Photo by Becky Pearman
June 16 2026
The short version is that my 18 year old, 14.1 hand mustang mare is a total freaking beast and we finished that gnarly ride with 4 minutes to spare, coming in 11th out of the 17 that started in the National Championship 100.
Every time I think of this past weekend, I still get teary eyed. Aspen and I ventured up to the AERC National Championship to try our hand at the Old Dominion 100, also known as the Beast of the East. For those that don’t know, it’s a grueling, rock filled trail up and down big mountains in the heat. The 100 is a point to point race where your crew travels and meets you at most of the vet checks and you eventually circle back to the starting point.
I won’t lie - I wasn’t even remotely excited for the ride the week leading up to it. Every time I checked the weather forecast it was looking hotter and hotter and I was totally dreading it. I even thought about scratching my entry as heat is typically hard on these heavier bodied mustangs and I also don’t do great in it. But Charlesey and I had been planning to ride it together for some time and I couldn’t let her down so I gave Aspen a body clip and reluctantly packed all my crap in the crewing truck.
A few days before the ride I glued on Aspen’s composite shoes like I’ve done many times and promptly found the back two in her field the next morning and a front one looking a bit suspicious. I’m thinking bad glue cause I took hours on my prep work. So I figured I’d just ride her in renegades at that point and see how far the front two shoes lasted, but once I got to ride camp my dedicated crew member Rachel Land encouraged me to have the ride farrier throw a set of steel shoes on her with leather pads instead. Best advice ever because the amazing farrier Shane put those things on tight and they never shifted an inch the entire ride - a massive feat.
It was uncomfortably hot on Friday but Saturday was going to be several degrees cooler with less humidity. So with a fresh set of shoes on and Aspen looking good, I got my last bit of organizing done and got some restless sleep. 4:15 AM rolled around quick and Charlesey and I rode off at 5:30 AM. The first loop has a big ol climb and lots of rocks. The humidity was high but the horses vetted in well at Bird Haven. The second loop has a climb from hell and a trail called stegosaurus ridge because it’s literally nothing but rocks, but we made it through that as well with a very conservative pace and some cussing. Unfortunately Charlesey’s mare was off at the second vet check so I sadly had to go out alone in the heat in last place with the next folks ahead of me by nearly 20 minutes. I was also going to have to push to meet the next cut off time. I thought to myself, well, I’ll be riding the next 70ish miles alone now - nothing new for me - and we’ll just see what happens.
To my surprise, I caught up with Amy Stone & Madison Johnston near the very end of loop 3. I had been asking Aspen to maintain a big working trot the entire loop, even up the long uphills, so when we got into the vet check with 14 minutes to meet pulse time, I was a bit worried. But she came right down and vetted through great. Rachel was being a crew machine for Aspen and I and even had my truck all decorated up. It was adorable. I iced my feet that hold, Tracy rubbed my shoulders, and lots of folks asked if I needed anything. The endurance community is really amazing, and I felt that extra hard on this 100.
So off we went on loop 4. It was beginning to cool off and Aspen was feeling great and I was starting to really have fun. Rachel said I needed to speed up and that I could make some time up on this next loop. I caught up again with Amy and Madison and we rode into Waites Run together making good time. Vetted through that fine, then we ended up catching several more riders who I ended up leap frogging with quite a bit. Aspen and I got a quick bite at the hospitality spot where lots of horses were. I decided to let everyone go out ahead of me because I wanted to ride my own ride and set my usual turtle pace without her getting caught up with the other horses. So we headed out from there alone and made it to Big 92 vet check with some time to spare. Aspen looked great, I was starting to feel giddy, and Rachel was being a magical crew fairy as usual.
We left out last and alone again for a quick trot down to Laurel Run vet check and ended up riding with Jaime Hope most of that stretch. Vet check easily passed, Aspen’s shoes were still in place, and I’m absolutely thrilled and ecstatic but getting tired at this point. Jamie and I rode into Bird Haven together having a pretty good ol time even though I had to get off to pee like 5 times!! Ugh. I’m completely exhausted by this point, my headlamp is making the shadows dance as I trot along, and I’m totally hallucinating animals and creepy figures in the trees for that entire loop. But we make it to Bird Haven and the vet says Aspen looks great! So I drink some tea and off we go for the last 6 miles to the finish.
I’m hallucinating worse at this point and completely paranoid that I’ll find a rock in the dark and lame up my horse in this last little stretch. So I tell Jaime to go on ahead and I do what I do best: turtle pace! I pretty much walked that entire last 6 miles and we crossed the finish line at 5:26 AM - just 4 minutes to spare. I knew my friends were going to be terrified I wouldn’t make it but I knew exactly where I was that whole loop so they were just going to have to sweat a little lol. Charlesey, Rachel and I had a good little cry as I trotted through those finish line lights while folks cheered me on. My adrenaline spiked then and I’ve been on cloud 9 ever since. I trotted Aspen out for the final vet check and we were told all done!! Aspen then gets pulled aside for drug testing and I’m so tired that I could barely remember my address
So yeah. Old Dominion 100, which I swore I’d never do again if I finished it, is by far the funnest ride I’ve ever done and I hope to be able to do it for many years to come. There are so many people I want to thank - ride management, the vets, the numerous volunteers who helped me many times, the amazing ride farriers, the cooks, Rachel for being my main crew and her wealth of knowledge, Charlesey for riding with me and always encouraging me, Tracy, Jeff, & Chuck for your extra help, Jennifer for driving me home, Becky for your photos, all the riders who I shared trail with, and my partner Justin for tending to the farmstead while I was away. Im sure I’m forgetting folks but know you are loved and appreciated. I adore this endurance community and I had one hell of a party up there on the mountains!
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