June 27 2011
Horse: My Last Nickle – 10yo, 16.2h, Anglo-Arab, 620 miles in CTR & Endurance in less than two seasons (first ride was end of July 2009)
· Nickle was bred for this sport – he’s a 2nd generation on our farm, we bred & owned his dam and purchased his sire when he was born. His sire was a full Russian/Crabbet Arab who had over 2,000 CTR & endurance miles. Several of his get are competing today in CTR & Endurance.
· Nickle was sold when he was young to an eventing home and then we had a chance to buy him back when he was 6. He stood around for 2 years while I was working on growing my own family.
Me: Char Jewell, first ride was a CTR in 1986, 3,781 miles in CTR & endurance, primarily on three horses
Every winter here in Maine, those of us who do not head south for a fun winter of endurance riding, are stuck dreaming about the upcoming season. During one of those day dreams I decided to shoot for my & Nickle’s 1st 1-day 100. At that time he had 465 miles – had completed two 1-day 50’s very well that previous summer along with a bunch of CTR. So, I devised my plan…
I begged & pleaded for crew. The first person I contacted was someone that I’ve ridden hundreds of miles with and she knows me very well. She also knows that I’m not good at taking care of myself during competition. I get distracted taking care of my horse instead, which usually ends up in me feeling woozy by the end of the day. My Mother volunteered to help take care of Nickle as well as a couple other friends. Luckily for me, they were all green to crewing a 100 mile and didn’t know what they were signing on for. HA!!
As preparation we’d head for a 25 mile CTR on April 30, 1-day 50 Endurance on May 15, and a 3-day 80 on May 28. If he sailed through those rides it would give him 4 weeks to coast until the 100.
Things went better than planned.
At the 25 mile – he came through with a perfect score of 100. At the endurance, he accomplished his best time yet for a 50 – around 6:20 hours (the results are not posted yet) in the Mountains of Vermont. Just a few minutes off top 10. At the 80 mile, he missed Grand Champion by ¼ point with a score of 99.
Nickle has a history of not eating well at rides. A year ago I started him on Neigh-Lox. He internalizes his stress from travel and competition with the result being not eating well and poor gut sounds. The Neigh-Lox in his feed during the competition season has helped tremendously. The other surprising thing that happened at the 80 mile was that he started eating everything I put in front of him. Between the heavy competition schedule that month and the Neigh-Lox he was eating “like a horse”. He finally figured it out!
He was ready.
But, was I? I am not what you’d classify as, um, “physically fit”. Could stand to lose 30 lbs and gain some tone, but working 50 hours a week at a desk with the only exercise of mucking stalls on weekends and chasing my 4yo daughter – that’s not gonna happen any time soon.
In the 3 weeks before the 100 I wanted to get a bit of night riding in and some conditioning rides to keep him ready, but not tired. I can only ride on the weekends, so that gave me 6 riding days in those 3 weeks. We took two night trips, one for less than 5 miles and the other 14 miles. We did 3 rides of 8 miles or less on the other days and one 15 mile. Totaling 6 rides of under 40 miles total.
I found myself in the 3 weeks leading up to the 100 to be neurotically attentive to Nickle. I do believe he knew something was up. Twice daily checks of his body for any hint of trouble resulted in a suspicious boy.
I went into this ride with two major advantages 1) only a 50 minute drive, where some of the other competitors had a 12+hour drive and 2) I know those trails like the back of my hand – I’ve been riding up there for 20 years. I do have to admit that for the first time in years, I had butterflies about a competition. It was weird to experience that feeling again after so long.
We drove up Friday morning, got there by 9 so we could get a decent parking spot. Glad we did as all the competitors from “away” were already there and good spots were becoming short. It rained. Then it rained some more. Oh, did I mention that it rained?? We worked on getting the truck packed between rain showers and drove out to set up the hold location for the 1st & 2nd holds so they didn’t have too much to do first thing in the morning. The other 4 holds were all back at camp. That makes life much easier. I kept him bundled up with a fleece and rain coat so he was warm with a selection of food for him to munch on. He vetted in with all A’s.
I slept pretty good Friday night – woke up around 11:30 to hear a thunder storm rolling through. Got up at 3 to feed, got last minute things organized and tacked up at 4 for a 5:00 open trail.
Loop Breakdown:
1) 17.5 miles – 40 min hold (this loop ended up being a bit short due to a last minute trail change)
2) 11.9 miles – 40 min hold
3) 13.7 miles – 40 min hold
4) 22 miles – 30 min hold
5) 11.8 miles – 20 min hold
6) 11 miles – 20 min hold
7) 11 miles
Pulse parameter all day was 64. 11 horses were entered in the 100.
My plan for this ride was to ride a bit faster than CTR pace, walk all the crappy places and walk all the big uphills. I wanted to make sure I stopped often enough so he could grab bites of grass frequently along the way to keep his guts happy and hydrated. I looked at the ride results from previous years and the average wining time is 12:18 and the average 10th place is 16:01. My goal was to finish with a ride time of 14 hours.
This year I decided to try less electrolytes – I mixed up 8 syringes - each had 1/3 dose Perform N Win and ½ dose Perfect Balance mixed with Pro-CMC. I also carried a syringe of Lyte Now on my saddle in case I felt he needed a little something extra while on trail. He got one dose Friday night, one Saturday morning and one at each hold. I gave him 3 doses of Lyte now based on his pulse reading higher than normal at certain times while on trail. So he did the whole 100 miles on 2.5 doses of Perform N Win, 4 doses of Perfect Balance and 3 doses of Lyte Now.
The weather was absolutely perfect. Light rain/drizzle & low 60’s – cool enough for the horses, but not cold.
The first major difference I noticed was the start. Everybody just walked up the road. Very nice change from the mad dash on 50’s I’m used to. Right from the first couple miles I hooked up with Patti Steadman riding her husband’s horse Sarge on his first 100. The two horses were perfectly matched as to pace and seemed to like each other. Of course riding with Patti is great fun. She talks just enough to keep your brain working but doesn’t talk your ear off like some people can. And yes, she is as funny in person as she is on paper!
Loop 1 went well – average pace was 7.6mph, we walked immediately to the PR folks as he was down when we walked into the hold. All A’s with a 52/60 CRI. Horses had started coming in to the hold when his CRI was done & he started to nicker at them, Nick Kohut, our head vet, said he had no worries because he knew if it weren’t for the horses coming in his CRI would have been better. I had all sorts of food for him to eat, but all he wanted was grass.
Loop 2 was great although we did hear some rumblings of thunder in the distance. Patti took all the blame since she took her rain coat off at the hold. We held an average of 7.1mph and walked immediately to the PR folks when we came in to the hold. His CRI was 48/52 with all A’s except a B for hydration. He hadn’t started drinking yet, we were still stopping for grass frequently.
Loop 3 we headed back to camp with an average pace of 8.1 mph. It was starting to get warmer so I pulled his tack before we went in for our PR. His CRI was 64/72 with all A’s except for a B on gait. He had to come for a recheck – they though they saw something on his RF. Boy, I can’t begin to describe how stressful it is knowing you have to go for a recheck. I know I could have done a better job cooling him out before we went in for his PR – I think that’s why is CRI wasn’t great.
Loop 4 the longest of the day at 22 miles – we averaged 7.5 mph. Very sad to report – about half way through this loop Patti’s horse grabbed a front shoe with his hind foot & tore it off half way. The nails that were still in were too tight to try to pry it off. I was desperate to try to get it off so we could put an easy boot on, but Patti insisted we leave her. By this time Sarah Jack, who I’ve known since she was born, had caught up with us (she makes me feel old). She was riding her horse’s second attempt at a 100. I was very glad to have company as Nickle gets pouty when he’s alone and especially so when he lost Sarge. Even with company I had to keep after him to go forward. He was waiting for Sarge to catch up. We pulled Nickle’s tack coming into the hold – his CRI was 60/60 and all A’s.
Loop 5. Nickle definitely figured out something was going very wrong. The furthest he’d ever been was 50 miles in a day. We’d been back to camp, pulled his tack. He got to hang out at the trailer. He was very confused about going out again & didn’t like it. At all. He was VERY pouty and I had to get after him about moving out. His pulse was great but attitude was not. About ½ way through this loop he perked up and we did some cantering and he was moving freely – definitely a happier boy. I wasn’t really worried about his pouty attitude. Most everything I’d read people said horses get a lull around 65 miles. He hit it perfectly. We averaged 6.5mph – there was a lot of steep downhill, muddy yucky crap on this loop. He came in to the hold – I didn’t pull his tack because I didn’t want him to think he was done. His CRI was 60/60, all A’s except for B’s in hydration, gait & muscle tone.
Loop 6 a short 11 miles. However, most of it was either uphill or downhill. At this point we’d been 77 miles and I didn’t want to waste his energy on trotting up the big climbs, so we walked the uphills and trotted the flat & downhills. We averaged 6.7mph (there was a LOT of uphill to walk). Again at the hold I didn’t pull his tack his CRI was 64/64, all A’s except for a B on gut and a C on gait. Another recheck. 88 miles completed and we had a recheck. OMG!! I was so worried about him at this point that I totally forgot to take care of myself. I didn’t eat a thing and barely drank anything. That was not good. After a committee discussion the vets decided we could go out. They felt his shoulder muscles were sore, nothing too serious, but I know all that uphill and downhill on this last loop wasn’t going to help. I was stressed and a bit panicked to say the least.
Loop 7 same as loop 6. We left at 8:31 – due to the cloud cover it was getting dark quickly. I had 3 glow sticks on his breastplate and a headlamp with a red light in case I needed to see anything in particular. We started out and he was fried. I mean really fried. I’d ask him to trot, he pick it up for a 100 feet & quit. He still felt really solid under me, but mentally he was done. He was doing his slow walk of death. His pulse was still good, so I knew he was OK physically. Sarah tried to get her horse to lead, but he stopped dead in his tracks, laid his ears flat back & threw his head. No luck there. I was seriously contemplating turning around and calling it a day. Seriously. Then after a couple miles of jog/walk we could hear a group of 4 riders coming up behind us – they’d been 5 – 10 minutes behind us all day. I told Sarah that we better stick to them like glue otherwise we’d be out here until midnight. She agreed. I was so glad we did decide to stick with them. Their horses were experienced 100 milers and were still willing to trot along where we could. It was so dark that we couldn’t see the horse in front of us. Only one of the 4 from the other group had any glow sticks on so Sarah & I worried that we’d run into someone and had to depend on our horses to slow down when the horse in front of them did. We just couldn’t see them. Pretty scary actually. We stopped a few times for grass, but since it was so dark we couldn’t see where the grass was. We ended up depending on the horses to stop to get grass, apparently they could smell it, because we sure couldn’t see it. Nickle by this time was famished. He was trying to drag me off into ditches to grab at weeds. I felt really bad since I just didn’t dare let him crawl into a ditch off the side of a dirt road. I was afraid we’d sink out of sight. I just couldn’t risk him hurting himself at this point. In retrospect I should have had my Mom give him something to eat at the pit crew spot, but I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I forgot to ask for a drink or something to eat for myself too. Not a good move. When we were walking I could feel he felt off on his RF, but when we trotted he felt even. I knew his shoulders must be sore, but did still feel solid under me. We averaged 4.9 mph on this loop. By the time we got in at 10:47 I was fried, could barely think clearly. We pulled his tack and started dumping buckets of water on him. I grabbed a handheld & believe it or not his pulse was in the high 50’s. I literally held my breath while Nick did the completion exam. He can be very cagy when he wants to be. He was standing there busily writing on my rider card, not looking at me. I was fearing the worst, no one else was saying anything either, the silence was deafening. He looked up at me with a serious face, then, slowly, a smile spread across his face and he said, “Congratulations.” I immediately grabbed him and hugged him, said, thank God and everyone cheered. Sarah got her completion too, as did the other 4 in our little band of 100 milers.
His CRI was a 56/56 and finished with half A’s and half B’s, overall impression of B+.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Maumee Valley Endurance Ride, 2011 - Janice Taylor
MaumeeValleyRide.blogspot.com - Full Story
Last year we had just awful weather for our first Maumee Valley PI ride, so we were certainly hoping for better this year. Because of the down turn in the economy we shorted it to a two day ride this year so as to cut some expenses. Still, we didn’t have as good of a turn out as we hoped, but we sure did have a good time by all that did make it to the ride. The Daniel Boone Distance Riders put on this ride, and it is a mandatory ride for members to work one day so as to qualify for our year end, 300 mile award. Therefore, we have lots of workers to make things go smoothly for the riders. No waiting for anything!
DBDR have team competition too, so we end up taking turns working as teams, and riding as teams, so as to gather as many points as possible. It is all in fun, but also competitive!
First days ride, weather was great. A little muggy, but the trails were shady and lots of running water in the creeks for the horses to drink and sponge from. The trails here are just beautiful. We had a controlled start up the worst section of the whole trail, then off we went. I was riding along with the front group, when Connie Caudill (one of the trail markers) started noticing that ribbons had been pulled down…a lot of ribbons! Yikes! It is really hard to understand why people take delight in sabotaging our trails… Connie is really good at marking trails well enough so that even if you are flying, you cannot miss a turn… But, alas, these saboteurs were a dedicated bunch and lots of turn markers and ribbon were either stomped in the ground, or gone completely. So, Connie and Bill Wilson, another trail marker started tearing off the ends of ribbon that was up, to remark as we went along. So it was trot, canter, stop, trot, canter, stop for several miles until the trail picked up again. I was sticking with the trail markers for sure… I HATE getting lost. And so were my granddaughter, Paige, and her sponsor Vickie Crance. They usually go a bit slower, since Paige’s horse has just started his endurance career and had only one 50 under his belt. But he looked good and they too didn’t want to get lost in the maze of trails. Actually, there was quite a group of us, nine if I remember right. But what about the other riders who had dropped back? There were fifteen I believe in the 50, and about 12 or so in the 25 miler. At least there was a very good map with numbered trail markers. So hopefully, everyone had one handy.
When we got back to camp, my GPS clicked over to 18 miles. Very accurate mile calculation on trail manager’s part! The Vet Check went smoothly, (lots of workers :-)) and there was a wonderful cool breeze right there. How nice of Mother Nature. Paige and Vickie had dropped back a bit when the trail looked like it hadn’t been touched by the bandits, but came in shortly after us. All looking good, Yeah!...
Read more here:
http://maumeevalleyride.blogspot.com/2011/06/maumee-valley-2011.html
Last year we had just awful weather for our first Maumee Valley PI ride, so we were certainly hoping for better this year. Because of the down turn in the economy we shorted it to a two day ride this year so as to cut some expenses. Still, we didn’t have as good of a turn out as we hoped, but we sure did have a good time by all that did make it to the ride. The Daniel Boone Distance Riders put on this ride, and it is a mandatory ride for members to work one day so as to qualify for our year end, 300 mile award. Therefore, we have lots of workers to make things go smoothly for the riders. No waiting for anything!
DBDR have team competition too, so we end up taking turns working as teams, and riding as teams, so as to gather as many points as possible. It is all in fun, but also competitive!
First days ride, weather was great. A little muggy, but the trails were shady and lots of running water in the creeks for the horses to drink and sponge from. The trails here are just beautiful. We had a controlled start up the worst section of the whole trail, then off we went. I was riding along with the front group, when Connie Caudill (one of the trail markers) started noticing that ribbons had been pulled down…a lot of ribbons! Yikes! It is really hard to understand why people take delight in sabotaging our trails… Connie is really good at marking trails well enough so that even if you are flying, you cannot miss a turn… But, alas, these saboteurs were a dedicated bunch and lots of turn markers and ribbon were either stomped in the ground, or gone completely. So, Connie and Bill Wilson, another trail marker started tearing off the ends of ribbon that was up, to remark as we went along. So it was trot, canter, stop, trot, canter, stop for several miles until the trail picked up again. I was sticking with the trail markers for sure… I HATE getting lost. And so were my granddaughter, Paige, and her sponsor Vickie Crance. They usually go a bit slower, since Paige’s horse has just started his endurance career and had only one 50 under his belt. But he looked good and they too didn’t want to get lost in the maze of trails. Actually, there was quite a group of us, nine if I remember right. But what about the other riders who had dropped back? There were fifteen I believe in the 50, and about 12 or so in the 25 miler. At least there was a very good map with numbered trail markers. So hopefully, everyone had one handy.
When we got back to camp, my GPS clicked over to 18 miles. Very accurate mile calculation on trail manager’s part! The Vet Check went smoothly, (lots of workers :-)) and there was a wonderful cool breeze right there. How nice of Mother Nature. Paige and Vickie had dropped back a bit when the trail looked like it hadn’t been touched by the bandits, but came in shortly after us. All looking good, Yeah!...
Read more here:
http://maumeevalleyride.blogspot.com/2011/06/maumee-valley-2011.html
My new Morgan masters Maumee Valley! - Charles Coleman
June 19 2011
I like to give a big thank you to the Daniel Boone Distance Riders for putting on such a nice very well run ride even though Mother Nature has not been real cooperative. The campground is great we had hook-ups, showers, picket lines already strung and the most greatest thing of all hose hook-ups! Hoses are a Morgans friend. For all this we pay a very reasonable fee (cheap actually). The campground also sold ice another yep very Morgan friendly. This is the 2nd year the ride was held we supported it again but turnout was poor both years so not sure DBDR will be willing to lose money and try for a third. But if they do I highly recommend it.
The best way to convince Charles to take me and my girlfriend also named Mary to a ride is to go visiting along the way. Kentucky was not exactly that but it was a good excuse to see my sisters farm and visit with her and her husband. Charles thinks I should be more family oriented so Tuesday night we headed southwest. My sister events so she has paddocks to put horses in and they could rest overnight than we head to the ride Thursday which would only be three hours from her farm. In tow was Hawks replacement (probably the 12th one by now) named Justice and Possum Marys 3/4 Arabian whom our goal this year is to finish out his ECTRA 1,000 miles. I had forewarned my sister that Justice like Hawk can not be turned out with other horses including one he spent 10 hours with in the back of a trailer. In that respect he is like Hawk. We arrived 6 a.m. Wednesday put the horses in seperate paddocks. When you pull an all nighter like that it is just best to stay up and give up on that lost sleep.
This was Justices first long trailer trip and his fourth ride in four different states but the others were not 10 hours away. He handled everything fine thus far. But Justice has 2 issues(other than the turn out alone thing) one is he will not back out of the slant load trailer so he goes in first and turns around the other is he balks. This one has been the big issue by balking I mean not moving forward when you mount in fact I have seen the rafters in my barn one too many times. I think this trip proved this issue finally got fixed. I had been getting on him every day even if we just rode 50 yards but I never use my legs and ask him to move I just sit there and let him go when he wants go figure! We did go for a short ride to see how Justice would do and he was fine new places and starts of rides have not been pretty on him.
Onto the ride game plan 25/25 for both horses Possum for the miles Justice for the mind. At the briefing maps were limited but were handed out if you wanted them and I could read a map just fine when I had good eyes but alas the eyes along with numerous other body parts are fading fast. Since Marys are not any better than mine and since the trail was marked to death last year we did not bother to take a map. Mistake number one. It is warming up rapidly so the start times were moved up to 6 and 6:10 for the LDs. We left on the 16+ yellow loop (50s did blue first) in a control start Justice was an angel. Got to the gravel road suppose to be a mile of it but it went on and on forgot to pad Possum mistake number 2 than the whole herd came galloping back realizing the trail had been sabotaged. Luckily while the main bunch kept on running another rider(younger with good eyes) had her map and she saw where the turn was missed ribbons were on the ground. The turn was the only part of that trail down but we had lost time and now had to hustle since we had a 50 minute hold and another 10 mile loop. Might I mention that it was hot and humid and Justice is full Morgan and bigger than Hawk. I was not worrying to much cause I had a hose. Mistake number 3 I should have worried more. It always helps right?
Anyhow we got in even with the hose it took 24 minutes to reach 60 (see I told you I should have worried more). Justice had all As but Possum was being called stiff right front so yet another worry. Management shortened the 10 mile loop it had some issues but we got around just fine. Justice cooled down better after this loop cause now we were walking the gravel road worrying about Possum whom was now Grade 2 at the finish right front. Justice was all As day one done.
--
I like to give a big thank you to the Daniel Boone Distance Riders for putting on such a nice very well run ride even though Mother Nature has not been real cooperative. The campground is great we had hook-ups, showers, picket lines already strung and the most greatest thing of all hose hook-ups! Hoses are a Morgans friend. For all this we pay a very reasonable fee (cheap actually). The campground also sold ice another yep very Morgan friendly. This is the 2nd year the ride was held we supported it again but turnout was poor both years so not sure DBDR will be willing to lose money and try for a third. But if they do I highly recommend it.
The best way to convince Charles to take me and my girlfriend also named Mary to a ride is to go visiting along the way. Kentucky was not exactly that but it was a good excuse to see my sisters farm and visit with her and her husband. Charles thinks I should be more family oriented so Tuesday night we headed southwest. My sister events so she has paddocks to put horses in and they could rest overnight than we head to the ride Thursday which would only be three hours from her farm. In tow was Hawks replacement (probably the 12th one by now) named Justice and Possum Marys 3/4 Arabian whom our goal this year is to finish out his ECTRA 1,000 miles. I had forewarned my sister that Justice like Hawk can not be turned out with other horses including one he spent 10 hours with in the back of a trailer. In that respect he is like Hawk. We arrived 6 a.m. Wednesday put the horses in seperate paddocks. When you pull an all nighter like that it is just best to stay up and give up on that lost sleep.
This was Justices first long trailer trip and his fourth ride in four different states but the others were not 10 hours away. He handled everything fine thus far. But Justice has 2 issues(other than the turn out alone thing) one is he will not back out of the slant load trailer so he goes in first and turns around the other is he balks. This one has been the big issue by balking I mean not moving forward when you mount in fact I have seen the rafters in my barn one too many times. I think this trip proved this issue finally got fixed. I had been getting on him every day even if we just rode 50 yards but I never use my legs and ask him to move I just sit there and let him go when he wants go figure! We did go for a short ride to see how Justice would do and he was fine new places and starts of rides have not been pretty on him.
Onto the ride game plan 25/25 for both horses Possum for the miles Justice for the mind. At the briefing maps were limited but were handed out if you wanted them and I could read a map just fine when I had good eyes but alas the eyes along with numerous other body parts are fading fast. Since Marys are not any better than mine and since the trail was marked to death last year we did not bother to take a map. Mistake number one. It is warming up rapidly so the start times were moved up to 6 and 6:10 for the LDs. We left on the 16+ yellow loop (50s did blue first) in a control start Justice was an angel. Got to the gravel road suppose to be a mile of it but it went on and on forgot to pad Possum mistake number 2 than the whole herd came galloping back realizing the trail had been sabotaged. Luckily while the main bunch kept on running another rider(younger with good eyes) had her map and she saw where the turn was missed ribbons were on the ground. The turn was the only part of that trail down but we had lost time and now had to hustle since we had a 50 minute hold and another 10 mile loop. Might I mention that it was hot and humid and Justice is full Morgan and bigger than Hawk. I was not worrying to much cause I had a hose. Mistake number 3 I should have worried more. It always helps right?
Anyhow we got in even with the hose it took 24 minutes to reach 60 (see I told you I should have worried more). Justice had all As but Possum was being called stiff right front so yet another worry. Management shortened the 10 mile loop it had some issues but we got around just fine. Justice cooled down better after this loop cause now we were walking the gravel road worrying about Possum whom was now Grade 2 at the finish right front. Justice was all As day one done.
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Saturday, June 18, 2011
Fort Howes - Heather Reynolds
Reynolds Racing Blog
Thursday, 16 June 2011
We left for Ft Howes on Monday morning at 5 am. The four horses we took were Stirgess, Turbo, Bey and Kutt. Bey was a late edition as Tevis was postponed and Bey was primed for a 100 mile attempt.
We drove about 20 mins before we lost a trailer tire. Damn! Any how we were able to get that changed pretty quickly but our spare , the one that came with the trailer, looked a bit haggard. We decided to drive until we would be in an area around the time of morning that businesses open and then find a tire place. We found a Les Schwab near Elk Grove. It was just our luck that there was a Starbucks in the parking lot next door. We hung out and were on the road in no time.
The rest of our drive was uneventful to Wells NV where we unloaded the horses into a large arena. The trailer lights decided to not work all of the sudden so Jeremy got on his bike and rode to a gas station to get some fuses. After inspecting it Jeremy found the spot that was shorting out and fixed it and replaced the fuse. We then tried to take a little nap. Jeremy's last words before laying his head on his pillow were,"If I can't fall asleep in an hour we are going to start driving again."
I had almost fallen asleep when Jeremy announced he could not sleep and we were leaving. It had been 20 mins!!! Crazy crack-head driver. I fell asleep shortly after we started driving. It was raining really hard. A couple of times we had to pull over to mess with the trailer lights, Jeremy was able to make them work and away we would go.
I woke up around 5 am, we were in Idaho somewhere. Jeremy handed me a coffee and told me to start waking up as he was "done". I woke up and started my driving about an hour later. Jeremy hit the hay and I drove for the next 4 hours.
Sometime around 2 pm we made it to Ft Howes. Hurrayy!! It was already better than last year as we left home with 4 horses and arrived at the ride with 4 horses.
There were a few rigs already there. We parked next to Valerie and set up camp. The horses all looked fine. Later we went for a walking ride...
Read more here:
http://www.reynoldsracing.us/heathers_blog/view/344/ft_howes
Thursday, 16 June 2011
We left for Ft Howes on Monday morning at 5 am. The four horses we took were Stirgess, Turbo, Bey and Kutt. Bey was a late edition as Tevis was postponed and Bey was primed for a 100 mile attempt.
We drove about 20 mins before we lost a trailer tire. Damn! Any how we were able to get that changed pretty quickly but our spare , the one that came with the trailer, looked a bit haggard. We decided to drive until we would be in an area around the time of morning that businesses open and then find a tire place. We found a Les Schwab near Elk Grove. It was just our luck that there was a Starbucks in the parking lot next door. We hung out and were on the road in no time.
The rest of our drive was uneventful to Wells NV where we unloaded the horses into a large arena. The trailer lights decided to not work all of the sudden so Jeremy got on his bike and rode to a gas station to get some fuses. After inspecting it Jeremy found the spot that was shorting out and fixed it and replaced the fuse. We then tried to take a little nap. Jeremy's last words before laying his head on his pillow were,"If I can't fall asleep in an hour we are going to start driving again."
I had almost fallen asleep when Jeremy announced he could not sleep and we were leaving. It had been 20 mins!!! Crazy crack-head driver. I fell asleep shortly after we started driving. It was raining really hard. A couple of times we had to pull over to mess with the trailer lights, Jeremy was able to make them work and away we would go.
I woke up around 5 am, we were in Idaho somewhere. Jeremy handed me a coffee and told me to start waking up as he was "done". I woke up and started my driving about an hour later. Jeremy hit the hay and I drove for the next 4 hours.
Sometime around 2 pm we made it to Ft Howes. Hurrayy!! It was already better than last year as we left home with 4 horses and arrived at the ride with 4 horses.
There were a few rigs already there. We parked next to Valerie and set up camp. The horses all looked fine. Later we went for a walking ride...
Read more here:
http://www.reynoldsracing.us/heathers_blog/view/344/ft_howes
Friday, June 17, 2011
Eenie, meenie, miney mo! - Patti Stedman
Life Lessons from an Unlikely Endurance Rider Blog
June 15 2011
Let me preface this blog post by saying that I realize how wildly blessed I am to be faced with this dilemma!
It’s ten days out from the Pine Tree 100 endurance ride in North Waterford, Maine, and I am working hard at NOT trying to speculate as to which two of the three horses Rachel and I should take to ride.
I’m open for votes, but have decided that I will not make the final call (thank you, Tom Hutchinson, Ride Manager, for being kind and patient about horse changes) until this Saturday or until I can compare all three boys on equal footing, literally.
Here’s the details:
Ned, 17 this year, and a veteran of 7 100 mile rides, has come back into fitness like the slow, steady gifted athlete that he’s proven himself to be over 12 seasons of competition. He has blessed us with scattered moments of overt enthusisam, and has also shown Rachel, for the first time really, Pouty Ned. One must always tread lightly on Ned’s attitude and sizeable ego, and Rachel has a unique gift for cajoling the big boy into otherwise unexpected cheerfulness. I tease her that it’s because she’s a tiny little sprite of a person (comparatively, anyway — when I climb on Ned these days he looks back and says “one at a time please”) but I think it is more her appreciation for his cranky quirkiness and gruff exterior which indeed houses a generous and kind soul.
That said, Ned does not really owe me any more 100s in the heat...
Read more here:
http://www.pattistedman.com/2011/06/
June 15 2011
Let me preface this blog post by saying that I realize how wildly blessed I am to be faced with this dilemma!
It’s ten days out from the Pine Tree 100 endurance ride in North Waterford, Maine, and I am working hard at NOT trying to speculate as to which two of the three horses Rachel and I should take to ride.
I’m open for votes, but have decided that I will not make the final call (thank you, Tom Hutchinson, Ride Manager, for being kind and patient about horse changes) until this Saturday or until I can compare all three boys on equal footing, literally.
Here’s the details:
Ned, 17 this year, and a veteran of 7 100 mile rides, has come back into fitness like the slow, steady gifted athlete that he’s proven himself to be over 12 seasons of competition. He has blessed us with scattered moments of overt enthusisam, and has also shown Rachel, for the first time really, Pouty Ned. One must always tread lightly on Ned’s attitude and sizeable ego, and Rachel has a unique gift for cajoling the big boy into otherwise unexpected cheerfulness. I tease her that it’s because she’s a tiny little sprite of a person (comparatively, anyway — when I climb on Ned these days he looks back and says “one at a time please”) but I think it is more her appreciation for his cranky quirkiness and gruff exterior which indeed houses a generous and kind soul.
That said, Ned does not really owe me any more 100s in the heat...
Read more here:
http://www.pattistedman.com/2011/06/
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
My Old Dominion - Nancy Sluys
June 13 2011
Whew, I have just returned from an epic weekend at the Old Dominion 100 mile Endurance Ride in Virginia! I went there with my 7 year old, Zanie, to do the 55 but once I was there I decided at the last minute to bump up to the 100! I’m not sure what came over me but I just couldn't bear the thought that I would be missing the best part of the trail and really the “Old Dominion” IS the 100 mile ride. Zanie had finished the Biltmore 75 mile ride easily 5 weeks earlier and a slow NATRC ride 2 weeks later where she had a perfect vet score and had been resting for 3 weeks since then. I felt like the time could be right for our 1st 100.
I came by myself and had no crew, I contemplated riding in the cavalry division but being Zanie's 1st 100 and not knowing what all she would need I decided to send my crew bags to the vet checks instead, as management had offered to take a separate bag to each vet check if you would pile it in a certain location. In hindsight I should have ridden cavalry (where I would have all my stuff with me on my saddle) as there was a mix up with my bags and I ended up with no supplies for most of the ride :-(.
The weather preceding the ride was extremely hot, it was 99 degrees on the trailer ride up there but on race day the temps were a little better with the high expected to me in the mid to high 80s. A big storm the night before had cooled things off a bit but did play with the humidity. We got started in the dark and by the time we reached the first peak the sun was just coming up offering spectacular views of the sunrise over the Shenandoah valley and foothills to the right and the peaks on the WV border to the left. It was pleasantly cool as we made our way to the first vet check at Bird Haven around 17 miles into the ride. When I arrived I found all my crew bags had been delivered there. Being a bit nervous about that I went ahead and sent the 3rd vet check bag with a friends crew just in case.
By the time we made it to the second check at Laurel Run we had already had a number of fierce ascents and the temperatures were climbing as well as the humidity. I was using Easyboot glue ons and had been having great luck with that at other rides but had lost 1 of them on the way to this vet check. I replaced it with an Easyboot Glove that I had in my saddle bag. I now had no replacements if I lost another but miraculously there was a lady there who was an Easycare dealer and had a whole truck full of boots who would sell me one, what good fortune!! Laurel Run was a “no Crew” check and they had hay and grain there for the horses but I did notice that my vet bag had not been delivered there but I still had one dose of electrolytes that would get me to the next check. It wasn’t a big issue then but we would be returning to this same location in the middle of the night and I was hoping that my bag would make it there.
We left Laurel Run and began a long climb up a gravel road in the heat of the day. I had been riding primarily by myself all morning but I was now hooked up with Karen Bell on her horse Sammy. We took it easy walking most of it and when we got to the top where we entered a single track trail. Karen’s friends Shannon and her daughter Morgan had caught up to us and we headed down the narrow trail single file. By now it started raining and everyone took this as a blessing as it cooled the horses off immensely and us to! The weird thing was that it was the exact spot in the trail where it started raining on my 1st OD in 2008, the only difference was that time is was a 3 inch downpour and this was a pleasant light to medium rain. This part of the trail is absolutely beautiful with profusely blooming laurels on either side of the trail. Sometimes they were so lush that it seemed like you were traveling through a flowery tunnel! The going was slow at first but after a while there were places to move out a bit, you just had to play the terrain. We made into the Buck Tail Vet Check and I looked around for Robby Doll who had my vet bag that I had sent. I was really glad to see it as it had my people food in it, I couldn’t eat the sandwiches at the last check because I am allergic to wheat and I was getting pretty hungry. Buck Tail was our long hold at one hour and I was glad for the chance to relax a bit. I went ahead and sent the remainder of my crew bag stuff with Robby in case I needed it later and we went on our way.
The next section of trail went pretty fast comparatively as it was a wide sweeping grassy forest service road that you could really move out on well. I was still with Karen and company and we saw several other riders on the trail as well. By now we were well past the 50 mile mark and Zanie was getting hungry. We grazed a little and she also got really good at snatching grass as we were walking and sometimes even at the trot! The Waites Run Check was just a stop and go so as soon as we pulsed down I let Zanie eat some grain that was provided and we continued on our way. The Waites Run Check was at the farthest point on the big loop and as we left the trail made the turn towards camp (40 miles away!) I could feel Zanie’s energy pick up as she trotted down the mountain, in fact she was on a mission. I discovered on this ride that she is very good at downhill trotting and it seemed easy for her. We passed several riders and she just kept on going over rocks and everything, it felt like she was just floating over all that bad footing. Down and down we went eventually passing another group of riders one of who was Diane Doll who came along with us. When we hit another gravel road I had my “why did I just do that” moment. We stopped at the side of the road to graze when Zanie suddenly snorted and started shaking her head. I thought she had sucked up a bee or something but then she humped up like she was going to buck. Diane, who was watching all this, called for me to get off my horse, which I did. She humped up then buckled and tried to roll. We were both scared that something was really wrong with her. I walked her for a few minutes and she seemed to calm down but when I tried to get back on she started to go down again. At this point Diane took off to the vet check, which was about 2 or 3 miles away, to notify them that there may be something wrong with my horse. In the mean time I tried to figure out what was going on, her eye didn’t look especially bad and she wasn’t sucked or cramped up or anything but she was clearly uncomfortable in some way. Her neck felt pretty hot so I thought maybe she had become overheated coming down that mountain fast so I stopped and sponged her with water in the ditch next to the road. That seemed to do the trick and she started to calm down. I was pretty nervous but we continued on foot. She drank from the water and ate grass voraciously and seemed to come back to normal so I eventually mounted up again and continued down the road and she acted like nothing had happened. About this time one of the vets came driving up in a truck to check on me but Zanie was fine. We walked and slow trotted into the Big 92 Vet Check much to everyone’s relief!! She got all A’s on her vet card except that her back was sensitive. I was puzzled at that because she has never had a single back issue to date. I started to put some things together in my mind about the incident. Zanie is a horse who is always very itchy when she is exercising hard and she can be a head shaker at times which I’m still trying to figure out. I think she got overheated on the trip down the mountain and when we hit the gravel road it was the hottest, stillest part of the late afternoon and the blood rushed to her head and also her back due to friction of the downhill trotting. She just went crazy with itchiness and tried to roll. The sponging cooled her and stopped the tingly feeling. In hindsight I really should have not let her trot down that whole mountain but she felt so good! That, however, may have been my undoing. Why do we have these moments during rides that we think we can perform feats that we have not trained for? I should know better but I’ll put that in the live and learn department and hope I don’t make that mistake again.
Once I vetted through and she was fine I looked around hoping that my crew bag for that check had made it but alas it was not to be. At this point I just about lost it, I felt like I was working at such a disadvantage not having my supplies.
If I had only ridden cavalry I would have had what I needed with me. By now the bag I had sent out with Robby was depleted of feed and electrolytes and all my night time stuff was in the missing bag. I was starting to feel a bit weak and sick to my stomach from not having quite enough of the right food for me and I came really close to pulling at that point but Zanie had recovered so well from the incident and was looking like she could make it so I sucked it up and got back on my horse.
I had bummed some feed, electrolytes and a head lamp and had found an old energy bar I had stashed in my cantle pack for me plus a banana someone gave me and headed out for our return trip to Laurel Run 8 miles away mostly on gravel road. Pretty nervous still about Zanie’s condition we just walked and walked the gravel road. By this time everyone I had passed was well ahead of me and we were alone again. It was an incredibly beautiful evening with a 3/4 moon shining bright and the whip-o-wills calling loud as can be. I kept the head lamp off to conserve the batteries and had no problem seeing in the moonlight. At one point I became very sleepy as I had not slept well for days before the ride due to insomnia I’ve been having. I got off and walked on foot for about 2 miles and found myself with my eyes closed, napping while walking. I didn’t know I was so talented! This gave me some energy and I got back on and I felt bounce and purpose in Zanie’s step, she was getting stronger too.
After a while I noticed her flicking her ear back a few times and knew someone was catching up to us. It would be good to have some company for the final journey to camp. In a few minutes Jennifer Sapira and Linda (oops I forgot her last name) joined us. The coolest thing was that they were our team members (OD had a team competition ) and we had not seen them all day. Our 4th team member was a woman named Juliette who was riding Cavalry and was behind us somewhere. At that point we were all still in the game.
With renewed energy we made our way to Laurel Run for the second time. The pickings were meager for me and Zanie as others were running low on supplies as well but there was good grass there and we took advantage of that. I knew
my pile of vet bags were all (hopefully) at the 1st and our last vet check so if I could just make it to there I would have some things to help me out. Someone did give me a half a dose of Lyte Now to help us make the tough 13 miles to the last vet check at Bird Haven. Jennifer, Linda and I traveled together and kept each other company, I even sang them the song I wrote called “the 100 Mile Ride”. This part of the trail was really slow as it was mostly single track through rocks and now we had mud to contend with since the rain. We trotted every step we could but that was only a few at a time between lots of walking. Our minds started playing with us and we wondered if we would make the cut off time. Suddenly we came up a little hill and it looked like a landing strip in front of us as we came on the Bird Haven Vet Check. There were lines of light sticks showing the way in and out and big portable lights for the vet area. A surreal sight after miles in the dark with shadows dancing!
I vetted Zanie through as soon as we arrived and once again all A’s except for her back which had gotten no worse but no better either. Cat Carter had come out after the 55 to help the 100 milers and I was so glad to see her! She held Zanie while I looked for my bags. The place looked so different in the dark and I got pretty disoriented but finally I located them and found some feed for Zanie and a bunch of stuff for me. My shirt was wet and I had been wearing my rain coat to keep warm as it had become chilly but it was damp too so I was catching a chill. I was able to change into a wonderfully dry long sleeve shirt and it felt like heaven. I replaced the head lamp I had borrowed which was now dead and downed some yogurt and energy drink and a swig of green tea and I was revved and ready for the last 6 miles. Our team forged ahead into the night.
Six miles, “piece of cake” you say. That was the hardest, longest, muddiest, rockiest, darkest six miles you will ever travel! On and on we went trying to make headway. At one point we hoped we would make it in on time but once again that was just our minds playing around again. We came into a clearing with a big radio tower or something and we knew we were close. We started sniffing around for that turkey crap odor that would signal our return to the road to camp. Sure enough, we caught the whiff and before we knew it we dropped down onto the gravel road. Our horses picked up a strong trot as they knew where they were too. A half a mile and we see the lights of the finish line. A small but hearty group of folks were there to welcome us home! We did it, the Old Dominion 100 Mile One Day Ride with 45 minutes
to spare! I went right over to vet out and Zanie looked really great, bright eyed and animated. She got a completion
and I have another 100 mile horse!
As we walked back to our trailer I heard the remaining riders cross the finish line with just a few minutes to spare but they had made it!
I learned a lot on this ride as I always do. One is that I need a lot less stuff than I think I do to make it through. Another which is one that I seem to have to learn over and over from time to time is ride like you train, if something seems like too much it probably is. You may get away with it but why take the risk? At the pace I had been going which was sensible and steady I would have finished several hours earlier than I did but by hurrying down that mountain I lost all that time and more trying to recover and finish safely. I also learned that I have an incredible horse that takes very good care of herself, is efficient and can trot down mountains (I’ll add that to my training!) and looks better at the end of 100 miles than when she started! I think I have something here!
Happy trails, Nancy Sluys and FYF InZane “Zanie”
Whew, I have just returned from an epic weekend at the Old Dominion 100 mile Endurance Ride in Virginia! I went there with my 7 year old, Zanie, to do the 55 but once I was there I decided at the last minute to bump up to the 100! I’m not sure what came over me but I just couldn't bear the thought that I would be missing the best part of the trail and really the “Old Dominion” IS the 100 mile ride. Zanie had finished the Biltmore 75 mile ride easily 5 weeks earlier and a slow NATRC ride 2 weeks later where she had a perfect vet score and had been resting for 3 weeks since then. I felt like the time could be right for our 1st 100.
I came by myself and had no crew, I contemplated riding in the cavalry division but being Zanie's 1st 100 and not knowing what all she would need I decided to send my crew bags to the vet checks instead, as management had offered to take a separate bag to each vet check if you would pile it in a certain location. In hindsight I should have ridden cavalry (where I would have all my stuff with me on my saddle) as there was a mix up with my bags and I ended up with no supplies for most of the ride :-(.
The weather preceding the ride was extremely hot, it was 99 degrees on the trailer ride up there but on race day the temps were a little better with the high expected to me in the mid to high 80s. A big storm the night before had cooled things off a bit but did play with the humidity. We got started in the dark and by the time we reached the first peak the sun was just coming up offering spectacular views of the sunrise over the Shenandoah valley and foothills to the right and the peaks on the WV border to the left. It was pleasantly cool as we made our way to the first vet check at Bird Haven around 17 miles into the ride. When I arrived I found all my crew bags had been delivered there. Being a bit nervous about that I went ahead and sent the 3rd vet check bag with a friends crew just in case.
By the time we made it to the second check at Laurel Run we had already had a number of fierce ascents and the temperatures were climbing as well as the humidity. I was using Easyboot glue ons and had been having great luck with that at other rides but had lost 1 of them on the way to this vet check. I replaced it with an Easyboot Glove that I had in my saddle bag. I now had no replacements if I lost another but miraculously there was a lady there who was an Easycare dealer and had a whole truck full of boots who would sell me one, what good fortune!! Laurel Run was a “no Crew” check and they had hay and grain there for the horses but I did notice that my vet bag had not been delivered there but I still had one dose of electrolytes that would get me to the next check. It wasn’t a big issue then but we would be returning to this same location in the middle of the night and I was hoping that my bag would make it there.
We left Laurel Run and began a long climb up a gravel road in the heat of the day. I had been riding primarily by myself all morning but I was now hooked up with Karen Bell on her horse Sammy. We took it easy walking most of it and when we got to the top where we entered a single track trail. Karen’s friends Shannon and her daughter Morgan had caught up to us and we headed down the narrow trail single file. By now it started raining and everyone took this as a blessing as it cooled the horses off immensely and us to! The weird thing was that it was the exact spot in the trail where it started raining on my 1st OD in 2008, the only difference was that time is was a 3 inch downpour and this was a pleasant light to medium rain. This part of the trail is absolutely beautiful with profusely blooming laurels on either side of the trail. Sometimes they were so lush that it seemed like you were traveling through a flowery tunnel! The going was slow at first but after a while there were places to move out a bit, you just had to play the terrain. We made into the Buck Tail Vet Check and I looked around for Robby Doll who had my vet bag that I had sent. I was really glad to see it as it had my people food in it, I couldn’t eat the sandwiches at the last check because I am allergic to wheat and I was getting pretty hungry. Buck Tail was our long hold at one hour and I was glad for the chance to relax a bit. I went ahead and sent the remainder of my crew bag stuff with Robby in case I needed it later and we went on our way.
The next section of trail went pretty fast comparatively as it was a wide sweeping grassy forest service road that you could really move out on well. I was still with Karen and company and we saw several other riders on the trail as well. By now we were well past the 50 mile mark and Zanie was getting hungry. We grazed a little and she also got really good at snatching grass as we were walking and sometimes even at the trot! The Waites Run Check was just a stop and go so as soon as we pulsed down I let Zanie eat some grain that was provided and we continued on our way. The Waites Run Check was at the farthest point on the big loop and as we left the trail made the turn towards camp (40 miles away!) I could feel Zanie’s energy pick up as she trotted down the mountain, in fact she was on a mission. I discovered on this ride that she is very good at downhill trotting and it seemed easy for her. We passed several riders and she just kept on going over rocks and everything, it felt like she was just floating over all that bad footing. Down and down we went eventually passing another group of riders one of who was Diane Doll who came along with us. When we hit another gravel road I had my “why did I just do that” moment. We stopped at the side of the road to graze when Zanie suddenly snorted and started shaking her head. I thought she had sucked up a bee or something but then she humped up like she was going to buck. Diane, who was watching all this, called for me to get off my horse, which I did. She humped up then buckled and tried to roll. We were both scared that something was really wrong with her. I walked her for a few minutes and she seemed to calm down but when I tried to get back on she started to go down again. At this point Diane took off to the vet check, which was about 2 or 3 miles away, to notify them that there may be something wrong with my horse. In the mean time I tried to figure out what was going on, her eye didn’t look especially bad and she wasn’t sucked or cramped up or anything but she was clearly uncomfortable in some way. Her neck felt pretty hot so I thought maybe she had become overheated coming down that mountain fast so I stopped and sponged her with water in the ditch next to the road. That seemed to do the trick and she started to calm down. I was pretty nervous but we continued on foot. She drank from the water and ate grass voraciously and seemed to come back to normal so I eventually mounted up again and continued down the road and she acted like nothing had happened. About this time one of the vets came driving up in a truck to check on me but Zanie was fine. We walked and slow trotted into the Big 92 Vet Check much to everyone’s relief!! She got all A’s on her vet card except that her back was sensitive. I was puzzled at that because she has never had a single back issue to date. I started to put some things together in my mind about the incident. Zanie is a horse who is always very itchy when she is exercising hard and she can be a head shaker at times which I’m still trying to figure out. I think she got overheated on the trip down the mountain and when we hit the gravel road it was the hottest, stillest part of the late afternoon and the blood rushed to her head and also her back due to friction of the downhill trotting. She just went crazy with itchiness and tried to roll. The sponging cooled her and stopped the tingly feeling. In hindsight I really should have not let her trot down that whole mountain but she felt so good! That, however, may have been my undoing. Why do we have these moments during rides that we think we can perform feats that we have not trained for? I should know better but I’ll put that in the live and learn department and hope I don’t make that mistake again.
Once I vetted through and she was fine I looked around hoping that my crew bag for that check had made it but alas it was not to be. At this point I just about lost it, I felt like I was working at such a disadvantage not having my supplies.
If I had only ridden cavalry I would have had what I needed with me. By now the bag I had sent out with Robby was depleted of feed and electrolytes and all my night time stuff was in the missing bag. I was starting to feel a bit weak and sick to my stomach from not having quite enough of the right food for me and I came really close to pulling at that point but Zanie had recovered so well from the incident and was looking like she could make it so I sucked it up and got back on my horse.
I had bummed some feed, electrolytes and a head lamp and had found an old energy bar I had stashed in my cantle pack for me plus a banana someone gave me and headed out for our return trip to Laurel Run 8 miles away mostly on gravel road. Pretty nervous still about Zanie’s condition we just walked and walked the gravel road. By this time everyone I had passed was well ahead of me and we were alone again. It was an incredibly beautiful evening with a 3/4 moon shining bright and the whip-o-wills calling loud as can be. I kept the head lamp off to conserve the batteries and had no problem seeing in the moonlight. At one point I became very sleepy as I had not slept well for days before the ride due to insomnia I’ve been having. I got off and walked on foot for about 2 miles and found myself with my eyes closed, napping while walking. I didn’t know I was so talented! This gave me some energy and I got back on and I felt bounce and purpose in Zanie’s step, she was getting stronger too.
After a while I noticed her flicking her ear back a few times and knew someone was catching up to us. It would be good to have some company for the final journey to camp. In a few minutes Jennifer Sapira and Linda (oops I forgot her last name) joined us. The coolest thing was that they were our team members (OD had a team competition ) and we had not seen them all day. Our 4th team member was a woman named Juliette who was riding Cavalry and was behind us somewhere. At that point we were all still in the game.
With renewed energy we made our way to Laurel Run for the second time. The pickings were meager for me and Zanie as others were running low on supplies as well but there was good grass there and we took advantage of that. I knew
my pile of vet bags were all (hopefully) at the 1st and our last vet check so if I could just make it to there I would have some things to help me out. Someone did give me a half a dose of Lyte Now to help us make the tough 13 miles to the last vet check at Bird Haven. Jennifer, Linda and I traveled together and kept each other company, I even sang them the song I wrote called “the 100 Mile Ride”. This part of the trail was really slow as it was mostly single track through rocks and now we had mud to contend with since the rain. We trotted every step we could but that was only a few at a time between lots of walking. Our minds started playing with us and we wondered if we would make the cut off time. Suddenly we came up a little hill and it looked like a landing strip in front of us as we came on the Bird Haven Vet Check. There were lines of light sticks showing the way in and out and big portable lights for the vet area. A surreal sight after miles in the dark with shadows dancing!
I vetted Zanie through as soon as we arrived and once again all A’s except for her back which had gotten no worse but no better either. Cat Carter had come out after the 55 to help the 100 milers and I was so glad to see her! She held Zanie while I looked for my bags. The place looked so different in the dark and I got pretty disoriented but finally I located them and found some feed for Zanie and a bunch of stuff for me. My shirt was wet and I had been wearing my rain coat to keep warm as it had become chilly but it was damp too so I was catching a chill. I was able to change into a wonderfully dry long sleeve shirt and it felt like heaven. I replaced the head lamp I had borrowed which was now dead and downed some yogurt and energy drink and a swig of green tea and I was revved and ready for the last 6 miles. Our team forged ahead into the night.
Six miles, “piece of cake” you say. That was the hardest, longest, muddiest, rockiest, darkest six miles you will ever travel! On and on we went trying to make headway. At one point we hoped we would make it in on time but once again that was just our minds playing around again. We came into a clearing with a big radio tower or something and we knew we were close. We started sniffing around for that turkey crap odor that would signal our return to the road to camp. Sure enough, we caught the whiff and before we knew it we dropped down onto the gravel road. Our horses picked up a strong trot as they knew where they were too. A half a mile and we see the lights of the finish line. A small but hearty group of folks were there to welcome us home! We did it, the Old Dominion 100 Mile One Day Ride with 45 minutes
to spare! I went right over to vet out and Zanie looked really great, bright eyed and animated. She got a completion
and I have another 100 mile horse!
As we walked back to our trailer I heard the remaining riders cross the finish line with just a few minutes to spare but they had made it!
I learned a lot on this ride as I always do. One is that I need a lot less stuff than I think I do to make it through. Another which is one that I seem to have to learn over and over from time to time is ride like you train, if something seems like too much it probably is. You may get away with it but why take the risk? At the pace I had been going which was sensible and steady I would have finished several hours earlier than I did but by hurrying down that mountain I lost all that time and more trying to recover and finish safely. I also learned that I have an incredible horse that takes very good care of herself, is efficient and can trot down mountains (I’ll add that to my training!) and looks better at the end of 100 miles than when she started! I think I have something here!
Happy trails, Nancy Sluys and FYF InZane “Zanie”
Camp R U Crazy - Katrina Mosshammer
June 13 2011
Not the OD, but it was hot, humid, hilly and rocky...
I took Gobbie on his second 50 miler this w/end at Camp R U Crazy in Okla. I knew this was going to a different experience for him since we were starting a 4 am. It dawned on me last w/end that we had never taken him out in the dark before so we took him out for a 10 mile loop. We put glowsticks on the other horse and both of us rode in headlamps and took turns with him in front with a light behind and then in back and then had the other horse go ahead of us and then come back at us with the lights. He handled it all very well. Only balked when the lights hit the reflective trail signs the first time. So I was feeling more confident about doing this 50 on him.
Mom went down with the horses and the trailer fri morn and I was going to come over when I got off work. I got to camp at about 9:30 pm and pretty much everyone was asleep. Mom tried to tell me what she could remember of the ride meeting, which was basically this: “The first loop is 25 miles, it will be glowsticks and pie plates for about the first 20 miles then orange paint on the ground. And actually it is all orange color paint but there will signs telling you where to split off for loops two and three.”
So I crawled in bed, after getting the animals squared away for the night, at about 10:45. Camp was set right next a beautiful, rock-bottom creek with a wonderful swimming hole. Well it appears that it is the favorite swimming spot for the locals too. There were teenagers swimming and partying in the creek until almost 1:00 am. So I didn’t fall asleep until a little after 1 and the alarm was set to go off at 2:30. Mom got up at 2:30 and told me she would take the dogs out and feed the horses so I could try to snooze for a few more mins. I got up at 3 and got dressed and saddled. At about a quarter til 4 all 8 of us riders were gathered and ready to start.
We went out at the back with a fellow back-of-the-packer, Deanna, and we soon let the others pull out of sight. We were both riding with headlights and our boys were getting along together. Deanna went in front when we left the main road onto a two-track and we were going along thru lots of rocks and some ups and downs, when all of sudden I felt Gobbie “trip”, which was an all too familiar-feeling trip when the back foot rips a front shoe off. I asked Deanna to look and see if she could tell of he lost the shoe but she couldn’t tell. So I hopped off and sure enough, front left shoe was gone. I had the same problem on a ride with my mare in March when she pulled her right front 4 miles into the 50. Well I guess Gobbie felt the need to out-do her because he managed to do it at about 2.5 miles into the ride.
Mom had told me she was sending the e-boots out with Deanna’s crew and she said he was going meet us the first time around 3.5-4 miles. She went on ahead and was going to tell Bill that I was walking that way leading the horse. Gobbie wasn’t happy to see everyone leave him alone in the dark and was dragging me down the road. I had walked about 3/4 of a mile when I saw Bills headlights come over the hill to bring me the boot. We got the boot on and headed down the trail with not very much time lost.
Gobbie was moving out ok in the boot and I kept checking every couple of mins to make sure it was still there and soon I saw the faint glow of Deanna’s headlight, so I had actually gained back some of the time I had lost. Then we got close enough that he realized it was another horse and he started charging to catch up. Sure enough I felt him fling the boot and got him stopped, all the while he was screaming his head off for the other horse. I walked back about 20 yds and found the boot, re-taped the foot, put the boot back on and mounted back up, a process which was repeated several times that day. I knew that I was going to have to keep him alone all day or he was just going to keep pulling the boot if he saw another horse and tried to keep up. So I went ahead sacrificed the cool of the dark, and walked him long enough to get a big gap between us and Deanna. By then it was almost dawn and we started getting into some rough trail. I was kind of glad that we had slowed down as this would have made me nervous traveling at speed in the dark. Finally got back on good trails and we moved out again. Went a few miles and there went the boot again. We met Bill again at about 19 miles, but at some point I must have hit the stop button on my gps and then started it again because I was thinking I was only 16.5 miles out. Bill offered me the smaller size boot but it was too small. I told him that I thought we would probably be done any way because we lost so much time. He said “No, you’ve got plenty of time. You’ve only got about 6 miles left and you are only 15 mins behind Deanna.” So we set off trying to make as much time as possible with out losing the boot. Got about a mile and a half from camp and he pulled it off again, this time scraping some good chunks out of the wall of the hoof. I just slipped the boot on without taping it (as I had used up all of the vet wrap in the previous re-booting) and led him into camp.
Came into camp and mom rushed to cool him off and I said don’t worry, he hasn’t really worked much yet. Sure enough straight As and his CRI was 40/40. Vet said “looks like he will survive ;-)”
Loop 2 was just a smaller loop inside of the big loop with common trail going out and coming into camp (as was loop 3 inside of loop 2). Met the photographer out on the trail and he told me what the loop lengths were for the last two loops, which I didn’t even know. Started getting hot this loop and we both started dragging a little but my goal was to make it back by 2 pm at the latest since the last loop was 6 miles and there was a 45 min hold. We lost the boot 2 times on this loop but me managed to make it back to camp at about 1:30. It was now the heat of the day and he was definitely feeling the effects of the heat.
So we left on the last loop with about an hour and 20 mins to do it. Gobbie has a wonderful 6 mph jog the I can sit and we would walk a little and then I’d ask for his jog and he do it for a while and then drop back to a walk. We had only covered about 1.6 miles in the first 30 mins and I knew we we going to have to pick it up a little bit or we would run out of time. He lost the boot again and as I was putting it back on a friend who had just came down for the day to pleasure ride came riding up. She had intended to ride the loop backwards but had taken a wrong turn and was riding it in the forward direction. I told her to go on ahead so I could keep him alone and I knew she would be moving a lot faster than us. So, much to Gobbie’s dismay, we watched them lope off down the trail. I held him back long enough that we wouldn’t catch her and that he wouldn’t be charging to try to catch up. We made little time until he realized they were gone and the settled back into our little walk/jog routine. We met mom at the finish line with about 15 mins to spare. We put the saddle in the truck and led him in the mile to camp and he was 48 at his final pulse. I was a long, hot day but we endured, and got turtle to boot. Now he is 2 for 2 on his 50 milers. :-)
Katrina Mosshammer (AERC # 5763)
Not the OD, but it was hot, humid, hilly and rocky...
I took Gobbie on his second 50 miler this w/end at Camp R U Crazy in Okla. I knew this was going to a different experience for him since we were starting a 4 am. It dawned on me last w/end that we had never taken him out in the dark before so we took him out for a 10 mile loop. We put glowsticks on the other horse and both of us rode in headlamps and took turns with him in front with a light behind and then in back and then had the other horse go ahead of us and then come back at us with the lights. He handled it all very well. Only balked when the lights hit the reflective trail signs the first time. So I was feeling more confident about doing this 50 on him.
Mom went down with the horses and the trailer fri morn and I was going to come over when I got off work. I got to camp at about 9:30 pm and pretty much everyone was asleep. Mom tried to tell me what she could remember of the ride meeting, which was basically this: “The first loop is 25 miles, it will be glowsticks and pie plates for about the first 20 miles then orange paint on the ground. And actually it is all orange color paint but there will signs telling you where to split off for loops two and three.”
So I crawled in bed, after getting the animals squared away for the night, at about 10:45. Camp was set right next a beautiful, rock-bottom creek with a wonderful swimming hole. Well it appears that it is the favorite swimming spot for the locals too. There were teenagers swimming and partying in the creek until almost 1:00 am. So I didn’t fall asleep until a little after 1 and the alarm was set to go off at 2:30. Mom got up at 2:30 and told me she would take the dogs out and feed the horses so I could try to snooze for a few more mins. I got up at 3 and got dressed and saddled. At about a quarter til 4 all 8 of us riders were gathered and ready to start.
We went out at the back with a fellow back-of-the-packer, Deanna, and we soon let the others pull out of sight. We were both riding with headlights and our boys were getting along together. Deanna went in front when we left the main road onto a two-track and we were going along thru lots of rocks and some ups and downs, when all of sudden I felt Gobbie “trip”, which was an all too familiar-feeling trip when the back foot rips a front shoe off. I asked Deanna to look and see if she could tell of he lost the shoe but she couldn’t tell. So I hopped off and sure enough, front left shoe was gone. I had the same problem on a ride with my mare in March when she pulled her right front 4 miles into the 50. Well I guess Gobbie felt the need to out-do her because he managed to do it at about 2.5 miles into the ride.
Mom had told me she was sending the e-boots out with Deanna’s crew and she said he was going meet us the first time around 3.5-4 miles. She went on ahead and was going to tell Bill that I was walking that way leading the horse. Gobbie wasn’t happy to see everyone leave him alone in the dark and was dragging me down the road. I had walked about 3/4 of a mile when I saw Bills headlights come over the hill to bring me the boot. We got the boot on and headed down the trail with not very much time lost.
Gobbie was moving out ok in the boot and I kept checking every couple of mins to make sure it was still there and soon I saw the faint glow of Deanna’s headlight, so I had actually gained back some of the time I had lost. Then we got close enough that he realized it was another horse and he started charging to catch up. Sure enough I felt him fling the boot and got him stopped, all the while he was screaming his head off for the other horse. I walked back about 20 yds and found the boot, re-taped the foot, put the boot back on and mounted back up, a process which was repeated several times that day. I knew that I was going to have to keep him alone all day or he was just going to keep pulling the boot if he saw another horse and tried to keep up. So I went ahead sacrificed the cool of the dark, and walked him long enough to get a big gap between us and Deanna. By then it was almost dawn and we started getting into some rough trail. I was kind of glad that we had slowed down as this would have made me nervous traveling at speed in the dark. Finally got back on good trails and we moved out again. Went a few miles and there went the boot again. We met Bill again at about 19 miles, but at some point I must have hit the stop button on my gps and then started it again because I was thinking I was only 16.5 miles out. Bill offered me the smaller size boot but it was too small. I told him that I thought we would probably be done any way because we lost so much time. He said “No, you’ve got plenty of time. You’ve only got about 6 miles left and you are only 15 mins behind Deanna.” So we set off trying to make as much time as possible with out losing the boot. Got about a mile and a half from camp and he pulled it off again, this time scraping some good chunks out of the wall of the hoof. I just slipped the boot on without taping it (as I had used up all of the vet wrap in the previous re-booting) and led him into camp.
Came into camp and mom rushed to cool him off and I said don’t worry, he hasn’t really worked much yet. Sure enough straight As and his CRI was 40/40. Vet said “looks like he will survive ;-)”
Loop 2 was just a smaller loop inside of the big loop with common trail going out and coming into camp (as was loop 3 inside of loop 2). Met the photographer out on the trail and he told me what the loop lengths were for the last two loops, which I didn’t even know. Started getting hot this loop and we both started dragging a little but my goal was to make it back by 2 pm at the latest since the last loop was 6 miles and there was a 45 min hold. We lost the boot 2 times on this loop but me managed to make it back to camp at about 1:30. It was now the heat of the day and he was definitely feeling the effects of the heat.
So we left on the last loop with about an hour and 20 mins to do it. Gobbie has a wonderful 6 mph jog the I can sit and we would walk a little and then I’d ask for his jog and he do it for a while and then drop back to a walk. We had only covered about 1.6 miles in the first 30 mins and I knew we we going to have to pick it up a little bit or we would run out of time. He lost the boot again and as I was putting it back on a friend who had just came down for the day to pleasure ride came riding up. She had intended to ride the loop backwards but had taken a wrong turn and was riding it in the forward direction. I told her to go on ahead so I could keep him alone and I knew she would be moving a lot faster than us. So, much to Gobbie’s dismay, we watched them lope off down the trail. I held him back long enough that we wouldn’t catch her and that he wouldn’t be charging to try to catch up. We made little time until he realized they were gone and the settled back into our little walk/jog routine. We met mom at the finish line with about 15 mins to spare. We put the saddle in the truck and led him in the mile to camp and he was 48 at his final pulse. I was a long, hot day but we endured, and got turtle to boot. Now he is 2 for 2 on his 50 milers. :-)
Katrina Mosshammer (AERC # 5763)
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Wyoming Pioneer - My First 50 - Karen in MT
May 31 2011
Loop 1, 25 miles: Last year at Fort Howes I had tried starting the ride late to keep Rosie calm, but didn’t fool her – she still knew everyone was out there ahead of her and we had a rough start. So for the Wyoming Pioneer, since there were only 5 or 6 riders in the 50, I decided to try starting with the pack. We had a controlled walking start, but Rosie was already gearing up. One rider who was going to ride slow had offered to ride along with me, so I tried riding behind her for a while but Rosie was a fire-breathing dragon. Here we are at the back of the pack...
Looks fine until you see how much sweat was on her in the close-up pictures – this was within the first three or so miles! I was not wearing gloves at this point and ended up with a few cuts and blisters from pulling on my braided leather reins:...
Rosie was not happy as the 25-milers, who had started a little behind us, went by.
Riding this ball of energy was hard work AND fun...
More, with photos:
http://allthingsendurance.com/2011/05/ride-story-wyoming-pioneer-50-miler/
Loop 1, 25 miles: Last year at Fort Howes I had tried starting the ride late to keep Rosie calm, but didn’t fool her – she still knew everyone was out there ahead of her and we had a rough start. So for the Wyoming Pioneer, since there were only 5 or 6 riders in the 50, I decided to try starting with the pack. We had a controlled walking start, but Rosie was already gearing up. One rider who was going to ride slow had offered to ride along with me, so I tried riding behind her for a while but Rosie was a fire-breathing dragon. Here we are at the back of the pack...
Looks fine until you see how much sweat was on her in the close-up pictures – this was within the first three or so miles! I was not wearing gloves at this point and ended up with a few cuts and blisters from pulling on my braided leather reins:...
Rosie was not happy as the 25-milers, who had started a little behind us, went by.
Riding this ball of energy was hard work AND fun...
More, with photos:
http://allthingsendurance.com/2011/05/ride-story-wyoming-pioneer-50-miler/
Friday, May 20, 2011
Shine & Shine FEI Ride - Heather's Reynolds
Reynolds Racing - Heather's Blog
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
We loaded up 6 horses Friday morning, after bathing them all. There were three trailers from our ranch heading up to Grant Ranch with 9 total horses. 6 of them were ours, the other three belonged to Scott, Rebecca and Joan.
Jeremy was looking forward to riding Stirgess on his first FEI 50 and the first time we were going to let Stirgess move out a bit. I would ride Bey on the open 75, a rider from the UK named Sam would ride Roof on his first FEI 50, Dom Freeman would ride Razin on the open 50, our good friend Chris from South Dakota would ride Nixon on the open 50 and a rider from Sweden named Caroline would ride our new horse Turbo (this horse arrived from Colorado the previous Friday from Garrett Ford) on the open 50.
The three other horses were Scott on his horse Marvel on the open 75, Rebecca on her horse Sid on the LD helping Joan on her horse Kongo.
The drive up the road to that race is REALLY tight especially when you have a very long LQ trailer like ours. My friend Maddy and I drove ahead in her orange KIA with or hazzards on, to flag down oncoming traffic and possibly save a bicyclist from a head on collision with our truck. We made it up safely...
Read more here:
http://www.reynoldsracing.us/heathers_blog/view/342/shine___shine_fei_ride
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
We loaded up 6 horses Friday morning, after bathing them all. There were three trailers from our ranch heading up to Grant Ranch with 9 total horses. 6 of them were ours, the other three belonged to Scott, Rebecca and Joan.
Jeremy was looking forward to riding Stirgess on his first FEI 50 and the first time we were going to let Stirgess move out a bit. I would ride Bey on the open 75, a rider from the UK named Sam would ride Roof on his first FEI 50, Dom Freeman would ride Razin on the open 50, our good friend Chris from South Dakota would ride Nixon on the open 50 and a rider from Sweden named Caroline would ride our new horse Turbo (this horse arrived from Colorado the previous Friday from Garrett Ford) on the open 50.
The three other horses were Scott on his horse Marvel on the open 75, Rebecca on her horse Sid on the LD helping Joan on her horse Kongo.
The drive up the road to that race is REALLY tight especially when you have a very long LQ trailer like ours. My friend Maddy and I drove ahead in her orange KIA with or hazzards on, to flag down oncoming traffic and possibly save a bicyclist from a head on collision with our truck. We made it up safely...
Read more here:
http://www.reynoldsracing.us/heathers_blog/view/342/shine___shine_fei_ride
Monday, May 09, 2011
Red Barn Run - Keith Kibler
Shawneesunrisefarm.net - Full Story
Posted on March 8, 2011 by Keith Kibler
Red Barn Run
March 2011
You know the old story about the battle being lost for the want of a nail? Mammals don’t function well with foot problems. The same is true for human mammals. When I was in my 40’s, I was the runner of the year in Southern Illinois. Then a trailer hitch failed and dropped a fully loaded band trailer on my left foot and crushed it. I was told I would never run again and would end up in a wheel chair. The Dr’s were wrong, as I completed two Iron Man Triathlons after their prophecy of doom. Prayer and hard work won the day and I learned to never give up. My license plate is “Triagn”.
Shortly before Red Barn Run in Ga., I had to unhook my diesel truck from our stock trailer and hook up the live aboard. The ball hung up on the transfer as I tried to raise the stock trailer and I found it would not release it. I stepped on the truck to use my body weight to jostle the ball out of the hitch. The problem was that I stepped on the hitch instead of the bumper. The truck came lose, rolled back into the chocked stock trailer and pinned my right foot against the stinger of the stock trailer. I called out to my wife Sandy and told her I was in trouble and needed HELP! She walked my direction. I suggested pointedly she should hurry as my “good foot” was being crushed. She carefully used the brake and gas pedal to pull the truck off of my foot. It was very bruised, but not broken, as far as I could tell.
The race in Ga. was on and I was glad to leave 30 degree weather. The drive was 12 hours and I went to the ride meeting as Sandy signed us up. We had taken Cheyenne, a 7 year old TWH mare for Sandy. I had taken my two favorite horses. That would be my rocket fast MFT racking horse Blues and my 100 mile TWH mare Kate. Blues is a Ferrari and Kate is a Honda.
Sandy decided to change the order of when the horses would be ridden due to the weather forecast. Kate is much slower than both Cheyenne and Blues, but is not affected much by heat and humidity. Blues is heavily muscled and is affected more by hot weather...
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/wordpress/?p=172
Posted on March 8, 2011 by Keith Kibler
Red Barn Run
March 2011
You know the old story about the battle being lost for the want of a nail? Mammals don’t function well with foot problems. The same is true for human mammals. When I was in my 40’s, I was the runner of the year in Southern Illinois. Then a trailer hitch failed and dropped a fully loaded band trailer on my left foot and crushed it. I was told I would never run again and would end up in a wheel chair. The Dr’s were wrong, as I completed two Iron Man Triathlons after their prophecy of doom. Prayer and hard work won the day and I learned to never give up. My license plate is “Triagn”.
Shortly before Red Barn Run in Ga., I had to unhook my diesel truck from our stock trailer and hook up the live aboard. The ball hung up on the transfer as I tried to raise the stock trailer and I found it would not release it. I stepped on the truck to use my body weight to jostle the ball out of the hitch. The problem was that I stepped on the hitch instead of the bumper. The truck came lose, rolled back into the chocked stock trailer and pinned my right foot against the stinger of the stock trailer. I called out to my wife Sandy and told her I was in trouble and needed HELP! She walked my direction. I suggested pointedly she should hurry as my “good foot” was being crushed. She carefully used the brake and gas pedal to pull the truck off of my foot. It was very bruised, but not broken, as far as I could tell.
The race in Ga. was on and I was glad to leave 30 degree weather. The drive was 12 hours and I went to the ride meeting as Sandy signed us up. We had taken Cheyenne, a 7 year old TWH mare for Sandy. I had taken my two favorite horses. That would be my rocket fast MFT racking horse Blues and my 100 mile TWH mare Kate. Blues is a Ferrari and Kate is a Honda.
Sandy decided to change the order of when the horses would be ridden due to the weather forecast. Kate is much slower than both Cheyenne and Blues, but is not affected much by heat and humidity. Blues is heavily muscled and is affected more by hot weather...
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/wordpress/?p=172
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Ozark 100--It Rained....(Notice how that sounds a little like Noah's Ark) by Lucky Six Nellie
My-endurance.net
by Marirose Six
April 29 2011
I got suspicious when Mom fitted me for shoes, 2 pair even, but didn't nail them on. Then came the haircut. We must be going someplace warm. Then the shoes were nailed on. Now I am getting excited, I love seeing new places. We trailered a short ride to another trailer & my buddy Hawk. It's always fun to travel with friends. From there we rode two more days to a place called Missouri. Each night we stopped at really cool places where Hawk & I could move around & relax.
Turns out that it really was kind of warm in MO. I had forgotten about humidity, I was reminded.
When we got to Brushy Creek Lodge, Hawk & I got to wander around some eating grass--my favorite thing to do. We didn't stay long before being loaded again & dropped off for a short ride. I just love new trails. It was so much fun to cruise down the trail with hawk & Kerry. That is until it rained. Thunder, lightning, the whole deal. That didn't slow us down though, I was headed for the trailer & another ride to the next camp at Bass River Resort. We were able to hang out at Bass all the next day. While there I ran into my friend Skylark, she & Ronnie were going to be riding with us. We vetted in for the ride in the afternoon. And then it rained that night.
Come early morning Mom saddled me up in the rain. Then she unsaddled me, I heard that Brushy Creek Camp was under water (that is where we were supposed to be riding to today & then beyond to finish on the trail we rode Thursday). The start of the Ozark 100 was postponed. It rained. A new trail plan was put together, the ride must go on...
By the time Mom saddled up again the rain had stopped & we headed out on the trail. Nine horses & one mule (me, of course) hit the trail. What a beautiful trail it was too. Dogwoods blooming, creeks gurgling. Everyone was having fun. Then it rained again, but that didn't stop the fun or the beauty of the trail. Birds were a singing but only one squirrel braved the rains to run across our trail all day...
Read more here:
http://www.my-endurance.net/profiles/blog/show?id=932467%3ABlogPost%3A62534
by Marirose Six
April 29 2011
I got suspicious when Mom fitted me for shoes, 2 pair even, but didn't nail them on. Then came the haircut. We must be going someplace warm. Then the shoes were nailed on. Now I am getting excited, I love seeing new places. We trailered a short ride to another trailer & my buddy Hawk. It's always fun to travel with friends. From there we rode two more days to a place called Missouri. Each night we stopped at really cool places where Hawk & I could move around & relax.
Turns out that it really was kind of warm in MO. I had forgotten about humidity, I was reminded.
When we got to Brushy Creek Lodge, Hawk & I got to wander around some eating grass--my favorite thing to do. We didn't stay long before being loaded again & dropped off for a short ride. I just love new trails. It was so much fun to cruise down the trail with hawk & Kerry. That is until it rained. Thunder, lightning, the whole deal. That didn't slow us down though, I was headed for the trailer & another ride to the next camp at Bass River Resort. We were able to hang out at Bass all the next day. While there I ran into my friend Skylark, she & Ronnie were going to be riding with us. We vetted in for the ride in the afternoon. And then it rained that night.
Come early morning Mom saddled me up in the rain. Then she unsaddled me, I heard that Brushy Creek Camp was under water (that is where we were supposed to be riding to today & then beyond to finish on the trail we rode Thursday). The start of the Ozark 100 was postponed. It rained. A new trail plan was put together, the ride must go on...
By the time Mom saddled up again the rain had stopped & we headed out on the trail. Nine horses & one mule (me, of course) hit the trail. What a beautiful trail it was too. Dogwoods blooming, creeks gurgling. Everyone was having fun. Then it rained again, but that didn't stop the fun or the beauty of the trail. Birds were a singing but only one squirrel braved the rains to run across our trail all day...
Read more here:
http://www.my-endurance.net/profiles/blog/show?id=932467%3ABlogPost%3A62534
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Ozark Trails 100
Keith Kibler
April 2011
Keith's blog at http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=142.msg190#msg190
Paul Sidio is my friend. We have ridden several 50s together and one previous 100. When I heard that he had the idea of doing a point to point 100 in the extremely remote Ozarks in So Missouri I was immediately interested. When I learned that no one had made it more than 65 miles, in the last ride, I did have a bit of concern. So, when Paul asked if I could help clear part of the trail, I took the chance to help and preview the course at the same time. The trail was no worse than the Shawnee National Forrest and that is where we normally train and ride. I took some advice and invested in Vettec for additional hoof protection.
The week before the ride featured my 2007 ford developing a head leak. The truck could not be repaired in time and Sandy’s truck could not pull the live aboard. Our only option was a stock trailer and a tent. Sandy said, “great, I love a tent”. She was not being sarcastic and is such a trooper.
Sandy, the super crew!
We went to the ending spot, which was a horse campground called Brushy Creek near Black Mo. As we set up our tent outside the stock trailer, I had the thought that the Clampets had arrived. We slept in the tent through a night of raining and headed off to the Bass River resort for the start.
Barry and Linda Cole were the race directors. They took Paul Sidio’s vision and had the courage and daring to run with it. They are to be admired. I do!
Lions
Nine riders started the ride in the 100 and one in the 75. We were supposed to start at 5:45. It started to rain. The Forest Service predicted rain and more rain, which meant seriously swollen water crossings. The race start was pushed back. It was announced that the race plan was modified and that we would find out more later but that we would not be riding point to point. We would ride down the trail until the 20 mark and meet our crews. Sandy is as thrilled with Endurance as I am, but 100 miles is too far for her. Sandy is a wonderful crew and I looked forward to seeing her.
We all put on our rain gear and took to the trail. Lucy Estebook and her fine Arabian "Flyer" went to the lead. Kate and I went with her. We wound around the trail and had a blast together. We were the first though the "gate and go", which was around 9 miles from the start. Lucy’s horse threw a shoe and she had no boot. I gave her what I had. At the first Vet check, at mile 20 we were 18 minutes up. Sandy put a little smaller boot on Flyer.
Lions and Tigers
The race director told me to ride until I got to Hazel Creek Campground. He said I would know it when I came to a sign that said “Hazel Creek Campground”. We were told to turn around when we got to the sign. Off we went and Flyer was flying. I stopped to take a nature break and found Lucy on up the trail, across a small wide spot in the trail, that had a couple of picnic tables. There was no sign of a “Hazel Creek” sign and so we kept going. We eventually came to a sign that said that “Hazel Creek” was was 4.5 miles behind us. It was not our best moment. We turned around. We headed into the vet check knowing we had ridden at least 9 miles too far on the trail. Flyer was done as a result of the shoe issue.
As Kate and I started to leave, the co-race director was on the mobile to the race director. She said, “don’t leave, the race may have to be canceled because of flooding.” Someone started to pull Kate’s saddle. Then the race director said, “the other riders are across a creek that can’t be crossed now and here is what we are going to do. You can go on but you have to turn around and come back. As long as you do 100 miles you can ride back and forth. Just do a 100 miles.” I agreed, took off, went to the creek, and then turned and came back. Did I say it was black as ink out by now?
When I came back for the next vet check, I was told that the race had changed again and that the other riders were now on the same side of the impassible creek. I was told to ride until the next vet check. I did that. On the way the rain increased and it actually started hailing. Kate paused and seemed to ask me what I had gotten her into. As we racked along, I noticed two orange beads glowing in the brush off the trail. I went back and looked again. It was a large rattle snake coiled on some dead fall. We left him alone. I continued to ask Kate to step into raging creeks in the dark. She never missed a step. She did step into a deep spot in one crossing that left me thinking we were going under.
Lions, Tigers, and Bears
We got to the vet check, and the race director said I had to ride some extra miles, to make up the section where the others had crossed the creek that I couldn't cross, and I did that. At one point, I was told to ride down a trail following glow sticks for 5 miles. I did that and on the way back I noticed that a second set of glow sticks were on the trail. I was in a loop. 5 miles became 7 miles. I could not find my way back to the vet check. It started to rain again. It was 2:30 am and I had been sopping wet 17 hours. I called out loud for help. No answer came back. I was on the verge of panicking. The only thing I could think of was to get off of Kate and sit under a tree and wait for help. I realized it might take days to get that help. I was desperate. It was time to pray. I did just that and got the answer of which way to go. 15 minutes later and I found myself at the vet check where the other riders were waiting. We all did 4 miles of road riding and the race director told us to head down the trail for 10 miles to the finish.
Kate was in racking mode and off we went. A mile later, Kate and I came to a point where the trail went into a larger trail that made a sharp right turn. It had an OT sign on it but it did not look right. I went backwards on the trail, and found my friend Paul and the other riders and asked if there was a road ahead. I heard “what road” back from the dark. I turned Kate around and we went back to the sign and headed down the wider trail. I heard the others behind me. I turned and went back to where they were and they were gone. I could not believe it. I called for them. I called loudly. I heard nothing.
So, I went back to the vet check again and the vet crews were gone. I turned around again and went the mile back to the sharp turn. I knew something was wrong. I looked closely at the OT sign and saw there was a second OT sign behind it and a smaller trail. At 4:30 am, in the rain and with wet bifocals, I simply could not see the second sign. I was elated to have found the right way on trail again but realized I had once again given away the lead. Worse, I would now have to hustle to finish within the 24 hour time limit.
We were now well over 100 miles, not including the back and forth over the last few miles at the wide spot. We had 10 miles to go and Kate acted like she was starting the event. We racked on. I watched the GPS and the clock and I knew it would be close. The trail wound around so much it became maddening. Dawn broke and it stopped raining. By 7 am I had 35 minutes to finish and I knew that if I could stay on Kate, we would make it.
We racked into the final vet check to find my Sandy’s beaming face and what sounded to me like thundering applause. Everyone thought I was lost. Sandy knew we would make it somehow. I had a problem. I could not get off of Kate. I could not raise either leg. Sandy and another helper took my feet out of the stirrups and I hugged Kate and rolled to the ground. Once Kate completed I was standing talking to Sandy and all of a sudden a wave of emotion swept over me and I started crying. I felt like a complete goober but I really couldn’t help myself.
I had gone from elation to despair to elation and been wet and cold for 24 hours. Our finish time was 23:35. The other riders had done their 100 miles. Not including the riding back and forth at the wide spot, Kate had carried me 119 miles and finished 15 minutes behind the leaders. I love this horse.
Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH MY!
It appeared we were the only horse that could stand for BC. I fed Kate and got 1½ hours of sleep and a shower. When I went to the vet, the race director came up to me and said, “You are not going to believe this, and I am SO sorry”. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said that one of the other female riders from Wyoming was objecting to my getting placing because the race directors had had me do parts of the course in a different order than the others when they thought the impassable creak was separating me from the competitors. I was in shock. I mentioned I had done what I was told to do to the best of my ability and he said he totally agreed. He said they knew I had done the mileage and more but she was objecting.
I told him I understood that someone might object to Kate standing for B.C., but I had no idea why someone higher in the placing order would object to our getting last place. He said it was crummy, that he knew we had done well over the 100 miles, and he was visibly upset.
This man had done a wonderful job and the last thing I wanted to do was see him upset by anybody. I told him that I argued for a living but would not argue for myself and accepted my belt buckle as my completion award. I should say, “Kate’s completion award.” They made a special “hard luck award” and he announced at the awards lunch that I had done everything asked of me for 24 hours and that Kate was a super horse. I truly appreciated that.
It has been my pleasure to have completed over 80 triathlons, 2 Ironmans and 10 x 500 mile biking events. This race was the hardest thing I have ever done. The trail is not impossible as 6 of us completed the event. However, you need to have a really tough horse, a crew and a good attitude. I would also say that faith would be important. It sure was for me.
I will cherish my belt buckle the rest of my life. Thank you Barry, Linda and Paul!
Rack on my friends. ( Well. Many of you can “trot on”)
Keith and Kate
Got to go hug my horse, well, as soon as I wake up.
April 2011
Keith's blog at http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=142.msg190#msg190
Paul Sidio is my friend. We have ridden several 50s together and one previous 100. When I heard that he had the idea of doing a point to point 100 in the extremely remote Ozarks in So Missouri I was immediately interested. When I learned that no one had made it more than 65 miles, in the last ride, I did have a bit of concern. So, when Paul asked if I could help clear part of the trail, I took the chance to help and preview the course at the same time. The trail was no worse than the Shawnee National Forrest and that is where we normally train and ride. I took some advice and invested in Vettec for additional hoof protection.
The week before the ride featured my 2007 ford developing a head leak. The truck could not be repaired in time and Sandy’s truck could not pull the live aboard. Our only option was a stock trailer and a tent. Sandy said, “great, I love a tent”. She was not being sarcastic and is such a trooper.
Sandy, the super crew!
We went to the ending spot, which was a horse campground called Brushy Creek near Black Mo. As we set up our tent outside the stock trailer, I had the thought that the Clampets had arrived. We slept in the tent through a night of raining and headed off to the Bass River resort for the start.
Barry and Linda Cole were the race directors. They took Paul Sidio’s vision and had the courage and daring to run with it. They are to be admired. I do!
Lions
Nine riders started the ride in the 100 and one in the 75. We were supposed to start at 5:45. It started to rain. The Forest Service predicted rain and more rain, which meant seriously swollen water crossings. The race start was pushed back. It was announced that the race plan was modified and that we would find out more later but that we would not be riding point to point. We would ride down the trail until the 20 mark and meet our crews. Sandy is as thrilled with Endurance as I am, but 100 miles is too far for her. Sandy is a wonderful crew and I looked forward to seeing her.
We all put on our rain gear and took to the trail. Lucy Estebook and her fine Arabian "Flyer" went to the lead. Kate and I went with her. We wound around the trail and had a blast together. We were the first though the "gate and go", which was around 9 miles from the start. Lucy’s horse threw a shoe and she had no boot. I gave her what I had. At the first Vet check, at mile 20 we were 18 minutes up. Sandy put a little smaller boot on Flyer.
Lions and Tigers
The race director told me to ride until I got to Hazel Creek Campground. He said I would know it when I came to a sign that said “Hazel Creek Campground”. We were told to turn around when we got to the sign. Off we went and Flyer was flying. I stopped to take a nature break and found Lucy on up the trail, across a small wide spot in the trail, that had a couple of picnic tables. There was no sign of a “Hazel Creek” sign and so we kept going. We eventually came to a sign that said that “Hazel Creek” was was 4.5 miles behind us. It was not our best moment. We turned around. We headed into the vet check knowing we had ridden at least 9 miles too far on the trail. Flyer was done as a result of the shoe issue.
As Kate and I started to leave, the co-race director was on the mobile to the race director. She said, “don’t leave, the race may have to be canceled because of flooding.” Someone started to pull Kate’s saddle. Then the race director said, “the other riders are across a creek that can’t be crossed now and here is what we are going to do. You can go on but you have to turn around and come back. As long as you do 100 miles you can ride back and forth. Just do a 100 miles.” I agreed, took off, went to the creek, and then turned and came back. Did I say it was black as ink out by now?
When I came back for the next vet check, I was told that the race had changed again and that the other riders were now on the same side of the impassible creek. I was told to ride until the next vet check. I did that. On the way the rain increased and it actually started hailing. Kate paused and seemed to ask me what I had gotten her into. As we racked along, I noticed two orange beads glowing in the brush off the trail. I went back and looked again. It was a large rattle snake coiled on some dead fall. We left him alone. I continued to ask Kate to step into raging creeks in the dark. She never missed a step. She did step into a deep spot in one crossing that left me thinking we were going under.
Lions, Tigers, and Bears
We got to the vet check, and the race director said I had to ride some extra miles, to make up the section where the others had crossed the creek that I couldn't cross, and I did that. At one point, I was told to ride down a trail following glow sticks for 5 miles. I did that and on the way back I noticed that a second set of glow sticks were on the trail. I was in a loop. 5 miles became 7 miles. I could not find my way back to the vet check. It started to rain again. It was 2:30 am and I had been sopping wet 17 hours. I called out loud for help. No answer came back. I was on the verge of panicking. The only thing I could think of was to get off of Kate and sit under a tree and wait for help. I realized it might take days to get that help. I was desperate. It was time to pray. I did just that and got the answer of which way to go. 15 minutes later and I found myself at the vet check where the other riders were waiting. We all did 4 miles of road riding and the race director told us to head down the trail for 10 miles to the finish.
Kate was in racking mode and off we went. A mile later, Kate and I came to a point where the trail went into a larger trail that made a sharp right turn. It had an OT sign on it but it did not look right. I went backwards on the trail, and found my friend Paul and the other riders and asked if there was a road ahead. I heard “what road” back from the dark. I turned Kate around and we went back to the sign and headed down the wider trail. I heard the others behind me. I turned and went back to where they were and they were gone. I could not believe it. I called for them. I called loudly. I heard nothing.
So, I went back to the vet check again and the vet crews were gone. I turned around again and went the mile back to the sharp turn. I knew something was wrong. I looked closely at the OT sign and saw there was a second OT sign behind it and a smaller trail. At 4:30 am, in the rain and with wet bifocals, I simply could not see the second sign. I was elated to have found the right way on trail again but realized I had once again given away the lead. Worse, I would now have to hustle to finish within the 24 hour time limit.
We were now well over 100 miles, not including the back and forth over the last few miles at the wide spot. We had 10 miles to go and Kate acted like she was starting the event. We racked on. I watched the GPS and the clock and I knew it would be close. The trail wound around so much it became maddening. Dawn broke and it stopped raining. By 7 am I had 35 minutes to finish and I knew that if I could stay on Kate, we would make it.
We racked into the final vet check to find my Sandy’s beaming face and what sounded to me like thundering applause. Everyone thought I was lost. Sandy knew we would make it somehow. I had a problem. I could not get off of Kate. I could not raise either leg. Sandy and another helper took my feet out of the stirrups and I hugged Kate and rolled to the ground. Once Kate completed I was standing talking to Sandy and all of a sudden a wave of emotion swept over me and I started crying. I felt like a complete goober but I really couldn’t help myself.
I had gone from elation to despair to elation and been wet and cold for 24 hours. Our finish time was 23:35. The other riders had done their 100 miles. Not including the riding back and forth at the wide spot, Kate had carried me 119 miles and finished 15 minutes behind the leaders. I love this horse.
Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH MY!
It appeared we were the only horse that could stand for BC. I fed Kate and got 1½ hours of sleep and a shower. When I went to the vet, the race director came up to me and said, “You are not going to believe this, and I am SO sorry”. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said that one of the other female riders from Wyoming was objecting to my getting placing because the race directors had had me do parts of the course in a different order than the others when they thought the impassable creak was separating me from the competitors. I was in shock. I mentioned I had done what I was told to do to the best of my ability and he said he totally agreed. He said they knew I had done the mileage and more but she was objecting.
I told him I understood that someone might object to Kate standing for B.C., but I had no idea why someone higher in the placing order would object to our getting last place. He said it was crummy, that he knew we had done well over the 100 miles, and he was visibly upset.
This man had done a wonderful job and the last thing I wanted to do was see him upset by anybody. I told him that I argued for a living but would not argue for myself and accepted my belt buckle as my completion award. I should say, “Kate’s completion award.” They made a special “hard luck award” and he announced at the awards lunch that I had done everything asked of me for 24 hours and that Kate was a super horse. I truly appreciated that.
It has been my pleasure to have completed over 80 triathlons, 2 Ironmans and 10 x 500 mile biking events. This race was the hardest thing I have ever done. The trail is not impossible as 6 of us completed the event. However, you need to have a really tough horse, a crew and a good attitude. I would also say that faith would be important. It sure was for me.
I will cherish my belt buckle the rest of my life. Thank you Barry, Linda and Paul!
Rack on my friends. ( Well. Many of you can “trot on”)
Keith and Kate
Got to go hug my horse, well, as soon as I wake up.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Australia: Shk Majid al Maktoum Challenge - Jay Randle
April 18 2011
We arrived on Friday afternoon and I was astounded at the location! It was very easy to access; from the highway it looked like something special was happening, and the lay-out was well designed.... with the exception of the requirement that all vehicles had to be parked in an east-west direction.... which made the large paddock a very hot place to be, with no shade available. For the next ride at this location, may I suggest that (if the same requirement for all the parking to look "neat" is in effect) all vehicles should park on a north-south axis to allow for shade patches to be utilised??
The big screen was certainly an eye-catching feature! However the repetitive nature of the videos played pre-ride was pretty ordinary. Once the screen was showing actual ride and vetting footage, it was great! I thought it was fun to try to spot the camera operator!!
The site is used for field days, and has some permanent structures and some concrete pads which are used for temporary display stands. Although there seemed to be plenty of power boxes, and a number of water taps, both power and water were unavailable for over half of the area due to a lack of generator power, I believe. Hopefully this will be rectified in time for the June event.
There was a free feed put on on Friday evening for all riders, officials, strappers, volunteers, etc. Which meant everybody! The food was good, and plentiful, and the atmosphere was similar to some American and European rides I have attended where similar style catering is common-place. Maybe a bar would have made it even more fun...
4am Saturday morning saw the start of the 160km 3-star event, with 6 starters. At 5am the 120km 2-star event commenced, with 27 Open and 10 Youth starters. That the track was fast was evidenced by the quick pace of the first leg, and it certainly made the strapping and vetting areas very interesting! It was pretty clear early on that there were going to be heavy casualties with lots of lamenesses visible. From talking to various riders I discovered that the track, although flat, had a multitude of different types of footing, including soft sand, hard packed tracks, rocky patches, muddy patches, and muddy soft patches with hard spiky rocks underneath! Most people I spoke to mentioned that it would be a good idea to pad for this ride in future.
A 40km training ride was also offered on Saturday, with pre-ride vetting from about 7am, and the ride commencing at 10am. Although the morning dawned quite warm, and then it turned hot for about an hour, by 10am it was raining lightly and quite cool! So the training riders set off on a wet track, although most looked like they were enjoying it! My good friend Kate Gadsby had delivered a 40km horse for one of my young riders, Sam Barling, to do her second 40km on, and they both set off looking great. The training ride was 2 legs, of 25km and 17.5km, and Sam and Deep Forest Contest completed the ride very well and easily. Thanks to Kate Gadsby for allowing Sam to ride her beautiful Connie!
By this time the 120km ride was really getting interesting, as I had 1 horse entered in the Youth Division: Aloha Farina (owned by Lisa Stone) being ridden by Natashja Burton. Farina and Natashja did the first leg of 40km in 2:35, the second leg of 30km in 1:46, the third leg of 25km in 1:39, and the final leg of 25km in 1:34, for a consistent average speed of over 15km per hour. Farina vetted well after each leg, and ended up with a total ride time of 7:51:56.
The weather during the day fluctuated from drizzly and mild to hot and steamy, with patches of windy and cool. Quite a number (more than half the field, I believe) of competitors were lame in the trot-outs, and a couple of horses were treated during the day. After the third leg, Natashja and Farina were in 5th place, however the leader vetted out at the third Vet check. I then told Natashja to pass one particular rider who was just in front of her, and so the pair ended up in 3rd place, just under 6 minutes behind the winner! Natashja rode a very good ride, and Farina looked great throughout.
The strapping area gave everyone plenty of room, and the water supply was maintained by one of the ride volunteers who worked his butt off to keep the troughs filled. Because the ground is mainly sandy, there was not that terrible problem of sloshing through increasingly wet and muddy conditions in the strapping area.
Saturday evening saw some celebrations, and Sunday morning saw the start of the 80km 1-star event at 5am. We had one entry, Splendacrest Superb (owned by Clare Fleming) ridden by Gerard Bou. The 80km ride was in three legs: 25km, 30km, 25km. The first leg of 25km wasn't enough to even begin to tire out Super, and he was still jumping out of his skin after the second leg. It was only after he completed the 80km that he started to look tired, although G was pretty tired well before then! Super and G completed in 4:53, for 7th Open placing.
There was an exciting gallop finish between the 2 front-runners, and I heard that the "maximum speed" registered on the GPS unit of one of them was 49.4km per hour! There was also a protest after the race, second against first, due to the location of the finish line having been changed without the knowledge of the riders. However the original placings were upheld, with the winner's time being 3:38:30. Pretty fast ride!
I was very pleased with our results on the weekend, and look forward to the June ride at the same location. My overall impression of the event was favourable, and I acknowlege the effort put in by the Toft family and all the volunteers, FEI Officials, QERA volunteers, and anyone who helped to make this event such a good one. I would certainly recommend the June ride as an event not to be missed, however the inclusion of an AERA 160km alongside the FEI*** 160km ride would be welcomed.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and I was astounded at the location! It was very easy to access; from the highway it looked like something special was happening, and the lay-out was well designed.... with the exception of the requirement that all vehicles had to be parked in an east-west direction.... which made the large paddock a very hot place to be, with no shade available. For the next ride at this location, may I suggest that (if the same requirement for all the parking to look "neat" is in effect) all vehicles should park on a north-south axis to allow for shade patches to be utilised??
The big screen was certainly an eye-catching feature! However the repetitive nature of the videos played pre-ride was pretty ordinary. Once the screen was showing actual ride and vetting footage, it was great! I thought it was fun to try to spot the camera operator!!
The site is used for field days, and has some permanent structures and some concrete pads which are used for temporary display stands. Although there seemed to be plenty of power boxes, and a number of water taps, both power and water were unavailable for over half of the area due to a lack of generator power, I believe. Hopefully this will be rectified in time for the June event.
There was a free feed put on on Friday evening for all riders, officials, strappers, volunteers, etc. Which meant everybody! The food was good, and plentiful, and the atmosphere was similar to some American and European rides I have attended where similar style catering is common-place. Maybe a bar would have made it even more fun...
4am Saturday morning saw the start of the 160km 3-star event, with 6 starters. At 5am the 120km 2-star event commenced, with 27 Open and 10 Youth starters. That the track was fast was evidenced by the quick pace of the first leg, and it certainly made the strapping and vetting areas very interesting! It was pretty clear early on that there were going to be heavy casualties with lots of lamenesses visible. From talking to various riders I discovered that the track, although flat, had a multitude of different types of footing, including soft sand, hard packed tracks, rocky patches, muddy patches, and muddy soft patches with hard spiky rocks underneath! Most people I spoke to mentioned that it would be a good idea to pad for this ride in future.
A 40km training ride was also offered on Saturday, with pre-ride vetting from about 7am, and the ride commencing at 10am. Although the morning dawned quite warm, and then it turned hot for about an hour, by 10am it was raining lightly and quite cool! So the training riders set off on a wet track, although most looked like they were enjoying it! My good friend Kate Gadsby had delivered a 40km horse for one of my young riders, Sam Barling, to do her second 40km on, and they both set off looking great. The training ride was 2 legs, of 25km and 17.5km, and Sam and Deep Forest Contest completed the ride very well and easily. Thanks to Kate Gadsby for allowing Sam to ride her beautiful Connie!
By this time the 120km ride was really getting interesting, as I had 1 horse entered in the Youth Division: Aloha Farina (owned by Lisa Stone) being ridden by Natashja Burton. Farina and Natashja did the first leg of 40km in 2:35, the second leg of 30km in 1:46, the third leg of 25km in 1:39, and the final leg of 25km in 1:34, for a consistent average speed of over 15km per hour. Farina vetted well after each leg, and ended up with a total ride time of 7:51:56.
The weather during the day fluctuated from drizzly and mild to hot and steamy, with patches of windy and cool. Quite a number (more than half the field, I believe) of competitors were lame in the trot-outs, and a couple of horses were treated during the day. After the third leg, Natashja and Farina were in 5th place, however the leader vetted out at the third Vet check. I then told Natashja to pass one particular rider who was just in front of her, and so the pair ended up in 3rd place, just under 6 minutes behind the winner! Natashja rode a very good ride, and Farina looked great throughout.
The strapping area gave everyone plenty of room, and the water supply was maintained by one of the ride volunteers who worked his butt off to keep the troughs filled. Because the ground is mainly sandy, there was not that terrible problem of sloshing through increasingly wet and muddy conditions in the strapping area.
Saturday evening saw some celebrations, and Sunday morning saw the start of the 80km 1-star event at 5am. We had one entry, Splendacrest Superb (owned by Clare Fleming) ridden by Gerard Bou. The 80km ride was in three legs: 25km, 30km, 25km. The first leg of 25km wasn't enough to even begin to tire out Super, and he was still jumping out of his skin after the second leg. It was only after he completed the 80km that he started to look tired, although G was pretty tired well before then! Super and G completed in 4:53, for 7th Open placing.
There was an exciting gallop finish between the 2 front-runners, and I heard that the "maximum speed" registered on the GPS unit of one of them was 49.4km per hour! There was also a protest after the race, second against first, due to the location of the finish line having been changed without the knowledge of the riders. However the original placings were upheld, with the winner's time being 3:38:30. Pretty fast ride!
I was very pleased with our results on the weekend, and look forward to the June ride at the same location. My overall impression of the event was favourable, and I acknowlege the effort put in by the Toft family and all the volunteers, FEI Officials, QERA volunteers, and anyone who helped to make this event such a good one. I would certainly recommend the June ride as an event not to be missed, however the inclusion of an AERA 160km alongside the FEI*** 160km ride would be welcomed.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tough Sucker 2011
Karen Bumgarner
When I think of a ride in the Owyhees the first thing that comes to mind is the magnificent Snake River. The Snake winds around through the desert and tall canyon walls, creating quiet oasis and beautiful ranches. The pioneers followed much of the Snake and the Oregon Trail still exists. And lucky us as Tough Sucker riders, we get the privelege of riding portions of the Oregon Trail. To trot where the oxen pulled wagons and the pioneers walked is an amazing experience. And from the dry hill tops looking back towards the river, one wonders how they must have felt leaving the river behind, and knowing that if they stayed there that it could mean death from the Indians. Recall the Utter Disaster blogspot from last October.
It is amazing that much of the Owyhees are as wild as they were 150 years ago. Minus the Indians. :-) But as you ride along its pretty easy to replay some of those old westerns in your head and imagine Indians popping up along the horizon. Hmmm maybe thats what makes Thunder look for something to jump at!
These Owyhee rides remain some of my favorites. And they must be the favorites of others too as riders drove in to the ranch near Oreana for the ride on Saturday April 16. It wasn't a big crowd but it was a happy bunch of riders as we started the day with no wind and a promise of sunshine. The first loop took us to the Snake River and it was peaceful and gorgeous. Even though the water was high and rapid we still had a nice spot for the horses to drink. The trail then went out to the Snake River Birds of Prey area and wound around the desert all day long. Some folks find the desert boring but it is chock full of beauty if a person just looks for it. Even the dry washes with their high walls can be entertaining especially when Thunder is on "Troll Patrol". HAHA.
I think the ride had roughly 40 riders all total on the 25, 50 and 75. Only 5 of us were on the 75 and Thunder and I managed to place third about 30 minutes behind the front runners. He was still full of spooks and playful moves, all in a days work of Keeping me entertained and improving my riding skills. We finished about 8 PM and it wasn't even dark yet. Hooray! We vetted in for the last time of the day with A's on his vet card all day long!
Except for a 5 minute rain shower, it was a sunny beautiful and warm day. So unlike Tough Sucker weather but I truly enjoyed it!
Karen's Horsetales Blog
When I think of a ride in the Owyhees the first thing that comes to mind is the magnificent Snake River. The Snake winds around through the desert and tall canyon walls, creating quiet oasis and beautiful ranches. The pioneers followed much of the Snake and the Oregon Trail still exists. And lucky us as Tough Sucker riders, we get the privelege of riding portions of the Oregon Trail. To trot where the oxen pulled wagons and the pioneers walked is an amazing experience. And from the dry hill tops looking back towards the river, one wonders how they must have felt leaving the river behind, and knowing that if they stayed there that it could mean death from the Indians. Recall the Utter Disaster blogspot from last October.
It is amazing that much of the Owyhees are as wild as they were 150 years ago. Minus the Indians. :-) But as you ride along its pretty easy to replay some of those old westerns in your head and imagine Indians popping up along the horizon. Hmmm maybe thats what makes Thunder look for something to jump at!
These Owyhee rides remain some of my favorites. And they must be the favorites of others too as riders drove in to the ranch near Oreana for the ride on Saturday April 16. It wasn't a big crowd but it was a happy bunch of riders as we started the day with no wind and a promise of sunshine. The first loop took us to the Snake River and it was peaceful and gorgeous. Even though the water was high and rapid we still had a nice spot for the horses to drink. The trail then went out to the Snake River Birds of Prey area and wound around the desert all day long. Some folks find the desert boring but it is chock full of beauty if a person just looks for it. Even the dry washes with their high walls can be entertaining especially when Thunder is on "Troll Patrol". HAHA.
I think the ride had roughly 40 riders all total on the 25, 50 and 75. Only 5 of us were on the 75 and Thunder and I managed to place third about 30 minutes behind the front runners. He was still full of spooks and playful moves, all in a days work of Keeping me entertained and improving my riding skills. We finished about 8 PM and it wasn't even dark yet. Hooray! We vetted in for the last time of the day with A's on his vet card all day long!
Except for a 5 minute rain shower, it was a sunny beautiful and warm day. So unlike Tough Sucker weather but I truly enjoyed it!
Karen's Horsetales Blog
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Home on the Range Endurance Race
March 28 2011
Well, we are home from the endurance race. I was so sore yesterday, I could barely walk. Here I prided myself that I was in good shape - yah, right. I guess not so much. Traveler, my husband and my kids and I loaded up the motor home and headed over to the beautfiul Palouse country for the first endurance race of the season. We just went out on the 25 miler - and overall, Traveler was great. I was worried about his "stallion" behavior, but he held it in check for the initial vetting in and was in good shape and vetted through perfectly. He spent the night tied to the trailer and I kept one ear open all night listening for any low nickering, to make sure a mare didn't get loose and visit us in the wee hours of the morning. At one point I thought I heard something and I bolted up right, listening intently, when I realized it was just my husband snoring. LOL. And then the race started. He had been doing really well, listening to me and being under control, and then 50 mares in heat took off at a run and they were leaving him behind!...
Read more here:
http://rideacurly.blogspot.com/2011/03/home-on-range-endurance-race.html
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Shanghai Trails 100 Mile Ride Story - Paul Sidio
March 29 2011
Well it all started with a blizzard back in February. The weather was too bad for us to go to MD Anderson in Houston Texas for my wifes annual breast examination. Icy roads and sub zero temps forced us to cancel her appointment. This is the 5th year after her surgery and chemo, so we really wanted to get it done. When she looked at re0schduling dates available, March 24th popped up. I checked and realized that the Shanghai Trail Endurance ride was 2 days after that. They were offering a 100 mile distance for the first time this year.
After doing some creative math, I figured that driving the big rig and pulling a horse trailer would cost us only $150 more when figuring in motel rooms and dining out costs if we drove a car. So we decided to multi task the trip and do the exam and then I would do the 100. It worked out even better when Kris Anderson, near Houston needed a horse hauled down there, which I agreed to do for $150. Yay, now we broke even... Ha!
Piper had done the 100 at Blazing Saddles on February 26th, so would have had 4 weeks off. We only did one 10 mile conditioning/tuneup ride between these two 100 mile rides. He was strong and full of himself, so I decided to do another 100 on him. It is about 700 miles from our home to Houston, so we planned how to give him the best recovery trip possible. We went down south on Wednesday, stayed at Darolyn Butlers place, and stole her car on Thursday to drive into Houston. There we had the tests done, which determined that Patsy was 100% fine, so she went shopping!! Now we are not broke even, we are just broke.
Friday we drove the 1 1/2 hours to camp, and hauled Boomer, one of Darolyns horses who doesn't play well with others along with us. Set up, vetted through.and went to the ride meeting. There we found out it was going to be much hotter than we expected. Upper 80's were expected, with high humidity and wind. The weather had been very dry there, and the trails were rock hard. They were flat as can be, but no cushion at all. Very concussive. The black loam had 1-2 inch wide cracks in it. In addition, some of the trail was in uneven cow pasture. Not bad, but deceptively smooth. We had 11 entries in the 100, and 8 in the 75 mile ride. The 75's had the option of elevating after completing the 75.
Saturday morning was cloudy and seemed cool. I had on my lucky Western Australia Endurance Rider shirt with a t-shirt underneath. Off we went at first light. The faster riders quickly disappeared down the trail, and we settled into a group of 3-5 riders. It warmed up quickly, and we let several other riders go on by. The first loop was 22 miles and we did it at about 9 mph. When I went into the rig, I pulled off the t-shirt. it was soaking wet. This warned me that the wind was drying the sweat off the horses and making it look cooler than it was. Piper had pre-warned me of this by drinking deeply at every water tank, rather than his normal first loop tactic of not drinking or maybe taking a sip one time. So we backed off on speed a bit during the second loop. And some more on the 3rd loop. Riders kept getting pulled left and right. We lost Dave Goetz from Oklahoma who was riding with us at 46 miles. Scott Godwin had some issues and dropped back some more. Several of the front
runners were pulled.
On the 4th loop we came across Sophia Bashir. She was off her horse sitting on the ground with her helmet off, horse tied to a tree, and she was very unhappy. We asked if the horse was ok, and she told us he was fine , but refusing to go. In the small world strange encounter cataqory, it was Boomer, who we had hauled there. Boomer was at the WEG in Kentucky as a mount for Olivia Mattai on Team Namibia. I was the groom for Boomer there and knew him, and his attitude well.
So the conversation with Sophia went something like this:
Sophia: "I will be ok. They are coming to get me"
Me: " No they are not. You are not on a road, this is just a trail along a fence. There is no breeze here. It is too hot to just stay here. They won't be able to find you. Get back on the horse and come with us."
Sophia: " He won't go. It must be me"
Me: "Fine. Put on your helmet"
Sophia: " But he will just stand there"
Me: "That's fine. Tighten up the girth"
Sophia: "You will see . He won't move"
Me: "That is wonderful. Now get in the saddle"
Alexis Jones was with us, and I asked her to start walking off with her horse. I got Piper behind Boomer and started herding him like a cow. I knew he would kick or bite if he had the chance, so stayed back out of striking range. " Hyah!!! Git up!!! Hyah!! Move it !!!" I even threatened to start yodeling if he wouldn't move. He decided that following Alexis was less irritating than listening to me, so down the trail we went. When ever Sophia asked me how much further we had to go, I would reply, "Just a bit further to camp I think". Along the way, Sophia complained about her knees hurting and I told her my secret for ignoring knee pain. She was excited to hear it... until I told her that my secret to ignoring knee pain was
because my back hurt much worse. We nursed her along for the 10 miles for the loop which was her first 50 mile completion. I had told her that completing would fix knee pain, and I was correct.
We lost Alexis at that 61 mile vet check, and now there were only 3 of us left in the 100. It was getting lonely out there. Piper was still going strong, He vetted through great all day. From arrival time to pulse in time was 5 minutes one time. 4 minutes twice and 3 minutes the rest of the time. His pulse rate was 56 once, then 52's with two 48's. At one vet check, he pulsed at 48, and after trot out and the one minute re-check was at 44. This was incredible for such a hot humid day. He ate exceptionally well all day. We focused on grazing in camp as much as possible and then eating hay and grain. My wife was incredible in helping do this, Normally I ride with little or no crew help, but this day was wearing me down, and I needed to rest and take care of myself at the holds, so I could take care of him on trail. Without Patsy's help, this would have been impossible. In addition to eating it kept him moving a bit during the holds.
On the next loop I caught up with Britteny, who was the lone adult 75 mile rider left. There was a Junior who had lost 2 sponsors that day, behind her who was hunting for a sponsor to finish. Britteny and I came in together. I tried to get her to play a joke on the waiting people and tell them that she was elevating to the 100, but she forgot to do this :-)
So off we went. Now down to just us, and Jennifer Masters who was on her first 100 and about 2 hours behind us. It was dark, and Ride Management decided that the glowsticks were not adequate, so sent us us following ATVs. They would go ahead and open gates alongside cattle guards, and close them behind us, then go off into the night. All day, those cattle guards and other gates had been staffed by Boy Scouts volunteers. Jennifers guide got lost and she pulled. So now Piper and I were the only chance for a 100 mile rider to complete. I toll my guides, David from 7-IL Ranch that I was not going to try and keep up with them, but was going to walk the bad footing, and let him graze when needed, He said that was no problem. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete the last 11 miles. Piper vetted through great. Our first 100 mile win in the blazing time of about 15:40 ...zooommm!!! Not likely to happen again, so we enjoyed the moment. To Finish was indeed to Win
KMA Chazz Piper is a narrow built 14'2 hands tall Arabian 14 year old gelding. He wear OO shoes, has small cannon bone, and we have to special order 22 inch girths for his Specialized Saddle as he has such small chest depth. He weighed 780 pounds at the start of the ride, carried 212 pounds for 100 miles and only lost 20 pounds. He never balked or tried to quit. He seems delicate at first glance, and many people mistake him for a young filly. He is so calm and good natured that most people would not see how tough and determined he is. Of his 780 pounds, it is almost all heart and grit. I know that the congratulation we got after the ride were due to his effort and his willingness to let me come along for the ride.
It was a tough day. Only one out of 11 finished the 100. Only 2 out of the 8 starters in the 75 completed. Why?? My gut feeling is #1) the normal wear and tear stuff that happens in 100's. #2) Deceptively hard concussive footing that might have fooled some riders into going faster than they would have. At one point on trail, Alexis wondered if we were on trail, and she could see any hooftprints in the dirt. I told her to look behind us as there were still no hoof prints. (Then we saw a ribbon, so we knew we were ok). Riding a horse who lives on rocks helped me as he was used to concussion. #3) The wind dried the sweat from horses, so riders couldn't tell that the horses were working as hard as they were. We grazed a lot on trail and in camp. Plus Patsy had bought a watermelon that was not quite ripe yet, so Piper got to eat it. I think this all helped to keep his gut working and to keep him hydrated.
The next day, Piper looked great. There were Ride and Tie riders getting ready to go 20 miles who invited us to come along. I declined.:-) He ate like a horse while we packed up camp. We headed towards home, and soon blew a tire on the RV. While waiting for the service truck, he grazed in a field next to the truck stop for 2 hours straight. We spent the night at Val Jaffes place south of Dallas, where he had a round pen to move around in. We were fed a delicious meal, got a good nights sleep, and got home the next evening. Piper came prancing out of the trailer, trotted proud around the barn lot, and galloped off to be with his pasture buddies. Then, just for the fun of it, he did a victory lap around the field. Nothing quite like bringing a horse home from a ride that feels good enough to do that.
Now we get ready for the next ride.
Paul N. Sidio
KMA Chazz Piper (who now has completed five 100 mile rides)
Spokane MO
Well it all started with a blizzard back in February. The weather was too bad for us to go to MD Anderson in Houston Texas for my wifes annual breast examination. Icy roads and sub zero temps forced us to cancel her appointment. This is the 5th year after her surgery and chemo, so we really wanted to get it done. When she looked at re0schduling dates available, March 24th popped up. I checked and realized that the Shanghai Trail Endurance ride was 2 days after that. They were offering a 100 mile distance for the first time this year.
After doing some creative math, I figured that driving the big rig and pulling a horse trailer would cost us only $150 more when figuring in motel rooms and dining out costs if we drove a car. So we decided to multi task the trip and do the exam and then I would do the 100. It worked out even better when Kris Anderson, near Houston needed a horse hauled down there, which I agreed to do for $150. Yay, now we broke even... Ha!
Piper had done the 100 at Blazing Saddles on February 26th, so would have had 4 weeks off. We only did one 10 mile conditioning/tuneup ride between these two 100 mile rides. He was strong and full of himself, so I decided to do another 100 on him. It is about 700 miles from our home to Houston, so we planned how to give him the best recovery trip possible. We went down south on Wednesday, stayed at Darolyn Butlers place, and stole her car on Thursday to drive into Houston. There we had the tests done, which determined that Patsy was 100% fine, so she went shopping!! Now we are not broke even, we are just broke.
Friday we drove the 1 1/2 hours to camp, and hauled Boomer, one of Darolyns horses who doesn't play well with others along with us. Set up, vetted through.and went to the ride meeting. There we found out it was going to be much hotter than we expected. Upper 80's were expected, with high humidity and wind. The weather had been very dry there, and the trails were rock hard. They were flat as can be, but no cushion at all. Very concussive. The black loam had 1-2 inch wide cracks in it. In addition, some of the trail was in uneven cow pasture. Not bad, but deceptively smooth. We had 11 entries in the 100, and 8 in the 75 mile ride. The 75's had the option of elevating after completing the 75.
Saturday morning was cloudy and seemed cool. I had on my lucky Western Australia Endurance Rider shirt with a t-shirt underneath. Off we went at first light. The faster riders quickly disappeared down the trail, and we settled into a group of 3-5 riders. It warmed up quickly, and we let several other riders go on by. The first loop was 22 miles and we did it at about 9 mph. When I went into the rig, I pulled off the t-shirt. it was soaking wet. This warned me that the wind was drying the sweat off the horses and making it look cooler than it was. Piper had pre-warned me of this by drinking deeply at every water tank, rather than his normal first loop tactic of not drinking or maybe taking a sip one time. So we backed off on speed a bit during the second loop. And some more on the 3rd loop. Riders kept getting pulled left and right. We lost Dave Goetz from Oklahoma who was riding with us at 46 miles. Scott Godwin had some issues and dropped back some more. Several of the front
runners were pulled.
On the 4th loop we came across Sophia Bashir. She was off her horse sitting on the ground with her helmet off, horse tied to a tree, and she was very unhappy. We asked if the horse was ok, and she told us he was fine , but refusing to go. In the small world strange encounter cataqory, it was Boomer, who we had hauled there. Boomer was at the WEG in Kentucky as a mount for Olivia Mattai on Team Namibia. I was the groom for Boomer there and knew him, and his attitude well.
So the conversation with Sophia went something like this:
Sophia: "I will be ok. They are coming to get me"
Me: " No they are not. You are not on a road, this is just a trail along a fence. There is no breeze here. It is too hot to just stay here. They won't be able to find you. Get back on the horse and come with us."
Sophia: " He won't go. It must be me"
Me: "Fine. Put on your helmet"
Sophia: " But he will just stand there"
Me: "That's fine. Tighten up the girth"
Sophia: "You will see . He won't move"
Me: "That is wonderful. Now get in the saddle"
Alexis Jones was with us, and I asked her to start walking off with her horse. I got Piper behind Boomer and started herding him like a cow. I knew he would kick or bite if he had the chance, so stayed back out of striking range. " Hyah!!! Git up!!! Hyah!! Move it !!!" I even threatened to start yodeling if he wouldn't move. He decided that following Alexis was less irritating than listening to me, so down the trail we went. When ever Sophia asked me how much further we had to go, I would reply, "Just a bit further to camp I think". Along the way, Sophia complained about her knees hurting and I told her my secret for ignoring knee pain. She was excited to hear it... until I told her that my secret to ignoring knee pain was
because my back hurt much worse. We nursed her along for the 10 miles for the loop which was her first 50 mile completion. I had told her that completing would fix knee pain, and I was correct.
We lost Alexis at that 61 mile vet check, and now there were only 3 of us left in the 100. It was getting lonely out there. Piper was still going strong, He vetted through great all day. From arrival time to pulse in time was 5 minutes one time. 4 minutes twice and 3 minutes the rest of the time. His pulse rate was 56 once, then 52's with two 48's. At one vet check, he pulsed at 48, and after trot out and the one minute re-check was at 44. This was incredible for such a hot humid day. He ate exceptionally well all day. We focused on grazing in camp as much as possible and then eating hay and grain. My wife was incredible in helping do this, Normally I ride with little or no crew help, but this day was wearing me down, and I needed to rest and take care of myself at the holds, so I could take care of him on trail. Without Patsy's help, this would have been impossible. In addition to eating it kept him moving a bit during the holds.
On the next loop I caught up with Britteny, who was the lone adult 75 mile rider left. There was a Junior who had lost 2 sponsors that day, behind her who was hunting for a sponsor to finish. Britteny and I came in together. I tried to get her to play a joke on the waiting people and tell them that she was elevating to the 100, but she forgot to do this :-)
So off we went. Now down to just us, and Jennifer Masters who was on her first 100 and about 2 hours behind us. It was dark, and Ride Management decided that the glowsticks were not adequate, so sent us us following ATVs. They would go ahead and open gates alongside cattle guards, and close them behind us, then go off into the night. All day, those cattle guards and other gates had been staffed by Boy Scouts volunteers. Jennifers guide got lost and she pulled. So now Piper and I were the only chance for a 100 mile rider to complete. I toll my guides, David from 7-IL Ranch that I was not going to try and keep up with them, but was going to walk the bad footing, and let him graze when needed, He said that was no problem. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete the last 11 miles. Piper vetted through great. Our first 100 mile win in the blazing time of about 15:40 ...zooommm!!! Not likely to happen again, so we enjoyed the moment. To Finish was indeed to Win
KMA Chazz Piper is a narrow built 14'2 hands tall Arabian 14 year old gelding. He wear OO shoes, has small cannon bone, and we have to special order 22 inch girths for his Specialized Saddle as he has such small chest depth. He weighed 780 pounds at the start of the ride, carried 212 pounds for 100 miles and only lost 20 pounds. He never balked or tried to quit. He seems delicate at first glance, and many people mistake him for a young filly. He is so calm and good natured that most people would not see how tough and determined he is. Of his 780 pounds, it is almost all heart and grit. I know that the congratulation we got after the ride were due to his effort and his willingness to let me come along for the ride.
It was a tough day. Only one out of 11 finished the 100. Only 2 out of the 8 starters in the 75 completed. Why?? My gut feeling is #1) the normal wear and tear stuff that happens in 100's. #2) Deceptively hard concussive footing that might have fooled some riders into going faster than they would have. At one point on trail, Alexis wondered if we were on trail, and she could see any hooftprints in the dirt. I told her to look behind us as there were still no hoof prints. (Then we saw a ribbon, so we knew we were ok). Riding a horse who lives on rocks helped me as he was used to concussion. #3) The wind dried the sweat from horses, so riders couldn't tell that the horses were working as hard as they were. We grazed a lot on trail and in camp. Plus Patsy had bought a watermelon that was not quite ripe yet, so Piper got to eat it. I think this all helped to keep his gut working and to keep him hydrated.
The next day, Piper looked great. There were Ride and Tie riders getting ready to go 20 miles who invited us to come along. I declined.:-) He ate like a horse while we packed up camp. We headed towards home, and soon blew a tire on the RV. While waiting for the service truck, he grazed in a field next to the truck stop for 2 hours straight. We spent the night at Val Jaffes place south of Dallas, where he had a round pen to move around in. We were fed a delicious meal, got a good nights sleep, and got home the next evening. Piper came prancing out of the trailer, trotted proud around the barn lot, and galloped off to be with his pasture buddies. Then, just for the fun of it, he did a victory lap around the field. Nothing quite like bringing a horse home from a ride that feels good enough to do that.
Now we get ready for the next ride.
Paul N. Sidio
KMA Chazz Piper (who now has completed five 100 mile rides)
Spokane MO
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Blazing Saddles 2011 - Keith Kibler
Shawneesunrisefarm.net - Full Story
March 15 2011
One of the challenges of doing endurance in the Midwest part of the U.S. is that there are not many rides in the heat of the summer, or the cold and snow of the winter. The 2010-2011 winter in the Midwest was a real lulu. Much of the months of December and January were 25 degrees and under. So, we have to travel south to find rides in the winter.
We like doing rides in the South, because the people we meet are very friendly, and the vets often have an understanding of gaited horses. Blazing Saddles features one of our very favorite vets, Otis Schmidt. Dr. Otis not only understands gaited horses, he owns a TWH. All we ask for is an even shot, and Dr. Otis always gives us this. This is one of Sandy’s favorite rides because she likes the food. The ride manager, Terry Price, arranges for Southern homemade food the night before the ride and Cajun food after the ride.
Sandy had decided months ago to get her 7 year old TWH mare Cheyenne ready for the mare’s first ride. Her thought was that Cheyenne was a long term horse for her and she didn’t want Cheyenne even thinking she might be finished at 25 miles, so she started her out at the 50 mile distance. Cheyenne can be just a little emotional, so Sandy really worked on that issue, and hatched a ride plan to make sure Cheyenne had a calm first ride.
Did I mention how cold it had been in Illinois? Cheyenne was as wooly as a sheep. After the 11 hour drive, we had a rest day before the ride. At the vet in, the vet said Sandy needed to shave the wool off of Cheyenne. Fortunately, she had electric clippers. Now, you need to understand that telling Sandy she needed to trim a horse and turning her loose with an electric set of clippers is very much like telling a chocoholic they should add a bit of coco to their diet. Sandy is infamous for her clipping work amongst our gaited buddies. Please note I said “infamous”. There is very little that my little woman can do to make me mad. Approaching any of “my” horses with anything sharp enough to trim hair is an exception to that rule. She has left one of my favorite mares looking like Billy Idol singing “Rebel Yell” with a prominent Mohawk.
As it turned out, the neighbor in the next trailer provided help. He mentioned that he and his wife owned a sheep ranch and loved shearing. Sandy was in hog heaven and the results looked pretty humorous. Cheyenne lost a considerable amount of weight in fur. In hind sight, I should have made use of our new friend’s expertise and sheared Kate.
5 minutes before the start, Sandy turned Cheyenne around and went backwards on the course. Cheyenne was the only gaited horse in the 50 mile ride. Sandy started Cheyenne out after the other 20 riders had left. 2 more late starters passed her while she was trying to keep Cheyenne calm and in gait. She looked at her heart rate monitor and discovered it had no signal. At least her GPS watch worked. Cheyenne started out a little rough with a lot of head tossing because she wanted to GO! Sandy calmed her down and backed way off from the last riders, then moved her into an even gait. Cheyenne eased into a racking gait between 8.5 and 13 miles an hour.
Cheyenne is a long legged and muscular mare. She is a beautiful bluish grey dapple with a black mane and tail. She has what I would call a “big motor” and is capable of really moving down the trail in a square racking gait. Cheyenne started picking off the horses ahead of her, one by one.
She had started the last of 22 riders and finished in 12th place. Sandy was very happy with those results on Cheyenne’s first endurance ride, especially after an 11 hour haul. She had all As on her vet card except for one B+ on gut sounds at the 2nd vet check.
The 100 started out pre dawn. Kate is about as good as I could hope for during the pre start and many of the Arabians get pretty worked up. My concern for the day was twofold. First, the weather was going to be warmer than previously thought and would prove to be about 80 degrees with high humidity. Secondly, the course was going to be a little different than I had thought and would be about 55 miles of flat road riding.
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=139.msg184#msg184
March 15 2011
One of the challenges of doing endurance in the Midwest part of the U.S. is that there are not many rides in the heat of the summer, or the cold and snow of the winter. The 2010-2011 winter in the Midwest was a real lulu. Much of the months of December and January were 25 degrees and under. So, we have to travel south to find rides in the winter.
We like doing rides in the South, because the people we meet are very friendly, and the vets often have an understanding of gaited horses. Blazing Saddles features one of our very favorite vets, Otis Schmidt. Dr. Otis not only understands gaited horses, he owns a TWH. All we ask for is an even shot, and Dr. Otis always gives us this. This is one of Sandy’s favorite rides because she likes the food. The ride manager, Terry Price, arranges for Southern homemade food the night before the ride and Cajun food after the ride.
Sandy had decided months ago to get her 7 year old TWH mare Cheyenne ready for the mare’s first ride. Her thought was that Cheyenne was a long term horse for her and she didn’t want Cheyenne even thinking she might be finished at 25 miles, so she started her out at the 50 mile distance. Cheyenne can be just a little emotional, so Sandy really worked on that issue, and hatched a ride plan to make sure Cheyenne had a calm first ride.
Did I mention how cold it had been in Illinois? Cheyenne was as wooly as a sheep. After the 11 hour drive, we had a rest day before the ride. At the vet in, the vet said Sandy needed to shave the wool off of Cheyenne. Fortunately, she had electric clippers. Now, you need to understand that telling Sandy she needed to trim a horse and turning her loose with an electric set of clippers is very much like telling a chocoholic they should add a bit of coco to their diet. Sandy is infamous for her clipping work amongst our gaited buddies. Please note I said “infamous”. There is very little that my little woman can do to make me mad. Approaching any of “my” horses with anything sharp enough to trim hair is an exception to that rule. She has left one of my favorite mares looking like Billy Idol singing “Rebel Yell” with a prominent Mohawk.
As it turned out, the neighbor in the next trailer provided help. He mentioned that he and his wife owned a sheep ranch and loved shearing. Sandy was in hog heaven and the results looked pretty humorous. Cheyenne lost a considerable amount of weight in fur. In hind sight, I should have made use of our new friend’s expertise and sheared Kate.
5 minutes before the start, Sandy turned Cheyenne around and went backwards on the course. Cheyenne was the only gaited horse in the 50 mile ride. Sandy started Cheyenne out after the other 20 riders had left. 2 more late starters passed her while she was trying to keep Cheyenne calm and in gait. She looked at her heart rate monitor and discovered it had no signal. At least her GPS watch worked. Cheyenne started out a little rough with a lot of head tossing because she wanted to GO! Sandy calmed her down and backed way off from the last riders, then moved her into an even gait. Cheyenne eased into a racking gait between 8.5 and 13 miles an hour.
Cheyenne is a long legged and muscular mare. She is a beautiful bluish grey dapple with a black mane and tail. She has what I would call a “big motor” and is capable of really moving down the trail in a square racking gait. Cheyenne started picking off the horses ahead of her, one by one.
She had started the last of 22 riders and finished in 12th place. Sandy was very happy with those results on Cheyenne’s first endurance ride, especially after an 11 hour haul. She had all As on her vet card except for one B+ on gut sounds at the 2nd vet check.
The 100 started out pre dawn. Kate is about as good as I could hope for during the pre start and many of the Arabians get pretty worked up. My concern for the day was twofold. First, the weather was going to be warmer than previously thought and would prove to be about 80 degrees with high humidity. Secondly, the course was going to be a little different than I had thought and would be about 55 miles of flat road riding.
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=139.msg184#msg184
Blazing Saddles - and fried hot peppers
Keith Kibler
One of the challenges of doing endurance in the Midwest part of the U.S. is that there are not many rides in the heat of the summer, or the cold and snow of the winter. The 2010-2011 winter in the Midwest was a real lulu. Much of the months of December and January were 25 degrees and under. So, we have to travel south to find rides in the winter.
We like doing rides in the South, because the people we meet are very friendly, and the vets often have an understanding of gaited horses. Blazing Saddles features one of our very favorite vets, Otis Schmidt. Dr. Otis not only understands gaited horses, he owns a TWH. All we ask for is an even shot, and Dr. Otis always gives us this. This is one of Sandy’s favorite rides because she likes the food. The ride manager, Terry Price, arranges for Southern homemade food the night before the ride and Cajun food after the ride.
Sandy had decided months ago to get her 7 year old TWH mare Cheyenne ready for the mare’s first ride. Her thought was that Cheyenne was a long term horse for her and she didn’t want Cheyenne even thinking she might be finished at 25 miles, so she started her out at the 50 mile distance. Cheyenne can be just a little emotional, so Sandy really worked on that issue, and hatched a ride plan to make sure Cheyenne had a calm first ride.
Did I mention how cold it had been in Illinois? Cheyenne was as wooly as a sheep. After the 11 hour drive, we had a rest day before the ride. At the vet in, the vet said Sandy needed to shave the wool off of Cheyenne. Fortunately, she had electric clippers. Now, you need to understand that telling Sandy she needed to trim a horse and turning her loose with an electric set of clippers is very much like telling a chocoholic they should add a bit of coco to their diet. Sandy is infamous for her clipping work amongst our gaited buddies. Please note I said “infamous”. There is very little that my little woman can do to make me mad. Approaching any of “my” horses with anything sharp enough to trim hair is an exception to that rule. She has left one of my favorite mares looking like Billy Idol singing “Rebel Yell” with a prominent Mohawk.
As it turned out, the neighbor in the next trailer provided help. He mentioned that he and his wife owned a sheep ranch and loved shearing. Sandy was in hog heaven and the results looked pretty humorous. Cheyenne lost a considerable amount of weight in fur. In hind sight, I should have made use of our new friend’s expertise and sheared Kate.
5 minutes before the start, Sandy turned Cheyenne around and went backwards on the course. Cheyenne was the only gaited horse in the 50 mile ride. Sandy started Cheyenne out after the other 20 riders had left. 2 more late starters passed her while she was trying to keep Cheyenne calm and in gait. She looked at her heart rate monitor and discovered it had no signal. At least her GPS watch worked. Cheyenne started out a little rough with a lot of head tossing because she wanted to GO! Sandy calmed her down and backed way off from the last riders, then moved her into an even gait. Cheyenne eased into a racking gait between 8.5 and 13 miles an hour.
Cheyenne is a long legged and muscular mare. She is a beautiful bluish grey dapple with a black mane and tail. She has what I would call a “big motor” and is capable of really moving down the trail in a square racking gait. Cheyenne started picking off the horses ahead of her, one by one.
She had started the last of 22 riders and finished in 12th place. Sandy was very happy with those results on Cheyenne’s first endurance ride, especially after an 11 hour haul. She had all As on her vet card except for one B+ on gut sounds at the 2nd vet check.
The 100 started out pre dawn. Kate is about as good as I could hope for during the pre start and many of the Arabians get pretty worked up. My concern for the day was twofold. First, the weather was going to be warmer than previously thought and would prove to be about 80 degrees with high humidity. Secondly, the course was going to be a little different than I had thought and would be about 55 miles of flat road riding.
Flat road riding is the worst thing in the world for Kate. I love this little mare and know her like I have never known a horse. That being said, she is the most challenging gaited horse that I ever ridden. Her running walk is great and very smooth up to 7.5 mph. She then wants to shift into a stepping pace but will, with careful attention rack up to about 11.5 mph. Well, I should have used the word “sometimes” in the previous sentence. I hate a pace. Of course, she will flat foot walk, canter, lope and gallop. She only uses the last three gaits on cue and I very rarely let her gallop.
We went out in the dark for the first 15 mile road loop just behind the leading group of 5 Arabians. Yes, all the other horses in the race were Arabians. Things were going well until about mile 8. Kate was all systems “go” and drank well at the only water stop in the 15 mile road loop.
Then my ride dramatically changed. Trying to be delicate, I would suggest to you that all of us know what it means to have “nature come calling” in a ride or race. “Nature came calling”, but not with a gentle knock on the front door. It kicked in my door. My camper was 19 miles away at camp. The riders behind me must have thought I had lost my mind because I peeled off the road and headed Kate into the woods in a hurry. As I tied Kate to a tree, she seemed to look at me with a confused eye.
Meanwhile, there was an endurance ride passing us by. My friend Paul Sidio caught us once we were back on the road. I was very glad to have company as I really did not feel well. We finished the first 24 mile loop together and I saw Sandy come into the ride camp after Kate had cleared the vet check with flying colors. I don’t think I would have been labeled as “fit to continue” if the vets had looked closely at me.
Sandy has a frozen shoulder and Cheyenne is so tall Sandy had to use a picnic table to mount her. I made the decision to let my out time slide by to help her, and just take the turtle award with Kate. This decision was fateful later.
As Kate and I headed out alone, the temperature rose to about 80 degrees. By mile 40 I was so dehydrated that I was seeing orange colors in the woods that I knew were not real. My thoughts became cloudy and I had to concentrate to stay upright on the horse. I got dizzy and caught myself leaning forward in my English saddle to stay upright. Kate took care of me and we slowed down.
We were now firmly in possession of the turtle, which of course means we were last. I just wanted to complete and try to keep hydrated as well as I could. We headed out of the mile 70 vet check with only one B+ on our vet card to go with a lot of “A”s. Kate seemed to have a loss of energy from mile 75 to mile 80. When her energy level dropped, we walked and then picked up to a running walk for a while. Her heart rate during this time was often between 80 and 90. She really picked up energy from mile 80 to the next vet check at mile 85. Thankfully, Sandy was waiting for me at ride camp and as soon as Kate dropped her heart rate, I headed to the trailer for my own needs.
When I went back to climb back into the saddle, Sandy and the vets where still looking at Kate. Sandy had counted 24 swallows at the trough during the break and Kate had eaten well. But her gut sounds were quiet and she did not look perky. Her heart rate was a bit higher than normal for her. Her gut sounds came back on all quadrants, but I did not think Kate was herself.
I simply did not like the look in her eye. I rode this horse 1000 miles last year and I have bonded with her in a way I did not know a rider and horse could bond. Dr. Otis mentioned her eye. I interrupted him and said that was “exactly what I am concerned about .“ I told the vets that Kate had taken care of me all day and that I was making the decision to take care of her and we were taking a “rider option” if they would allow it. They did just that.
Kate was fine after the walk to the trailer and some more eating and water. Paul said I was seeing the reflection of my own eye in Kate’s eye, riding the end of a flat hot 100 by ourselves. With almost 8 hours left and only 15 miles to complete I could have walked or jogged with her but I did what I thought was right. We both healed up and I learned or relearned three valuable lessons.
1. Always take care of your horse. Awards are nothing in relation to the welfare of your horse.
2. Never, EVER, eat a plate of fried hot peppers before 100 mile ride, no matter how hungry you are.
3. Just because you ride a horse that doesn’t trot during a ride doesn’t mean you might not end up trotting yourself.
Rack on my friends,
Keith
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We like doing rides in the South, because the people we meet are very friendly, and the vets often have an understanding of gaited horses. Blazing Saddles features one of our very favorite vets, Otis Schmidt. Dr. Otis not only understands gaited horses, he owns a TWH. All we ask for is an even shot, and Dr. Otis always gives us this. This is one of Sandy’s favorite rides because she likes the food. The ride manager, Terry Price, arranges for Southern homemade food the night before the ride and Cajun food after the ride.
Sandy had decided months ago to get her 7 year old TWH mare Cheyenne ready for the mare’s first ride. Her thought was that Cheyenne was a long term horse for her and she didn’t want Cheyenne even thinking she might be finished at 25 miles, so she started her out at the 50 mile distance. Cheyenne can be just a little emotional, so Sandy really worked on that issue, and hatched a ride plan to make sure Cheyenne had a calm first ride.
Did I mention how cold it had been in Illinois? Cheyenne was as wooly as a sheep. After the 11 hour drive, we had a rest day before the ride. At the vet in, the vet said Sandy needed to shave the wool off of Cheyenne. Fortunately, she had electric clippers. Now, you need to understand that telling Sandy she needed to trim a horse and turning her loose with an electric set of clippers is very much like telling a chocoholic they should add a bit of coco to their diet. Sandy is infamous for her clipping work amongst our gaited buddies. Please note I said “infamous”. There is very little that my little woman can do to make me mad. Approaching any of “my” horses with anything sharp enough to trim hair is an exception to that rule. She has left one of my favorite mares looking like Billy Idol singing “Rebel Yell” with a prominent Mohawk.
As it turned out, the neighbor in the next trailer provided help. He mentioned that he and his wife owned a sheep ranch and loved shearing. Sandy was in hog heaven and the results looked pretty humorous. Cheyenne lost a considerable amount of weight in fur. In hind sight, I should have made use of our new friend’s expertise and sheared Kate.
5 minutes before the start, Sandy turned Cheyenne around and went backwards on the course. Cheyenne was the only gaited horse in the 50 mile ride. Sandy started Cheyenne out after the other 20 riders had left. 2 more late starters passed her while she was trying to keep Cheyenne calm and in gait. She looked at her heart rate monitor and discovered it had no signal. At least her GPS watch worked. Cheyenne started out a little rough with a lot of head tossing because she wanted to GO! Sandy calmed her down and backed way off from the last riders, then moved her into an even gait. Cheyenne eased into a racking gait between 8.5 and 13 miles an hour.
Cheyenne is a long legged and muscular mare. She is a beautiful bluish grey dapple with a black mane and tail. She has what I would call a “big motor” and is capable of really moving down the trail in a square racking gait. Cheyenne started picking off the horses ahead of her, one by one.
She had started the last of 22 riders and finished in 12th place. Sandy was very happy with those results on Cheyenne’s first endurance ride, especially after an 11 hour haul. She had all As on her vet card except for one B+ on gut sounds at the 2nd vet check.
The 100 started out pre dawn. Kate is about as good as I could hope for during the pre start and many of the Arabians get pretty worked up. My concern for the day was twofold. First, the weather was going to be warmer than previously thought and would prove to be about 80 degrees with high humidity. Secondly, the course was going to be a little different than I had thought and would be about 55 miles of flat road riding.
Flat road riding is the worst thing in the world for Kate. I love this little mare and know her like I have never known a horse. That being said, she is the most challenging gaited horse that I ever ridden. Her running walk is great and very smooth up to 7.5 mph. She then wants to shift into a stepping pace but will, with careful attention rack up to about 11.5 mph. Well, I should have used the word “sometimes” in the previous sentence. I hate a pace. Of course, she will flat foot walk, canter, lope and gallop. She only uses the last three gaits on cue and I very rarely let her gallop.
We went out in the dark for the first 15 mile road loop just behind the leading group of 5 Arabians. Yes, all the other horses in the race were Arabians. Things were going well until about mile 8. Kate was all systems “go” and drank well at the only water stop in the 15 mile road loop.
Then my ride dramatically changed. Trying to be delicate, I would suggest to you that all of us know what it means to have “nature come calling” in a ride or race. “Nature came calling”, but not with a gentle knock on the front door. It kicked in my door. My camper was 19 miles away at camp. The riders behind me must have thought I had lost my mind because I peeled off the road and headed Kate into the woods in a hurry. As I tied Kate to a tree, she seemed to look at me with a confused eye.
Meanwhile, there was an endurance ride passing us by. My friend Paul Sidio caught us once we were back on the road. I was very glad to have company as I really did not feel well. We finished the first 24 mile loop together and I saw Sandy come into the ride camp after Kate had cleared the vet check with flying colors. I don’t think I would have been labeled as “fit to continue” if the vets had looked closely at me.
Sandy has a frozen shoulder and Cheyenne is so tall Sandy had to use a picnic table to mount her. I made the decision to let my out time slide by to help her, and just take the turtle award with Kate. This decision was fateful later.
As Kate and I headed out alone, the temperature rose to about 80 degrees. By mile 40 I was so dehydrated that I was seeing orange colors in the woods that I knew were not real. My thoughts became cloudy and I had to concentrate to stay upright on the horse. I got dizzy and caught myself leaning forward in my English saddle to stay upright. Kate took care of me and we slowed down.
We were now firmly in possession of the turtle, which of course means we were last. I just wanted to complete and try to keep hydrated as well as I could. We headed out of the mile 70 vet check with only one B+ on our vet card to go with a lot of “A”s. Kate seemed to have a loss of energy from mile 75 to mile 80. When her energy level dropped, we walked and then picked up to a running walk for a while. Her heart rate during this time was often between 80 and 90. She really picked up energy from mile 80 to the next vet check at mile 85. Thankfully, Sandy was waiting for me at ride camp and as soon as Kate dropped her heart rate, I headed to the trailer for my own needs.
When I went back to climb back into the saddle, Sandy and the vets where still looking at Kate. Sandy had counted 24 swallows at the trough during the break and Kate had eaten well. But her gut sounds were quiet and she did not look perky. Her heart rate was a bit higher than normal for her. Her gut sounds came back on all quadrants, but I did not think Kate was herself.
I simply did not like the look in her eye. I rode this horse 1000 miles last year and I have bonded with her in a way I did not know a rider and horse could bond. Dr. Otis mentioned her eye. I interrupted him and said that was “exactly what I am concerned about .“ I told the vets that Kate had taken care of me all day and that I was making the decision to take care of her and we were taking a “rider option” if they would allow it. They did just that.
Kate was fine after the walk to the trailer and some more eating and water. Paul said I was seeing the reflection of my own eye in Kate’s eye, riding the end of a flat hot 100 by ourselves. With almost 8 hours left and only 15 miles to complete I could have walked or jogged with her but I did what I thought was right. We both healed up and I learned or relearned three valuable lessons.
1. Always take care of your horse. Awards are nothing in relation to the welfare of your horse.
2. Never, EVER, eat a plate of fried hot peppers before 100 mile ride, no matter how hungry you are.
3. Just because you ride a horse that doesn’t trot during a ride doesn’t mean you might not end up trotting yourself.
Rack on my friends,
Keith
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