tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312611292024-03-17T08:39:54.265-06:00Endurance.Net: Ride StoriesTales of rides, riders and horses... Presented by <a href="http://www.endurance.net">Endurance.Net</a>Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.comBlogger1012125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-36839358032019090502024-03-17T08:39:00.000-06:002024-03-17T08:39:00.276-06:002024 Twenty Mule Team 100 - Lucy Trumbull<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2024TwentyMuleTeam/photos/LucyTrumbull.jpg" width="200" style="float:left; padding:10px;" >March 14 2024<br />
Lucy Trumbull
<p>
Sometimes it seems like the more I do something the less it feels like I know how to do it.
Riding Squee has brought new and different challenges to long-distance riding, and 20 Mule Team - whilst familiar - was no different. This was my 8th time riding the 100 miler (with Squee and I doing the 60 and the 65 milers here the last couple of years).
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It didn't start off well when Squee managed to slice open his head in the trailer in the first 30 minutes while we were on our way over to fetch Ranger and Annette. After a quick inspection of the bleeding flap, we glopped on some desitin and shut him in the middle stall of the trailer where he wouldn't be able to do any more damage.
We made it to Ridgecrest with no flat tires or the trailer lights failing - and dodged the worst of the weather on the way down. Carefully parked the trailer to maximize its wind-breaking capacity, and installed both horses on the lee side (thankful that I've got spring ties on both sides). We were even close enough to the faucet and had a hose so that we were able to fill water buckets without much heavy lifting - a bonus, given that Squee pooped in his water bucket, twice, (presumably due to turning his butt to the wind), before I gave up and put a water container on the ground, slightly to one side.
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Friday was spent gluing on his shoes, gluing his forehead back together (who knew how useful superglue could be), pre-riding an amped up horse (aka Kite Onna String), packing crew bags, and wrestling with things in the wind.
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Because of the wind, it got to the stage where you couldn't do most basic tasks alone. My tack room door stopper suffered a failure from being nearly blown off its hinges, meaning that you needed two people to get the saddle out - one to hold the door, the other to wrestle the saddle. Similarly, to tack up, you needed one person to wrangle the blanket and saddle pad, while the other put the saddle on. Everything that normally lives outside the trailer was smooshed into the back of it, so it was tight quarters back there, with us clambering over piles of equipment, hay bags, feed containers, tack, chairs, etc.
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All night it blew hard and in the morning despite trying to shelter them out of the wind, it didn't look like either horse had drunk very well, nor could we tell how much hay they'd eaten versus how much had just blown away. I gave Squee a mash which he devoured with such relish that I immediately gave him a second one - which sort of clued me in that he hadn't eaten much overnight. I was super-glad I got those two mashes in him as the morning developed. I also managed to give him a dose of electrolytes before the start.
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The ride started at 6 a.m. and we were only 5 minutes late - pretty good going. We sailed along, making good time, passing horses as is Squee's habit, and enjoying the gorgeous sunrise. So far so good.
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At 6 miles in, we hit our first issue of the day. Annette's stirrup decided to part company with the saddle, so we stopped at the first water trough for her to fix it (necessitating a complete saddle removal). Thankfully, although Squee ignored the water trough, he and Ranger amused themselves eating desert greenery while this repair was going on (possibly what contributed to him not crashing later, so definitely not a wasted stop). He was also not happy about all the horses that passed us here, but he managed to keep it together.
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On we went, sailing along the ridge, admiring the rocks and at times clinging to the saddle to stop being blown off, leaning into the wind. It was crazy windy out there - but hilariously so. What the heck??
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At 14 miles (at the "hot chocolate stop" - on the traditional night loop), another trough, another opportunity to drink ignored, but not totally out of the ordinary given the cool weather. I dosed Squee again, hoping to encourage him to drink at the trestle 6 miles further along.
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He was bopping along quite happily - wanting to go-go-go, but I was able to keep him to a dull roar - better than past rides here. As we hit the shoulder of Laurel Mountain, it rained on us and although I was bundled up, I was reminded that I hadn't brought along my rain jacket. Thankfully it stopped pretty quickly, but it was a little nervous-making. I had to unzip three of my six layers to find a suitable safe inner pocket to put my rain-spotted glasses into.
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At the trestle, he munched on alfalfa but ignored the water trough <grrr>, so we took some time to let them refuel. I dosed him a third time in the hope that when we hit the vet check in another few miles, he'd start to drink.
<p>
Nope. At the vet check (~25 miles) he still had no interest in drinking. He pulsed down nicely, vetted through well, except for unsurprising low hydration scores - but worst of all, his gums were *bright* red, causing great concern. I flashed on the three doses of elytes I'd given him and vet Susan McCartney wondered if that was what had caused the irritation. Ugh. So much for diligent elyting. I flushed his mouth with plain water for a while using my elyte syringe and by the time our hold was over, his gums were back to normal. <phew> No more elytes for him for the rest of the ride...
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Ranger had taken a little longer to pulse in, so we waited for them - I figure any rest time refueling is good time. Of course, Squee didn't eat his soggy mash, or drink anything (even as we left the check), he just munched on alfalfa. <sigh>
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The next section isn't the most scintillating - riding alongside hw-395, in a straight line for miles. This was similar to last year's route and I was mindful of the fact that in theory a person could trot-trot-trot non-stop for miles and miles. Since we don't train on that type of terrain, that clearly wasn't going to happen, so we put in a few walking breaks.
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Squee felt good and the wind was at our back for the first few miles. Ultimately, of course, we had to turn and head straight into it. For some reason I thought there was a water trough at this point, so started doing some mental calculations as to where the next one was. Although Squee felt fine, I decided that if he didn't drink at one of the next two troughs (~32 miles and ~34 miles), I was going to have to pull him from the ride. Because we were looping around, from that point it was just a few miles back to the vet check. But after that, we'd be heading up into the hills and I didn't want to take a compromised horse up there.
<p>
And - big sigh of relief - he *finally* took a great big drink at the next trough. Imminent pull averted, although I still felt like I was going to have to baby him along due to the fact he was dehydrated.
<p>
So we climbed up into the hills - taking it really easy and not pushing at all. I'd worried that the weather would blow in when we were up there (and we'd had a short taste of it at that 34 mile-trough when we were pelted full in the face with small hail for a couple of minutes) and watched the lowering clouds to the south nervously. But instead we were down in a little canyon, out of the worst of the wind, and what wind there was was at our backs again.
<p>
Slow, careful climbing up to the top, but the reward of an amazing view as we crested the saddle at 4,200 ft / 1,280 m. And best of all, the weather never caught us.
<p>
Down the other side and headed back to the same vet check as in the morning. Half way down and Annette's stirrup parted ways again <grrr> (she'd called a friend back in camp and asked them to bring her second saddle to the vet check for this eventuality). This time she trotted on one stirrup for 2-3 miles until the trestle #2 before stopping to fix it - something I couldn't have done, at least not without a lot of whining. Squee and Ranger munched on alfalfa while she made cunning use of her breast collar strap to McGyver a repair job.
<p>
Back around to vet check #2 at 50 miles. Squee again got relatively good scores, except for hydration, and at least his gums were the correct color. Ranger, OTOH, wasn't having a good day and it was here we parted company with him getting a ride back to camp in a trailer.
<p>
(At 50 miles, the one thing you do *not* do is think "gah, I'm tired, and we're only half-way through").
Thankfully, Squee gives no sh*ts, and cheerfully left the vet check without a care - eager to get down the trail and catch other victims. It's exhausting and exhilarating at the same time - amazing to see his energy, but exhausting because you have to constantly rate him to stop him blowing himself up.
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Headed back to camp, we alternated cantering and gaiting, me trying to get a steady pace, him wanting to run. We hunted down some other riders who I assumed were on the 60 or 75 miler (there were more of them than 100 mile riders - and they did the same route as us), but it turned out to be Tami and Monica on the 100. I asked Squee to stay with them for a while in an effort to steady the pace, but he ultimately outwalked them once we got down onto the flats in town and he dragged me into camp (see video clip) at 60 miles with the wind blowing in our face.
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This was our hour-hold, so we had plenty of time to regroup, refuel (many thanks to Annette for supplying me with ramen noodles), re-dress (thanks to Annette for the snow pants - although it meant I had nowhere to put my phone), and get Squee's saddle back on (stink-eye from him, since he thought we were done, as we had been the previous two years). We taped some glowsticks onto his breast collar and I booted up the "Rides with GPS" app that supplies audio-cues in the dark as to when and where to turn.
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Of again on the first night loop - 15 miles - which would bring us to 75 miles back at camp. Squee was happy as a clam, leading out his posse of Tami, Monica, and new member Megan who was doing the 75. The wind had dropped and it was blissful to ride without having your sinuses whisked or your ears buffeted.
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Within a few miles, Megan needed to jog on ahead - her horse has a useful can-go-for-100-miles slow trot that she wanted to make use of. She passed... and of course, Squee wanted to go with her. Since he was now drinking like an adult, had passed the previous vet check well, felt good, and Megan was going a nice easy pace, I didn't see any harm in letting him join her.
<p>
This was my mistake and one I made in the past when I rode Charlie at VC100 a few years ago. "Slow easy trot" - whilst it looks slow and easy for an arabian, is not the same as "picking your own gait and staying within reason" for a gaited thing. Squee kept up fine and had a jolly time - to the point that, when the wind came up again, he just went faster and faster until I realised we'd left Megan behind. I slowed him down again and we bopped on back to camp together. Along one stretch I was a little nervous about what seemed to be deep sand, but Squee seemed to gobble it all up.
<p>
Back in camp at 75 miles for the 4th vet check with a rabid beast who just wanted to eat and eat and eat... but unfortunately showed no sign of pulsing down. Unwilling to slosh him with water, all we could do was strip his tack, put on a fleece cooler and try and maintain the delicate balance between letting him eat rabidly, and taking him away from the food source to try and get his pulse down - causing it to spike up again because we'd taken the food away. Ugh.
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At the last minute, the PnR person was able to get him at criteria - at which point he promptly peed... which would have helped if he'd done it earlier.
<p>
So he got through the vet, but not great. I worried that the lack of hydration was catching up with him, making his blood move along like sludge and that he'd go downhill from here. <bite nails>.
<p>
This hold was only supposed to be 45 minutes and we'd already spent a bunch of time persuading him to pulse down, so we went back to the trailer for more refueling, a soggy mash for him, more ramen for me, and ended up spending a whole hour - putting me back out on the trail for the final 25 miles at 11 p.m.
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I'd never seen Tami or Monica come in to VC4 behind us, so decided that they'd slowed way down and must still be behind me, so it was a bit of a shock to arrive at the out-timer - albeit 20 minutes late - and be told that Tami had left 30 minutes earlier.
<p>
Oh. So I'm now turtle. Hey ho.
<p>
Off we went, Squee now a lot more subdued (but also heading away from the wind) for a long, dark windy loop. I'd hoped that we'd catch Tami, but Squee wasn't motivated enough. I tried to stay awake, but dozed off a couple of times within the first 10 miles - not good. But catnaps do you the world of good, so I was pretty perky by the time we hit the pointy end of the giant triangle that was the turning around point for this loop - 12.5 miles to go.
The end of the loop had a short section of about a quarter mile where they routed us across-country to jog over to the return trail - and this quarter mile was lit up like a UFO landing strip with a glow-stick bouncing on a bush in the wind every 10 ft. Squee took a few minutes to munch on some greenery while I admired the glowsticks. Most amusing...
<p>
... until we headed back into the wind...
<p>
And windy it was. Ack. It was full, in-your-face wind. Along this stretch, there were three detours off the "headed-straight-back-to-camp" trail, each headed away from the wind. Looking at the map beforehand, I'd originally thought these would cause problems for any self-respecting horse with a sense of direction. Head *away* from camp? Nuh-uh. But instead, when we got to these detours, Squee took off with enthusiasm, doing his rolling downhill eye-popping speed gait away from the wind... and then we'd turn back into the wind and slow down again.
<p>
Astonishingly, I actually fell asleep again during one of these back-into-the-wind sections - possibly because I had my eyes squinted shut against being sand-blasted. I woke up with Squee walking straight through a large bush and bumbling around in the undergrowth (I think he was trying to head away from the wind). Consulted the Rides with GPS track and found that we'd veered off course. Apparently Rides with GPS was also asleep, as it never warned me like it's supposed to. <tut>
<p>
Back on course again and fighting to stay awake, keep Squee on trail, and go as fast as was sensible on a horse that has no desire to go into the wind, but goes like stink every time we head away from it.
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The final detour seemed interminable - why weren't we there yet?? It seemed to go on and on, into the wind. And then we were on the final track leading back to camp. At which point Squee stumbled and went down on his knees, with me nearly going over his head. He clambered back up again, took a couple more steps and tripped again. I was on the verge of getting off to lead him in the final half mile but the wind was horrendous and he was fighting me to go - apparently this had woken him up and his mission was now to get us back to camp as fast as he possibly could. There would be no getting off.
<p>
The wind was howling at this point - the large trees planted along the front of the couple of residences near camp were whipping around in an alarming way, looking like they were going to be wrenched out by the roots; the horse was fighting to go; there was a metal shipping container banging away; and it all felt like a bit too much and I was suddenly near tears - probably mostly due to fatigue and worry about Squee - but I was overwhelmed by the whole thing.
<p>
In the last block, I did manage to get off him and try to lead him "quietly" into the finish line so he would "pulse down all nicely", but all that actually happened was he dragged me forcibly along, despite the death grip on the lead rope. The wind was whipping around, he was rabidly hungry again, and just wanted TO EAT DAMMIT.
We did a final vet check with the wind crashing around us and - 100 miles done and dusted. My 7th 100 mile completion at this ride, and Squee's second 100 mile ride. <proud of both of us>
It wasn't pretty, mistakes were made, but we got 'er done.
<p>
* * *
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Huge thanks to Annette for crewing for me after she and Ranger were done for the day - and for staying up in the wee hours to help me with him.
<p>
* * *
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The next day I missed most of the awards (I thought they started at 10, an hour later), but it turns out Squee and I won the turtle award (I wasn't sure, since we actually caught Tami and Robert Ribley at the finish line - turns out by the end they were just minutes ahead of us and if we'd made a tiny bit more effort, we would have caught them and could have ridden together) and got some swag (which isn't common when you aren't a top ten rider, so much appreciated for the donation - a rope halter, bucket, and some Doterra essential oil products from from Untamed Tack (https://www.facebook.com/Colorfultack) and Darlene LeVan... including their excellent Deep Blue Soothing Blend for poor tired muscles)
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We had planned to stay over until Monday (I've come home on the Sunday after the 100 in years past, and it is seldom pretty). The pones were bundled up with plenty of food and we had no desire to sit in the windy camp listening to the buffeting wind, so instead we spent the day helping Brian go out and fetch the water troughs on trail.
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It was so interesting to see the trail a) from a different view (i.e. to drive to the locations) and b) in daylight in some cases. In the dark, I'd gotten turned around and didn't realise where we'd repeated trail in reverse in a few places, where we'd ridden the trail in years past - and most of all, to have Brian explain why he routed the trail how he did.
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Great care was taken to make sure we used the best possible options - particularly in the dark sections where some of the tracks we'd used in the past had suffered erosion. He'd even angled those detours deliberately so we'd be headed away from the wind along those oh-so-welcome stretches. Nice!
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Big thanks to Brian Reeves and his volunteer crew for another excellent 20 Mule Team ride. I love this ride, have ridden it ten times, and come down to crew for friends a bunch of other years. Long may it continue!
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* * *
<p>
We came home on Monday, again without any flat tires (this had become a thing on past trips to Ridgecrest, always necessitating a trip to the tire shop) - but I did lose the running lights on the trailer as we were coming through Auburn in the dark to drop Annette and Ranger off. <sigh>
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As of the following weekend, I think I've found the short, so right now the lights are working. Fingers crossed they stay that way.
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Squee's glue on shoes have been removed while he takes a few weeks off, and I'm mulling over my mistakes with a resolve to "try to do better". Uh huh.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-5373031226037864812024-03-09T13:05:00.004-07:002024-03-09T13:05:47.371-07:002024 Twenty Mule Team - Vera V-Abdallah<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2024_20MT_ErnaValdivia.png" width="300" >
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By Vera V-Abdallah<br />
March 5 2024
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Last weekend, we participated in the 20-Mule-Team Ride, which was only held for one day of riding. Thus, we had to do some juggling with getting the adoptable rescue horses out there riding the 35-mile limited distance (LD) ride, while Erna on Love Story competed in the 60-mile ride. I rode the LD ride with one of my newer mentor horses, Sir Trot a Lot, who I thought would do great to accompany the two adoptable horses, Alada Baske Aire and Two Step Betty.
I was nervous about Erna riding the 60 miles without me, but my friend Cynthia Buendia rode my horse Sharif to be there as Erna’s support. Erna is now a "young rider" at 17 years of age and she is eligible to ride alone, but as a mom, I was so happy for Cynthia to ride with Erna.
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I figured that Sir Trot a Lot could take over Sharif's guardian role on the 35-mile LD ride, since Sir Trot a Lot is a very calm and mostly confident horse. Erna and the 60 mile riders all started out at 6 a.m. whereas I started out at 7 a.m. This was great because I was able to see Erna and Cynthia off to the start of the ride and still had enough time to get myself ready to start our LD ride.
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As most of you probably know, the weather conditions were less than desirable with a horrible windstorm that lasted all weekend, with sustained 30 to 40 mile winds and gusts that were up to 100 miles per hour! In addition, rain, possible snow or sleet was forecast. We dressed appropriately and set out to ride.
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Alada Baske Air was ridden by Leah Palestrant who is an experienced endurance rider who flew in, all the way from Ohio, to ride with us! I was very happy about this because it was Alada Baske Air's first endurance ride. Two Step Betty was ridden by Katja Pizka who is also a board member of our rescue. It was Katja's first endurance ride, though she is an experienced rider and is very physically fit.
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It seems like at every ride there is something new or crazy that happens! This time, it was crazy weather with the wind storm, as we had to ride alongside some residential properties with stuff flying and flapping all over the place. At the start of a ride, horses are usually anxious and to add to it the flapping and flying debris, it was nerve wracking for me. We made it passed the properties and the horses did very well. As I was breathing a sigh of relief, we saw a truck with a photographer ahead, but the horses were hesitant to approach since they could not quite make out that it was a human ahead and not a horse eating monster. We kept calling out to the photographer to call out back to us, so the horses could hear a human voice, but the blasting wind was so loud that he could not hear us. We finally got to where he was crouching down in the dirt road, taking photos of us. As the photographer disappeared into his truck and we went to ride on, we saw a riderless saddled-up mule galloping toward us.
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That was my "oh shit" moment because not only was I concerned that my horse would take off running with the mule, but I was also worried for Leah and Katja. How would Alada Baske Aire or Two Step Betty react? I was able to stop my horse from running, though he did bolt a few steps and was able to grab the runaway mules reins, all the while yelling for the photographer to get out of his truck and to hold onto the mule, which eventually he did. Fortunately, neither one of the other two horses ran off, they listened to their riders and stood still. That was a huge relief because in my mind's eye, I had imagined all of our horses galloping alongside the runaway mule back to camp.
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We all took a deep breath and continued on. In my mind, I kept questioning my sanity for continuing onward with the ride with the gale force winds howling around us and having survived the runaway mule situation. But onward and forward we forged our way through the microderm abrasion sand storm. At least, I was getting a free facial treatment!
Once we got to the turn off, where we were heading north on an incline sandy road, we let the horses trot forward. We had to make up time because we had only ridden at a walk to this point and the mule episode had cost us time for sure. Also, this would run off some energy of our horses because they were on edge with all this wind. We trotted for several miles and things settled down, but the wind didn't follow that lead. It kept howling alongside us and the strong wind gusts almost blew us off our horses!
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I kept trying to have Sirt Trot a Lot lead our group, but he absolutely refused to lead. The only time he was willing to ride up front was when another rider would pass us and he would follow the horse for a mile or two, but then Sir Trot a Lot would come to a complete stop and would not even take one more step until Alada Baske Aire would take over the lead.
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I asked Sir Trot a Lot if he was not embarrassed to have a "new horse" be the leader, but he did not seem to care about being a follower. Katja and Two Step Betty rode behind us and there were a few times when they would lead, but Betty also seemed to prefer staying behind the two geldings for this ride.
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We arrived at a water stop about seven miles into the ride and as the horses were drinking, their heads suddenly shot upwards. We could not see much because we had to squint our eyes to protect them from the flying sand. The horses had noticed a column of about 15 cross country motorcycles blasting by us, way before we had become aware of the bikes. That was a lot of motorcycles all at once! Fortunately, yet again, the horses stayed calm. But it is in moments like these that your heart stands still momentarily especially with new horses.
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We continued riding at a good pace until about mile 14 into the ride. It started to rain and hail. The hail was not fun at all because it was thumping pretty hard on us and the horses. At that point, the horses really did not want to continue, they wanted a break! But we were able to motivate them again once the hailstorm had stopped. Alada Baske Aire continued leading the group.
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We had to cross Highway 395, just as it was starting to hail again. Sir Trot a Lot does not like big semi-trucks, they intimidate him and just as we were standing by the side of the highway, waiting to cross, several semi-trucks were starting to pass by. He really looked for guidance from me, as his rider, but he also looked at the other two horses' demeanor. They stayed calm, so he stayed calm.
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We finally were able to cross the highway and rode on. But, at around mile 16 into the ride, the horses really needed a break. Normally, when riding an LD ride that is 25 to 35 miles long, there is a vet check around 15 miles into the ride, where horses are given a 30-minute break. Our horses started walking as slow as molasses and there was no way to motivate them to trot. I tried to get Sir Trot a Lot to lead, and he absolutely refused. Alada Baske Aire would not trot ahead and Two Step Betty did not want to lead in a trot either.
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We were really concerned about making time. You need to average a minimum of 4.5 miles per hour in order to finish a ride within the allotted time. According to the GPS app on my phone, we were ok on time, but if we could not motivate the horses, we’d be in trouble. I called my friend Susannah Jones who was waiting at the vet check at ride mile 24 and told her of our trouble and my concern that were going to go over time. I told her that we were about seven miles from the vet check and at this rate, we’d arrive at the vet check tomorrow. She laughed and the horses must have heard the laughing because they decided it was ok to trot again.
<p>
Alada Baske Aire got a second wind and he happily trotted in the lead again. This motivated Sir Trot a Lot to trot along, just as I had contemplated changing his name to Sir Stop a Lot. Two Step Betty was good to go again too. We continued a pattern of trotting alternating with walking until we arrived at a water stop at ride mile 20. This stop not only had water, but it also had some alfalfa hay for the horses. This was great because all three of the horses drank and ate. This stop was manned by Paula Herr and her husband who adopted a horse from our rescue and it was really refreshing for me to chat with them.
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We had four more miles to go to get to the vet check. The horses were refreshed and more eager to move forward, but poor Katja started experiencing back spasms and pain. I know that those four miles were really hard on her, but she sucked it up and trotted along.
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About ¼ mile from the vet check, we got off our horses and walked them in so that they would pulse down faster to the required pulse of 60 or below. Two Step Betty pulsed in at 44 beats per minute and Alada Baske Aire’s pulse was at 56 as we walked into the vet check. Sir Trot a Lot’s pulse was at 64 and we had to wait a few minutes for it to reach 60. We had a 30-minute break until we could ride out again at 12:26 p.m. According to my GPS, we had ridden 24.5 miles, had been in the saddle for a little under five hours and had averaged 4.9 miles per hour. The horses passed the trot out and the vet check in flying colors. I was so proud of them!
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In addition to Susannah, Giovanni and his wife, whom I have known for many years were volunteers at the vet check. All three helped us with our horses, so they would drink and eat. In addition to covering our horses with wool blankets, they held onto them so we could run to the porta-potty and we could grab some snacks and some Advil for Katja. We gave each other a pep talk in regard to the remaining 10.5 miles.
<p>
Off we went to ride the remaining miles and again, we not only had to cross Highway 395 again, but we also had to ride alongside the highway for about one mile with traffic blasting by us. We had to pass a large property with lots of junk trailers and things that were fluttering around, as the wind was still going strong. But the horses did well and acted like old professionals.
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When we had seven miles left to ride, I gave the pep talk that during our conditioning rides, we have ridden seven miles in less than one hour. We psyched ourselves up that we were almost at the finish line. The last few miles were not that tough. Maybe it was because we had gotten used to the crazy strong wind and stuff flapping and flying around. The last four miles, we had to ride through a neighborhood and there were properties with construction and things flapping around. We chose to walk through the neighborhood instead of trotting because by our calculation, even if we walked the rest of the way, we would be ok on time. We had to ride alongside of a street that wasn’t too busy and we trotted where we could and walked where we felt it was safer to walk.
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We made it into ride camp, which was our finish line after 35.4 miles at 3 p.m. which was 30 minutes before the cut off time. Two Step Betty immediately pulsed in at 52 beats per minute, Alada Baske Aire pulsed in at 56 beats per minute and both horses finished with a good vet report card.
<p>
But Sir Trot a Lot stayed at 64 beats per minute. He would not drop down to the required 60 beats per minute. He had been drinking well during the entire ride, he had even stopped to pee three times during the ride. He had been eating every chance he had. We noticed that his back was sore. I felt so terrible for him. We waited at the vet check for 30 minutes, but when he did not pulse down to 60 beats per minute. Even though he and I had finished the 35-mile ride, we did not get a completion.
<p>
The veterinarian checked him over and told me to come back within the hour to give Sir Trot a Lot another check up. Of course, as soon as he got to the trailer and his friends, his heart rate dropped to 54 beats per minute. But at this point it was too late to get the completion. I told myself, “it is what it is”, I was just happy that Sir Trot a Lot was gulping down his beat pulp mush, happily chewing on his alfalfa hay and drinking a lot of water. When we took him back to the veterinarian, Sir Trot a Lot checked out fine.
<p>
I was extremely proud of Alada Baske Aire and Two Step Betty. I was grateful to Leah for leading the way for most of the ride with Alada Baske Aire who is a better leader than the more experienced Sir Trot a Lot. Leah is an absolutely amazing, experienced endurance rider and it shined through during the entire ride. Also, I was very grateful to Katja for completing the last 10 miles of the ride even though she was experiencing a lot of back pain.
<p>
Endurance riding is definitely not for the faint of heart, you really do have to put your “big girl panties” on and you have to “suck it up buttercup” for sure!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-78218111358659481862024-03-07T09:10:00.002-07:002024-03-07T09:10:40.923-07:002024 Twenty Mule Team - Chelsea Arnold<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2024TwentyMuleTeam/photos/ChelseaArnold.png" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>
March 5 2024<br />
By Chelsea Arnold
<p>
I almost gave up and moved down to the 75 mile ride…At 11:30pm the night before the 20 Mule Team 100 mile ride, the winds were 50 mph and howling, rocking the Lq trailer back and forth and I thought about the ride ahead in the blowing wind. What am I thinking, went through my head.. what do we need to prove? I talked to Shayna and she said, “it just depends on how much not fun you want to have?” LOL!! I knew we were tough enough to get it done and I was saddling up the best and toughest horse I know. But did I need to? I convinced myself that night that 100 miles in this weather was stupid and I could just level down and not be out all night.
<p>
But then I woke up at 4am and like the 100 mile rider I am… I was like… oh what the hell. I had made myself a promise never to pass up a chance to ride a 100 miles on a good horse, so weather be damned…you only live once so we are putting on our wind and rain gear and heading out into the storm. I was riding the one and only Gus, so we saddled up and warmed up in the blowing wind to ride out with Sabine and her boy Ammour. The horses were game and ready. The trail opened and off we went.
<p>
Laughter and smiles all around as we tackled the wind and crazy conditions. The first loop went pretty quick and the desert was green and lush and beautiful. It’s so raw out in the desert, and the wind made you feel just how wild and harsh it truly is.
<p>
The vet check was 30 minutes and then we were out on loop 2. This loop was nuts, lol… It was long at 26 miles and the rain came, soaking us, then sideways hail and crazy winds gusts that made you grab your saddle. All we could do was laugh and hang on. You couldn’t talk over the roar of the wind. The horses dug deep and put their heads into the wind. At one point, Gus was trying to trot at an angle to the wind to protect his face. But at that point you realize that you can do anything on a good horse and with good company.
<p>
We made it to the next vet check with another 30 min hold. We had no crew, so some lovely ladies held our horses so we could make mash, shovel down some food and refill our packs. 50 miles to go…
<p>
Only too soon, we headed the 10 miles back to ride camp for a lovely 1 hour hold. The horses were strong and knew they were headed home, so they made short work of the loop and before we knew it we were back in camp. They vetted through and Shayna and Elsie (who had ridden the 35 earlier), helped me get Gus situated. I changed clothes, ate some soup and was ready to go the next 15 miles. Let’s do this…
<p>
Sabine and I met up again and headed out in some lighter winds. Actually, this was the best loop of the day as the winds had slowed down briefly and made for a glorious 15 miles. I was naively thinking that if the rest of the ride was like this, it will be a piece of cake.
<p>
At the 75 mile vet check, Sabine and Ammour finished their ride in 3rd place just as it was getting dark. Woohoo! So proud of them! Gus and I vetted through for our next loop and headed to the trailer to rest and eat. I managed to eat some turkey sandwich and get myself mentally prepared for a long 25 mile loop into the dark. I was wondering how Gus would be heading out by himself without a buddy, but as soon as we put his glow sticks on his breastcollar, he knew… He is an old pro at 100 milers. It’s been over a year since his last one, but he didn’t forget…
<p>
Too soon and I jumped back on to head into the abyss alone with just the Gus man for company. 25 miles… we can do this. Of course the winds came back with a vengeance. They were now ramping up to 50 mph in the gusts and a good 30-40 mph steady wind. Good lord. What was I thinking…
<p>
Gus, bless his big ole heart, walked out of camp in his power walk and as soon as we hit the trail started trotting. He wanted this done as much as I did. But the winds didn’t make it easy, as hard as we were pushing, the winds kept pushing back. Much of the trail was spent with a full sideways wind or a horrific headwind that practically pushed us back.
<p>
We fought on.. As we were almost at the 10 mile mark, still headed away from camp, Gus hit a lull… as he walked along I tried to encourage him but he knew we were still not headed home and this just sucked. So we trotted glow stick to glow stick and I let him walk when he reached the glow stick. Pretty soon we got into a rhythm. He ate the lovely green filaree that was growing in the desert and that perked him up. As soon as we made the turn for home, Gus put on the gas…. Right into the big headwind. Unreal. I was trying to encourage him, but he couldn’t hear me over the wind but I yelled anyway. “Good boy, you got this, come on tough guy, fight it!”
<p>
We fought on and with each loop we had to take off the main road, I could feel Gus’s resolve slip but then he would come roaring back every turn for home. Come on boy…. Hang in there. Giving electrolytes was ridiculous or trying to eat was impossible as everything was just flying out of your hands. Finally, we were making the last climb to the water tank and I knew we were just miles from home. I reached down and gave that big old horse a hug. We’ve got this big guy… and thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving this crazy endurance life as much as I do.
<p>
We crossed the finish line and Gus wanted to head to camp so he was circling around me and the finish line crew was laughing that he wasn’t even tired at all, lol. Crazy horse…
<p>
We vetted through with mostly A’s and got our completion. 5th place! What?!?!? So stinking proud of us and what we just overcame. And so full of love for this big ole cow horse from Colorado. 6/6 100 mile completions and almost to his 2000 mile mark with 0 pulls.
<p>
Buz wasn’t able to come to the ride, but he kept texting me asking how his horse was doing… lol… yeah honey… I’m fine too, hahaha…
<p>
When we got home on Sunday, Gus’s nighttime stall was bedded up with bags of shavings and when I checked on him later that night, he was sound asleep in his fluffy bed his dad made him… I know its killing Buz not to ride the Gus man but hopefully by summer, they will be back killing it on the trail. (But after I steal Gus for Tevis, lol....)
<p>
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-79297990277422367682024-02-26T18:32:00.004-07:002024-02-26T18:32:53.672-07:00Saudi Arabia’s Fursan Cup Part II - Alex Shampoe<p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBCS2klL_v7B_VGVikCTvj6995MAeJptyfalVycMCOaOiasx7vN0ot0BKEInnq8et_EGEW4xbk7_DbSbJ-caj6MgTOdilF8rcTlPyV4TC2wtD6Y2w2n7U8TsV_Khudq2xBYGramrV4hXWKY-XMw-UToBUk60e9D6ceIb5F1Ab3HewaKJl-wJu/s1276/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20at%206.31.38%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="752" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBCS2klL_v7B_VGVikCTvj6995MAeJptyfalVycMCOaOiasx7vN0ot0BKEInnq8et_EGEW4xbk7_DbSbJ-caj6MgTOdilF8rcTlPyV4TC2wtD6Y2w2n7U8TsV_Khudq2xBYGramrV4hXWKY-XMw-UToBUk60e9D6ceIb5F1Ab3HewaKJl-wJu/w236-h400/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20at%206.31.38%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="236" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">February 23 2024</span></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">By Alex Shampoe</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The Fursan Cup race 2024 120k started at 7AM.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I got to the venue about 6:15. There were a lot of people buzzing around. Driving to the venue it seemed like the whole city of Al Ula was asleep. Then we hit the venue where everyone was busy and excited. The energy was very high. In the moment I was grateful that I have done bigger races like this, so it wasn’t too overwhelming.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">All I could think about was the race start. The day before Power (my horse) was doing everything he could to stay as far away from other horses as possible. He had his bubble and didn’t want others in it. With 200 other horses starting, his bubble wasn’t going to work. I had confidence that he had done multiple starts like this so I was focused on staying with my team and creating the biggest bubble I could for Power.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The horses were all fed and walked but the time I got to the venue. We tacked up our horses and took them out of the barn. We hand walked them around the Saudi quarantine area. Most of the other horses had left and already gone out to the start line. Cheryl, Vicki (our new German teammate) and I decided we should get on our horses in the stable area while our horses were calm and away from the other 200 horses. We got on and everyone was calm and happy. As we tried to leave the stable, we were told we had to get off and walk out of the barn area and then get on the horses again out where everyone else was. This was what we were hoping to avoid but we had to follow the rules. The rules were very strict for safety reasons, so we quickly agreed and got off the horses. We walked the horses out and found a gap to stop and get back on between waves of horses. Now we had a short walk on a 3-horse wide path to the start line. There were multiple different herds of horses circling and circling in and out and around each other. We stayed in the furthest circle we could away from the start line. We were trying to find our Saudi rider that we were supposed to stay with during the race. He was riding for the same stable that we were. Then we heard the countdown to the start and suddenly, the sound of over 100 horses galloping away.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Just then our Saudi guy called to us, and we followed him to the start line where most of the horses have already left. Thank goodness all our horses were calm. They didn’t like when other horses would be acting up around them, but they all stayed happy next to each other. Power (my horse) was very focused on getting to the start line and going through the start. He did much better than I thought he would with all the horses around him. He knew what he was doing, and I just needed to trust him. The start went down a huge chute 40 yards wide with plenty of room for all the horses. When we left there was not much passing going on. Everybody in the back was pretty set in their pace right away. There was a little bit of juggling around as a few stragglers tried to find a group, but it was a very pleasant start.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The first loop was supposed to be the easiest loop. It was mostly on hard packed roads. What made the loop difficult was the rock and sand. There was rock on the hard packed part and then there was sand on the side. There were rolling hills throughout this loop. Was definitely not a flat and fast course. Right away we found out the different paces of our four horses. We had two younger horses just imported from France and then two older horses who had done a lot of sand work. One of the horses wanted to do more of a slow canter. Two of the horses wanted to go and go and go and go faster and faster and faster. After the first 5 km Power (my horse) was perfect. The first 5 km we were finding our groove. That was the fastest I’ve ever connected with a horse that I just met for a race. The day before I was so concerned that it was going to be a bad start. I had expected that Power and I were going to be fighting each other for the first half of the day but we weren’t. He listened to my seat, so easily. He cantered to the rhythm of my seat and my hips. When my seat told him to trot, he trotted to my rhythm. When my body told him to walk, he walked. No fighting. He followed all transitions from my body. I could not believe it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I want to give some credit to my saddle. I love my Reactor Panel. I believe a big part of the change in Power from pre-ride to race day was being able to change my saddle to fit him. He went from not being happy in a general fit to becoming completely comfortable in a saddle custom fit to him. I tend to be a very controlling rider. I always have contact with my horse’s mouth, not necessarily on the bit but ready to help them whenever I can throughout the day. It doesn’t matter what horse. I had light contact with Power’s mouth and that is how we went all day. We never had a fight. He was so balanced, and so in tune with my seat for most of the race. I felt like I could ride him bareback without a bridle. He was so awesome. Obviously I can’t say enough about Power.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Coming into the first vet check was a little interesting. For the two younger horses we slowed down to make sure they would pulse well in this new environment. We got off and hand walked the last 20 or 30 yards in for them. Vicki had to pull off and weigh right away. Her horse still had a lot of energy so he couldn’t stand there and wait while she weighed so thankfully her crew guy ran to take her horse and start cooling him. In FEI we all have pinnies with our numbers. You can’t touch a horse unless you have his piney on.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">When I crossed over the in-timer line, I saw my crew guy, so I handed him Power (my horse), and he took off running!! I took off with him, saying “slow down, slow down!” and he turned back, still running, looked at me and said, “No Worries, No Worries”. He ran all the way to the closest water trough to the vet check. I took my saddle off as fast as I could thinking it’s going to take him longer to pulse down now because of the running. Then a guy with a heart monitor checked Power and I couldn’t believe what it said. 42 pulse! With no water for cooling, we walked right into the vet check and Power pulsed below the limit and trotted right away. The check itself was busy. There were lots of horses circling waiting for their chance to vet through. All our horses passed, and we were through to the next loop.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The crew area was in a huge open space completely covered. Each team had their own small space where they could crew their horses. Thankfully, the front runners had already gone out on the second loop and so the crew areas were not jampacked. When we came out of the vet check Power walked right up to his buffet table and stepped right into his huge ice water buckets. It was so cool to watch. He stood there the whole time like a perfect gentleman. You could tell he knew what he was supposed to do in the vet check.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The second loop was difficult. During this loop it got hot. We start off on the rolling, hard packed roads with the rock pebbles and side sand. Then we hit the rolling hills of deep sand. We soon hit a great crew point with lots of water to cool the horses. Then up up up in the deep sand to the top of a dune. (We got off the horses and started walking on foot. All of our four horses quickly showed us that they were much faster in the sand than we were, so we got back on right away). It felt like we were walking forever. It was so cool when we got to the top and looked out behind us. There was 30+ horses all lined up like a wagon train walking up the long dune.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This loop was 32 km long but at least 10 km of it was this deep sand. Then at the top there was short trot/ cantered section around the top before starting back down. Then back to deep sand walking all the way to the bottom. I learned very quickly on this loop how great Power is in the sand. Having a balanced and conditioned sand horse who’s really listening to exactly what you want, was very helpful and made this loop non-stress for me. Thank you Power. From there it was hard packed road all the way back to the venue. And again, my amazing crew person took my horse and started sprinting through the check! This time I didn’t have a mini heart attack and I let them go, and of course Power pulsed in again at like 44 so…! All our horses made it through looking great!</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">One thing I really loved about this race was all the volunteers out there, giving us water to cool horses. They had two or three crew areas where your crew could come out on every loop. They also had at least three volunteer crew areas each loop with a lot of volunteers to give us water to cool. It helped that Vicki and I were young pretty girls who didn’t speak Arabic. The volunteer guys gave us a lot of water for our horses .</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The third loop was like the first. It had a couple more sections of the deep sand though. These sections were spread out in little sections. This loop had more hills right away than the first one. The hills and few short periods of deep sand made this loop difficult. Oh yeah! And the heat. Coming from Florida the dry heat was quite a change and the amount of sand that you breathe in even when it’s not windy is shocking. Or more literally choking. My buff that I almost didn’t bring that day was a life saver. As I came off this loop, I still had my crew person to run Power through the cooling area. But the guy with the heart monitor wasn’t there and so my crew person started cooling. We maybe put 2 scoops of water on him while I’m waiting for the monitor and I then like 30 seconds after waiting I told my guy, “let’s just go in and see what happens.” I felt very impatient and spoiled but I love that I could trust Power like that, and he pulsed in at 44 again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This loop we were watching our phones too. The other two riders for our stable (the owner Faisal and the other German rider Anna) were riding more towards the front. On our walking breaks we were checking the app to try and get an update on how they were doing. We learned Anna had finished in 9th place!! Unfortunately, Faisal got pulled at the finish. It was funny riding our own ride and being able to get updates about the front runners, especially knowing a couple and cheering for them motivated us even more so.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Our two young horses in the group were starting to feel the sand and the heat. The last loop (loop four) we just wanted to get everyone through it and finish. We had to keep a consistent pace as we needed to fish the race by 7:10pm. By the end of the 3rd loop we had been averaging 12.8km/hr. We needed to finish with an average of at least 12km/hr. We had about 2 hours and 35min to finish. The loop was 25k. We were not crazy worried, but everyone was keeping an eye on their watch. This loop had a lot of deep sand. It did not have quite as much constant incline as the second loop, but a lot of rolling, deep sand. We met up with Yvette from Canada leaving and we started the loop off with a few kilometers on a hard packed road with a good incline. Then we hit a long section of deep sand followed by a little section of hard packed road where we got to see our inspirational crew. Next, we hit an even longer section of deep sand, and another inspirational crew point. On our last section of sand, we got to watch the sun coming down and our watch’s tick away. Finally, we could see the camp only 5km away and rode the hard packed track back to the finish line. In the end we finished with 22min to spare.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">All our horses vetted through and received completions. Power felt like he could have gone out and completed another 40km. His vet card said he could as well. I can’t believe how lucky I was to be able to ride Power. With all the difficulties and changes with the horses over the 6 weeks before I cannot be more grateful of how it ended up. He tested me the day before the race, but I think he was just making sure I was tough enough for the next day. He knew if I would put up with his stuff the day before then he could give me his all on race day. No matter what I asked of him he did. We let the group go once, even losing sight of them, so we could watch the footing in the sand, no fuss. Canter/gallop out and catch the group, no problem. Waiting at the water points with 15 other horses running through and bumping us around, no fuss. Really having a balanced and strong canter through some unexpected deep sand, no problem. I’m so thankful for all the dressage lessons I have taken throughout the years. Without those lessons I could not have ridden Power as well. He really wanted to listen to the movement of my body and seat. It’s crazy when a horse halfway around the world can connect with you like that. He was worth 10x the leaping in the air, bucking and throwing himself all over the place he did on the pre- ride the day before the race. I hope that one day I can go back and ride him again. I am even looking forward to his pre-ride shenanigans.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Thank you to my horse’s owners, my crew, my team, the volunteers, the veterinarians, the officials, and the organizing committee. Thank you to so many people from Saudi, Jordan, UAE, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and the USA for coming together to make this happen. How lucky I am to experience these incredible adventures on the global equestrian stage.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></p>Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-73938199778135298182024-02-23T13:37:00.000-07:002024-02-23T13:37:04.953-07:00Saudi Arabia’s Fursan Cup Part I - Alex Shampoe<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/AlexShampoe.png" width="400" >
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February 20 2024<br />
By Alex Shampoe
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I have been waiting to post because I wanted to find more pictures. I realized that these few pictures describe my recent trip to Saudi Arabia for the Fursan Cup (75 miles) perfectly.
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The idea started months ago when I made a list of Goal races I wanted to do outside the US in 2024. The Fursan Cup felt so unlikely and yet it was at the top of my list. The race is by invite only (more on that later). I didn’t know how I could get invited, what horse I would ride, who would I stay with, how would I get there… I had so many obstacles it seemed impossible.
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In December Anastasia Gia Larue connected me with an Italian stable that I could ride for. I applied for entry to the race on the Italian horse and got Accepted! (2 obstacles down). Then I was informed that the organizing committee would not subsidize transportation expenses. I had to reassess my strategy given the financial risk associated with transporting a horse from Italy, especially in the absence of a guaranteed finish.
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Next, I contacted one of my/Val’s friend from Jordan Rashid Kassim . I raced with him on Val’s horses almost a year ago at the Florida McCulleys ride. He asked his friends from Jordan and found me an amazing horse with a spotless record. I entered the race on the Jordan horse!! I got word back that the organizing committee wouldn’t accept any more Jordan horses into the race. (They only accept a certain number of horses from each country). Although I could not enter on a Jordan horse, I later stayed with the Jordan people, Samir Ahmad, Ali Abu Rabie, and Husain Al Jabari the first night while in Saudi. They could not have been more gracious hosts. I felt like part of their group right away and can’t wait to go ride in Jordan!
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My search continued. With the help of Cheryl Van Duesen and Nasser AbuQamar I looked through 7+ Saudi horses searching for the horse most likely to complete. Cheryl then connected me with her horse’s owner, and he offered me a great horse Gaston! (Gaston was bred and raised by Morgane Payen’s family. Val and I stayed with Morgane’s family when we took Gilly with Meghan Wert to France in 2023 for the Young Rider Championships. The Endurance World really is small.) I felt like this was a sign and that everything finally was coming together.
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I flew to Dubai on Monday February 5 to spend some time with Madiya Al-maktoum and her amazing horses. Wednesday in Dubai I rode 3 times on 2 different horses and then Thursday before my flight to Saudi, I rode a 40k training ride. These rides refreshed my water bottle handling skills while canter/galloping on hot horses in the sand.
The race was scheduled for Saturday February 10. On Wednesday February 7, Gaston (my Saudi horse) got kicked. Gaston was out. I was in the Dubai, getting ready to fly to Saudi, with no horse to ride in the race in Saudi.
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Getting invited to this race is very completed. Changing horses 36 hours before the start is even more complicated. At that point, you can only change to another horse that is entered into the race. Yes, that means you need to take someone else’s horse, if you want to change horses that late in the game. A serendipitous turn of events transpired when Shannon Thorndyke, a fellow competitor from Canada, graciously facilitated the reassignment of her entry, Power Colours, for my use in the competition. After hours, Shannon and the Canadian Equestrian Foundation (not sure if that is the right name) acted quickly to help me. They removed Shannon’s entry through FEI so “Shannon’s horse” could be freed up for me. USEF was contacted, again after hours to enter me on “Shannon’s horse”. There were frantic phone calls and texts all night long. There were time zone issues. Some miscommunications occurred. Most importantly, Cheryl was at the office of the organizing committee on the venue. She worked with them every step of the way to ensure the changes were going to happen. The organizing committee, committed to Cheryl, yes….. Alex will ride on Saturday. The horse owner was patiently standing outside of the venue for a part of the time, “Shannon’s” horse in hand, waiting for permission to bring the horse onto the venue. Only officially registered horses were allowed on the venue, of course.
Where was I you might ask? I was stuck in the airport, working through Visa issues.
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Yet….. I was finally entered on Power Colours less than an hour before the cut off on Thursday night.
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I was very delayed Thursday night landing in Al Ula, Saudi, because of unforeseen Visa requirements. Big lessons learned is to make sure I fully understand Visa requirements for all my trips going forward. You live and you learn. Now I know for next time! Thankfully a friend of my Jordan friend was patiently waiting for me outside the airport. It was too late to go to the venue so we went straight to where I was staying for the night. That night I stayed with part of the Jordan team who became my cheerleaders for the rest of the weekend. They became my race family and helped me in every way they could. They made the weekend so much fun and less stressful, navigating me through the different cultures and the venue.
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Friday morning, the day before race day, I went to the venue for the first time and was in shock. It was huge!! There were at least 4 different stable sections arranged by country to keep all the horses quarantined and safe. They had a huge cafeteria room with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They had so much food my eyes were always bigger than my stomach. I ate soooooo much food. The cooling, vetting, and crewing areas were arranged perfectly. Everything flowed very smoothly. The pre-ride briefing was in a beautiful (I want to say Mexican style but I guess it would be Saudi style) conference room. There were projectors on both sides of the room so everyone could hear and see the information given.
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I meet up with Cheryl and we went and saw our horses. Power Colours, my new horse, was one of the most interesting parts of the whole trip. He kept me very entertained. We went for a walk around the Saudi stable and he was nice and relaxed until he saw another horse acting up just over the fence. Power shot straight up into the air and kicked out. Just imagine the Airs Above the Ground tricks. That’s what he did. As soon and I told him to stop he did. We walked calmly around for 10 more minutes. Again, something would startle him and up in the air he went. He never pulled on the line. I never thought he would hurt me. He just would go straight up, kick out a little, then come back down and walk on with me. Guess he just needs to get it out. I was thinking “Man I hope he doesn’t do that under saddle”…. He did.
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Cheryl, two great German ladies, and I went out for a pre-ride. All the horses were wild. We were all riding for the same owner. (One of these German ladies would ride with us the next day slow and steady. The other went on to win 9th place!) Power’s regular rider told me that Power would play with me but just don’t let him intimidate me and he will settle. Well, easier said than done. One of the horses had some tack malfunctions and there was a lot of horses all around us. Power tested and tested but by the end of the 5k loop we had figured each other out. At least as much as we were going to. I couldn’t help but think that tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.
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While pre-riding I decided I wanted to change my saddle. I brought my reactor panel from home because I was worried about making weight with one of the light saddles they usually use in Saudi. I would much rather use a heavier saddle than a weighted pad. My saddle was fit to my horse at home and Power had a much different back. Thankfully, I had Wendy MacCoubrey on speed dial at probably 5am her time in Canada to FaceTime with me and help me change the saddle. When we first put my saddle on Power, Power was tense and not happy. As we started changing and moving it around his whole body changed. He was licking and chewing, yawning, he was much happier. One of his shoulders was different than the other. A regular saddle would have been very hard to fit on him perfectly. Without my Reactor Panel I don’t believe Power and I would have done so well. He had competed multiple races before with a different saddle, but I think having my saddle just made it that much better for the both of us. I can’t thank Wendy enough for her expert guidance. I couldn’t have done it without her.
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Later that day (Friday) we vetted in. Power was a total professional. I guess he decided it was showtime.
For dinner that night I went with my Jordan friends Fawzi Kassim and Zein Kassim to a restaurant in Al Ula and walked around town looking though all the shops. We also had Baskin Robins! They are everywhere!
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I felt full cultural immersion. I was in Saudi Arabia, with my new friends from Jordan, planning to ride the next day with a new friend from Germany.
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I will write about the race in my next post with videos and more pictures.
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Sunday after the race I went to watch the 160k race start. I was also looking for a ride to the airport. The owner I rode for the day before (Faisal) was racing the 160k. His spent his entire vet hold trying to find someone that could take me to the airport. By the time he left he had one of his two crew people leave with me so I could get to the airport on time. The whole drive the crew guy (I’m so disappointed I can’t remember is name) and I spent laughing. He did not speak great English, but he was teaching me Arabic while he drove very quickly to the airport.
Back to Dubai for one night and then home.
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As I reflect upon this experience, I want to thank all the people and countries that helped me. We had Italy, Jordan, UAE, Saudi, Germany, Canada, France, and of course all my loving support back in the US all play a part in my adventure. Especially Valerie Kanavy and her husband Larry who listen, advice and support all of my crazy dreams and ideas.
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Without all these people I could not have done this. This is what I love most about traveling. You meet so many different people and experience so many different cultures. My travel bug is even worse now. I can’t wait for future adventures on the global equestrian stage. I can’t wait to meet more people who will become lifelong friends.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-8172143863131266162024-02-17T08:16:00.004-07:002024-02-17T08:16:40.434-07:00Sanoma’s endurance adventures in New Zealand <img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1a0c6f_495cc8fe2acd41a3b72a170d396eb1b7~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1623,h_2164,al_c,q_90/1a0c6f_495cc8fe2acd41a3b72a170d396eb1b7~mv2.webp" width="200" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/><a href="https://www.blakeleystables.com/post/sanoma-s-endurance-adventures-in-new-zealand"><b>BlakeleyStables.com - Full Story</b></a>
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February 5 2024<br>
Sanoma Blakeley
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New Zealand is somewhere I've always wanted to go. On the big world map hanging above my bed, NZ has a blue pin to indicate my desire to visit. However, this winter it wasn’t just a bucket list place I wished to someday visit, it was more of a “how can I get myself there?”. My really good friend was going to be in NZ for 3 months and she invited me to visit her. I’m always up for an adventure and good time with Addi, so naturally New Zealand was hot on my radar. In November I was deeply involved in my second favorite pastimes (looking for cheap flights) when I came across a REALLY good deal for a flight to New Zealand. I didn’t need to give it a second thought before throwing them in my cart.
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Of course, before buying my flight, I did a quick internet search to see if there were any endurance rides in NZ that I could possibly schedule my trip around. My preliminary search showed several endurance rides with 2 different sanctioning organizations and one ride from each organization that would work with the flight deal.
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I bought my economy, non-refundable or changeable flight and decided to reach out to these ride organizations and see what kind of adventures we could cook up:). I was quickly offered a horse for both of the rides that were scheduled during the duration of my trip.
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I tried to talk Barrak into joining me on this trip and a preliminary google search revealed a incentive for him to come. There was going to be a triathlon there. That and the fact that he only sees the sun 4 hours a day in the winter living in Alaska and New Zealand, being in the southern hemisphere, is in the middle of their summer. Oh, and surfing... that was also on my list of reasons he should come with me. That and just because I love his company when traveling.
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Everything came together and I readily accepted Robyn's offered to ride her horse, Makahiwi Titan in the 120km (75mile) Waimeha Mandate Cup on the 4th of February. Robyn was so incredibly hospitable and generous that I could hardly wait for my trip...
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Read the rest here:<br>
<a href="https://www.blakeleystables.com/post/sanoma-s-endurance-adventures-in-new-zealand">https://www.blakeleystables.com/post/sanoma-s-endurance-adventures-in-new-zealand</a>
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-55232409672405058752023-12-22T14:29:00.005-07:002023-12-22T14:29:39.863-07:00Barefoot in New Mexico 2023 - Valerie Jaques<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCE8aqXPHMYnwRFBhMKDJ-QNSbETr65P1WMTmAww7ksReBgL_2AvFWyyEvohMCPXKVQUHvysIMzWDosInZrLePUh1SOpg-nUYtUlajveYpxrKKxzQlT5lgNjb7z8mTB-u_y3Mg2i6ejbMvUpAB2hrVa51ynINq-dgTTqO1uP8NhGvDwMEiijEA00AL0bO4/s320/Alex%20Demon%20BiNM.jpg" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/><a href="https://furtheradventuresteam91.blogspot.com/2023/12/barefoot-in-new-mexico-2023.html"><b>FurtherAdventuresTeam91 Blog - Full Story</b></a>
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December 21 2023<br>
Valerie Jaques
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For Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to try to sneak in one last ride before the end of the AERC ride season.
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The results weren't entirely what I was hoping for, but we had a good time anyway.
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This was the first time I've ever "trailer pooled" with another rider. What started this was my friend, Alex Collier, who is currently in New Mexico, was also hoping to get in another ride or two. So the initial plan was I would bring Demon and Halo, the horse she has been riding owned by TJ Davis, and we'd meet at the ride. Well, then TJ decided she'd really like to go, too. And there was another rider, Mari, who was hoping to get in another ride or two. So in the end, TJ packed up her 4 horse LQ, loaded Halo and Pazzport, and picked up me, Demon, and Trey.
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Trey had done so well at Bill Thornburgh, and was looking so fit, I thought it would be pretty cool for him to complete a 50. This ride was a good choice for a first 50, being largely flat and good footing, so Trey could be expected to do well barefoot (as the ride's name suggests, hoof protection is not especially necessary).
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Travel to the ride was a bit more eventful than anticipated, but that's a story for another time. Suffice to say, we persevered! We arrived in camp late morning on the Friday...
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Read the rest here:<br>
<a href="https://furtheradventuresteam91.blogspot.com/2023/12/barefoot-in-new-mexico-2023.html">https://furtheradventuresteam91.blogspot.com/2023/12/barefoot-in-new-mexico-2023.html</a>
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-81532658100819936292023-11-16T14:30:00.000-07:002023-11-16T14:30:11.792-07:002023 Lead, Follow, or Get Out Of My Way Endurance Ride - Julie Figg<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2023LeadFollow_JulieFigg.jpg" width="300" style="float: left; padding: 10px;" />November 15 2023<br>
By Julie Figg
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Yes, those are cactus in the background and no, we are not in our usual backyard. Rudy and I travelled to McDowell Mountain for the endurance ride that was put on last weekend.
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I've always wanted to participate in this event but since Sprite, my other Appy, gets such a heavy coat, like a wooly mammoth, I never went. Well, situation changed and this year Rudy is mature enough to handle a few more rides so last Thursday we packed up and headed to Phoenix. Overnighted at Summer Sage Stables in Flag, which, BTW, is a fabulous place to stay.
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I'd entered the 75 as I wanted to see how Rudy did riding at night. I've done a few night rides and really enjoy the trail in the darkness. It is magical, a little terrifying at times and totally fun. Our goal was not to burn trail but have a nice steady ride and finish.
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The ride started at 6 am and there were only 2 other riders in the 75. At this time of the morning It was still 0darkthirty. Since Rudy can sometimes get a bit excited at the start, like moving sideways and getting all silly, I opted to let the other 2 go ahead. Good move as the single track trail was lined with cactus of every sort. I could just imagine the explosion we'd have if we brushed a chola cactus bundle. So with the other 2 out of earshot we trotted out on a nice loose rein.
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I was told the first loop can be a bit rocky on the out and back. Yes, they were right however the scene of the sun coming up over the mountains was absolutely beautiful. Since Rudy is not exactly tinker bell we had to take it slow on the rocky section. We finished the first 26 mile loop in exactly 4 hours. Right on track to finish around 8 pm, my goal.
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Hold was uneventful, Rudy pulsed in with a 48 and all A's. I knew the challenge would be coming though and it didn't involve trail, it would be the heat. I'd clipped his neck and a bit of his flank but living at 6800 feet and having feet of snow in the winter lends any horse to grow a thick winter coat.
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I did not want a metabolic pull, not a cloud in the sky and was pushing 80 degrees so the next loop I rode accordingly. Taking care not to overdo Rudy I sponged at every tank and walked stuff I'd normally trot. Coming into the hold after 24 miles Rudy pulsed in at 44/36! I was surprised the vet Susan took the 2nd pulse after the down and back but she was doing it for everyone. By the look on her face I almost thought something was wrong but when she said, hmm what is 9 times 4 I knew it was the low HR!
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Our out time was 4:32 so my plan was to get as many miles in I could before it got dark. Rudy thought otherwise, he is a horse when out in wide open space by himself can get a little unmotivated and poky. The next 9 miles he rode like a slug, I couldn't get him motivated. I knew I had plenty of horse under me but geez! That's ok, I rode the horse I had and at this point I didn't want to upset the apple cart. The sunset was gorgeous and the lights of Phoenix were off in the distance, what a sight! The trail lights looked like small fireflies and without them I'd have been sunk. The small white ribbon of trail was visible enough that I didn't use my flashlight however with its twists and turns Rudy and I spent the time trotting/walking.
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At mile 16 or so at the hay and water stop there was a trail volunteer out there with COOKIES! OMG what an inspiration, I thanked her profusely and enjoyed my snack. Rudy chowed down on some beautiful green alfalfa and at this point I knew we could get this ride in the bag.
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Onward we went and the next couple of miles were uneventful. Mind you, I'd been hearing coyotes howling in the distance on and off all night but I was surprised to hear them now so close! Little bastards started to follow me, I could tell as their little yippy howls were staying behind me. I've been tracked before by a coyote at my brother in law's place but not by 3 or 4 of them. I finally turned around and screamed at them something not repeatable and shined my bright light their way. This got them off my tail, thankfully! They were probably just curious about what was tromping around in their world in the darkness. I never felt spooked by their presence, it was just weird.
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Crossing the road Stephanie DuRoss was there to greet me and offer up hay and water for my pony and encouragement and a snack for me! What a treat! It was great to hear I only had about 4 miles to go! The lights of camp never looked so good! We finished around 9 pm with all A's and a HR of 44.
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What a well run ride! The vets were fantastic and the whole event was beyond well run. Loved the dinner on Friday and the ride meeting was the best. Trails were super well marked and water and hay plentiful. Thank you for such a super event, I'll be back! Oh, did the ride in Easyboots, have been using them all year on all my rides, a first.
THANKS AGAIN TO ALL THAT PUT THIS RIDE ON, A CLASS EVENT!!!!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-36275682569878550742023-11-08T07:49:00.000-07:002023-11-08T07:49:32.957-07:00The Maiden Voyage of the S.S.S. Hillbillie Willie - Merri Melde<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5N8PjGXt_RkJoj3ZK901yEuMJ9_ZCK1hP818fSjCSJqYBWlHs9yu_6XGq2EPIYhVttqpZvVeoEWazqRPbsJUs7vOxi9ynYBTa5sAzPqclA6GJ7-vFsgokQY_W0HHjpjxsQuKIFwbfEritJ4DU1a_R4yTYhSObYfp08n6xa7FNY-ahbiYCh2XGgc-QnQx/w400-h300/DSCF4029.JPG" width="350" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/><a href="https://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-maiden-voyage-of-sss-hillbillie.html"><b>TheEquestrianVagabond blog - Full Story</b></a>
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November 2 2023<br>
by Merri Melde
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<b>Super. Star. Standardbred. Hillbillie Willie takes a solo trip to the Weiser River Trail Halloween ride</b>
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The last ride of the season was going to be one big adventure: Willie’s first solo Endurance ride. He hadn’t trailered anywhere by himself since 2016, and he’s always had his bestest buddies with him at any ride he’s traveled to.
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Loading, transport, and arrival went remarkably well to Cambridge, Idaho, 2.5 hours away… so, so far so good!
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There were a few horses already in camp when we arrived at the fairgrounds, but the best distraction was: grass! Willie is not a voracious eater, but my goodness, he loves him some grass. He doesn’t get much of that living in the Owyhee desert. We spent a while grazing, and then I put him in a fairgrounds pen beside other quiet Endurance horses, and I never heard a peep out of Willie while I set up his pen at Regina’s trailer.
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When I moved him to his trailer pen, a few more trailers had arrived, and Willie whinnied now and then, but he never ran his pen with anxiety, so I thought things were looking up. When Melissa and David drove in, I flagged them down to park next to us, as we’d all be riding the 50, and they’d finish before Willie and I did, so he’d always have new buddies close to him.
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Due to this and that, I got approximately seven minutes of sleep Friday night, but that wasn’t because of Willie - I only heard a few whinnies out of him during the cold night. But come early morning, when people started bustling about in the dark and horses started waking up, Willie let loose. He whinnied every 30 seconds, for like an hour. When I went out to tie him to the trailer to saddle him up, he was uncharacteristically antsy, wiggling about with big wide eyes. This was the most worked up he’d been at the start of a ride in years, which made <i>me</i> a bit nervous. What was he going to be like mounting, and starting on the trail?...
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Read the rest here:<br>
<a href="https://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-maiden-voyage-of-sss-hillbillie.html">https://theequestrianvagabond.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-maiden-voyage-of-sss-hillbillie.html</a>
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-81040898785311226282023-11-02T08:50:00.001-06:002023-11-02T08:50:46.099-06:002023 AERC Young Rider National Championship! - Mollie Quiroz<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2023AERCYRNC_MollieQuiroz.png" width="200" style="float: left; padding: 10px;" />By Mollie Quiroz<br>
November 1 2023
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This past weekend was one to remember! I was lucky enough to fly back to Auburn for a few days to compete at Camp Far West in the 75 mile Young Rider National Championship with Mack and ride the 50 the next day with Grit.
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After spending the last few weeks helping getting everything organized for the race, I was thrilled for the chance to actually get to ride. Mack’s had a big season this year. He did 2 50s to start our season, came in 10th place at Tevis in a very competitive field, and came in 2nd place in the Virginia City 100 7 weeks later also among a highly competitive field. Since VC in September, Mack has been resting in anticipation for our season finale which was the Young Rider National Championship at Camp Far West.
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Although the field was small, we knew it would be a super competitive group and that I would have to ride smart and stick to our plan in order to be successful.
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I got on Mack early Saturday morning and got him all warmed up so we’d be ready to go once the trail opened. I started the day with Reyna Mero and we moved along at a brisk pace but had a great time talking and exchanging stories. Our horses went together really well and we had a similar ride strategy. We were a few minutes behind Sanoma, who was in first, when we came into the first vet check.
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The horses pulsed and vetted and before we knew it, it was time to head back out. We went out on our second loop and once again had a great time. The horses looked great and felt really good.
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We came into the second vet check, pulsed, vetted, and I was able to discuss the rest of my ride plan with Sam during my hold. Once I got cleared to go, we decided that it was time for me to start to make my move. Mack and I’s competitive side had kicked in, especially after a comment about how we would never catch first place. I knew I had a lot of horse left but I was curious to see how Mack would handle the speed increase over the next two loops.
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Mack and I took off out of the vet check to chase down Sanoma who was 5 minutes ahead of me. We started passing people doing the 50 and the 30 which only motivated Mack more. A couple miles in we saw Sanoma and the chase was on. We caught her and rode into the next check with her. Mack ended up pulsing one minute ahead of her horse and that was all we needed!
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It came time to go out on our last loop and the race was on! Mack never let off the gas and he felt fantastic. We came across the finish line in 1st place, a good ten or so minutes ahead of the next rider. Mack vetted through and we had officially won the Young Rider National Championship! The icing on the cake was finding out later that night that Mack also won High Vet Score and Best Condition by around 200 points!! It was the perfect end to our season.
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Sunday morning came early and that meant it was time to go back out for the 50 mile ride with Tierney and Ryan. I got the chance to take Grit for a spin again and had so much fun! I led the girls through the first loop and that was it! I put them in front and they paced us wonderfully through the ride. They worked together when it came to leading and setting the pace. I was so proud of them and amazed at how far they’d come in the last year. The horses looked great and they took great care of them throughout both days.
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The three of us took home 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place with Tierney winning the overall Best Condition aware and Ryan winning the Junior Best Condition award. Thank you to Kimberly Ellis and Katie Stilwell Beloberk for trusting me to race with these awesome kids! They are truly incredible!
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This weekend and this season would not have been possible without so many amazing people! First a huge thank you to John Brain and Brain Ranch Horseshoeing for keeping Mack’s feet happy all season long! He always felt so amazing and I never had to worry about his shoes!
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Also a huge thank you to Dr. Jennifer Elizabeth Mayfield for being the incredible vet that she is. Without her we wouldn’t have been able to get to the bottom of the issues Mack has had in the past and I can’t say enough about how amazing she has been with getting him to where he is now.
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Another big thank you to Cara Choy for ensuring that Mack felt his best all season! It all came together this past weekend and we couldn’t have done it without Cara!
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We also want to give a big thank you to Specialized Saddles for donating such an amazing award for 1st place! We primarily ride in Specialized and it’s always been a dream to win one and this ride provided me with that opportunity!
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Thank you to Shawn and Lisa Bowling and Crater Hill Equestrian for everything they do for us! They not only put on the ride and gave us this chance, but also encouraged us and cheered us on throughout the season and made it all possible!
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And my biggest thank you goes to Samantha Ellis for pushing us this season to reach our goals and then some, but also encouraging Mack and I to keep pushing and working endlessly to get to the bottom of any concerns I had about Mack. We couldn’t have this without you and I’m so happy we were able to bring it home
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Now Mack gets the next 6 months off to rest and recover and just be a horse. He’s more than earned it!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-9470205929925425542023-10-31T12:52:00.000-06:002023-10-31T12:52:08.050-06:002023 Man Against Horse - Virginia Jenkins<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2023VirginiaJenkinsManVsHorse.jpg" width="200" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>by Virginia Jenkins<br>
October 30 2023
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Molly and I were looking to squeeze in one more ride this season as we weren't quite ready for it to end. So, off we went to Man Against Horse! I had always heard of this ride, but had never had the opportunity to go. We saw they had belt buckles as completion prizes and sent our entries within the hour.
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Flite has been the star of the show this season, but I have been consistently riding Shaw while Flite rested. We did the LD at Buffalo Creek in August and he did so well that I decided to throw him into a 50 for this ride so I could sneak in a first year towards decade.
I made this decision with the most ignorant view despite everyone's cautions, "Oh, it won't be that hard. We're from the MOUNTAIN region. Arizona can't have anything on our mountain rides, it'll be a breeze!"
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Well. We were humbled. When Arizona says they climb a mountain, they climb a damn mountain. All. The. Way. To. The. Top.
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Shaw and Joey started out a little fiery for the first 5 miles or so and then settled into a nice pace. Shaw had that excited face of a toddler and was giving it all he had while still being respectful of my rating.
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We got up the first climb pretty easily and thought we had our suspicions confirmed that this wasn't ACTUALLY a hard ride and this must be the mountain they're talking about. At this point, Joey kept acting like he was dying and would stop in the middle of the trail. Shaw led us a ways until Princess Joey could find the will (or force) to continue through his hunger.
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We rolled into the first vet check and vetted through easily. I had popped a cable on one of Shaw's hind renegades, but it miraculously didn't budge for about 10 mile so I had to figure out that situation during the 30 minute hold.
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Luckily, Cathy had a magic bag full of renegades and loaned me the perfect size. I decided to try to work with the broken boot as long as I could so I wouldn't put much wear on Cathy's boot. Molly had some electrical tape in her bag, so I wrapped it up and put the spare in my bag. It stayed on almost the whole ride until I was foolish enough to take it off not realizing the roll of tape must've fallen out of the saddle bag.
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While we were at this first check, a volunteer saw us put our coolers on and said, "If you need those here, you'll definitely need them at the top."
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Hahaha, sure. You mean the top of the next "mountain" we'll climb? Should be EASY.
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We moseyed on out of the check and this is where Shaw was really confused about what we were doing in the middle of nowhere, so far from the temporary semblance of home that was base camp. Despite, he plodded along behind Joey, our fearless leader.
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This road went on FOREVER. The last ride I did was Virginia City and I kept saying, "Why all these ROCKS?"
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When they say it's rocky, you should believe them.
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We kept thinking that if we were reaaaally going up a mountain, we'd have to start heading up soon since there were only a few miles to the vet check. More proof it wasn't going to be a real mountain. That peak ahead of us isn't feasible.
Well, we got to Check 6: The Oasis. Here, they burst our bubble. We asked how far to the vet check and they said, "A couple miles, but you're headed up there." He pointed to the top of the mountain that we had NO idea would really be the trail. We gulped and continued onward.
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This part of the trail was absolutely insane. I trailed most of it and at point point Joey was going very fast and Shaw was chasing him, but I couldn't see much of the terrain because I was sprinting over it too fast trying to keep up. Molly later said she closed her eyes during that part 😂
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I continued to tail and Molly hiked since Joey is above tailing. We passed a runner and he said, "Only 1000ft to go!" WHAT? We've already climbed so much, how do we still have 1000ft??
On we went.
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We swapped positions so Molly could tail off of Shaw and we continued to climb the mountain. I finally couldn't go any further without being a hindrance, so we both mounted up. Up ahead we saw the boulders we were told about. I heard Molly behind me say, "That can't be the trail, right?"
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Yup, here we go! Shaw navigated it expertly like he'd been doing endurance for decades. We got to the top and into the next check nicely, but were still in shock because of the literal mountain we climbed and how well our boys did.
We left that check with 17 miles (I think) to go and it was pretty uneventful down the mountain. We got to the flat area close to camp at the boys had enough gas to canter in and ask to go faster.
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We both finished and earned our fancy buckles. It sure was an accomplishment and I definitely have another talented endurance horse on my hands. I am wildly impressed with him! Can't wait to see where we go next!
Thanks for the adventure, Molly!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-57340636128971498112023-10-14T15:20:00.001-06:002023-10-31T12:47:17.167-06:002023 Autumn Sun 100 - Julie Bittick<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023AutumnSun/photos/JulieBittick.jpg" width="200" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>October 10 2023<br>
By Julie Bittick
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<b>Last ride of the season</b>
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Starting at 5:30 am, self preservation made sure we went out last and did not catch another rider until we had a few miles under our belt. AND when we finally caught up to the first riders ahead of us, Hondo actually stopped, watched them trot away and took the time to pee before moving on….what?!! He also had zero shaking when I was saddling up pre-ride, he knows his job and finally seems completely comfortable in that space!!
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Hondo was golden, it’s amazing the transformation over this season. In April I’m pretty sure fellow endurance riders were writing my eulogy when they saw our horrific and totally embarrassing start to the first endurance ride of the season. Now on our last ride of the season, Hondo was as cool as a cucumber. Lots of hard work and putting into practice great advice from some of our top horse men and women finally paid off!
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My focus was to just be better than our first 100. So basically don’t get lost (yep almost had a temper tantrum that would put toddlers to shame at Midnight Rider) and I had more trust in Hondo’s fitness and amazing recoveries (so I let him move!)
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By mile 80 we finally caught up to the 1st and 2nd position riders, just when I was passing my stirrup leather snapped. OMG what the heck!!
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After assuring David and Melissa Laws that all was fine, I started to channel my inner MacGyver. Not holding back any punches here, my inner MacGyver SUCKS! I hade a couple of zip ties and a carabiner. That jimmy rig lasted about 10 steps.
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So then I channeled my inner tough girl and decided I would just ride without stirrups. That lasted about 2 miles, muscles screaming and thighs being rubbed raw, decided my inner tough girl sucked!
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So then I engaged the brain - do I have cell service? Yes! 1 bar, just enough to call in crew. The amazing crew, there would not be a success story without them!! I was 5 miles from where the trail met the road and somehow @ 10:30pm there were folks more than happy to drop everything and meet me to swap out tack and keep us moving forward. Will never be able to fully repay their kindness!
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Back in the grove and moving forward I finally looked up and saw there was a meteor shower on display, the best one was the huge streak across the sky and a large ball of explosion. If I hadn’t realized the meteorological event going on, I would have freaked out thinking a plane had exploded in the sky.
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I believe this amazing astronomy event was put on for the 40th birthday of our fearless ride manager and all around beautiful human being, Jessica Huber.
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Hondo and I finally made it back to camp by 12:30am and he looked so great! Hondo tied for high vet score with Melissa Laws beautiful grey.
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It is an honor to be a partner to this horse!
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Thank you to all the volunteers, vets, and crew! There would not be the sport of endurance without you. Merri Melde for the picture credit.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-70161956389153516392023-10-04T07:59:00.000-06:002023-10-04T07:59:41.618-06:002023 Quicksilver - Nick Warhol<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2023QuicksilverNickNina.jpg" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>October 3 2023
<br>by Nick Warhol<br>photo by Nina Bomar
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The Quicksilver ride went off very well this past weekend in San martin, Ca. We had a great turnout, in fact the best in several years with about 21 in the 50, about 49 in the 25, and about 18 fun riders. The weather was perfect all weekend except for, of course, ride day. Wouldn’t you know we would get the first measurable rain in months on Saturday. It wasn’t much, and the cool weather was sure nice, but it was wet enough to get some of the trails a little sticky and slippery in the morning.
Brian Reeves and I spent 11 hours on Thursday marking the trail and getting the water on the trail, then on Friday I went back out to finish the marking and check to be sure the cows had not done their usual damage on the signs. They did not; in fact, this is the first time in the many years I have been marking this trail that we did not lose a single sign. We also provided Ride with GPS that a lot of people tried and liked.
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I spent a couple of nights at the Kilty-Newburn Hilton in San Martin, where Sorsha got her own plush, private pasture. Thanks Jill and Michael! On Friday night I was going to stay in camp, but I did not have a place to sleep since I did not have my camper, so I got treated to a queen size bed in the Schneider rolling Hilton. I even got to sleep with Pony, Shel’s sweet dog, on my bed. She’s a big one, not a foo-foo dog. I have not slept with a dog on the bed since I was about ten. It was nice! She’s a real sweetheart. Thanks Lisa and Shel! Speaking of dogs, I had to include a picture of Lori Oleson’s new puppy, Jemma, who was taking care of crew duties for Lori. She’s a lab, but what a color! And I thought Podie was a cute puppy!
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I started out on the first loop of the 50 in the light rain, riding with Nina Bomar from down south. We rode the whole first loop together and had a nice ride. I thought her horse was a seasoned, experienced guy since he was so good. Turns out it was his third ride! Nice horse. We did have to take it pretty easy in a few spots due to the slippery conditions. I did not have any issues with mud sticking to Sorsha’s shoes since I had the Equi-pack sole guard in there, but her feet kept throwing mud up all over. It hit the bottom of my shoe, which stuck, then it got between the stirrup and my foot. It was a bit slippery there for a while till I stopped and got rid of the mud from my shoes. We had a great loop- we just rode along and made the best of the wet conditions.
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Except for the vet check. You may have heard that like in baseball, in endurance riding you can always have something happen that has never happened before. Yep, in my 32 years and 15K miles I have never crashed in a vet check while trotting my horse for the vet. Michael Newburn drove the ambulance trailer up to the vet check; it was parked with the back open at 90 degrees, and pretty close to the vet trot out lanes. I was in the lane closest to the trailer as I trotted Sorsha for the vet. Michael was sitting on a chair inside the back of the trailer, and just as we trotted by, he moved. Sorsha saw that and jumped to her left a bit, which is where I was. She basically body-checked me in mid trot. She trots fast for the vet! I took a real header, hitting the dirt and actually rolling over a couple of times. She just stopped while I picked myself up and tried to brush off the embarrassment. I was the laughingstock of the vet check for a while. I reminded everyone that “we shall never speak of this again!” Thank goodness no one got a video of that one!
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Lunch at 25 miles went quickly; I headed back out and hooked up with Lisa Schneider on Shel’s horse Paco. Another great horse! He really moved along nicely. The second loop was great since the mud was gone and the trails were in nice shape. I have not ridden with Lisa for a while, so we just trucked along at a great pace, catching up on family, horses, and of course AERC stuff. We got to the last check at mile 38, and picked up a junior rider named Stella Stilwell, whose mom, Karen, had been pulled. A REAL junior. 8 years old! Lisa took her on in a heartbeat, and let me tell you, this kid is incredible. She rode her horse in front of Lisa and I just about the whole 12 miles to the finish, and she knows how to ride! She actually paces perfectly, much better than a lot of adults I know. She knows when to stop and walk. Oh, and she just happened to have finished the Virginia City 100 a couple of weeks ago. She’s 8! It was a treat to ride with her.
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We let Stella come in ahead of us for fifth, I got sixth, and Lisa seventh. Our ride time was just over 8 hours- it was a 24.5 mile LD and a 49 mile 50 this year. The only issue I know of was a woman came off at about mile one and got hurt with a concussion and got taken to the hospital. I don’t know who it was, or the extent of her injuries yet, but She did get a ride back to camp with Juan on my quad, so I think she’s okay. Juan and Rachael went out and found the horse, and Rachael led it back to camp on foot. A long way! Thanks, Rachel!
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Nina ended up with BC, which is pretty cool, since it’s a new horse. Sorsha blew through the ride as usual, and hit her 2000 mile mark with her finish. It was a great weekend from my perspective; we got loads of compliments on the ride in general. Thanks to ride manager Jerry Wittenauer and his crew, to Brian for his help with the trail and vet check work, to Jill and Michael for putting up with me and my Big, Brown, Girly Horse, and to Lisa, Shel, and Pony for the great bed on Friday night. The ride will return next year, better than ever, with some changes and improvements. It better be back- it’s the only ride in the Bay Area anymore, unless the fireworks makes a return. That’s so depressing.
Next stop: camp far west if all goes according to plan!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-36325119116214576532023-09-24T18:28:00.000-06:002023-09-24T18:28:09.832-06:002023 Antelope Island - Dane Berry<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023AntelopeIsland/photos/Dane.jpg" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>September 24 2023<br>
By Dane Berry
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It has taken me a while to write this recap, mostly so I could find the words to properly give credit to the amazing veterans, juniors, and everyone else more experienced than me in this sport (which is basically everyone!) who do these rides as a matter of routine. This, my first 50 mile ride was an eye opening, grueling, difficult, amazing, rewarding, and ultimately uplifting experience that has to be lived to truly be understood. I therefore don’t write this post pridefully, but rather in full humility that I truly only succeeded due to support from friends, family, I suppose a little personal insanity, and of course my amazing horse Nico.
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Overall, let this preface suffice: I am in awe and respect all of you riders who embark in this sport; I have so much to learn from all of you. Conversely, I can confidently say as probably one of the most inexperienced beginners that just decided to go and attempt a 50-mile ride as my second ever event, that ALL of you looking to get into the sport of endurance CAN DO IT. If I can, you can… Hear me out.
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Antelope Island 50-mile endurance Ride, Sept 16 2023 Ride Report
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Exactly two years ago, Sept 23rd 2021 was the first time I swung my leg over Nico. It was that first ride that I felt an immediate connection and so I purchased him about a week later. In today's horse buying/selling market, I consider it a miracle that he is the horse I found! I don't recommend to most people doing it how I did it... I had not ridden a horse in about 16 years, and even when I had ridden as a teenager it was very minimal experience with no lessons; just a few odd rides basically. I just loved horses my whole life so I made the plunge and just bought one (as opposed to maybe smarter avenues of pursuing horses, like lessons or leasing!). On top of that, I decided to purchase a fresh trained 8 year old Arabian… A friend of mine retroactively told me that they legitimately thought I was going to die, inexperienced as I was going and buying an Arabian out the gate!
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The whole story is too long for here, but know that for two solid years, Nico and I worked hard together to build a bond and develop a relationship. Fast forward to Sat 16 2023, exactly 1 week shy of our two-year anniversary, 5am in the morning. I walked over to Nico’s pen at Antelope Island. I would like to say that we had a special ‘moment’ where he ‘told’ me that he was ready to do this penultimate event… but true to his nature he mostly just ignored me in favor of the fresh hay I had thrown into his pen. Giving him a pat I readied myself for the day.
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The first 5 miles are on a smooth, slightly gravely road. This is of note, because I’ll set the stage here for you to understand Nico’s hoof situation. Nico is barefoot and has been for our entire season. Knowing the terrain we would face, I did everything possible to try to get shoeing options worked out before the ride, bought some glue-ons and everything, but it turned out to be impossible. The situation for trying to figure this stuff out leading up to the ride were on my mind persistently and a constant stress. All you need to know, however, is that on ride day all we had was a pair of front scoot boots, my knowledge of the course, and Nico’s amazing mind to protect himself and his hooves (Update FYI – I finally have a farrier coming out this week to help me for the first time all year! This will be game changing for us moving forward).
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We conquered these first 5 miles by alternating areas where we could ride just off the road, or when we were on the road I would dismount and we would run together on the ground; anything I could do to save a little pressure on his feet. After these 5 miles, I knew the next solid stretch was amazing trails so I decided to take off the scoot boots; as his movement is much more freed up without them (they fit decently well, but he’s always told me he likes it better without them). We made solid time through the miles but to my chagrin we had lost the boots from my saddle. I have secured them to the saddle previously in training with no mishaps, but in my own human race-brain I must not have attached them adequately enough. I tried to back track to find them but to no avail. We ended up doing the entire rest of the ~45 miles completely barefoot.
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Completing the first 15 miles was tough but we managed it by being smart on the hills and taking our time over any rocks, making up time wherever there was good footing. Taking a brief water break back at ride camp (not an official vet hold), we gritted our teeth and headed out on the remaining ~12ish miles to the vet hold at White rock.
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While this portion is vastly comprised of amazing hoof-safe trails, Nico still seemed to be struggling to me. It was getting hot, and his impulsion was at an all time low which is rare for him. Every time someone passed us in either direction, he would stop cold, as if they were there to save him. It was interesting, because as opposed to City of Rocks where I had to work a little bit with his ‘race brain’ this whole first segment of the ride I had to overcome the opposite. He seemed unmotivated, hot, and not wanting to go out. I had been monitoring his electrolytes and water intake so I knew that theoretically he should be fine. I also know my horse very well and have definitely put in the time and effort in training, so I was very worried about pushing him too hard especially with my hoof concerns. These 12 miles for me were a matter of grit and a true gut-check, as almost every step I was very worried about him and I was loosing energy myself. My inexperience was definitely showing!
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We crawled into the first vet check. I was emotionally exhausted already, as I definitely wasn’t taking in enough elytes and nutrients for myself (yes a huge learning experience). I told my concerns to the ride manager, vet and volunteers. I have to admit that in my mind I was definitely teetering on the decision on whether to pull from the ride. We were going slow enough that we were on the cusp of not making time and in my inexperienced and concerned state I was worried that Nico’s hooves and impulsion couldn’t hold up. Despite my negative internal thoughts I told myself I wouldn’t make a decision until of course the vet check, and if we passed that I would wait the entire hold to refuel myself so I could be in a better state of mind. Transparent honesty to everyone reading this though – I was struggling!
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The pulse down and vet check was telling… Nico pulsed down immediately, and passed the vet check with flying colors, not a lame step or hint of soreness. Volunteers and experienced people there commented on how well he was looking. One amazing lady (don’t know her name) mentioned that based off of my comments she figured that maybe he was just slightly sore on the more rocky portions, but probably the main issue was that he was being a little lazy, bored, and needed to strengthen his mental toughness. These, and other expert observations gave me the internal steel I needed. I know I have taken care of him, I know we have trained, I know that he (we) could do this! Overhearing the conversation, a very kind rider that happened to be getting water at the check on their way back home offered me her riding crop, just to give Nico a little encouragement. I decided that we would set out on the next 8 mile loop; and if things looked good, we would make the effort!
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Aside: I can’t say how grateful I am for everyone at that hold – Jeff (ride manager), my mother, volunteers, and the vet. They listened to my concerns and acknowledged them. They were non-judgmental of me, and I know they would have supported my decision if I chose to pull. However, even while having amazing support, they also expertly advised me and encouraged me. I’m not sure how they did it, but they pulled off giving me the perfect balance of understanding and ‘push’ that I needed. As a person and an athlete I am extremely hard on myself already, and no one there made me feel weak, embarrassed or any negative emotion. It was a wholly rejuvenating environment and gave me what I needed to continue. I literally couldn’t have done it without them all.
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Nico and I set off, and while the crop helped immensely, I only really needed to use it the one time at the start, and all the sudden the entire rest of the ride was completely different. He set off with amazing strength and confidence in each step. We still walked cautiously on rocky portions; but everywhere else there was not a hint of the previous lethargy or lack of impulsion. He was breathing great, and seemed to be growing in strength even though we had already gone over half the ride in the ~80degree heat. We did the 8 mile loop in just about one hour, made up a ton of time and more importantly had found a new determination… we could do it!
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After another brief water break, we set off! We ended up riding a portion back with some great riders – Amy and Amanda who were out on two of Jeff’s horses. It was a much needed mental boost for Nico and myself. We stuck with them for about 5-7 miles or so, at which point Nico had made such a mental turn around that he was actually NOW – 80% done with the ride – getting stronger and stronger and even starting to exhibit some ‘race brain’. I pulled him off of the other two horses just to recoup his mind, and once we were ¼ mile off, I let him continue to push strong and open up when he wanted to. He immediately reconnected mentally with me, and we made the entire rest of the way at a trot/canter, Nico never missing a beat and showing amazing strength the whole way home.
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We got 8th place, turtle award, finishing in 8:47. We had gone from almost not making time and worried about pulling, to finishing stronger than I thought possible. Nico pulsed down quickly (I think 5-10 minutes max), and vetted out with his CRI being a solid 48/48 and still having no lame steps. Our only health issues at all were on myself, as I ended up throwing up and having a hard time recovering over the next few hours, something I gladly accepted because my horse was safe and sound, and my own inexperienced self can learn how to eat/drink better for next time haha.
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TLDR/Summary.
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Jeffrey, ride management, volunteers, family, friends, vets, Nikki, Amy, Tanya, Matthew, Merri My Green-Bean Team Heather, Joy, Tennielle (if I didn't tag you doesn't mean I don't appreciate you!): Thank you so much to everyone who made this ride possible and got me through to the end. I literally would not have made it without you.
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Veterans and current participants in the sport: I respect you and admire you. From those who do intro rides, LD’s, to 50’s, 100’s and everything else, you (we) are a gritty and amazing group of people and athletes. Pat yourself on the back, because you are pretty cool just by attempting this sport!
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Those of you entering the sport – make friends, talk to people, their support and experience are invaluable. Also give back and help those around you! I see often the comment ‘what can I do to get into the sport.’ Some great advice I hear is ‘just go and volunteer’ etc. I have one thing to expound on this excellent advice: Do something that is ONE STEP outside your comfort zone. If your comfort zone is to just stay home and not go at all, then go volunteer at a ride. If your comfort zone is to volunteer, then go and volunteer but also bring your horse to ride camp so you can learn together. If your comfort zone is maybe camping with your horse but you are unsure about the ride, then go and do an intro or LD. If your comfort zone is an LD; don’t be afraid, sign up for a 50 and see what happens! After two years of training, my comfort zone was to make it to that first vet check… yet with those around me and Nico we survived and excelled at that one step beyond my comfort zone, and grew because of it.
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Whatever your comfort zone is, or whatever you can achieve know this: I support you whatever level it is!
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This is a singularly amazing sport with amazing people. Go to your barn or pasture, give your horse a treat, and start making plans on how you’ll achieve your goals. Nico and I will see you there.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-68795455783327705132023-09-22T14:05:00.002-06:002023-09-22T14:05:20.105-06:002023 Virginia City 100 - Siri Olson<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023VirginiaCity100/photos/Siri.jpg" width="200" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>By Siri Olson<br>
September 19 2023
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Each year I try to pick one goal ride. This season VC 100 was on the list. We trained hard, consistently, and did all the things to prepare, beginning in February. The thing about endurance is that it is not an over night process. It is very much a long term commitment.
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The ride finally rolled around and plans had been in the making for quite sometime.
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We found ourselves rolling into ride camp Thursday before the ride. Its a long drive!! We had some down time and relaxed. The horses settled in great! Friday night was definitely a sleepless night. So sleepless I literally started counting sheep to shut my brain off. My alarm went off and I told my husband that I wasn't sure Troop and I could do this. I was so scared! What was I thinking? Like really, the VC 100?? The toughest ride we have ever attempted and undoubtedly one of the toughest rides in the US. Is Troop ready? Is he really a 100 mile horse? Look at the 100 mile field of riders!! How could we possibly compete here, of all places?? Kevin is always supportive and told me get up and get it done.
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I was blessed, honored, and humbled to ride with one of my heroes Max Merlich on his bitch face mare, Layla, on his 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Max!! Congrats on your 100 mile completion.
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I was also very honored to ride with badass Tani Bates! She is iconic and tough! Congratulations on Jericho's 1st 100 mile completion! Way to go to the toughest ride ever and knock it out of the park!
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Then there's Troop. Yep, we had some A$$ Monkey moments. I mean really, it's not Troop without some antics and attitude. He Trooped through the day as steady as he could be. We both hit a low on those damn SOB's!! Hot, tired, not feeling the greatest. Lack of sleep? Over emotional? Dumb female hormones?? Here's the thing about endurance, the challenge is not always the literal trail. Sometimes it's that connection with your horse and/or with yourself, or just pacing 3 very different horses with different abilities and strengths. Flexibility. Adaptability. I always have a plan A, knowing adjustments will probably be made. For some reason I just couldn't find our steady rhythm. My biggest challenge was quite honestly with myself. I suck at speaking up because I want everyone to be happy and have fun. I don't want to be the spoiler or weak link, especially with my very non-typical endurance horse. I always put those I care about first and foremost, no matter what, even if it means making those adjustments. The first 51 miles was hard!!
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We finally made it to the 51 mile vet check and I was not in the best head space. I had been riding with one contact (the other one was tore before I could even get it in that morning), had run out of water, and there was this pain in my shins I had never felt before. I needed hydration, FOOD, and time for my brain to process WTF was going on! I literally felt like I was falling apart and failing, miserably! My amazing husband fed us! Food tasted so good!! I got rid of that damn one contact and opted for glasses. Changed my clothes, panties and all. Grabbed a couple of tylenol. Took some time to just have my own pitty party and shed a few tears, okay, so ALOT!! Pulled up my big girl panties, sucked it up, and changed my plan, perspective, and goals for the ride. It wasn't just about finishing, it was so much more.
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We marched out of that vet check like the bad asses we are! We were ready to kick this VC 100's tail! I opted to get off and lead Troop down the big hills in the daylight. He's not a downhill horse, especially those super steep downhills!! We could actually keep up with our Team on the downhills this way. And it helped get my shins feeling better. We knew this loop was going to get dark on us since it was so long. Our crew was so amazing to meet us at the road crossing before camp. Site for sore eyes for sure!!
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We were almost back to ride camp when we had an incident on the trail. Could've been so much worse! So thankful it wasn't! We all pulled together made adjustments and got into camp for the 76 mile vet check. All the horses vetted through sound. One more loop, just one more loop.
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For whatever reason I somehow thought the last loop was short. When we found out it was closer to 20, it was a bit demoralizing! Especially with all the other challenges throughtout the day (shoes, boots, more boots, ROCKS and more ROCKS, ect). It was time to go and get it done!!
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We thought we could make up some time on the last loop. Nope! True to form, there was LOTS of walking!! Rocks, wash outs, boulders, trees, ect...And still the horses were feeling good. Troop pulled on me that entire last loop!! He was ready to go! But the trail kept us in low gear.
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We trudged on with one goal in mind and that was to cross the finish line by 4:59 am. As we were creeping closer Max's head lamp died. Then Tani's. Max had a flashlight, but he needed 2 hands on his mare. Mine was still working. I gave Tani my extra headlamp. Mine finally died about 1/2 mile from the finish. As we climbed the last hill we could here our crew woopin'!! I smiled, my heart was full. Max literally stopped a foot before the finish line!! I had stopped behind him and literally pushed Layla across it! We finished at 4:30 am. Now we just needed to vet through. We walked ALOT on that last loop and it got chilly!! Troop is a big muscled boy!! If his muscles cool down, I worry about him stiffening up. It's happened! It was a 2 mile walk back to vetting from the finish line. I prayed silently that I did everything right all day for my big boy. He felt beyond great!! This is that scared thing. Scared of what?? Failure!!! Just need to pass one more test!!
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That final trot out was the BEST!! Troop was STRONG and solid. Me, I was tired, mentally and emotionally exhausted!! We finished 44th and took the coveted Turtle award.
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Our amazing crew is the absolute best!! Could not have done this ride without them! Thank you Darlene Merlich , Valerie Sharpe Vollbrecht and her Kevin, and my wonderful husband. They kept us going all day!! And documented our day with amazing videos and pictures. I am forever grateful!
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Thank you to my most amazing ride partners with badass horses! Congrats on your well earned finish! We all got buckles baby!! Woop! Woop!
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Thank you to #NASTR ride management and volunteers! The hospitality was amazing! BTW, I thought I held the record for losing 3 shoes in one ride. Not any more! Max wins with losing all 4 shoes in one ride!! And who knows how many boots!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-51825395963516497962023-09-21T14:06:00.002-06:002023-09-21T14:06:29.533-06:002023 Virginia City 100 - Alex Lewis<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023VirginiaCity100/photos/Alex.jpg" width="300" style="float: left; padding: 10px;" />By Alexandra Lewis<br>
September 18 2023
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It was a busy day here at VC100! It was SO FUN to see the PNW representing with so many horse and rider teams!!
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Marco and I had an amazing first 25 miles with Stevie Delahunt and Carmen Jackson and Mallori Farrell ; horses were feeling fresh and ready to go!! Thanks for the fun this morning ladies!!
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Marco had no problem navigating the rock in the dark, something I was worried about but clearly don't need to be! We cruised through the first 16 miles of the ride without a hitch and enjoyed the views and how strong Marco felt!! I was having to do a lot of holding him back, but I knew that was going to be the situation because of how fit he is right now!
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As we started walking through someone's property which was where we were routed through, Marco went down in some sand onto both knees, cutting them up, and the right one was pretty bad. I noticed at the vet hold he had lost a glue on boot after I did a boot check at mile 10 or so, which is why I think he went down in the first place.
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I doctored him up in under 3 minutes, had the bleeding stopped, liquid bandage on the cuts to keep them from getting dirty, and caught back up to the group. Marco felt strong after, but not 100%, which was concerning this early on in the ride.
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I told Marco that I wanted to keep going, but we would stop at the check 25 miles in if he wasn't ok, but he needed to show me how he felt; not more than 1 mile later, he almost went down again on his knees, so I had pretty much made up my decision right then. And this wasn't because of the rock, this happened in areas without rock.
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We had some steep grades to go down after that, and Marco wasn't as sure of himself on the downhill, so I stayed on the ground on the descents, and when we got down to flat road he wanted to fly and he felt GREAT on the flat... However this ride is anything but flat!!
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Getting into Kivett Lane Vet Check, Marco vetted through with a 44 heart rate, but was every so slightly off, and the vets were super supportive in helping me figure out what to do!! Dr Dan Chapman gave me the option of icing and trotting again, which we did and Marco had improved, but my intuition told me not to go back out.
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Dr Dan agreed that Marco's right knee would only get worse over 100 miles, not better, but if we wanted to keep icing and moving along in the ride to see, then we could keep going. To me it felt like staving off the inevitable. Marco was saying his knee was just ever so slightly painful so we better call it. I decided that it would be best if I Rider Optioned so we pulled. I feel really good about this choice, and for me the horses must always come first!
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I had a FANTASTIC experience at this ride, it's so laid back, these Nevada Derby Riders know how to put on a great ride!! The trail was crazy rocky just as advertised and I can't wait to come back again to tackle the Virginia City 100!! Crysta Turnage you have to be there next season to ride it with me. Thank you for the wonderfully marked trail, a BEAUTIFUL view from camp, challenging trails, the great volunteers and management, and an epic adventure!!
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Marco is all tucked in to his blanket, Simone Mauhl and Karen Gundersen and I are watching the horses come in, and it's been a good day. Thank you to these amazing women for showing up when I needed crew, and for having my back... Your friendships mean the world to me!! I'm grateful for your time this weekend with me, your hard work taking care of us, and the fun we had!!
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On to the next adventure!!
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-73265683781655657512023-09-20T12:56:00.003-06:002023-09-20T12:56:56.751-06:002023 Virginia City 100 - Virginia Jenkins<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023VirginiaCity100/photos/Virginia.jpg" width="200" style="float: left; padding: 10px;" />
September 18 2023<br>
By Virginia Jenkins
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Virginia City 100... I can definitely say no one was lying about the rocks. Flite and I took on the historical trail and brought home a completion with a 20:05 ride time.
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We started out at 5 am in front of the classic Delta Saloon - what a cool start. After the Virginia City sheriff led 60 horses and riders to the wrong start in his own city, we got on the trail. Flite and I cruised along in the dark through the rocks (and more rocks... and MORE rocks) and into the first vet check at 24 miles. Flite vetted in at 40 and 40 minutes later, we were off on the next loop of 15 miles. This loop had some sections with NO ROCK (crazy, I know), but also had Bailey Canyon where I managed to lose two octos. Thank goodness I had my renegades with me. I popped them on and off we went. We came into the Washoe Park check and Flite once again vetted out fabulously.
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Next up was a 12 mile loop. But not just any 12 mile loop. Here, we conquered the SOBs (aptly named, imo). I decided to be a hero and hike up the first and second ones. The first one was seriously straight up and I thought I might die. Flite was rolling his eyes at me as he grabbed a snack while I could barely breathe. Next stop was at Basecamp at 51 miles. Flite looked great for the vet in, but didn't eat as well as he usually does. I really think he thought he was done and could take his time eating. Sorry buddy, we were only halfway!
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Off we went on the next 25 mile loop. I had overheard some people saying the first loop back to Basecamp was the hardest, but they were WRONG. This loop took us up and up and up to Mt. Davidson. We reached the top just as we lost light. Many steep and rocky miles down and we arrived back at Basecamp at 76 miles. Flite looked like a million bucks and ate ravenously. We left camp in the dark to finish the last 24 miles. Flite did such a great job in the dark. He carefully picked his path and told me when it wasn't safe. We rode without any lights! I had heard this loop was easier and less rocky. Well, I guess when the rest of the trail is a rock pile, less rocky still means super rocky! It was very slow going in the dark, but we managed to arrive at the 94 mile vet check.
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Flite had been feeling great so I confidently trotted him out for the vet. Lame. I was crushed and so confused. I removed his hoof boot and splint boot to see if there was something in there causing an issue. Nope. I took him back for a recheck after the vet finished vetting the pile of riders who arrived behind me and he was *slightly* better. She let us go the six miles into camp and try for a completion. Flite carried me the first couple miles where it was less technical, then I got off and hand walked the rest of the way. It was slow going, but we crossed the finish line at 4:25am.
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It wasn't over with just crossing the finish line though. We still had to pass the final vet check. Holding back tears, I walked him down to the vet area and let the vet know what was going on. He had me trot out and he took a few bad strides before evening out to earn a completion! Holy shit, what a relief! We had done it! This was truly an incredible accomplishment and I am so proud of my Flitey Boy. He never got unmotivated and conquered everything I asked of him. What an absolutely incredible horse.
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We met a lot of wonderful people on trail and in canp (Jessica, Pam, Lucy, Annette to name a few) and generally had the best time.
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Special thank you to my wonderful crew Gracie and Cressy. They took care of me and Flite so well AND even looked after baby Chile and Kaito while i was riding. I couldn't have done it without their help and support.
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Thanks to ride management for putting on a top notch event with great organization and friendly faces. Everyone should ride this legendary ride if they can!
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Edited to add that Flite is totally fine! Just a very tired booty from all the trotting downhill on rolling rocks
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-67875519483638184882023-09-10T13:57:00.001-06:002023-09-10T13:57:39.514-06:00The 5-day 255-mile Spanish Peaks Pioneer 2023 - Ann Wicks<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023SpanishPeaksPioneer/gallery/Day5/images/IMG_3292.jpg" width="400" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>By Ann Scott Wicks
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Jicarilla Journey. Journ-Journ. Beautiful Girl. All names for my wonderful Mustang mare. I am so lucky to have this amazing horse in my life. She is kind, sensible, and as sure-footed as they come. And this past week, she gave me her all. She never once hesitated when I made the big ask at the SoCo Spanish Peaks endurance ride to try and ride five days in a row: 255 miles of challenging terrain in some of the most beautiful country I have ever ridden.
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There are so many moving parts to a successful endurance ride, particularly one over 1,600 miles from home, that just arriving at ride camp with happy, healthy horses is a win. From there, we took it one day at a time. With my traveling companions, Lynne Gilbert and her horse Calvin, our primary goal was to complete the first day’s 50 mile ride. It turned out to be a hotter than expected day, and with the possibility that we might want to ride back-to-back 50’s if all went well, we took it easy and rode as conservatively as the horses would allow; they wanted to move out, and we spent a good bit of the day asking them to take it easy and slow down!
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The next day felt a bit more challenging with more demanding trail that included lots of climbs and descents, but again, the scenery was spectacular and we got to ride alongside, and then over, one of the many rock walls that define this landscape. At the start of the ride, we joined up with Kelly Stoneburner and Jesse James, who were planning to ride all five days. It was another successful day due in large part to riding with Kelly and Jesse, who knew the trails so well and paced us accordingly. At day’s end, another completion and our first time doing back-to-back 50’s. This gave us the opportunity to attempt a Pioneer Ride and tackle a third day on trail.
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The third and fourth days are a bit of a blur. Each day’s rhythm was defined by all the things that had to happen before, during, and after the ride. The “Hellevator” was a highlight of Day Three - an adrenalin blast out of a canyon up steep switchbacks that had us laughing with relief when we got to the top. After successfully completing the three-day Pioneer, the possibility of attempting to ride all five days loomed large, and with Kelly’s encouragement, I decided to give it a go. Journey was doing great, and to my surprise, I felt great after each day’s ride. I decided I might never have this opportunity again and that I shouldn’t pass it up, so we would at least tackle Day Four.
When Tenney announced at the ride meeting that night that she thought the Day Four trail was the most challenging, she wasn’t wrong! The day was made a bit more challenging due to lack of sleep that night: strong winds blew through camp for hours, rocking the trailer and making it difficult to sleep. Then once on trail, there were lots of big climbs up into the highlands among the aspen groves where where the elk tracks lined the trail, only to encounter “Luke’s Limit,” a long, slow, unmounted descent straight down the mountain. The horses took great care of themselves all day, eating along the trail and taking long drinks at the many water tanks. Finally, we arrived back at ride camp after a long, tiring day. Doubts about riding the next day surfaced as my girl was tired, and so was I.
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But then the next morning at dawn, this normally reserved mare stepped forward to greet and nuzzle me (and no, I was not holding her feed pan!). Here it was, the morning of the fifth day, and completely unaware that I would again be tacking her up for yet another 50 miles, Journey was affectionate and wanted to be beside me. I got choked up. She was tired. I was tired. But we were both willing to give it a go. And go she did. In my semi brain-dead state, I left her hackamore at the trailer when I went to do the morning trot out for the vets. Oh well, I thought, she’ll be just fine in the rope halter; it was, after all, day five and she had already traveled 205 miles. How wrong I was! Once she was warmed up and we were out on trail, I quickly realized the rope halter was not going to do the trick. I had so much horse under me and she wanted to move out! I never would have believed it was possible to have as strong a horse on day five as I had on day one, but there she was! Needless to say, I grabbed the hackamore at our first hold so that the rest of the ride wouldn’t be a struggle. It was another beautiful day on trail that included the exciting descent of “Pistol Whip” and then lots of long walks and climbs along dusty trails. It was somewhat surreal arriving back at ride camp, and I Ioved that my dog Tripp came running up to greet us as we came off trail. And then during our final vet check, Journey took a step forward and put her face next to mine, her nose against my mouth, our breaths blending as we breathed in sync. I don’t know what she was feeling or thinking at that moment, but for me, it was a perfect ending to an amazing adventure, and I will always treasure the trust she placed in me and the steadfast way she carried me over some truly challenging terrain.
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All of this would not have been possible without the generosity, support, encouragement, and trail savvy that Kelly and Jesse so willingly shared with me for over 200+ miles of trail, along with Lynne who jumped in to crew for us on days four and five, Cassidy Miller and Helen Gurina who helped trot Journey out the first two days when I twisted my hip after stepping in a hole, and Rob and Pam Talley Stoneburner who also helped crew for us. Then there were the wonderful vets and all the volunteers, the amazing food truck folks who provided us with great meals, and all the loving support from afar from my husband and daughters. Also, a big shout-out and thank you to Tenney Blouin with SoCo Endurance, and all the private land owners who made this ride possible. But most of all, a big thank you and all the love and devotion in the world to my wonderful Mustang mare, Jicarilla Journey, my beautiful girl.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-71586667888913550442023-08-16T12:58:00.000-06:002023-08-16T12:58:29.312-06:002023 Midnight Rider - Connie Holloway<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023MidnightRider/photos/Connie1.png" width="400">
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August 14 2023<br>
by Connie Holloway
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It’s so nice when your hard work pays off, and I’ve been working hard on both of my horses.With DWA Barack going on our fourth year together. (I am going to write a story about him and our attachment issues. But I think we’re fairly well attached to each other now, somewhere this year, I really started to love this horse.) And DWA Papillon is coming along wonderfully.
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We had so much fun at the Mount Adams endurance ride. And that’s why I’m in it I realized more for the fun than anything else and I love challenges. Things you have to work hard for. That put you in all kinds of situations and riding horses in the outdoors because all the elements, various terrain, can be super tricky at times and all the wild stuff that jumps out at you etc. So much is out of your control and it’s all fairly exciting, and throw wind and thunderstorms and that’s interesting. But we had none of that. We had stellar weather.
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Speaking of stellar I took DWA Papillon out on the night ride. On Saturday both rides were at night. We did the first 12 mile loop in the daylight and the second time at night. Bobbi does this to give riders an opportunity to take there horse out at nite, normally only hundred mile rides you’re out in the dark! I so love this concept. Also, Christoph gave an excellent talk on riding at night. I learned so much more that was really helpful for me and my horse.
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I chose to ride by myself with Pappy as usual and Pappy was a bit anxious and energetic. On the first loop leaving camp I decided to get off him and lead him for a bit, because his action was more up-and-down than forward and he was riled up. He could hear the horses coming in his direction through the woods on the road but not quite see them. I had started him last he didn’t know what to think of it all but I knew he’d settle down. I got on him as soon as I got down to the flat road and he took off at like a 20 mph trot. I did not know he could trot out that fast. !!!!!
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He’s got a super good mind snd did settle down after the climbs. I’ve learned this horse really wants to race and go and his bred for it but we’re not doing that now, he still has his training wheels on. I should’ve gotten on him earlier in the day, but it was too hot and I was feeling lazy like Barack so it was a bit of a challenge for both of us at the start ! 
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The 2nd Loop was the real gem because you’re repeating the first, only now in the dark and following little green twinkling lights, and sometimes you came to intersections and saw some twinkling blue lights and red lights and purple lights. It was like a fiesta in the forest. These little teeny lights. And my friends know how I like Christmas lights so I was really digging that. And was relishing the night under the stars and the meteor showers peak nite.
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Halfway through the loop there was party Central. There was mash, hay and water for the horses, and for us coffee and Baileys, hot chocolate and Bailey’s, or straight Bailey’s, whatever you wanted and cookies. There were more sparkly lights here and friendly trail angels. I had Baileys and coffee to wash the cookie down, thank you very much, while I spoon fed mash to Pappy who is scared of the tub. He is very royal.
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Endurance is fairly new for him and all the different shaped water tubs and everything is suspect. He hasn’t figured it all out yet, but he starting to. He was super awesome in the dark moving right out and I loved being by myself with him, he relying on me and me relying on him, that’s how the bond really develops. We saw other horses out there a few times, it would surprise him every time but for the most part we really were all alone other than a little passing here and there.
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For the non-riders, you don’t use white lights, it blinds people and the horses. Horses see just as good at night, it’s OK to use a red light which I used often on for me, but not my horse. I really liked it when I had no light on. If you’re lucky enough to ride in a moon, you don’t need anything. Imagine riding in the Moonlight that’s magical too. but I’ll take no moon and meteor showers. Thank you universe !
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I didn’t want the ride to end. In fact, I didn’t go to bed till 2 AM because the evening was warm, and the stars were putting on a show. So I hung outside my tent with the horses and Alexstoney. I can’t recall having so much fun as I did on this loop.
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And at the finish, I was handed a little cup of champagne, it just doesn’t get any better than that. All the fun people celebrating and helping us. I so appreciate it. I was so pleased and giddy with this night experience! Whenever I do a Limited Distance, I always say I’m only doing an LD. But I think that’s pretty lame. I think they all matter what you do with your horses .I’ve ridden only 4 100 milers so I’ve been out at night, but never by myself. It’s something completely different. and I really loved it.!
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I also rode Barack and he was such a good boy in the 50 miler on Friday, he had to go out and leave camp three different times which is hard. Sometimes they think they’re done when they go home, but we had three different loops, and he was a good sport about it. He certainly did some relaxing the next day sunbathing in the pen.
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Thank you, Bobbi Walker your husband, Mark, the water, people, the party people all the good people you had to help put on that ride. I love how you give people an opportunity to ride at night even people that will never get to do 100 they can go out and ride at night in an LD or 50. Next year I’m going to do the 50. And thank you Regina Rose of course for bringing me. Always fun. We have a good camp and Kristin and Sara were right next door. Merri Melde for the photos.
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It was fun to be back in this area I used to do spotted owl work in Glenwood, which isn’t too far off so I went back that way through many other places I knew and love the whole Klickitat Canyon area. Oh, I forgot to mention that Bobbi gave away coupons for huckleberry milkshakes, and OMG they are the best I’ve ever had. I might have to make several detours in the future. Such a great fun area.
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<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023MidnightRider/photos/Connie2.png" width="400">
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-52723753645813237522023-08-08T17:55:00.000-06:002023-08-08T17:55:12.708-06:002023 Tevis and Haggin Cup by Haley Moquin<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023TevisCup/photos/HaleyMoquin.jpg" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>August 2 2023
by Haley Moquin
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For those of you who don’t know PJs (Freaky) story. Here it is. Heather Reynolds had posted PJs breeding on Facebook stating her new horse would be arriving soon. PJ is a grandson of Okba - my favorite bloodline, a son of French Open, who Heather had won Tevis 2014 on. How exciting for her! I was flying to Florida to do the 3 day 100 with the Reynolds and PJ arrived while I was at their farm in Florida. PJ was a 12 year gelding who was apparently 15 hands with a stick and level. It was very clear PJ was not 15 hands. He is 14.2 with shoes on 🤣 obviously this was upsetting so I was like I’ll take him, and we arranged shipping from Florida to Texas.
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It was said that PJ was rideable but difficult to mount but he hadn’t been ridden in a few years. He had been hanging out in a 40 acre pasture for 7 years in Colorado. Once he arrived in Texas, i began to work with him. He was perfect to saddle, knew how to round pen, and knew cues with the bit. He was reactive and spooky but he seemed to know what I was asking. About a week of ground work, i attempted to mount PJ. He bolted off before i could even put my foot in the stirrup. Fast forward 60 days, I was finally able to mount PJ. He was great our first ride. We walked in the round pen and I was able to get on and off of him safely. During the 60 days, it seemed that once PJ was over something, he never had a problem with it again. The very next day, I had fed the horses dinner. No one was at the barn but I decided to ride PJ for a second time. I got on him and he moved around a bit but for the most part was fine. We started to walk and he tripped. That completely freaked out him and he began running as fast as he could around the round pen. I couldn’t stop him. When he did stop, if i made a single move, he would run off again. I was stuck on PJ for about an hour and a half. I was crying and panicking, i was stuck on this horse. Not a good feeling. If i touched my phone, he would run off. There was no calling for help. I ended up grabbing onto the round pen panels and letting him bolt from underneath me.
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I called my mom and told her i would never ride him again. Something i forgot to mention earlier, PJ was not ever accepting of being held by someone else for mounting and dismounting, he still isn’t to this day. If he feels trapped, he freaks out and bolts off. I attempted to give PJ back to his breeder, who heather had received him from. Heather was wonderful and had offered to pay half of the shipping to get him back to Colorado. His breeder stated that it would be best to euthanize him as he was just too crazy. She had bred him for the track and had him in training from age 3 to 5 and could never get him broke to ride. I tried giving him away to others but no one wanted him, and i do not blame them LOL. I started reaching out to trainers and i kept getting turned down. The trainers were telling me they didn’t know how to train a horse like PJ.
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I then reached out to Dan Keen and after i described PJ, he said “bring him to the ranch and i will get him right”. No hesitation and Dan wasn’t worried at all. PJ spent 4 months at Dans. Dan stated that PJ was in the top 10% of most difficult horses he had ever trained. PJ was challenging and one in a million, but he did say that if he had to ride from coast to coast, PJ would be the one to do it. He described PJ as what it felt like to ride 4 horses at once. When i picked PJ up from Dans, Dan told me to ride him every day, get the miles on him, and do not rest him, PJ needed to work. That following October I did my first 50 on PJ. He was amazing. We then decided that we would aim him towards Tevis 2022.
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PJ was a challenge every single ride. He was still quick to walk off when I would mount, he was easily bothered by things, he is a horse that all hands and feet need to be inside the ride at all times. I never knew what type of PJ i was going to get. Sometimes he’d stand nicely when i would get on him, sometimes he would spin violently for several minutes and try to run off. PJ was also worse if i mounted him at different places. He is very routine and if he is presented with something different, he would be explosive. In October 2022, i did the Armadillo 100 on him. That morning when I went to get on him, he went bucking and bolting through camp. People were yelling “loose horse”, nope, just me and PJ running through camp. I managed to stay on and we had a great day, we won. The initial mount of the day was PJs biggest issue even after all the training. And if you fell off during that initial mount, he was not rideable for the rest of the day. As I got the endurance miles on him, his behavior did improve.
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In 1 year, i rode PJ 430 miles just in endurance rides. Yet, still a challenge all the time. I did not want to give up on PJ as he was freaky talented. He had the best recoveries, takes care of himself, and he can really move down the trail. This past spring, PJ decided he was not broke to ride. This is after 430 miles worth of races, a million training miles, and no long periods of rest. He just went back to his old self and was not safe to ride.
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He just was not comfortable with a rider anymore and was honestly dangerous again. I debated giving him away because I am currently in Dental Hygiene school and a broke college kid. Training is expensive and it was such a disappointment that after a year and a half, he was back to being a psycho. Im not afraid to admit that I was scared of him again. I didn’t want to ride him again. I was so over the walking on egg shells to make sure I didn’t scare him in anyway, but it made me sad to give up.
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So back to Dans he went. 30 days at Dans and we were back on track. This time Dan had to do some tough love but i was pleasantly surprised when I picked PJ up. Ever since I have picked PJ up, he had stood 100% still during mounting. I have poured a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into PJ. He is like having a child as I cannot leave for more than 5 days because he can’t handle the rest still to this day. Coming in the top 10 and winning the Haggin Cup at Tevis is a dream come true. My hard work has paid off and PJ is a champion. I always saw the potential in PJ but at times it seemed like it would be easier to just give up. I am so glad I did not.
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Dan Keen (his trainer) always said that PJ was a winner and he was right. PJ will more than likely be a challenge for the rest of his life and I will probably never get to go on a long vacation unless I send him to Dans for the period of time, but that is perfectly fine. He gave me the best ride ever this past weekend and I do just love that little power pony so much even on the bad days ❤️ PJ actually stands for Princess Jeremy as that is what I nicknamed Mr Jeremy Reynolds a Few years ago 🤣 since i got PJ from Heather and Jeremy it was awesome and so funny to name him that as an insider. Freaky shortly became another nickname for him as he is a freak. If i wrote about every freaky moment I’ve had in this horse, it would be a million word book.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-83146687901739849292023-08-05T07:57:00.000-06:002023-08-05T07:57:04.965-06:002023 Tevis Cup - Mark Montgomery<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023TevisCup/photos/MarkMontgomery.jpg" style="float:left; padding:10px;" width="300" />August 2 2032<br>
by Mark Montgomery
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<b><i>Mark Montgomery and his mustang MM Gus finished in 8th place</i></b>
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Tevis 2023 - almost didn't happen for me this year. My horse Gus came up lame just three days before the ride. I called my crew, and the Tevis office to let them know we were out. My wife Linda DVM couldn't find anything obvious causing the lameness, so she recommended pulling the shoes. Upon doing so, I found that the N/G shoes had cupped, causing sole pressure. I ground out more sole and put the EasyCare Flex shoes on him, which are more ridged than the N/Gs. Gus instantly went from lame to almost 100% sound, but he was still slightly off. His sole was still sore. It's now Wednesday evening. I start calling farmer friends, looking for Vet Tec, to add sole protection. Scotty Mayfield came to the rescue. He had a tube of Vet Tec and the applicator, and he gave me a demonstration on how to apply it. A huge Thank You to Scotty. We are good to go, and back in it. Woody has had great success for years with the EasyCare N/Gs, but Gus is more flat footed, and needs a shoe with more support.
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Do to the depth of the snow over the top of the Sierras, this year the ride started at Soda Springs, in the dark, early Saturday morning. The first part of the trail was a long downhill road, starting with pavement, then changing to gravel, then to dirt. My friend from Israel, Ilan Dvir, was riding my mustang Woody. Woody is very competitive, and can be very difficult to ride, but Ilan is an excellent horseman and rider. The plan was to use Gus as a blocker, to slow Woody down. Ilan is also very competitive. They got ahead of Gus and I, and started working their way through all the riders in front of us. We were doing our best to keep them in sight. When we got to the bottom of the canyon I asked a spectator “How many are in front of us?”. He said “Nobody, you’re it”.
We climbed to the top of Lyon Ridge, where Todd Barnum and crew were managing the trot by and water stop. While our horses were drinking, I jumped of and gave them their electrolytes that I carried in my backpack, along with some extra shoes, a hammer, and some nails, incase they lost a shoe. We headed out of this stop just as other riders were starting to arrive.
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Ilan and Woody were leading the way, and as we approached Cougar Rock, Ilan and Woody were having a disagreement on which way to go, over the Rock, or go around on the bypass trail. Last year I let Woody choose, and he chose the bypass. Ilan won the argument, so over The Rock we went. The ride photographer was not expecting to see riders so soon, and was not quite ready yet, consequently our pictures are a little fuzzy. Sorry Bill, I should have yelled that we were coming.
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Woody is known for his big spooks, at high speed, resulting in the rider (usually me) hitting the ground. That’s why I always hold on to my Oh Shit Strap while riding him. We left Cougar Rock with about a ten minute lead on the other riders, with Ilan in the front. As they flew around a blind corner, a man with a camera stood up from behind a bush, causing Woody to spook, a duck and spin, resulting in Ilan falling off. The ridge and the trail was heading West, but Woody took off, heading North, down off the ridge, over an almost vertical 300’ drop, and disappeared into the timber below. I stayed on Gus, at the edge of the cliff, while Ilan climbed down the bank in pursuit. A short time later I hear him yell “Got him”, and they climbed back up to the trail. I asked how he was able to catch him so easily, expecting Woody to run clear to the next vet check at Red Star. He said that he approached him as if he was another horse, bobbing his head, with a non confrontal slouched posture. It worked, and we are back on trail, just as three riders pass us. Ilan and Woody were able to pass, putting them back in 1st place. Gus and I were content to follow the three riders at a more moderate pace, so we came into Red Star in 5th place.
I pulled tack, and got water on Gus, and his heart rate was immediately down to criteria. One of my highlights of my ride was looking over and seeing Chuck Stalley hand feeding Woody some hay. With support like that, I knew it was going to be a great day. We left Red Star in 1st place, and came into Robinson Flat fast, with a good lead on second place.
At Robinson, Gus pulsed down almost immediately again, so off we go to vet through. Our vet at this stop was Mike Peralez DVM, the head vet for the ride. As he preformed the CRI, Gus’s first pulse was 48. After the trot out and back, Mike checked his pulse again. He looked at me and smiled with amazement, Gus’s pulse was 44. I jokingly said “You better check that Again”. Mike gave us the green light to proceed.
Unfortunately, Woody was off at this vet check, and was pulled. Could he have injured himself earlier, running down that embankment, who knows, but he was 100% sound when we trotted him out the next day at the Auburn Fair Grounds.
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Gus and I kept a good fast pace heading down the trail, only slowing down for the steep downhills. As we came into the Dusty Corners water stop, a volunteer commented how good Gus looked as she handed me a slice of watermelon and I offered Gus a drink. He was not interested in drinking at that time, and we took off down the trail as we see other riders coming fast into this stop. As we leave, the volunteer yelled “Only 4.9 miles to the next check at Last Chance.” Gus and I were in sync, flying down the single track trail as one body. He was on auto pilot, only slowing to a trot for brief moments when necessary, for our safety. I did take a glance down off the cliff at Pucker Point as we flew by, thinking that it would be the end of us if we went off there. There were fresh bear tracks in the trail, and we were lucky that we didn’t encounter a bear while cantering around those blind corners, on that narrow trail, with a drop off on one side.
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We came into Last Chance with a good lead, and Gus looking great. He ate and drank, and vetted through right away, so off we go, heading down into the first canyon. I usually get off and run this section, but my left knee was starting to give me trouble, so I stayed on. In the past, I’ve always taken my horses into the river for a swim below Swinging Bridge. It was still early in the day, it wasn’t hot yet, and Gus didn’t seem hot or tired, so we skipped the river, and across the bridge we go. The climb to Devils Thumb is brutal. I consider it the toughest part of the ride, so when I could start to hear Gus breathing, I would get off and lead him. By the time I got to the top, I was beat. I could hear Greg Kimber and other volunteers offering encouraging words, but I was too exhausted to look up and acknowledge them, we were heading for the water trough, where we were treated with more volunteers with treats and cooling sponges.
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Our next vet check is Deadwood, only a mile down the trail. We quickly vetted though, and down into the second canyon we go, at a fast trot, only slowing down for the steep sections. So much work has been done to improve the Tevis trail, and this section was no exception. We felt very safe, as much of the trail has been widened. Seeing all the chainsaw work that had been done was amazing. So many huge dead trees from last year’s fire had been cut out of the way. This will be an ongoing project for years to come, as more dead trees fall.
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As we neared the top of Eldorado Canyon, Gus was getting hot, so I jumped off at the last creek crossing before Michigan Bluff, to cool him off. As I was pouring water on him, two riders passed us. I figured that cooling my horse was far more important than maintaining our 1st place position. We left Michigan Bluff and came into the next vet check at Chicken Hawk in third place. Gus pulsed down right away, and we probably could have left Chicken Hawk in the lead, but Gus was finally starting to get an apatite, so we stayed a little longer to let him eat. I lost track of how many riders passed us at this check while Gus was eating. I think that there were about five out areas of us.
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Coming up Bath Road was perfect. My crew were amazing. Ilan and his son Rotem met us part way down the road with a gallon jug of ice water. I was pouring it on Gus and drinking it as we trotted up the road to the rest of our crew. I said to my crew“Get Gus straight to the P&R person”, as from past experience, I know his heart rate will be down. He was down right away, and that put us leaving Forest Hill in third place, just four minutes behind first. While at this check, I noticed that he had lost his Vet Tec padding. Luckily, the farier, Joby Souza, was there to apply more.
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The next section of trail goes right through downtown Forest Hill, on pavement. We quickly caught and passed the next rider, putting us in second place. Dropping down the switchbacks, I could see the lead rider about a minute ahead of us. We caught her just beforee the Cal 2 water stop, and we led the way down the switchbacks from Cal 2 to the river. We were flying, but we couldn’t out run them. Turns out, it was Jenna and Kong, they are an amazing team. We rode together for a while, trading off the first place position.
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About a mile from Franciscos, three other riders caught up to us. They were trotting fast down the road. Gus wanted to go with them, but my knee was done. I could not go that speed any longer. I had to turn Gus in a circle to slow him down to a walk. My knee was swollen, and the skin had worn off where it rubbed on the saddle. We came into Franciscos a couple minutes behind the group of four. Gus pulsed down right away again, but he was breathing hard, and I was exhausted. I could not keep up that pace any longer, and at that point I realized that we weren’t going to win, and resigned to shooting for a Top Ten finish. We stayed a little extra long at this check so we could both get our strength back. I was feeling really overheated at this point and the volunteers were wonderful helping to get me prepared to hit the trail again. Another rider passed us while we were resting in the vet check, putting us in 6th place.
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The next section of trail had to be re routed up Drivers Flat Road, a 2 1/2 mile steep climb to the top. As we passed the usual single track trail to the left,, that goes to the river crossing, Gus looked at at me saying “You are going the wrong way, we are supposed to turn here”. He lost his motivation at that point, and we walked all the way to the top. Our crew was waiting for us at the top, a welcome site for sure. They cooled Gus while I rested. Gus remained unmotivated for the next several miles. He knew we had missed a turn, as he had done this ride once before, with a junior rider, Rotem, in 2019. It’s amazing how they remember the trail. While we were jogging down the trail, two other riders caught and passed us, putting us in 8th place. Gus stayed with them for a while but finally let them go. At this point, I was exhausted, and my poor riding form was taking it’s toll on Gus. I was riding with both hands on the pommel of the saddle to help relieve the pressure on my knee, just letting the reins go free on his neck. The new re route of the trail seemed to go on forever. Finally, just before dark, we reached the highway crossing at the Forest Hill bridge, and we were passed by another rider, putting us in 9th place.
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The long steep descend down to the confluence of the North and middle forks of the American rivers brought us to the final vet check before the finish line. Gus vetted through right away again, but just as I mounted up to leave, he decides that he wanted to stay and eat hay. Every couple minutes I would suggest that we really need to get going, and he would just keep eating, so I let him, knowing that we would probably be passed by other riders. Finally he had enough hay and we were back on the trail. Just before No Hands Bridge, my crew found me and let me know that two riders were coming up fast behind us. When Gus got to No Hands Bridge, he new where we were, he wasn’t lost any more, and we flew at a fast canter. He had been dogging it for the last couple hours, and now he had a renewed energy. We quickly caught the 8th place rider, putting us in 8th place, but we could hear the other two riders, in the dark, pushing hard to catch us, all the way to the finish line. They crossed the line less than a minute behind us. Gus cantered most of the lap around the track at the stadium. He felt and looked great at the finish, and at the Best Condition showing the next morning. I was in no condition to show him. Thanks Caroline De Bourbon for showing him for BC for me, you did an excellent job.
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My crew was great, they could not have done any better. I was spoiled all day. They went above and beyond to be everywhere for me. A huge Thank You to Karen Gardella, Shane Lesher and his wife Angie, Amy Rawlins, Ilan and Rotem Dvir, and my wife Linda DVM, and Mike Shaper for moving my rig from Soda Springs to Auburn.
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Chuck Stalley and his crew of volunteers did an amazing job to make this ride happen, from dealing with the mess from the fire last summer, to re routing the trail because the river was too high to cross, to all of the work done to make the trail as safe as possible. The Traill was the best that I’ve seen it - Outstanding job guys. And as always, the vets were great keeping all the horses safe.
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A huge Thank You to everyone.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-90816346528750962752023-08-03T07:36:00.001-06:002023-08-05T07:55:29.983-06:002023 Tevis Cup - Alexandra Collier<img src="http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2023TevisCup/photos/AlexandraCollier.jpg" style="float:left; padding:10px;" width="300" />July 31 2022<br>
by Alexandra Collier
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<b><i>Alexandra Collier and the mustang JM Gibbs finished in 52nd place</i></b>
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7 years ago I made the decision to move from Maryland to San Diego, California. I had discovered that Auburn was the endurance capital of the world and where Tevis takes place. I didn’t move to Auburn specifically though for fear of lack of opportunities. Around this time period, I was not well, all around. I was in some of the lowest years of my life and just a mess. I had been contemplating and convincing myself that moving somewhere where there was “more endurance” would help set me on the right path to personal peace.
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Fast forward to this morning at 4:42am, JM Gibbs and I completed the Western States Trail Ride aka the Tevis Cup. Until this weekend, Gibbs and I had never met. What I knew about him was that he was a stocky ole mustang from Devils Garden and “kids safe.” According to his AERC record, he has done a handful of 50s, maybe 5ish and the placings I saw were 25th, 28th, and 37th. Neither Gibbs nor I had ever attempted Tevis. I had a 100 mile completion under my belt, but Gibbs did not even have a previous attempt.
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On paper, if someone were to be interested in leasing a horse for Tevis, Gibbs wouldn’t light someone up inside with excitement. Now, this is a normal person I’m talking about. Then, there is me.
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Amongst all the reasons why Gibbs might not be someone’s best first interest for Tevis, I saw it differently. Mustang, underrepresented breed in endurance, underdog of endurance, not likely to finish, a mental challenge, a long long 100 miles, lots of mental effort into strategic planning, anxiety, more anxiety and worry. I won’t say I “like” all of those things, but that’s how I saw it. This wasn’t about a Tevis completion, truly. It was about how many crazy boxes I would check IF we completed and IF we didn’t, so what if we just did something crazy, and tried.
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After winning the Tevis benefactor entry, this was my green-light-go sign. My gut, my heart, all shouting “You cannot miss this opportunity, despite the foreseen challenges.”
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I met Gibbs on Thursday before the ride. Friday I took him for a 30 minute walking ride just to get a feel for things. Then I woke up on Saturday morning and hopped up on his back and off we were to conquer 100 miles.
Our goal was to finish faster morning miles in the cooler weather to accommodate for the hot midday sun. Gibbs and I were doing great, until the canyons. It was hot, it was unmotivating for him, it was rocky. When we reached the swinging bridge we B-lined it for the river. I dismounted and walked him in submerging myself fully and letting him cool down for a few mins before the hike up Devil’s Thumb.
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We crossed the bridge following two other riders that we eventually let go on without us. I dismounted to get a rock out of my shoe and thought to myself “No part of me wants to hike this canyon up to the top but I probably should as it may be our saving grace at the end.” So we hiked it together, miserably. Gibbs’ attitude was “this is so not it.” Between the 2mph walking and my quite literally dragging him, I felt discouraged but continued on step after step. I mean literally looking down at the ground watching each one of my boots cover another small increment of ground.
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We made it to the top, just to barrel down into another canyon. Same thing again. Walking, breathing, internally dying inside. We hit a relatively level point and I mounted Gibbs, gave him a kick, just for the result to be a dead stand still. He would not go. He knew that his body needed to recover and did not believe there was any urgency in continuing on. So I got off and resumed my dragging routine. “Mustangs take care of themselves” they say. And yup, they sure do. And sometimes that means, “I’d just like to rest and not do anything anymore despite us being in the middle of a very serious ride with a time cut off.”
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We lost so much time. We came into Michigan Bluff with me thinking I had arrived at Chicken Hawk, but we had not. There was another handful of miles left. Gibbs was spent and morale was low for me and him. Luckily between my crew and Terry Howe’s positivity and motivation, I felt a surge of life. I left Michigan Bluff choking back my tears from the reality that this might be it we may not make it. Two riders knew the “bad times” were hitting me and they kept pushing me to continue on, keep up, and attach Gibbs to them for motivation. They saved me.
The last 1.5 to Chicken Hawk felt ENDLESS. Somehow, somehow, we made it in with a few minutes to spare. My amazing crew immediately helped me and set me up for success. If my timeline of the story doesn’t align with location names or anything, it’s because anything after Michigan Bluff is an absolute complete blur. It was all just work and a one track mindset, GO.
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The switchbacks following felt endless. We came into Forest Hill or Cal 2 with one minute to spare. One damn minute. After this, any concept of where I was just fell from my mind. We must keep moving forward and not waste much time. It was dark, which meant it was cooling down and our only opportunity to make it.
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Every check after that was “you need to pick up the speed,” “you’re right at cut off,” “you can do it, but you have to keep moving and use every minute wisely.” I was riding with someone who had a gaited horse which was great for pacing a faster walk. We were working together to try to get this done. I was in charge of time and he was in charge of leading. I’ll be honest, every time he asked me the time, I lied. I told the time was five minutes past what the actual time was so that he didn’t believe we had any extra moment.  Probably saved us both in the end because he finished as well. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the lying now if I told him my strategy.
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At 1:52am, I realized the reality of we might not finish. Calculating, recalculating, mathing, running through my mind how could we possible make it 20 miles in 3 hours. That’s 10mph give or take. How is that even possible, we aren’t capable of that. We just aren’t. My text was sent to my crew at 1:52am during this breakdown and it read “I am not convinced we will make it in time.” I had to prepare my team for the disappointment to come despite their amazing efforts of crewing for me and cheering me on all day.
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I asked myself if this was my giving up moment. No, it sure as heck is not. And we are going to fly at any damn opportunity that we can and if we don’t finish AT LEAST WE TRIED.
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Every pulse Gibbs had coming into check, he would come in at about 80, but within 5 mins of snacking and drinking, he’d be down to 64. And we would head out essentially by our crew pushing us out the gate.
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Francisco’s and the street crossings still had me tense about time, but once we hit Confluents, I started believing this is real. We are about to finish Tevis when I spent majority of the day mentally preparing myself for a potential pull or being overtime. We FLEW. I made sure he attached himself mentally to the butt of another horse and we kept going. There was no thinking really just following the glimpse of a riders sillouette in front of us. I tried not to let myself believe we “had this” before the end because I was still panicking about a stone bruise flying like that in the very dark forest. Again, if felt endless. Any glimmer of a light, I was hoping for the finish.
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And finally, there it was. Lights up on a hill and my heart is beating so fast; I’m feeling so many emotions. How in the heck did I just pull this off? Just, how. But we did it.
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With endurance, I get into this mindset where it’s like I’m using every single aspect of my brain. As I’m sure we all do. But I assess, reassess, push, pull, tweak this and that. It’s not easy with a horse who isn’t guaranteed to finish. There is so much that goes on internally in my mind throughout the process. I knew Gibbs would be a challenge, but what worked in my favor is that for the last two years I’ve been riding a mustang who is equally, even more so stubborn. I know how to navigate them. It’s not about demanding, it’s about asking. And sometimes they straight up tell you “No” and not a single thing will change that. So when this happens, is when I have to change the plan, again. And again, and again. It’s not a straight line.
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I had a paper I was following with “set goal times” and the cut-off times listed. The first few points we were an hour to an hour and a half ahead. During this time I was of course feeling positive and motivated. Then, the lull of the ride was when we were coming in an hour to an hour and a half AFTER what our goal time should be and seconds before cut off. There is and was never any plan, truly. Do what you can with your best effort, and adjust. If it doesn’t go to plan, the day is not over, the ride is not over. We keep on going and we make it to the finish.
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A very special thanks to Gibbs’ home Crater Hill Equestrian Center and all of their crew, Samantha Ellis, Gibbs’ rightful owners Jennifer Elizabeth Mayfield & Scotty Mayfield, Ashley Sansome whom I ventured on this mission with, Valerie Jaques for setting me up to borrow her Garmin, Terry Howe for letting me borrow her saddle, the benefactor who made it possible for me to have an entry to the ride, every single person who was out there on the sidelines in-person or from home, Jacqueline Davis for providing me with the resources and experience the last two years to have the knowledge that it took to complete this ride, and Gibbs of course for all of his hard work to make this happen.
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I am so proud of our teamwork and our ability to finish the ride in time. This memory I will cherish forever. It checked so many personal boxes for me with regards to goals and putting myself to the test to see what I really am capable of as a rider and person in general. I am ecstatic and still in shock, so very happy with my ability to overcome challenges and prevail in the end. Gibbs is a very special mustang and although at times he wouldn’t give me what I wanted, in the end he gave us both what we needed to make it happen. Gibbs was part of the 2020 round up and brought in as a stallion. He was not gelded until 2 years ago (I believe) and has only been broke for 2 years as well. From RoundUp2020 to Tevis2023, really awesome. <br><br>
I will try to forget about the embarrassing demonstration he put on for everyone as we did our victory lap.
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-1186966812783322962023-06-14T10:27:00.000-06:002023-06-14T10:27:29.690-06:002023 Old Dominion 100 mile Endurance Ride - Nancy Sluys<img src="http://www.endurance.net/misc/2023OD_NS.jpg" width="400" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/>June 12 2023<br />
by Nancy Sluys
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Sometimes you just have to hang your wishes on a star and see what transpires! Coming onto 2023 my hopes and goals were to ride Danny (Jets Danny Herlong), my mule, in the Old Dominion 100 mile (in one day) endurance ride, also known as the Beast of the East for it’s reputation of numerous rocks and long climbs! He was a bit short on his conditioning miles after only having done one 50 in 2022 on Thanksgiving weekend. I had backed off endurance for a while with him to concentrate on relationship building and training after our last mishap the previous January, which resulted in my 3rd broken bone from coming off this mule. I worked hard to rebuild my confidence and troubleshoot our relationship. Now we were back on track and getting ready for the year. This past winter was very wet and I had a hard time conditioning on slippery home trails in North Carolina. When the weather got a little warmer I went up to our place in the Virginia mountains where the footing was well drained and firmer and tried to get some good miles in but in early March Danny got caught up in barbed wire that was hidden in the leaves alongside a trail and got a serious cut on the back of his left rear pastern that took over 2 months to heal up. I thought our hopes were dashed as we just didn’t have the miles that I would have wished coming into a challenging 100.
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At the AERC convention this winter in Jacksonville, Florida I won a free entry to the 55 mile ride at the Old Dominion so I thought that was a good revised goal to work towards. Between weather and a busy schedule I didn’t get the trail time that I had hoped for but I did get a good 2 days and 35 miles of mountain riding in 3 weeks before the ride. The week and a half before the ride there was an announcement that only 10 riders had entered the 100 at the OD and pitying the ride manager I decided to bump up to the 100 on a whim. After all, I figured I would rather start the 100 with the possibility of stopping if things weren’t going our way rather than finish the 55 with a mule who looked great, and like he could just keep going so I took the plunge and entered the 100. After all, some of the greatest endurance riders advocate that rest is good and Danny was certainly well rested!
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Leading up to the ride Bill was having back trouble so I put out a call on Facebook for some crew and Ginne Ritter took the bait. She is a “professional” crew person so I knew I was in good hands and Bill could relax at home and take care of his back. The scene was set and I was committed. I arrived at ride camp a day early so we both could rest and I could have plenty of time to pack my stuff and work out some strategy in my mind. Since Danny is pretty non-reactive to other horses and keeps to his pace I decided that starting near the front of the ride would be a good idea so that later there would be plenty of horses behind me if he lost motivation later in the ride and needed a buddy. The weather report was very favorable with zero chance of rain and temperatures in the high 70s, a rare occurrence at the Old Dominion which if famous for brutally hot temperatures!
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I met up with Ginne to get the truck packed with the crew stuff, feed and supplements for Danny and supplies for me. She was looking after Joey, Dr. Vicky’s (one of the ride vets) 7 year old daughter all weekend so Joey joined our team along with Rayna, a lovely young lady who was April and Daniel Johnson’s daughter. Team Danny was set! Joey immediately developed a special relationship with Danny and soon he was following her around like a puppy. She helped graze him and even trotted him out for the vets at check in and several of the vet checks. It was so cute how he looked after her and was so tender.
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I awoke the next morning to 40 something degree weather and I had to ride out in a jacket, so unusual for the Old Dominion! The sun was just beginning to rise on the 5:30am start time. 13 horses and one mule started that day and 10 completed the challenge. As planned we started at the front of the pack and settled into a steady pace. After a half mile of road the trail turned off and began climbing right away.
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Danny was ears up, bright eyed and very forward but ratable as we climbed and climbed to the ridge top. The trail ascended through hardwood trees, patches of beautiful blooming Mountain Laurel and small open meadows before reaching the spine. On the way up we hooked up with another rider whose horse was similarly paced. Jamie McArdle was trying for her first 100 mile completion after several failed attempts in the past. At one point the view of the early morning sun over the valley below opened up and I took the opportunity to snap a few photos, between the ears, of course!! The trail was rocky with occasional boulders but the footing was passable and we were able to make fairly good time reaching the first vet check at Bird Haven in 2 hours and 55 minutes for the 15.7 mile loop. Danny was setting the pace and was insistent that we walk all the hills but he made up for it on the downhills as he handily trotted down the mountain. Even on the first loop he snatched mouthfuls of grass while he was on the move. Mules are famous for taking good care of themselves and he was proving that right!
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Danny’s pulse came down immediately and we were able to vet right through. He looked great! Joey did a great job trotting him out and the onlookers loved it! The vet check was at a private residence called Bird Haven and we were situated on a beautiful grassy lawn with huge shade trees. We would come back to this place late at night for our last vet check before the finish. Here Gina Hagis (my riding buddy from my Virginia home) hooked up with us to be an additional crew person. She had finished the 55 the previous day and did not want to leave her horse alone for too long so she was going to help at the checks that were closer to camp. It was so nice to just sit in the chair for a rest while my handy crew took care of Danny and made sure I had what I needed!
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The next loop to Laurel Run vet check was a bit different than usual. A forest fire had gotten started on the side of the mountain and the day before Friday’s ride ride management had to reroute the trail because the Forest Service was bulldozing it for a firebreak. A nightmare for a ride manager but luckily they have a team of motorcycle riders who were able to unmark the original trail and remark the detour all before the next day’s ride!
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The detour was going to take the same route that they used for the 2015 National Championships, eliminating the long, endless steep and rocky climb up a trail to the ridge and replacing it with a trail further down, past the fire, that also accessed the ridge. The trail up the mountain (that we would normally have done in reverse) was shorter than the other one but very steep and it was this very trail where I had broken my arm coming off Danny when he spooked back in 2018 on the way down. I could tell that Danny recognized it but he was non-reactive and it gave me peace of mind that our demons were in the past.
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We did get a short time on the ridge and were able to enjoy some awesome views before descending down the 5 mile road into Laurel Run Vet Check. The recent drought caused the gravel roads to be as hard as cement and Danny’s metal shoes slipped on the downhills requiring a collected trot and intense concentration to safely navigate. At one point we got off and jogged down the mountain on foot for a good while to give them a break. Danny pulsed right away once again and was looking really good at 32.1 miles. He was getting really hungry and Ginne had a smorgasbord buffet of grain, mash and hay all ready for him and he ate everything in sight! After our 40 minute rest break we set off for our next destination, the Bucktail Vet Check which was another 14+ miles down the trail.
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Leaving Laurel Run the trail turns back up the road that we just had come down to reach the ridge again. Jamie’s horse (I forget her name) and Danny thought they were going back to camp so kept up a good march up the road but the long stretch wore on us and the temperatures were rising as by now it was early afternoon. After discovering that Jamie was a fellow musician we passed the time singing songs that we each had written to each other and we laughed our way up the mountain.
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After the road climb the next stretch of ridge trail has got to be my favorite as it is a narrow single track lined with flowering Mountain Laurels. It was slow going as we navigated the narrow along the spine of the mountain but the breeze kept us refreshed. The imbedded rock was a challenge but my handy mule navigated it perfectly and Jamie’s horse followed right along. By the time we got to Bucktail (vet check #3) at 46.6 miles we had lost some time, the heat of the day and difficulty of the trail were taking it’s toll but Danny was being his smart self and taking care by insisting on walking up hills and snatching as much grass as he could. The day was heating up more than predicted and was now in the low to mid 80s. It took a little more sponging this time but Danny recovered to the pulse criteria of 64bpm fairly quickly. Danny and I were both feeling good despite the rising temperatures and he was still eating like crazy.
The next time we would see our crew would be at Big 92 Vet Check (70.3) which was 23.7 long miles away with a 10 minute hold (Waites Run) and the Little Sluice Hospitality Stop along the way. Leaving Bucktail we hit a section of forest service road that was covered with heavy logging gravel for several miles requiring us to keep to the walk. After a while the footing improved and we were able to keep up a fairly steady pace but it was getting hotter and we spent extra time in the water crossings sponging to keep the animals cool. The roads were very hard which also kept our pace slower than normal to avoid excessive concussion on our mount’s feet. When we came on a more rustic dirt road we put on the steam and even did some cantering to make up a little time. When we got to Waites Run we had a 10 minute hold but only after getting the pulse down to 64bpm. Danny had gotten unexpectedly hot on that last stretch from the warm temperatures, strong sun and faster pace and it took him 10 minutes to recover. He came into the ride a bit overweight and that was hindering his heat dissipation somewhat but he had all As on his vet card so it didn’t worry me much. Jamie graciously waited up for us even though her horse had recovered quickly. By this point we both knew we were in this thing together and it didn’t take words to know we would be riding through the night together.
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Glad to be back on the trail again, with the temperatures coming down slightly, we were able to make some time on a nice forest service road before turning onto the infamous Mail Trail, a long, steep and arduous single track trail where you can only manage a slow walk. Up and up we went as the sun started to set. Thinking back on my past Old Dominion rides I remember being much further down the trail by this time so I was getting concerned that we would be pushing the cut off times they had at each vet check. It seemed like forever before we came to the hospitality stop at the bottom of Little Sluice Mountain. I remember trotting all the way down this mountain in years past but with the washing rains we have had the past few years the footing was thick with loose rock and we had to keep to a slower pace. The lone junior rider, Maddie Compton, and her sponsor, Sarah Arthur, passed us on the way down to the hospitality stop. After a short rest and a little feed for the horse/mule we were on our way the 4 miles of gravel road to the Big 92 Vet Check where we would finally meet up with our crews again. By then we would have 70.3 miles behind us and hope of reaching the finish line was more of a reality.
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The night was very still and the temperatures still unexpectedly high with humidity and Danny once again took longer to reach the pulse criteria by 12 minutes but was otherwise looking good with all As on his vet card all day and he was still eating ravenously, he was just having a little trouble dissipating heat. I was experiencing my low period as well and my tummy was feeling a little poorly. Ginne had made some of her magic soup, packed with protein, with chicken, nuts and veggies and I was able to sip the broth which started to revive me. That soup was my lifesaver! I rested and rehydrated while Ginne and Rayna took care of Danny. Joey was fast asleep in the pick up truck. With the time that Danny took to pulse down we were dangerously close to our cut off time (the time they need to be pulsed down) for this vet check but we made it by 5 minutes.
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Leaving Big 92 they say it’s all downhill but I have to differ!! The hills are more gradual but we were going up none the less. It was mostly gravel road from Big 92 to Laurel Run and by now the daytime temperatures had come down and a slight breeze had started up. Jamie was getting nervous that we would not finish the ride on time but I knew our pace and the nature of the trail that lay ahead and the animals were picking up energy, I was confident that we would certainly make it. We were able to pick up the pace and kept up a good trot on the forest service road but we had been warned that we would have to ride through the forest fire area and that we would hit thick smoke and embers on the side of the trail but other than that it would be safe going. Never the less when we did hit the smoke we had a tense time as it was thick enough that we had difficulty seeing the trail and it was burning our eyes making them tear and we were concerned for the animals. We chose to walk to keep their heavy breathing to a minimum but that caused us to take longer so I don’t know what would have been worse. We endured the smoke for at least a half an hour and also saw embers and flames in the woods. It was a surreal experience for sure!!
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When we got to Laurel Run (78.3) for the second time we were happy to discover that we had gained 25 minutes, buying us some more time to make to the finish! Danny had picked up his second wind and was on fire (pun intended!). His pulse was down when he came in and all we had to do was strip his saddle and take him in. All his vet perimeters were As as they has been all day and he looked more than fit to continue. Gina joined us at this check and was a big help trotting out Danny so I could just rest. I had improved too and my tummy was feeling much better. This was only a 30 minute hold as they don’t want the horses standing around for too long in the night air getting stiff. We were back on the trail before we knew it and only had 6 more miles to go. We knew we had this as long as there were no delays along the way.
Once again the “all downhill” trail had more uphill than we had expected but we still made good time to the finish line. Just before you get to the gravel road to camp there is a big turkey house. When you smell that smell it is the best smell ever (even though it stinks!!) because you know it is only a half mile to the finish line and you have made it! As we trotted down the gravel road into the rising sun we decided that since we had endured the whole 100 miles together it was only right to tie for the finish. We crossed the finish line together to a small crowd of well wishers at 5:19AM, 23 hours and 19 minutes after starting with 11 minutes to spare! Later Ginne came up to me and said “11 minutes!!!! 11 minutes!!!!!” and I just smiled and said “I know my pace!” To finish is to Win is the endurance motto and we proved that to be true!!!
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In order to get a completion your horse/mule must first pass the final vet check. Danny happily did his last trot out and to say he looked like he hadn’t done a thing was nearly an understatement! He did look just fantastic!! I was toast, though, and ready for bed!!! The next day I was sorry that I had not taken the time to stand for the Best Condition examination (award for the best conditioned horse at the end determined by a complete vet examination but also scored on time and weight carried). Since I was at least 4 hours later than the winner I figured we didn’t have a chance but I forgot about the High Vet Score award, which I’m certain he would have surely won! Anyway he got the best mule ever award in my eyes and heart and that’s the important thing!! He came into this ride with minimal conditioning but with a strong constitution, great conformation and a big heart. He dug deep for me, never quit and showed that he is a true athlete! It’s truly an honor to be his partner and I am humbled by him! I’m also thankful for my super crew of Ginne, Gina, Joey and Rayna! They totally rocked it and Danny and I wanted for nothing. It takes a good team for everything to come together and ours was a winner!
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People ask me why I love to do 100 mile rides and I have to say it is for the deep connection you gain with your animal and what they can and will happily do for you. Also the challenge of pushing my body and mind to keep old age at bay! It gives me such a deep satisfaction and total respect and awe for the animal as well as human ability. Danny just loves going down the trail, it’s his job and he does it well!
Happy trails!!
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Nancy Sluys and Jet’s Danny Herlong AKA Danny
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-38771605493854594432023-04-03T10:41:00.004-06:002023-04-03T10:41:47.655-06:00Ride Report: Owyhee Tough Sucker 2023 - Tamara Baysinger<img src="https://thesweatyequestrian.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Untitled-design-80.png" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/><a href="https://thesweatyequestrian.com/ride-report-owyhee-tough-sucker-2023/#comment-311"><b>TheSweatyEquestrian.com - Full Story</b></a>
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April 3 2023<br>
by Tamara Baysinger
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Ledger pranced past the vetting area with arched neck and flagging tail. He was boiling to let loose. I wouldn’t have put it past him to buck. One-rein stops had held him back several times in the last two minutes.
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<i>Let’s race!</i>
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Storm clouds rose, steely and menacing, from their crouch on the horizon. A tide of dust swirled from stamping hooves. Ledger fussed beneath the stethoscope of a blessedly patient vet, trotted out clean, and was pronounced fit to continue.
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Alas, we were at the finish.
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Had it not been for the incoming storm, with its plummeting temperature and icy rain, I’d have saddled him back up for a post-LD education in the art and science of You Never Know How Far We’re Going to Go, Buddy.
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As it was, I contented myself with the incomplete, but significant, progress we’d made over the day’s 25 miles at Owhyee Tough Sucker.
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Signing up for the Limited Distance ride, instead of the 50, was a difficult choice. Ledger has felt strong on our conditioning rides. We’ve put in about 20 miles per week, split into two rides, since early February. If he had ended last season 50-mile fit, I probably would have gone for it. As it was, I decided to err on the safe side.
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So, we enjoyed a lazy morning (as race days go) before a 9:00 a.m. start. I had plenty of time for groundwork, which felt largely unnecessary. Ledger didn’t fuss when the 50-milers left, and he remained mellow as LD riders began swirling around the starting line.
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I shrugged and hopped on as the front runners hit the trail. We followed, walking on a loose rein. The ribbons led us along a fenceline for a couple hundred feet, then passed through a gate and did a 180 onto a singletrack into the hills. A truck and trailer rattled through the gate right after us, and BAM!
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Ledger lost it...
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Read more here:<br>
<a href="https://thesweatyequestrian.com/ride-report-owyhee-tough-sucker-2023/#comment-311">https://thesweatyequestrian.com/ride-report-owyhee-tough-sucker-2023/#comment-311</a>
Endurance.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00250527329641206652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31261129.post-17969925101071688192023-03-21T18:59:00.001-06:002023-03-21T18:59:49.872-06:00The last Western Mojave xpride (Road to Tevis #88) - Jessica Black<img src="https://i0.wp.com/jessicaeblack.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_0755.jpg?resize=675%2C620&ssl=1" width="300" style="float:left; padding:10px;"/><a href="https://jessicaeblack.org/the-last-western-mojave-xpride-road-to-tevis-88/"><b>JessicaEBlack.org - Full Story</b></a>
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by Jessica Black<br>
March 9, 2023
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Last Thursday I hurried home from my morning lecture at Bakersfield College so I could load my horses in the trailer and head to what would turn out to be the last Western Mojave xpride. We’d had a week of rain and snow, and Hwy 58 had been closed, but it was open by the time I got home. Everything was muddy. My horses had to slosh through a big mud puddle to get into the trailer. I had to put the truck in 4WD just to pull it out of its current living quarters in our old arena. It would be nice to be in the (comparatively) dry environment of the desert.
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Thursday: arrival
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I got to ride camp at the Trona Valley Golf course shortly after 4pm. There were not a lot of rigs, so it was easy to park where Jazz and Fantazia would be able to see other horses all the time. (Important because one stays at the trailer while I ride the other!) It was a relatively warm, sunny, and still afternoon. The lack of wind meant I’d be able to light a camp fire and cook my tritip… and besides, too much wind is crazy-making. It can be one of the downsides of the desert, relentless wind.
Pre-ride
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Right after setting up hay and water, I saddled Jazz and used him to pony Fantazia for a pre-ride. Usually I do it the other way around, but I had ridden Fantazia Sunday. Jazz had not been worked for nearly two weeks. And he’s on the edge of fat whereas Fantazia is far too thin. Jazz is getting a Western saddle on shorter rides, and I used one for the pre-ride. The weight is good exercise and it gives me greater stability when he pulls one of his monster spooks. It’s a challenge to ride a big spook while ponying another horse! The additional weight was especially good because I didn’t have a lot of time to ride...
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Read the rest here:<br>
<a href="https://jessicaeblack.org/the-last-western-mojave-xpride-road-to-tevis-88/">https://jessicaeblack.org/the-last-western-mojave-xpride-road-to-tevis-88/</a>
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