Virginia Highlands - Kat's View

It was a fine ride, I met some fine people, I was provided with a fine horse, and I had a fine time."

..differences between west coast and east coast rides?

And judging from that statement, which I stand by, I must confess that there really aren't many differences between east coast and west coast endurance; except at endurance rides closer to home (i.e on the west coast) I usually bring my own horse so the "I was provided with a fine horse" doesn't apply. However i do think that pretty much every endurance ride I have ever been to can be summed up as;

"It was a fine ride, I met some fine people, I rode a fine horse, and I had a fine time."

I am not being facetious here; I really do think (especially after having gone to Australia the next month and could sum that experience up the same way) that endurance everywhere is more the same than it is different.

But somehow I am not sure that that is going to satisfy Tom so.....

Now I will "write something about the west coast perspective."

Shortly after the break up of the Soviet Union (1994) I was sent to Moscow to help set up the computer systems for the naiscent Russian stock market, during which time I had the chance to live and work in Moscow and visit some of the outlying regions (like Siberia). It was an assignment that entailed spending five weeks in Russia and then returning home for one week to go back and do the same five weeks on/one week off again. I distinctly remember after my first five weeks in Russia, returning home to Southern California and going to the local supermarket, walking in the door and seeing "all that food" and being amazed. In 1994 there was NOTHING like that anywhere in Moscow or, probably, anywhere in the former Soviet Union. But what amazed me the most was not so much that there was "all that food' but also that there were all those people in the supermarket who considered it TOTALLY unremarkable.

Bear with me here, this is relevant.

If somebody were to ask me what is the major difference between west coast and east coast endurance, what truly amazed me was the absolutely profligate use of water (the amount of water that ends up on the ground after having been dumped on the horse is staggering to me); however, what was even more amazing to me was not so much the profligate (from a west coast perspective) use of water, but that there were all those people who considered it TOTALLY unremarkable.

Please note that I am not saying that I think it wrong for riders on the east coast to use water in the way that they do--when in Rome...., just that, well....at the rides that I go to, even those where Ride Management provides a lot of water and it is accessible, on the west coast, we just don't use water that way.

So, for west coast riders who go east, be prepared to see water used in a way that you have never seen before; and for east coast riders who come west, be prepared not to use water the way that you are used to. The rule at the Death Valley ride (and a lot of other desert rides) is "you may NOT use the water that we have trucked out into the middle of the desert to pour on your horse; water is for the horses to drink, period." And don't expect to find any water on the ground.

Other than that, expect to have a fine ride, meet some fine people, ride a fine horse, and have a fine time.

And if you go far enough east or west (depending on which way around you go) to Australia...you will probably get to see a kangaroo, but HOPE that it isn't too up close (like on the front bumper of your car).

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)

Home on the Range - Tekelady

Akhal-Tekes, Cascade Gold blog - Full Story

Monday, March 29, 2010

It's Monday morning and I'm sitting as much as possible, because I'm SORE! But, it's a good 'sore', as I rode my first endurance ride of the season on Saturday at Home on the Range near Washtucna, WA. We did the 50 mile ride, which was probably pushing it a bit, as I've been sick for (it seems, anyway!) most of March. The kids were very generous in sharing their colds and I got one after another. I think we went out on the trails only around 5 times the entire month, with a few more rides in the arena, so I was definately not quite as fit as I had planned to be. Galen has a pretty good base of conditioning and he's no pasture puff, so I figured I'd be the weak link.

Wendy, Monica and I drove over on Friday afternoon, giving my new truck its first real workout. It drove like a champ and kept us all very comfortable. We didn't even play with all the options, as we talked the entire way. We arrived at Ridecamp around 3 or so and got our camp set up. We vetted in without any problems and then went for a nice ride to check out the trail. Gorgeous vistas, lots of tumbleweeds, some pretty good hills and...badger holes! Lots and lots of them, mostly well marked, although we did hear of a few people coming to grief in them. We got very good at spotting them, quite quickly. Monica had brought a yummy dish for supper and then we went to the ride meeting, where we met the ranch owner, Mr. Beckley, and some of his crew (very nice people, they did a lovely job with the ride) our intrepid ride manager, Gail Williams, who always puts on a fantastic ride, and the vets, who do a super job with very little time off. Off to bed early, although a neighbor near us kept their generator on MUCH too long and a patchy night's sleep with an early morning wake up.

Read more here.

In which we go to a ridecamp near Washtucna, and Fiddle goes Far

Haikufarm.blogspot.com - Full Story

Sunday, March 28, 2010

It was pouring rain at home on the farm when we loaded up the SS Illegible and headed out the gate, bound for a little town on the Dry Side. About ten miles east of the teeny little town of Washtucna, WA the clans were gathering for the first endurance event of the season: Home on the Range!

It was, by endurance-rider standards, a short drive: about 5.5 hours, including stops for fuel and lunch. Heck, we didn't even leave the state...although I guess if we'd kept going another hour or so, we'd have gotten to Idaho.

When we got to camp, the wind was blowing like crazy, and it was raining lightly. Unlike Wet Side rain, you could actually get pretty wet in the rain falling from the sky...but if you stayed outdoors for about twenty minutes after the rain stopped falling, you'd be dry again.

And in the meantime, there's the rainbow. Right over the trail. I was hoping that the rainbow was a good omen.

Read more here.

When the going get's tough... stick with endurance

Boots and Saddles, a horse off course
Thursday March 24 2010

Crysta had a very good point on my previous post about First Rides. I failed to point out the positive and uplifting things that are a part of endurance.

I guess I glossed over the positives since I think *most* of us got into endurance because of those ideas...and I assumed we all understood why endurance is so magical. I tried to address the reality of the first ride - and that is that endurance is hard. As someone who had their sights set on 100's and was only using 50's as a stepping stone, my biggest surprise was just how HARD the whole thing was - from start to finish. Even after I decided I needed to finish some LD's to restore my confidence that this was DOABLE, I still found it HARD. My first season I was kinda casual about the 50 mile distance, because it was "just" 50 miles (remember - 100's were my goal). After that disastrous first season, my motto throughout my second season was "respect the distance".

That being said, it does no harm to reiterate what we all know - that endurance is THE horse sport. (I'm just a bit biased...) :)

* That "magical" bond between rider and horse. I'm not a particularly emotional person. I've gotten good at faking socially correct emotions as not to be labeled as "potential serial killer", but when it comes right down to it I can be a bit... hard. Picturing Minx's effort at the end of our first, disastrous 50, or thinking about Farley's first 100 mile completion brings tears to my eyes. It was a YEAR after the 50 before I could accurately describe the 50 without bursting into tears. Horse and rider are so in tune to each other, it's magic. We are equals (even though I STILL get the final say on speed :) ).

[...more]

Blazing Saddles 2010

Keith and Sandy Kibler
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=113.0http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/

We needed to escape the snow; we had to escape the snow and mud. Maybe, if we went south it would be warm and dry. “Maybe”, is a very indefinite word.

Blazing Saddles is in Laurel Mississippi, which is about 100 miles north of the Gulf. We left southern Il at 18 degrees. When we got to Mississippi the temperature started dropping and then the rain started. The good news is that their version of miserable weather could not touch our version of miserable weather. Everything is relative isn’t it?

One of our reasons for going to this ride was that the head vet is Dr Otis Schmidt. Otis is not only completely fair no matter what type of horse you ride; he owns a TWH and understands the nuances of the oddities of judging a gaited horse. I would travel a long way to see Otis at an endurance ride.

Sandy had trained Jazz, a fiery TWH mare for the LD and I had Kate ready for a mid pace 50 miler. Kate is the worst moving horse we own but she is also my favorite. Her personality is that of a labrador retriever. She is also has the perfect emotional stability for endurance. Nothing fazes her. She couldn't care less about imaginary bogey men, being in front, or being in back. Her heart rate drops like a stone. Her only drawback is her movement. Left to her own devices she would pace when she stands still. So, we condition, we train and we learn together. I love this little horse. I dream that she will be my Tevis horse.

Jazz is the most mareish mare we own. She has a rock hard constitution. She decided last fall that she did not want to move forward when another horse came towards her. Now, that might not seem like something important, but when a course is “out and back” you could end up stopping frequently. She also would back up at that moment. Now, my Sandy is a super duper rider and will do things on a horse that leave me weak kneed, but I did not think she needed to compete on this horse until this issue was fixed. We worked and worked and had it rectified but I was not sure that it was fixed on a permanent basis without having another horse as a buddy for Jazz. Endurance ride situations can be stressful enough without a horse having its own issues.

We looked at having Jazz buddy up with Kate and then do a slow 50, but Jazz was too young by a few weeks. She was able, but not eligible. So, Sandy decided to ride Blues, my 16 year old MFT. Blues is a rocket, and has completed several 50s. He has top tened more times than not and has won one 50. However, I keep track of training on all our horses and I knew that Blues only had a little less than 100 miles of riding in the previous 8 weeks. His 12 month mileage before that was about 900 miles. I was concerned his recent mileage was not enough to let him have a good event. Sandy decided to ride him in the 25 mile LD, while I took Kate on a 50 mile stroll.

The ride was a very long way away and was primitive. It was really primitive and you had to take your own human and horse water. Sandy decided to put our new water tank in the trailer stud stall instead of the truck bed. She then filled it up. When we got to the race we discovered that the tank had a molded cover over the inside to the hose spout so that we could not get the water out without using a garden hose through the top of the tank and starting a siphon. I tried to remove the spigot cover from inside the filled tank. Boy, was that cold.

This was the friendliest ride I have ever been to. The people where from as far west as Nevada , as far east as South Carolina and as far north as Illinois. All the horses were Arabians except for our two and a Rocky and a saddle bred cross. Both of the later paced and their riders posted. The ride featured fantastic food at no extra cost. Friday night was catered catfish with all the trimming and Saturday night was homemade Jambalaya.

My friend Paul Sideo talked Sandy into riding Blues in the 50. He knows Blues from his ride at Sedalia Mo, where Blues was 5th. I told Sandy we could ride together and have a great day of husband-wife time if she just took her foot off of Blue’s accelerator pedal. She agreed to watch the GPS and his heart rate monitor and that we would go to the back and hang out.

We hooked up with Ginny Conner and her Chocolate Rocky named Rambo and started off the 50 near the back of the 29 riders. Blues was definitely full of himself and was pulling on Sandy to the point she became concerned. He was not listening to her at all and his desire to "go" was made worse by his being passed by galloping Arabians more than once without a warning. I asked Sandy if she had changed any of his tack and she admitted to putting on a new curb chain. That was the problem and I changed it one hole and Blues completely calmed down. If you ever lose the curb chain on that horse you are going for a detour off the trail to where ever he wants to go because he requires a handle to steer him.

We came through the first vet check fine and Kate and Blues were at 64 when we presented them. At mile 15, Sandy turned Blues around and said, "Blues is a completely different horse now, his energy level is very good, do you think it is alright to go on?" What I think she really meant was, "See you later!" She was gone.

Kate and Ginny and Rambo motored right along at about a 7.5 mph the rest of the day. We caught Paul Sidio and his Arabian about mile 23 and we all had a lovely time. Paul is an old touring professional musician and guitar player and we spent many miles playing music trivia. For me, one of the most fun things about rides is making new friends and the time you get to spend getting acquainted. Kate made me work on 15 miles of Georgia red clay road riding, as the flat surface is the worst thing for her gate. When I came out of my trailer to start the last 12 miles, Kate had untied herself from the trailer and was gone. That sure will wake you up. I found her at the starting line tied to a tree. It seems she was ready to go back on trail.

Paul's horse was trotting and Ginny's Rambo was pacing and Kate was watching their movements and letting that affect her gait. I decided I was not going to have that over that last 12 miles. I stepped her speed up out of starting line and slapped her with the reins on both shoulders. Keep in mind this horse is not just a horse to me. I really do love this horse. I have bonded with her more than any other horse I have ever owned. She is my sweet heart. But, she is most definitely not going to bounce me out of the saddle. The "attention getter" worked immediately and she, not only payed attention, she went to 9-9.5 mph and settled into the best rack she knows how to produce. We zoomed.

Kate crossed the finish line tied with Ginny and Rambo for 19th and it only took about 2 minutes to reach heart rate. It was the only time she had not been at criteria when I presented her. Sandy and Blues had left us in 22nd place at the 15 mile mark. They finished tied for 11th. Had they not held back the first 15 miles, they would have undeniably finished around 5th. We were presented with monogrammed hay bags with "Blazing Saddles" on them and I won a DVD of the film of the same name for being the first one to know a quote from the movie. Knowing "Candy gram for Mongo!" came in handy.

Ginny told me later that she came out of her trailer the next morning to find Rambo missing in action. Everyone helped her look for the horse but he was not to be found. Eventually she was the only one left in the remote campground as darkness fell. After she shut herself in for a lonely night, she heard a knock on the trailer door and a local cowboy told her a friend of his had found a horse in a blanket, and wanted to know if she was she missing one. Rambo had turned himself in at a local farm. All was well.

Jerry Price and her gracious husband put on one heck of a ride and we will most definitely go back. It features good trails and southern hospitality. It is a chance to pick up a friendly 100 miler if that is your thing. I give it 5 stars out of 5!

This was our 34th and 35th start. What we learned from this ride:

1. After a good years base mileage, it does not take as much mileage as I have previously thought
to leg up for the first 50 of the year. It seems our gaited horses don’t lag behind on that issue as
much as I thought.
2. Always check things that are new, like that water tank, and the chin strap on Blues.
3. You just meet the nicest people at these rides.
4. Learning useless trivia is not always useless.
5. My little Sandy is my hero and does not always rub it in when she finishes 1 ½ hours before me.
6. Our Supplement routine is working.


Keith and Sandy Kibler
Shawnee Sunrise Farm

Twenty Mule Team Ride Story Part 1 - Calico Girl

Betsnevada.blogspot.com - Full Story

Monday, March 1, 2010

Okay, the forecast for the ride was rain. I live in the desert, rain in the desert means a little drizzle in winter or a cloudsburst for a couple of minutes then sun. Well, all I can say is Thank God we spent a day working on water crossings.

We left LV at 9am Friday, so we could get in early, vet-in and check out the trail. At this point I still wasn't sure what saddle or stirrups I was going to use. The old Stonewall I got was painful to ride in, but that was what I had been using and I felt pretty secure in it. The other endurance saddle I had was more comfortable, but that's the one I was using when I fell, so I was superstitious. Robin just laughed at me, 'just keep your heels down and you won't fall'. This became the constant reminder in the ride,"Heels down!". I went with the more comfortable saddle and I'm glad now.

After the ride meeting, Robin decided we needed a bottle of wine. I was checking out lables, but she went for big and cheap. We got a little silly, I guess, because the the sixty-five miler camped next to us kept coming out to see what was bothering her horse. Some horses haven't been desensitized to cackling women, apparently. I don't remember what we thought was so funny; maybe it was the realization that the forecast was rain, and I hadn't packed rain-gear. I live in the desert; I don't own rain-gear. Did I mention, I was nervous? I didn't sleep. Around 2 am, the rain started. ..

More of Part I...

Twenty Mule Team Ride Story Part 2

Twenty Mule Team Ride Story Part 3

20 Mule Team - Karen Chaton

Enduranceridestuff.com/blog - Story and photos by Karen Chaton

Here are a few photos from the ride Saturday. I’ve got lots more still to download and will post more later.

According to my GPS, I made it 17.3 miles which was basically to the first vet check. Bo was off when I went to leave and as soon as I felt him trot not quite right I turned around and came back and pulled.

Bo saved me from another 17 hours of riding in the rain. I really wanted to ride the entire ride but this year it wasn’t meant to be. Even though I could have continued I would have probably really messed up my horse. This was his first pull.

More...

Dynamite Dash - Noway's POV

NoWaysTails.blogspot.com

First off, I’m a SE region horse and this desert dwelling is new. Actually, when I got off the trailer after four days on the road, back in January, I thought Mom had taken us to another planet! Nothing looks like it ought to! The trees are short, and the bushes have stickers of outstanding size on them and the sky is so big sometimes I just stand and stare at it. Then there are those really big trees with big fat limbs that look like giant men. Whew, I couldn’t even go out alone with Mom I was so scared. But she finally figured out that if she ponied my pal Sully along, we could go out just fine to explore. Mom complained about her whoa muscles some, but we thought she’d better be getting in shape for the ride season.

When Mom's best friend, Mary Lynn suddenly showed up and started to ride Sully we knew a ride must be coming up. Then they started to busy themselves giving us a bath, blanketed us, clipped off some of our winter coat and generally fussed way too much, we knew a ride was about to happen soon.
It had to be the shortest trailer ride to a ridecamp we ever took. Maybe twenty minutes, so I had to hurry and pee and poop before we got there. Mom loves to clean up after us, so I work hard to make sure she’s happy.

Ride camp was tight, but as long as Sully is next to me all is well. Again more fussing over me, looking here and there to see if I still have four legs I guess. Vet says we’re good to go, so back to more food for the night while Mom and Mary Lynn oh and ah over their dinner of Lasagna. She’s smiling so all is well.

Dawn and time to go! We got to watch some horses go out earlier and thought Mom and Mary Lynn had forgotten to get up, but alas there they were tying us up and saddling. Mom checks and checks, the saddle, the boots, the packs, good grief, as long as she doesn’t forget the treats, I’m good to go.

[...more]

20 Mule Team

Bootsandsaddles4mel.blogspot.com - Full Story

March 1 2010

The full story (ie the ever popular "lessons learned" posts that everyone finds so entertaining) will come in a couple of days, but to satisfy everyone's curiosity, here's the basic plot of my first 100 mile completion. (Sorry – it got kind of long, so it's less basic and more....comprehensive)

Ah yes, it was a completion! Whoo hoo!

OK – as I reread this, I realize most of it sounds really negative and un-fun. Let me start off by saying that this was one of the most emotional, rewarding, taxing, painful, fulfilling event in my life. This event fulfills a long-held dream and is why I started in endurance – to ride 100 miles in 24 hours. Very few things in life are really really hard and rarely have I been challenged and pushed to the limit like I was on Saturday. As I write this, I am re-living the pain of the event, but I'm also re-living the in-describle joy of having accomplished something so….(can't think of a word that describes the feeling I have).

Typical of most newbie 100 mile riders, I took care of my horse to the detriment of myself. As a result, my horse is great and I'm here, almost 24 hours later, sitting in my chair trying to pretend I'm not STILL nauseous when focusing on anything further than about 10 feet from me, and ignoring the bloody painful scabs on the inside of my knees and calves.

More...

She Rides, I Pay: Endurance

January 18, 2010
By: Elizabeth Howell

Who’s crazier? The endurance rider or runner?

Here in Vermont, there’s an annual event I have volunteered at for several years. It caters to two groups of elite athletes. It’s the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Race.

There are actually two races happening simultaneously: one for runners and one for riders.

I have only ever participated in two sports: horseback riding and running. This event is the most fascinating apex of the two. When you pull into the parking area (a huge field) there are tents, portable paddocks and horse trailers. The runners are as fascinated by the horses as the riders are by the runners. There is one thing these two groups have in common: no fear of porta-potties.

I am one of the few people I’ve encountered at these events that has a foot in each sport. I’m no ultrarunner, but I have run (jogged—slowly) three marathons and a dozen or so half-marathons. Going to an ultramarathon is sort of like watching a grand-prix. It’s one of the most extreme events in the sport.

This year, the event takes place on July 17, and the starting line is in South Woodstock, Vermont. South Woodstock is the postcard-Vermont you’d imagine when fantasizing about moving to the country: stunning views of green mountains; bubbling brooks; old, well-tended red barns and valleys dotted with wildflowers.

[...more]

Storm's Death Valley Encounter Adventures - Aylisha

Life With Firestorm Blog

Ok, now that I am somewhat combobulated after coming back from DVE, I can post our adventure...:) Overall in summary, he did an awesome job for his first ride and I think he'll make a great endurance horse! This may get long...hang in there or just skip along if you get bored :) I think I will split it into two posts anyway....
Since deciding Storm was going to do a ride sometime soon, I have been looking for one to take him to. It had to be an LD, as it will be a while to get him in shape for 50's, with our rainy winter weather. I decided on the Death Valley Encounter over New Year's for several reasons. It was an XP/SSR (managed by Dave Nicholson) ride so I knew it would be low stress and a great intro for him without a bunch of horses galloping off in a tizzy, riders worrying about "winning", etc. Management is fairly loose too, so they don't harass /you with a gazillion vet checks, spotters, etc. You just get a trail to follow and some mellow ppl to ride with... for me, a perfect setting for a horse's first ride :)

We would also have a longish 2 day drive to get there, so it would be a good chance to see how he'd travel (a BIG key that I think a lot of ppl forget about in endurance, though perhaps not everyone is as nutty as Terri and I...

More...

Looking Back ~ Moving Forward - Endurance Granny

Endurancegranny Blog
December 31 2009

Looking back on the year and what a year it was. I was full of ambition and hopes of accomplishment for 2009. As they say pride goeth before the fall. My year of great accomplishment became my year of humbling experience. It is said that we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes and I can fully attest to that as an essential truth. I worked hard with Phebes, but there were just too many elements missing in my mental arsenal. Our first LD was a disaster on so many levels. Horse out of control, the unexpected heat, too much speed, my crash off of her, metabolic melt down, heat exhaustion (rider), what a way to debut my horse into the world of endurance riding... So there we sat, Phebes on IV fluids, and me with cold wet towels dripping on my head, too sick to even taste the humble pie. But that experience sure steepened my learning curve! I can not say with assurance that Phebes will never have another tie-up. But I can say that I will not ever be the cause of another tie-up. We learned a lot about rating.

More...

California: Look, Ma, No Car!

Concierge.com - Full Story
by Susan Hack | Published January 2010

In the Egyptian desert, near the Pyramids, a horse bolted. I wasn't hurt, but now whenever I get on a horse, instead of pleasure all I can think about is falling off. I've ridden since childhood but have come to Ricochet Ridge Ranch, just north of Fort Bragg, hoping to recover confidence and strike a balance between common sense and obsessive dread.

Ranch owner Lari Shea is a breeder and champion rider of endurance racehorses. Her weeklong riding holidays take guests through Mendocino County's forests, cattle flats, and miles of undeveloped beach, mainly at a high-speed trot. Veterans of twenty-five- to hundred-mile-long contests, Shea's horses, many of them Arabian and Russian Orlov crosses, are equine ultra-marathoners. A high-energy, five-foot-tall ringer for Sandra Dee, Shea greets me wearing a flamboyant red-and-black western shirt, black riding tights, cowboy boots, and knee holsters for cell phone and hoof picks.

In the barn I meet my charge for the week, Citron, a fourteen-year-old palomino mare, half Arabian and half Akhal-Teke, an obscure but smooth-gaited breed from Turkmenistan.

More...

Terry Rashid

The Coso Junction Warmup (sanctioned under the name Death Valley Warmup) was the first ride of the 2010 season, at least within any reasonable commute of the bay area. It was also my last chance to get Keen qualified for the FEI1* in January. Unfortunately, Keen was still slightly lame prior to the ride, so once again Escapade needed to step in and take her place. (I can only imagine the conversation that Escapade is going to have with Keen when she returns: “Hey you lazy mare, you stop faking this front foot lameness or I’m gonna *kick* your butt. I am tired of these ridiculous multi-day rides!”)

Of course in some ways, it made it easier on me, because now I was only planning to bring one horse, instead of two. Even if Keen had been OK for a 50 miler, I would not have done two days of 50s with her recent issues. So now it was just Escapade and me. No worries about a horse left in camp while I was off riding, and I only needed to haul water for one, and pick manure for one – a lot less work.

I like to head out in the early morning for long drives. This one was around 375 miles, so I headed out at 4:00am. While that meant I didn’t have any traffic to deal with headed out of the bay area, it also meant that I would be driving Pacheo pass in the dark. Thankfully there were no accidents going in the eastbound direction. Unfortunately there was a nasty looking multicar pileup going the other way. I must have driven by just after it occurred because there was steam or smoke still coming from at least one of the cars and there were no emergency vehicles on the scene. I kept thinking, “Please let no one be badly hurt,” as I drove on, shaken.

Once I reached I-5 the driving became very straightforward and flat. I turned on some music and watched the miles roll by. I knew where I planning to stop for breakfast, a McDonalds in Coalinga. In an unusual bit of advance planning I had located the McDonalds along my route, picked one at a good distance for breakfast (~140 miles) and looked at the aerial satellite imagery to make sure there would be a place to park the rig. Amazing! Actually, it worked really well, so perhaps I will try to remember to do that again for other trips. J

There was diesel at a Mobil station across the way from the McDonalds, so I thought I would fuel up there even though I wasn’t low. Unfortunately it had the SLOWEST pump I’ve ever dealt with – less than 1 gallon per minute! I decided to hang out there for a while so I could eat some of my breakfast while not driving, but I still only got around 8 gallons before my patience (and my egg & cheese biscuit) ran out. The sun had risen during my stop, so between that and the latte, I hit the road again considerably more awake.

[...more]

2009 DVE Warm Up Ride Day 1 - Becky Hackworth

The day dawned I think....it was still dark with clouds. I did something we all know we shouldn't, but I tried some new things for the ride that I hadn't tested out at home. A head/neck warmer, a waterproof pair of pants and a new lightweight jacket. It all worked out well though. I did bring my been there done that horse, Marc, because my most frequent riding partner Sue wasn't sure she would be able to ride. So just to be safe, I didn't bring Roy my youngster. lol

We started off on the first loop on essentially the same trail as the old Geo Bun Buster ride. Marc felt really strong all the way to the quick vet check on the back side of the mountain. I took about 5 minutes for him to pulse down but he was quite warm and has a really heavy coat this year. I don't have the heart to clip since we had snow last Monday and it is still very early in the year for cold weather here in the Sierra's.

Well after cooling off he was fine and good to go. So off we went. At this point we were alone and we were heading for a little pass that lead down to a little valley that sometimes has wild horses. Well just before we got to the pass, it got foggy. Really foggy. Really sort of cool riding in it. At times it got cold but the new outfit proved very good at keeping me warm and dry. It really does pay to have the right gear.

Just before climing out of the valley, Marci Cunningham and Lori Bertoluchi(sp) caught up with me so I tagged along for the rest of the day. The fog stayed with us the rest of the first loop. I could tell where we were just because I have ridden the area before, not because I could see where we were.

All good at lunch in camp, then back we go for the second loop. About that time it started to rain. Nothing like they saw in Kentucky this year, but certainly a lot for the desert. Really just a heavy drizzle, but the water was running off my vizor. No wind which was good.

On the last leg in to camp instead of the desert ride phenomenon of being able to see camp from everywhere on trail, we could only see two lights. Everything else was fog and rain.

We all finished in good shape, all the ponies good to go again even though I was the only one planning to ride day two.

Becky Hackworth

Death Valley Warmup Ride Report, Part 2

Karen Chaton

I’ll start with what it was like just getting to the ride. For a few days leading up to the trip, we were experiencing extremely cold temperatures (for here). We’d had a high temp the day before I left of 16, while it got down into the minus 10 and teens at night. A storm had come in a couple of days ahead of the really cold temps and dropped a foot and a half of snow.

It took me awhile traipsing through the snow just to get everything loaded into the trailer for the trip. The day before I ran an extension cord from the barn to the trailer. I brought out a small electric heater figuring I’d turn it on inside the trailer LQ to keep things from getting too cold. At temperatures below zero, things will still burst inside the refrigerator. The only problem with that idea is that I overloaded the circuit breaker in the barn. Between the lights in the barn, the two stock tank heaters and the trailer it was just too much. And of course, I found out by noticing that the horses water trough was frozen the next morning. Doesn’t take long in minus temps. Fortunately it didn’t freeze enough to kill the fish. They have been frozen before and come back to life.

Each time the breaker tripped I’d have to go back and forth from the house through the snow, until I realized that it was a losing battle and just ended up unplugging the trailer and forgetting trying to heat it and didn’t pack any food ahead of time.

snowtable 150x150 Death Valley Warmup Ride Report, Part 2The road conditions during this time were horrible. It’s almost a week later (today) and the county finally came along and plowed our street. Ha! I knew that I wouldn’t be able to leave early and had to watch for my window of opportunity so that I could get from here down to Coso Junction. It’s about 270 miles if I go down Highway 395. It adds at least an hour if I go around through Nevada and come over Montgomery Pass. Dave put the chains for both the truck and the trailer in the back seat of my truck. I really wasn’t looking forward to the idea of having to chain up. I just don’t like hauling horses in those kinds of conditions.

[...more]

Ride & Tie - A Great Race by Patrick Davies

Patrick's Blog - Full Story, pictures, and video

Friday, December 4, 2009

I thought that it was about time to create a blog about the Ride & Tie, for it's the Ride & Tie that got me involved in everything endurance related. Back when I was 25 my brother Mike called and told me that his running partner had a friend, Nick Larsen, who needed a race partner. I'd always loved horses, so I thought that I'd give it a try.

That spring I met Mike, his running partner Tim Fenton and Nick for a test ride. Mike and Tim had done the Ride & Tie the year before, but this was a first for Nick and me. On this "test" ride we probably went out and rode/ran for about 5 miles, and you'd have thought we'd gone around the world. At that time I'm sure we never thought we'd be able to do 40 mile training rides and runs in the mountains, but over the next 10 to 15 years that's how it worked out. We improved each year, and about 4 years after the first Ride & Tie we had our best race chronicled in the video.

Justin, Karli, Jake and I were going through some old videos, and found a video of the Park City Ride & Tie. Using that old footage, I put the video below together.

More...

Oklahoma Season Finale - Lucie Hess

Day 1

Had a great ride today at the Season Finale ride in Oklahoma.

Lot's of folks showed up today 24 or so 50's had to be close to 40 LD riders. The weather was lovely, clear, some wind, highs in the 70's. unheard of in late November.

Louise Burton won the 50 and got BC too, she also won the 1/2 Arab National Championship ride this fall.

I finished with a stong horse, he was pulling me to get in. This time I wasn't the turtle, maybe 6 or so people behind me.

After a fast morning trying to keep up with some friends. I dropped back and I just rode at my own pace, and worked on having a sane, calm horse when he's being ridden alone.

I usually ride with someone else, so he gets frantic sometimes when he's by himself. But we had 8 miles of moving along with a loose rein. But not so much on the first 17 miles!

No big spooks so I stayed on! (there's always tomorrow).

Tomorrow same trail, about same number of folks ridng.

Looking forward to the last ride of the year.. Should be another nice day.

More later!

Day 2

Finally I'm home after driving 8hrs. Well, I've really been home since 5 pm, but who's counting?

The Saturday Ride was on the same trail as Friday. Lot's of riders were riding the 2nd day on the 50 and 25.

Jane Huff and Mike Jaffee surprised all of us when they rode up and Mike was riding Jane's horse and Jane was riding his MULE! Jane said no time like now to try to ride a MULE. I told her she was gonna be a mule skinner! So off they went, both finished and had a great time. But ask Jane how well Emme Lou likes mud puddles

My day started off great! Donna Huetteman wanted to ride slow and easy, so we hooked up and rode together. It's always fun to ride with people you don't know very well, because after you spend time together riding the trails and chatting, you get better accquainted.

I was having a good ride, but on the way back, (it was an out and back trail), Spanky took a bad step and then took 3 bobbles on his right leg., then was fine.. this happened a few more times, but it was so intermittent, he was sound on a hard packed road and was trotting sound on the flat ground. I sure didn't know what was going on, but I was pretty concerned. We were close to camp so I just went ahead and rode in.

So I know in my heart we were done and went into the vet check knowing I'd be pulled. And we were and rightly so, by that time he was a grade 2, the vet thought it was on his left front, I still think it was his right front since that's the leg that I felt wasn't quite right.

Donna went ahead and finished the ride, she was pleased with her finish, her first back to back 25's I think it was.

I was pretty disappointed, but oh well.. there's another day.

The day was so nice, clear skies, but much cooler than Friday. There was a stiff cold wind coming in. But much better for the horses, with their winter hair on.

By the time we had awards and a potluck dinner, the wind had really picked up and it was getting pretty cold, a couple of propane heaters were brought out, We talked about how most people think we are crazy to sit outside on a windy, cold night to eat dinner. Well, they think we are crazy for riding so far anyway.

There were lots of riders on Saturday, probably as many as there were on Friday. Lot's of Texas folks as their Thanksgiving ride was cancelled. I got to see Captain Thunderpants, who is leading the nation in Jr miles, he is a cute little pony who just keeps up with the bigger horses and carries his rider, Hannah, around carefully. We told Hannah her pony was cute as we rode by and I heard her tell the person she was riding with, "Everyone says he's so cute".

Even tho I was disappointed with my pull, I still wouldn't have missed the ride. I had a great time both days.

Over the winter, I'll have to remember the unseasonably warm weather and the fun that was had, riding the trails, sitting around a fire with good friends and adult beverages enjoying being out in nature, with Horses! And I'll plan for next year!

Going to ride 50's and hope this lameness was "just one of those things". Doesn't hurt to think positive.

Thanks to Susan Young and Ann McFarland for putting on a great ride with well marked and well trimmed trails.

Now to clean out the trailer and winterize it! Yuck.. I'd rather clean the stalls.

More next year!.

Desert Gold - Judy Etheridge

Also here is my short Desert Gold story:

I really wanted to do at least one day of this ride but was short of horses due to problems with my mares. So I decided to ride minimally conditioned Orion, 24 -1/2 years old, on the LD on Sunday--I was in luck with the weather and the direction of the trail--we went down a bunch of shortish, steep hills--up is definitely not a favorite at his age. Our first loop was perfect--the best ride I have ever had on him--we didn't see any other horses so I was able to let him set the pace. At the lunch break he pulsed right down even with a heavy winter coat and he ate and drank at the trailer--with age comes wisdom--he used to hardly eat or drink during a ride. He was pokey at first on the second loop until a friend of a friend who was looking for someone to ride with caught up with us. That brought him back to life and we trotted most of the loop with O wanting to be in front like the old days. I had to throw some water on him at the end to get his pulse down but it only took a few minutes. He vetted out OK and I breathed a sigh of relief--we did it!
Have to say LDs have their charms--I am not as sore and tired as after a 50 and I didn't really worry about how O was doing because the pace was not nearly so fast as an endurance ride. Today his legs are tight and he doesn't look like he did anything special yesterday which makes me even happier.

Thanks to Scott, Susie and all the volunteers who made the ride possible:):)

Best,

Judy Etheridge

Season Finale Endurance Ride - Heather

Sabumi.blogspot.com - Full Adventure

Monday, November 30, 2009

I didn't want to talk about it before it happened because I didn't want to jinx myself... But I have been scheming and planning to attend the Season Finale 50 Mile Endurance ride in Chandler, OK this weekend!
All day Wednesday, I was busy packing and getting food ready. I was also making a Thanksgiving dinner for John and I. I couldn't handle the thought of going without Thanksgiving food! This is by far my favorite holiday. So, I ruined the turkey, bought a rotisserie cranberry glazed chicken from Target, and everything else was awesome. The chicken was darn good too! We had a grand dinner and packed up the leftovers to take camping with us!

Thursday, John did his traditional Turkey Day 20 miler in the morning, then we packed up and got the horse. Once we were on our way, we just settled in for the 5.5 hour drive. Boomer was a great traveler for the most part. He was moving around a lot for the first hour, so we tied him up and gave him a hay bag. He was much better after that even though he didn't touch the hay. One minor mishap on the drive was a pesky little (HUGE) grasshopper in the truck. He kept flying up between the door and me and scaring the beejesus out of me. I tried opening the window, but he wouldn't leave. He finally perched on my seat to my left, I leaned forward while driving, and John smashed him on the seat behind me. Victory.

Once we arrived we set up camp and I took Boomer for a walk through camp to start getting used to things and also so I could figure out how to enter/get a vet card. Boomer was a totally different horse compared to last time we went camping at Clinton Lake. He didn't pace or call to the other horses at all. He just settled right in and started eating and drinking.

More...