridden 5 different horses for 3 different owners (4 completions, 1 RO) , as well as my own (all completions), and I just feel blessed. I am a back of the pack rider that was converted to AERC as a teenager, admires decade teams and 100 milers, and likes to “get my moneys worth” out of the trail, but endurance has been a struggle for me these last years as I’ve tried to find the right partner. It’s wicked cliche but I have learned so much and met so many of the people that have made this year so much fun; what is even cooler is that a lot of the fun has been with people that I’ve known for almost decades and over decades now. As a reflective 30 year old, having old (I’m not talking age here), good friends is a sort of new and wonderful feeling, if you know what I mean...

Read more here:
https://redheadedendurance.com/2017/09/25/the-kenny-chronicles-chamberlain-creek-50-miler-2017/

Thursday, September 21, 2017

VC100 50th Anniversary! GREAT RIDE! - by Kipling

TheMonkeysKnowNothing Blog - Full Story

Kip's Korner. The world according to Kip. A commentary of life as an endurance horse from one very opinionated Arabian, want-a be Akel-Teke gelding, Kipling. Hence, 'The World according to Kip!'

September 18 2017

Glossary....Horses........us equines

Monkeys......those that ride and handle us and think they are in control.

'The' Monkey.......the one on my back most of the time who knows she is not in control but does try hard.Her name is Ronnie

Need Pics!
Let me first of all say the 'the monkeys know nothing' is just a general statement and I still believe it to be the golden rule. Occasionally they do something right like the ones who put on this incredible ride. Even so, in general the monkeys know nothing. Well, compared to ' me' they know nothing. Enough said!

Ride camp was even fuller than ever but I didn't get to rub up against any cute fillies on the way in and out this year.Dang! I did however get to park really close to my buddy Sundance and catch up with latest gossip in the equine world. Chip was there too! This was going to be a fun ride!

We left late on Saturday morning to let headlight brigade get on down the trail. No worries, I thought, I'll catch'em at daybreak when they ditch the spot lights. Did! Lost Sundance and Chip though as their careful, caring monkeys were suppose to take it slow and easy. Good boys. Not me! My monkey let me go like she promised a few blogs ago and I had a ball bouncin' over those rocks like a kangaroo rat. Rock, rocks and more rock! You couldn't see the trees for the rocks.I love rocks!

Then I met Tahoe. A boy after my own heart. He said he was only 17 and I believed him. He had teeth like mine so he had to have been up there some. We hit it off really well and between us managed to pull four monkey arms out of their sockets. Erin, Tahoe's monkey, kept saying "now gentlemen," we need to slow down. 'Phewy,' I said!

I passed Georgie, screamin' at him to come along with me. But no, he was being a good boy as usual. Gosh it's hard to get through to some of these nice horses but I still like Georgie and his monkey Phyliss.

Read more here:
http://themonkeysknownothing.blogspot.com/2017/09/vc100-50th-anniversary-great-ride.html

Friday, September 08, 2017

6000 Miles of Red-tude - Karen Bumgarner

Karenshorsetales Blog - Full Story

September 8 2017
by Karen Bumgarner

Red - tude? In case you aren't familiar with it, it's that go getter attitude that seems to belong to those dang redhead horses. Thunder is a pumped up, get outta my way and let's go kinda guy. I can grumble but he just finished out his AERC 6000 miles so I couldn't be more proud. The crooked legged beast just gets the job done!

It wasn't my intention to do all 3, I planned to do 1 and 3 and trail ride with my BFF Colleen Martin. But Mike Cobbley said, "You have to ride day 2. It's the best because we ride up over the Continental Divide and it's really pretty." So OK I'll do days and two and trail ride on 3. Well the red beast was so rotten the last few miles in, trying to dump me, spooking and tossing that big white nose in the air saying "nanner nanner", that I told him he just bought a ticket to day 3! Made him happy because he was a bigger jerk the third day than he was the first! HA! Typical Thunder...

Read more here:
https://karenshorsetales.blogspot.com/2017/09/6000-miles-of-red-tude.html