Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Death Valley and Storm's Graduation Ride (part 1)
http://stallionadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/death-valley-and-storms-graduation-ride.html
Death Valley Encounter marks Storm's one year anniversary as an endurance horse.
He did his very first (and second) LD at this ride a year ago, and now he has done his first (he DID do one other, local, 50 in Sept, but it was SO easy, I don't count it as a real 50, as it really didn't test his capabilities of doing a real, tougher 50, like we usually have them out West here) 50 as well. He also did a tough 30 miler the previous day, and now has 80 miles as a good start into the 2011 AERC season. Whoo hoo! This ride was very scenic, so I think I will run this blog post mostly off of pictures with captions :)
It was going to be very iffy on whether or not Storm was going to go, because after coming home late at night from Desert Gold, Terri had forgotten to close the pasture gate (which lets horses into the middle, roundpen pasture and shares a fenceline with Storm's pasture) when she let the horses out of the trailer and put up Storm. This resulted in Terri's new mare teasing Storm over the field fencing that is in that pasture (and usually has a hot tape on top, but was not hot due to the solar charger being dead...no issues with geldings, but an in heat mare? Even good boys find that too tempting), and him going over the top of it. Terri found the fence stomped down and Storm in with the mare and geldings...two weeks later, a preg check showed nothing, so luckily it was late enough in the year to result in no real breeding. Good thing! But sheesh! Too much excitement. I had initially checked him over superficially that morning, and no lameness or big bleeding wounds, so back in the paddock and mud (over fetlock deep) and I fixed the fence (which had torn wire squares and holes, but was mendable). Issue over....so I thought.
A week later, we go out to the beach for a nice ride, and I was able to really clean storm of all his mud...I get to his hind legs, and WTF!?!?! His right rear pastern is puffy, warm, and looks skinned up and crusty...almost like after a rope burn...hmmm...I clean it up more, and find two shallow cuts in the 'bend' of the upper part of the pastern. Sighhhh...so he didn't get away from the fence jumping cleanly after all. I cleaned it up well and it looked fairly good, and checked for lameness...none I could tell. So we decided to lightly walk-ride him and stick him in the ocean waves...salt water baths are always good for these things.
...more
Death Valley Encounter marks Storm's one year anniversary as an endurance horse. He did his very first (and second) LD at this ride a year ago, and now he has done his first (he DID do one other, local, 50 in Sept, but it was SO easy, I don't count it as a real 50, as it really didn't test his capabilities of doing a real, tougher 50, like we usually have them out West here) 50 as well. He also did a tough 30 miler the previous day, and now has 80 miles as a good start into the 2011 AERC season. Whoo hoo! This ride was very scenic, so I think I will run this blog post mostly off of pictures with captions :)
It was going to be very iffy on whether or not Storm was going to go, because after coming home late at night from Desert Gold, Terri had forgotten to close the pasture gate (which lets horses into the middle, roundpen pasture and shares a fenceline with Storm's pasture) when she let the horses out of the trailer and put up Storm. This resulted in Terri's new mare teasing Storm over the field fencing that is in that pasture (and usually has a hot tape on top, but was not hot due to the solar charger being dead...no issues with geldings, but an in heat mare? Even good boys find that too tempting), and him going over the top of it. Terri found the fence stomped down and Storm in with the mare and geldings...two weeks later, a preg check showed nothing, so luckily it was late enough in the year to result in no real breeding. Good thing! But sheesh! Too much excitement. I had initially checked him over superficially that morning, and no lameness or big bleeding wounds, so back in the paddock and mud (over fetlock deep) and I fixed the fence (which had torn wire squares and holes, but was mendable). Issue over....so I thought.
A week later, we go out to the beach for a nice ride, and I was able to really clean storm of all his mud...I get to his hind legs, and WTF!?!?! His right rear pastern is puffy, warm, and looks skinned up and crusty...almost like after a rope burn...hmmm...I clean it up more, and find two shallow cuts in the 'bend' of the upper part of the pastern. Sighhhh...so he didn't get away from the fence jumping cleanly after all. I cleaned it up well and it looked fairly good, and checked for lameness...none I could tell. So we decided to lightly walk-ride him and stick him in the ocean waves...salt water baths are always good for these things.
...more
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Barefoot Endurance ItaliaFriday, December 10, 2010
Impressions from an Endurance Newbie - Jamie Bratt
Equinejournal.com - Full Story and photos
North American Shagya Arabian Society December 2010
December 5 2010
It was a weekend of firsts. My horse’s first competition, my first endurance race, the first year of the “Canter Over the Mountain” ride in West Virginia. I had been training all summer with my Shagya-Arabian.
I had purchased Shagya Skamp AF as an endurance prospect; his sire Janos was a successful 100-mile competitor who had been exported to Japan to train for FEI level competitions. Skamp also inherited excellent conformation and temperament from both sides of his pedigree. He exemplifies the famous Shagya-Arabian combination of brains, bone and buddy-up personality. But, at just five years old and after just a few months of training together, would he live up to the promise in his first competition? And what about me, was I ready to race for 25 miles?
Thankfully, I had read the AERC primer for new endurance riders the year before and heeded much of the good preparation advice. The best thing I did was volunteer at a few endurance races before Skamp arrived at my farm in Maryland. Not only did I come to understand the organized chaos of the ride camp and crewing areas, I also witnessed some great tricks of the trade to emulate and some classic mistakes to avoid. Most importantly, I connected with several experienced endurance riders in my area who quickly became mentors and friends. Though I had been riding for over 20 years, I had so much to learn about the unique challenges of endurance (and I still do)...
Read more here:
http://www.equinejournal.com/articles/north-american-shagya-arabian-society-december-2010
North American Shagya Arabian Society December 2010
December 5 2010
It was a weekend of firsts. My horse’s first competition, my first endurance race, the first year of the “Canter Over the Mountain” ride in West Virginia. I had been training all summer with my Shagya-Arabian.
I had purchased Shagya Skamp AF as an endurance prospect; his sire Janos was a successful 100-mile competitor who had been exported to Japan to train for FEI level competitions. Skamp also inherited excellent conformation and temperament from both sides of his pedigree. He exemplifies the famous Shagya-Arabian combination of brains, bone and buddy-up personality. But, at just five years old and after just a few months of training together, would he live up to the promise in his first competition? And what about me, was I ready to race for 25 miles?
Thankfully, I had read the AERC primer for new endurance riders the year before and heeded much of the good preparation advice. The best thing I did was volunteer at a few endurance races before Skamp arrived at my farm in Maryland. Not only did I come to understand the organized chaos of the ride camp and crewing areas, I also witnessed some great tricks of the trade to emulate and some classic mistakes to avoid. Most importantly, I connected with several experienced endurance riders in my area who quickly became mentors and friends. Though I had been riding for over 20 years, I had so much to learn about the unique challenges of endurance (and I still do)...
Read more here:
http://www.equinejournal.com/articles/north-american-shagya-arabian-society-december-2010
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Tom Quilty 2010 - Kelly Jol
Zameelarabians Blog
December 1 2010
This year I rode the Manilla Tom Quilty, not on my own horse, but on a sweet horse with the name of Mt Eerwah Silver Mariner, know to most, and from hereon, as Petey. He is a horse owned by Jay Randle of Splendacrest Endurance Stables.
My preparations for Scrupulous had gone wrong - and he was not ready and fit enough to warrant making the long trip to NSW to compete. I missed having my show pony stallion at the event - there is something special about a stallion that all notice, they simply draw eyes and attention - however I will not digress.
Petey is a big striding grey, and very pleasant to have around. Very fit - he was still used for teaching many small children, as young as a 2yo boy having his first ride. Worth his weight in gold!
Petey had already done two 160km rides and is a seasoned horse. He gave me a nice quiet and steady start at the midnight ride. There were 300 plus horses milling around, the riders all keen for the silver buckle. It is very exciting at the start of a Quilty - I was rapt to be in the saddle and not watching on the sidelines - like the year prior!
The first two legs were very jarring, and there was a high vet out rate. Petey was solid...
Read more here:
http://zameelarabians.blogspot.com/2010/12/tom-quilty-2010.html
December 1 2010
This year I rode the Manilla Tom Quilty, not on my own horse, but on a sweet horse with the name of Mt Eerwah Silver Mariner, know to most, and from hereon, as Petey. He is a horse owned by Jay Randle of Splendacrest Endurance Stables.
My preparations for Scrupulous had gone wrong - and he was not ready and fit enough to warrant making the long trip to NSW to compete. I missed having my show pony stallion at the event - there is something special about a stallion that all notice, they simply draw eyes and attention - however I will not digress.
Petey is a big striding grey, and very pleasant to have around. Very fit - he was still used for teaching many small children, as young as a 2yo boy having his first ride. Worth his weight in gold!
Petey had already done two 160km rides and is a seasoned horse. He gave me a nice quiet and steady start at the midnight ride. There were 300 plus horses milling around, the riders all keen for the silver buckle. It is very exciting at the start of a Quilty - I was rapt to be in the saddle and not watching on the sidelines - like the year prior!
The first two legs were very jarring, and there was a high vet out rate. Petey was solid...
Read more here:
http://zameelarabians.blogspot.com/2010/12/tom-quilty-2010.html
Last ride of the season: Desert Gold - Karen Chaton
Enduranceridestuff.com Blog
As with many rides this time of year, getting to and from the ride is as much or more of an adventure than the ride itself. This time was no exception. I hadn’t really been planning on going to Desert Gold though I always like going to rides that I haven’t done before. What made me decide to go for sure was because Dave Rabe’s truck was (is) still in the shop. I don’t think they’ve quite solved the problem yet. I didn’t want him to miss going to this ride because he needed to complete at least one day in order to win the mileage championship.
So we worked it out that he’d go with me. Since he only needed to ride White Cloud it would work because each of us could bring a horse and that would leave us with enough room for all of our combined “stuff”. Les was going to bring Tulip for me to ride on the middle day. I had already done over 1300 miles on Chief this season so didn’t really care if he did another ride or not.
Everything always works out the way it does for a reason...
Read more here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/11/ride-season-desert-gold/
As with many rides this time of year, getting to and from the ride is as much or more of an adventure than the ride itself. This time was no exception. I hadn’t really been planning on going to Desert Gold though I always like going to rides that I haven’t done before. What made me decide to go for sure was because Dave Rabe’s truck was (is) still in the shop. I don’t think they’ve quite solved the problem yet. I didn’t want him to miss going to this ride because he needed to complete at least one day in order to win the mileage championship.
So we worked it out that he’d go with me. Since he only needed to ride White Cloud it would work because each of us could bring a horse and that would leave us with enough room for all of our combined “stuff”. Les was going to bring Tulip for me to ride on the middle day. I had already done over 1300 miles on Chief this season so didn’t really care if he did another ride or not.
Everything always works out the way it does for a reason...
Read more here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/11/ride-season-desert-gold/
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
2010 Eagle Ranch - Keith Kibler
Shawneesunrisefarm.net - Full Story and photos
November 29 2010
Somehow, I knew the last ride of the year would be special. I had lost my Dad, my brother in law, and Sandy’s favorite uncle shortly before the Thanksgiving day ride and we decided we would rather go ride than look at empty chairs at the table.
We were all ready to go except loading up the three we were taking and as I went to let them catch me the sky opened up into a gully washer deluge. We were into a 3 month drought and this was the moment for it to end. It rained so hard I was drenched under a poncho. It was about 60 degrees when we left Southern IL. By the time we hit Springfield Mo., it was snowing. A misunderstanding in the directions, coupled with a road closure turned a 7 hour drive into a 9 hour drive.
I got up at 4:30 to get Kate, my almost 7 year old twh mare ready to do the 50 mile race. Sandy is the inquisitive type and always wants to know what the temperature is. We have an inside the trailer temperature gauge, an outside the trailer temperature gauge, and a gauge in the truck. The outside gauge said 15 degrees. At least there was no snow and no ice.
Eagle Ranch is outside of Collins Mo, which is "near" Springfield Mo and Kansas City. The camp has stalls and electric hookups and a shower house. Winnie Clutter is the ride manager and just does a super job. She had a wonderful group of volunteers and vets.
Kate had about 900 miles of training so far this year, including 3 50s and a 100. She had a good taper rest and I really thought she was ready. Kate is one of our slowest horses and the most challenging gaited horse to ride that I have ever owned. She has a great running walk, but wants to do a stepping pace rather than a rack if left to her own devices. In the pasture this girl paces. That being said, she is my favorite horse and I love her...
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=135.0;prev_next=prev#new
November 29 2010
Somehow, I knew the last ride of the year would be special. I had lost my Dad, my brother in law, and Sandy’s favorite uncle shortly before the Thanksgiving day ride and we decided we would rather go ride than look at empty chairs at the table.
We were all ready to go except loading up the three we were taking and as I went to let them catch me the sky opened up into a gully washer deluge. We were into a 3 month drought and this was the moment for it to end. It rained so hard I was drenched under a poncho. It was about 60 degrees when we left Southern IL. By the time we hit Springfield Mo., it was snowing. A misunderstanding in the directions, coupled with a road closure turned a 7 hour drive into a 9 hour drive.
I got up at 4:30 to get Kate, my almost 7 year old twh mare ready to do the 50 mile race. Sandy is the inquisitive type and always wants to know what the temperature is. We have an inside the trailer temperature gauge, an outside the trailer temperature gauge, and a gauge in the truck. The outside gauge said 15 degrees. At least there was no snow and no ice.
Eagle Ranch is outside of Collins Mo, which is "near" Springfield Mo and Kansas City. The camp has stalls and electric hookups and a shower house. Winnie Clutter is the ride manager and just does a super job. She had a wonderful group of volunteers and vets.
Kate had about 900 miles of training so far this year, including 3 50s and a 100. She had a good taper rest and I really thought she was ready. Kate is one of our slowest horses and the most challenging gaited horse to ride that I have ever owned. She has a great running walk, but wants to do a stepping pace rather than a rack if left to her own devices. In the pasture this girl paces. That being said, she is my favorite horse and I love her...
Read more here:
http://shawneesunrisefarm.net/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=135.0;prev_next=prev#new
Friday, November 19, 2010
“I can’t even THINK about bowls!” - Patti Stedman
Life Lessons from and Unlikely Endurance Rider blog
November 19 2010
Sometimes life gets just a little too stressful.
As a self-employed consultant, when there is work available, I work. There are enough lean times that I rarely turn down work, and sometimes find myself with too much travel, too many clients all needing assistance “urgently”, and too many technically demanding training programs to deliver. A classic symptom for me is that disturbing moment where I find myself standing in a hotel elevator with the little key card in my hand and absolutely no recollection of my hotel room number.
I get homesick, miss all of the critters, miss sleeping in my own bed, miss my routine on the farm, miss my husband.
Work has been that way lately. Back to back classes scheduled, such that one weekend was simply an exercise in driving home, unpacking, doing laundry, repacking and hitting the road again. A non-weekend, of sorts.
In the middle of this hectic schedule, my friends Rachel and Pam and I started plotting a way to get ourselves to the Mustang Memorial Ride in New Jersey.
The Mustang ride is a bit of an enigma. The trails there, while lovely, are miles and miles of the same scenery — pine trees, sand, more pine trees, more sand, sand moguls, pine trees, puddles, sand. Did I mention the sand? So to say that the views from the saddle are not awe-inspiring is a bit of an understatement...
Read more here:
http://www.pattistedman.com/2010/11/i-cant-even-think-about-bowls/
November 19 2010
Sometimes life gets just a little too stressful.
As a self-employed consultant, when there is work available, I work. There are enough lean times that I rarely turn down work, and sometimes find myself with too much travel, too many clients all needing assistance “urgently”, and too many technically demanding training programs to deliver. A classic symptom for me is that disturbing moment where I find myself standing in a hotel elevator with the little key card in my hand and absolutely no recollection of my hotel room number.
I get homesick, miss all of the critters, miss sleeping in my own bed, miss my routine on the farm, miss my husband.
Work has been that way lately. Back to back classes scheduled, such that one weekend was simply an exercise in driving home, unpacking, doing laundry, repacking and hitting the road again. A non-weekend, of sorts.
In the middle of this hectic schedule, my friends Rachel and Pam and I started plotting a way to get ourselves to the Mustang Memorial Ride in New Jersey.
The Mustang ride is a bit of an enigma. The trails there, while lovely, are miles and miles of the same scenery — pine trees, sand, more pine trees, more sand, sand moguls, pine trees, puddles, sand. Did I mention the sand? So to say that the views from the saddle are not awe-inspiring is a bit of an understatement...
Read more here:
http://www.pattistedman.com/2010/11/i-cant-even-think-about-bowls/
Monday, November 01, 2010
The Spook Run - Endurance Granny
Endurancegranny Blog - Full Story
Saturday October 30 2010
We packed up and headed out on Thursday for the ride at Henryville. Set up camp, dropped off our box of turtle stuff, then headed out for an hour long fairly slow warm up ride, a little uphill trotting in the mix. But the warm up wasn't so much about the warm up as it was getting the lay of the ribbons at the start so I would not botch my ride like last time. I don't know who marked the trail this time but it was CRYSTAL CLEAR where you turned, and where you did NOT. The person who marked the trail should be commended for a job well-done. Ride management in general did an extraordinary job at this ride. Even the sun smiled on us eventually.
But did I mention it was cold? OH MY GOSH....I had a Buddy Heater going in my dressing room / sleeping area and I could still see my breath. The temperatures dropped into the low thirties overnight, and a wicked wind was blowing on ride day Friday. I was concerned about the start as that is usually a big part of her emotional unraveling, and even though I stayed where I thought was in the back, unravel she did. So I just one-reined her and shut her down, again, and again, and again. It was pretty hairy. Then along came Mary from Ohio (who's last name I never did get, I'm so sorry)...who graciously offered to let us ride along with her "slow" horse. The horse was a very big Anglo-arab, very nice gelding. I'd let Phebes lead until she would get another horse on her radar, then I'd tuck her nose behind the big gelding. It worked out well except when leading she was difficult to rate. She'd hold her trot, however my nice little jog got up and went and the trot expouned to 9-13 mph depending on how flat the trail was.
Did I ever say that endurance riders in Indiana ride FAST?...
Read more here:
http://endurancegranny.blogspot.com/2010/10/spook-run.html
Saturday October 30 2010
We packed up and headed out on Thursday for the ride at Henryville. Set up camp, dropped off our box of turtle stuff, then headed out for an hour long fairly slow warm up ride, a little uphill trotting in the mix. But the warm up wasn't so much about the warm up as it was getting the lay of the ribbons at the start so I would not botch my ride like last time. I don't know who marked the trail this time but it was CRYSTAL CLEAR where you turned, and where you did NOT. The person who marked the trail should be commended for a job well-done. Ride management in general did an extraordinary job at this ride. Even the sun smiled on us eventually.
But did I mention it was cold? OH MY GOSH....I had a Buddy Heater going in my dressing room / sleeping area and I could still see my breath. The temperatures dropped into the low thirties overnight, and a wicked wind was blowing on ride day Friday. I was concerned about the start as that is usually a big part of her emotional unraveling, and even though I stayed where I thought was in the back, unravel she did. So I just one-reined her and shut her down, again, and again, and again. It was pretty hairy. Then along came Mary from Ohio (who's last name I never did get, I'm so sorry)...who graciously offered to let us ride along with her "slow" horse. The horse was a very big Anglo-arab, very nice gelding. I'd let Phebes lead until she would get another horse on her radar, then I'd tuck her nose behind the big gelding. It worked out well except when leading she was difficult to rate. She'd hold her trot, however my nice little jog got up and went and the trot expouned to 9-13 mph depending on how flat the trail was.
Did I ever say that endurance riders in Indiana ride FAST?...
Read more here:
http://endurancegranny.blogspot.com/2010/10/spook-run.html
Friday, October 29, 2010
Grand Canyon XP Day 2: “It’s Tulip Time” - Karen Chaton
I think that I am pretty fortunate to be offered the opportunity to ride Tulip on the second day. For those that don’t know, Tulip is a Morab endurance horse that holds the record for having the most endurance miles on the sport.
With this ride, Tulip has 21,630 miles. Here is a link to his AERC ride record. I’m quite certain that Tulips record will never be equaled again, for a lot of reasons.
Normally I prefer to ride my own horses and generally do not ride other horses. This was the first time for me, actually. Dave Rabe has been riding Tulip some this ride season for Les, who is still recovering from a riding accident last year...
Read more here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/10/grand-canyon-xp-day-2-tulip-time/
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Riding in the rain: The 1st day of the Grand Canyon XP - Karen Chaton
Enduranceridestuff.com Blog - Story and Photos
October 25 2010
Riding in the rain: The 1st day of the Grand Canyon XP – what went right and what didn’t!
The fall colors this year at the Grand Canyon XP were stunning! I went down early to help out. Dave Rabe did also. No sooner had we gotten camp set up and situated then we hopped into the jeep with Dave and Ann and went out to saw logs and clear some trail.
grand canyon xp trail clearing downfall 018 Medium 300x225 Riding in the rain: The 1st day of the Grand Canyon XP what went right and what didnt!That went well and after several logs were sawed and pulled off trail we made our way back to camp and had dinner.
The weather had been mild so far (which is partly why the fall colors were not past their peak) and there were quite a few bugs bothering our horses.
The next morning we headed out early with the horses and were dropped off at one of the points on the Rainbow Rim rail. I took Bo, and Dave took Tulip.
We rode about 18 miles. The Rainbow Rim trail is singletrack and winds through the forest coming out around the edges of the North Rim every so often, offering us glimpses of the spectacular Grand Canyon. What a view!
More story and Photos here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/10/riding-rain-1st-day-grand-canyon-xp/
October 25 2010
Riding in the rain: The 1st day of the Grand Canyon XP – what went right and what didn’t!
The fall colors this year at the Grand Canyon XP were stunning! I went down early to help out. Dave Rabe did also. No sooner had we gotten camp set up and situated then we hopped into the jeep with Dave and Ann and went out to saw logs and clear some trail.
grand canyon xp trail clearing downfall 018 Medium 300x225 Riding in the rain: The 1st day of the Grand Canyon XP what went right and what didnt!That went well and after several logs were sawed and pulled off trail we made our way back to camp and had dinner.
The weather had been mild so far (which is partly why the fall colors were not past their peak) and there were quite a few bugs bothering our horses.
The next morning we headed out early with the horses and were dropped off at one of the points on the Rainbow Rim rail. I took Bo, and Dave took Tulip.
We rode about 18 miles. The Rainbow Rim trail is singletrack and winds through the forest coming out around the edges of the North Rim every so often, offering us glimpses of the spectacular Grand Canyon. What a view!
More story and Photos here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/10/riding-rain-1st-day-grand-canyon-xp/
Saturday, October 09, 2010
First Endurance Report - Rubi in France Blog
Rubi-in-France.blogspot.com - Full Story
Friday, 8 October 2010
First endurance report
Mr Good Boy has been promoted to Mr Chou Chou d'Amour after his first endurance ride yesterday. He was such an unbelievable superstar!
After spending an hour the night before practicing loading into the new, narrower trailer in the dark with just the interior light on, I went to collect him from the field at 6am, still dark. I thought he might be a bit sticky about going in but he walked straight up the ramp and then stood there like a good, good lad while Herve put the back bar and the ramp up. He then travelled beautifully, with only a small amount of complaining at the peage when we had to stop to collect a toll ticket.
When we arrived at the venue, he was really well behaved and chilled out, though he wanted to walk around rather than stand by his haynet. Can understand that after having been in the trailer for over two hours. His excellent behaviour was even more impressive given that there was a strong breeze blowing, lots of new horses to see and hear and lots of trailer and cars coming and going.
I went to get him vetted and he was a bit poky about the vet's scanner machine but the vet was superb and went all quiet and soft with Rubi, gently approaching him and giving him a stroke, letting him have a sniff of the machine and a look at the stethoscope. His heart rate was at 40! Fantastic for his first event!
When it came to setting off, he was a bit on his toes and spooked as he caught sight in his rear vision of a bunch of cantering horses arriving at the finish line on the other side of the hedge, but it wasn't a serious spook. Then we came to set off and he slammed on the brakes at the sight of the white chalk start line! Eva took a hilarious photo of him prancing over it, hiking his tail over his back like a real Diva, as we set off!
Initially we were riding by ourselves, down through the woods and he was really forward going. His ears were so pricked I thought they were going to cross in the middle. He was utterly spellbound at the new trail we had to explore, down through the trees and there was only minor 'looking at things' - no spooking at branches, birds, carnivorous butterflies etc etc..
Our first challenge lay at the bottom of that forest track as we had to cross a stream!...
Read more here:
http://rubi-in-france.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-endurance-report.html
Friday, 8 October 2010
First endurance report
Mr Good Boy has been promoted to Mr Chou Chou d'Amour after his first endurance ride yesterday. He was such an unbelievable superstar!
After spending an hour the night before practicing loading into the new, narrower trailer in the dark with just the interior light on, I went to collect him from the field at 6am, still dark. I thought he might be a bit sticky about going in but he walked straight up the ramp and then stood there like a good, good lad while Herve put the back bar and the ramp up. He then travelled beautifully, with only a small amount of complaining at the peage when we had to stop to collect a toll ticket.
When we arrived at the venue, he was really well behaved and chilled out, though he wanted to walk around rather than stand by his haynet. Can understand that after having been in the trailer for over two hours. His excellent behaviour was even more impressive given that there was a strong breeze blowing, lots of new horses to see and hear and lots of trailer and cars coming and going.
I went to get him vetted and he was a bit poky about the vet's scanner machine but the vet was superb and went all quiet and soft with Rubi, gently approaching him and giving him a stroke, letting him have a sniff of the machine and a look at the stethoscope. His heart rate was at 40! Fantastic for his first event!
When it came to setting off, he was a bit on his toes and spooked as he caught sight in his rear vision of a bunch of cantering horses arriving at the finish line on the other side of the hedge, but it wasn't a serious spook. Then we came to set off and he slammed on the brakes at the sight of the white chalk start line! Eva took a hilarious photo of him prancing over it, hiking his tail over his back like a real Diva, as we set off!
Initially we were riding by ourselves, down through the woods and he was really forward going. His ears were so pricked I thought they were going to cross in the middle. He was utterly spellbound at the new trail we had to explore, down through the trees and there was only minor 'looking at things' - no spooking at branches, birds, carnivorous butterflies etc etc..
Our first challenge lay at the bottom of that forest track as we had to cross a stream!...
Read more here:
http://rubi-in-france.blogspot.com/2010/10/first-endurance-report.html
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
This mare was one of a kind
http://insidestorey.blogspot.com/2010/09/heather-smith-thomas-notes-from-sky_21.html
Part 1
Heather Smith Thomas
I had her for only 7 years, but in that short time she changed my life. She was a chestnut Arab-Thoroughbred mare named Fahleen. A clown, a sassy, naughty redhead, she had a unique sense of humor as well as tremendous athletic ability; she was the best long-distance range-riding horse I ever owned. She had a lot of determination and heart.
She came into my life on a cold day in March 1967, as a wobbly legged filly with an irregular marking on her short face. As a young foal she was exasperating to handle. Her Thoroughbred mother, Nell, came from a long line of very independent equines, and Fahleen was a challenge to train. I had to earn her respect, and it took several years. In reality she was training me.
As time went on, she came to accept and tolerate me and then to think of me as sort of a second mother, trusting me as completely as I trusted her. After I’d ridden her for a couple of years, our relationship was well grounded in trust. I could do anything with her that she considered reasonable, and we were a team.
Our first years together, however, were very trying, partly because of her unique sense of humor. She just didn’t think like a horse; she was more like a monkey and seemed to receive great delight in testing me.
full story at http://insidestorey.blogspot.com/2010/09/heather-smith-thomas-notes-from-sky_21.html
Part 1
Heather Smith Thomas
I had her for only 7 years, but in that short time she changed my life. She was a chestnut Arab-Thoroughbred mare named Fahleen. A clown, a sassy, naughty redhead, she had a unique sense of humor as well as tremendous athletic ability; she was the best long-distance range-riding horse I ever owned. She had a lot of determination and heart.
She came into my life on a cold day in March 1967, as a wobbly legged filly with an irregular marking on her short face. As a young foal she was exasperating to handle. Her Thoroughbred mother, Nell, came from a long line of very independent equines, and Fahleen was a challenge to train. I had to earn her respect, and it took several years. In reality she was training me.
As time went on, she came to accept and tolerate me and then to think of me as sort of a second mother, trusting me as completely as I trusted her. After I’d ridden her for a couple of years, our relationship was well grounded in trust. I could do anything with her that she considered reasonable, and we were a team.
Our first years together, however, were very trying, partly because of her unique sense of humor. She just didn’t think like a horse; she was more like a monkey and seemed to receive great delight in testing me.
full story at http://insidestorey.blogspot.com/2010/09/heather-smith-thomas-notes-from-sky_21.html
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Adventures in Trail Marking
Karen Chaton enduranceridestuff.com
I have so much to blog about and can’t seem to narrow it down at any one time and focus on just one topic. I haven’t even finished writing up about my ride at Tevis this year!
For this post I’ll just stick with writing about the pre-ride trail marking and such from the Bryce Canyon 5 day XP ride that was the first week of September.
I left for the ride a week early, along with Dave Rabe. We knew that there would be a lot of work that needed to get done. Dave and Ann spent the summer in Alaska and now that they were back it was time to get to work!
I met up with Dave Rabe (“DR”) in Carson City and we caravaned down to Bryce together, taking two days to get there. We had a pretty uneventful 600 mile trip aside from the usual stuff that goes wrong with DR’s truck (I swear it’s possessed and have named it “Christine”).
The first day and a half after arriving we marked trail on foot, by jeep and I also rode out on Bo and marked some trail from camp. By Sunday, we and our horses were suitably rested up enough for us to head for a long day of trail marking of the canyons and trails on the Grand View trail. It turned out that this day was one of those days where if it could go wrong, it did. Tho not entirely, but enough did that we were just happy to finally make it back into camp, before dark.
...full story at http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/
I have so much to blog about and can’t seem to narrow it down at any one time and focus on just one topic. I haven’t even finished writing up about my ride at Tevis this year!
For this post I’ll just stick with writing about the pre-ride trail marking and such from the Bryce Canyon 5 day XP ride that was the first week of September.I left for the ride a week early, along with Dave Rabe. We knew that there would be a lot of work that needed to get done. Dave and Ann spent the summer in Alaska and now that they were back it was time to get to work!
I met up with Dave Rabe (“DR”) in Carson City and we caravaned down to Bryce together, taking two days to get there. We had a pretty uneventful 600 mile trip aside from the usual stuff that goes wrong with DR’s truck (I swear it’s possessed and have named it “Christine”).
The first day and a half after arriving we marked trail on foot, by jeep and I also rode out on Bo and marked some trail from camp. By Sunday, we and our horses were suitably rested up enough for us to head for a long day of trail marking of the canyons and trails on the Grand View trail. It turned out that this day was one of those days where if it could go wrong, it did. Tho not entirely, but enough did that we were just happy to finally make it back into camp, before dark.
...full story at http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Riding Old Selam
Karen's Horse Tails
The Old Selam endurance ride near Centerville, ID, just North of Idaho City, is one of my all time favorite rides. The ride always delivers good footing, hills, scenery and creeks. Plus I love Idaho City, another old mining boomtown with many historic buildings. It’s always fun to take some time and check it out. I usually see something I haven’t paid attention to like the pictured jail, or as the sign calls it “Pest House”. Hard to believe these tiny towns had populations of around 3000 in their prime during the gold rush.
The ride camp is on Oscar Baumhoff’s property on the banks of Henry Creek, a mining hot bed in the 1860’s. This has been home to the ride since 1996. The ride was first held in 1976, when camp was near one of the old barns at the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise, which closed in 1973. I first rode it in 1979, and we took a tour of the old prison which is now a museum and all the houses have since been restored.
“What an odd place for a ride?” is perhaps what you are pondering, and you might be thinking that I misspelled the name too. The ride name, Old Selam, is no mistake. Selam was a cart horse used at the prison. In his day he was a fine carriage and riding horse. But in 1901 the aging grey gelding was used as an escape vehicle; not once but twice!
...full story at http://karenshorsetales.blogspot.com/
The Old Selam endurance ride near Centerville, ID, just North of Idaho City, is one of my all time favorite rides. The ride always delivers good footing, hills, scenery and creeks. Plus I love Idaho City, another old mining boomtown with many historic buildings. It’s always fun to take some time and check it out. I usually see something I haven’t paid attention to like the pictured jail, or as the sign calls it “Pest House”. Hard to believe these tiny towns had populations of around 3000 in their prime during the gold rush.
The ride camp is on Oscar Baumhoff’s property on the banks of Henry Creek, a mining hot bed in the 1860’s. This has been home to the ride since 1996. The ride was first held in 1976, when camp was near one of the old barns at the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise, which closed in 1973. I first rode it in 1979, and we took a tour of the old prison which is now a museum and all the houses have since been restored.“What an odd place for a ride?” is perhaps what you are pondering, and you might be thinking that I misspelled the name too. The ride name, Old Selam, is no mistake. Selam was a cart horse used at the prison. In his day he was a fine carriage and riding horse. But in 1901 the aging grey gelding was used as an escape vehicle; not once but twice!
...full story at http://karenshorsetales.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
VIrginia Highlands
nowaystails.blogspot.com
This was our third year to do this ride. We enjoyed it so much the first two times, why not do it again? Don and Nicki do a superb job of managing and their many volunteers are the best. Everyone, management, volunteers and competitors seem to be having a good time the whole weekend! And, the trails are tough but beautiful, the perfect challenge. So this ride was on the list of must dos.
Our team of Lucky Ducks have not had the best of luck this year getting to the rides and finishing a team. This time there were four of us though, so surely we could do it. Mary Lynn and Greg took their two boys, Buzz and Wiley. Myself and Brenda teamed up with our boys, Elite and Noways, and drove down to the beautiful ride site right on the New River. We got lucky and got a good camp spot. Afternoon shade for the horses and not too far from the Vet check. We’ve gotten so good at parking our rigs that our awnings were perfectly aligned. LOL
It was a bit hot getting registered and checked in but we all were done well before dinner time which was pot luck…a great way to start the fun! Someone else’s food always tastes so good. Then the ride meeting, which Don always makes interesting. There were to be 60 something in the 55, and 20 something in the 30. We were ready!
It was nice to have Brenda ride down with me and share camp duties. I missed my granddaughter, Paige, but Brenda sure kept the conversation lively. We got everything ready for ride day and tucked the boys in for the night. Noways was very pleased to have a buddy this time and settled down without pouting like he did at the Ride Between the Rivers. He pouted so much that he did not eat or drink like he should have, and I decided to pull him at that ride. The ride before that was Sand Hills, where I got too ill with the heat to finish that one, so I was a bit nervous about what would happen tomorrow. But, so far all was good.
...continued at nowaystails.blogspot.com
This was our third year to do this ride. We enjoyed it so much the first two times, why not do it again? Don and Nicki do a superb job of managing and their many volunteers are the best. Everyone, management, volunteers and competitors seem to be having a good time the whole weekend! And, the trails are tough but beautiful, the perfect challenge. So this ride was on the list of must dos.
Our team of Lucky Ducks have not had the best of luck this year getting to the rides and finishing a team. This time there were four of us though, so surely we could do it. Mary Lynn and Greg took their two boys, Buzz and Wiley. Myself and Brenda teamed up with our boys, Elite and Noways, and drove down to the beautiful ride site right on the New River. We got lucky and got a good camp spot. Afternoon shade for the horses and not too far from the Vet check. We’ve gotten so good at parking our rigs that our awnings were perfectly aligned. LOL
It was a bit hot getting registered and checked in but we all were done well before dinner time which was pot luck…a great way to start the fun! Someone else’s food always tastes so good. Then the ride meeting, which Don always makes interesting. There were to be 60 something in the 55, and 20 something in the 30. We were ready!
It was nice to have Brenda ride down with me and share camp duties. I missed my granddaughter, Paige, but Brenda sure kept the conversation lively. We got everything ready for ride day and tucked the boys in for the night. Noways was very pleased to have a buddy this time and settled down without pouting like he did at the Ride Between the Rivers. He pouted so much that he did not eat or drink like he should have, and I decided to pull him at that ride. The ride before that was Sand Hills, where I got too ill with the heat to finish that one, so I was a bit nervous about what would happen tomorrow. But, so far all was good.
...continued at nowaystails.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Reflecting on Redwood: Little Bit Goes Pro (and Leaves me for Another Woman)
Submitted by Renee Gonzalez
It’s hard to believe a year has passed since I had the opportunity to ride in the Redwood National Forest. 2010 is flying by and I feel like I’m pedaling fast to keep up. It’s been a good year in many ways and I’ve been fortunate to have a great horse and great friends to share some miles with. Here we are, already into August and ready for another Redwood Ride.
I had two goals for this ride. The first was for Little Bit to haul to the ride by himself and camp like a professional endurance horse without the support of a buddy. A professional would be the kind who eats and drinks and takes care of himself, rather than the kind who stares into the distance and waits for it to get dark before he bothers to eat. Usually, Little Bit falls into the less desirable category. He’s normally too busy meditating to remember to take care of the basics.
The ride meeting was short and sweet, thanks to ride manager Natalie Herman and head vet, Dr. Jen Powers. The ride is hosted by Redwood Empire Endurance Riders, a small club that puts on four rides each year. For this ride, Natalie volunteered to be manager and she really did a great job. I especially liked that she didn’t make us put ugly numbers on our horses butts (something I’ve always thought makes a horse look like he’s come straight from the auction yard).
My second goal for this ride was for Little Bit to start the ride by himself. Looking back, I should have been more specific when mentioning this to him, as I think he took it quite literally. Perhaps that was why he chose to dump me at mile 8 and attempt to do the ride “by himself”. The start of the ride went better than expected.
Through the night, Little Bit had made friends with his neighbors and thought it’d be best to stick with them all day. I walked him for about 20 minutes in camp to warm him up, and at 6:30 when they said the trail was open, I let the front runners get a head start on the single track trail before setting out. Little Bit power walked across the levy in a reasonably relaxed fashion. Just as we were about to set out up the big hill, a rider went trotting past us at top speed which indicated to Little Bit that this was where he should start trotting, too. This was the 11th time I had done Redwood Ride so I‘m fairly familiar with the trail, and I assured Little Bit that walking up the giant hill at the beginning was an absolute must. Much to my surprise and delight, he complied with my request and behaved himself. Mission number two: accomplished. Sort of.
A couple miles into the ride, Michele Dostal and her Rushcreek mare trotted up behind us and ended up riding with us for most of the first loop. Her mare is very sweet and pretty and Little Bit really seemed to like her. In fact, he liked her so much that when Michele stopped to adjust her saddle, and I tried to go on, Little Bit “spooked” at something, dumped me, and trotted back to his girlfriend. Thankfully, Michele was off her horse and being on a single track trail, Little Bit didn’t really have anywhere to go. Throughout the course of our relationship, Little Bit has dumped me a lot. But he’s never dumped me and left me for another woman! In the past when I’ve made an involuntary dismount, I look up to see his big pink nose hovering over me.
full story at http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/easycare/0/0/reflecting-on-redwood-little-bit-goes-pro-and-leaves-me-for-another-woman
It’s hard to believe a year has passed since I had the opportunity to ride in the Redwood National Forest. 2010 is flying by and I feel like I’m pedaling fast to keep up. It’s been a good year in many ways and I’ve been fortunate to have a great horse and great friends to share some miles with. Here we are, already into August and ready for another Redwood Ride.
I had two goals for this ride. The first was for Little Bit to haul to the ride by himself and camp like a professional endurance horse without the support of a buddy. A professional would be the kind who eats and drinks and takes care of himself, rather than the kind who stares into the distance and waits for it to get dark before he bothers to eat. Usually, Little Bit falls into the less desirable category. He’s normally too busy meditating to remember to take care of the basics.
The ride meeting was short and sweet, thanks to ride manager Natalie Herman and head vet, Dr. Jen Powers. The ride is hosted by Redwood Empire Endurance Riders, a small club that puts on four rides each year. For this ride, Natalie volunteered to be manager and she really did a great job. I especially liked that she didn’t make us put ugly numbers on our horses butts (something I’ve always thought makes a horse look like he’s come straight from the auction yard).
My second goal for this ride was for Little Bit to start the ride by himself. Looking back, I should have been more specific when mentioning this to him, as I think he took it quite literally. Perhaps that was why he chose to dump me at mile 8 and attempt to do the ride “by himself”. The start of the ride went better than expected.
Through the night, Little Bit had made friends with his neighbors and thought it’d be best to stick with them all day. I walked him for about 20 minutes in camp to warm him up, and at 6:30 when they said the trail was open, I let the front runners get a head start on the single track trail before setting out. Little Bit power walked across the levy in a reasonably relaxed fashion. Just as we were about to set out up the big hill, a rider went trotting past us at top speed which indicated to Little Bit that this was where he should start trotting, too. This was the 11th time I had done Redwood Ride so I‘m fairly familiar with the trail, and I assured Little Bit that walking up the giant hill at the beginning was an absolute must. Much to my surprise and delight, he complied with my request and behaved himself. Mission number two: accomplished. Sort of.
A couple miles into the ride, Michele Dostal and her Rushcreek mare trotted up behind us and ended up riding with us for most of the first loop. Her mare is very sweet and pretty and Little Bit really seemed to like her. In fact, he liked her so much that when Michele stopped to adjust her saddle, and I tried to go on, Little Bit “spooked” at something, dumped me, and trotted back to his girlfriend. Thankfully, Michele was off her horse and being on a single track trail, Little Bit didn’t really have anywhere to go. Throughout the course of our relationship, Little Bit has dumped me a lot. But he’s never dumped me and left me for another woman! In the past when I’ve made an involuntary dismount, I look up to see his big pink nose hovering over me.
full story at http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/easycare/0/0/reflecting-on-redwood-little-bit-goes-pro-and-leaves-me-for-another-woman
Monday, August 16, 2010
2010 Eastern High Sierra Classic 50 Ride Photos & Report – My 500th Ride Completion! - Karen Chaton
This year was the 25th anniversary of one of the most popular rides in the West region. This ride is very popular for good reason too – it’s in incredibly beautiful country (the Sierra’s) plus it’s got a lot of fun technical trails. The 50 mile ride consists of two loops. The first one is slightly over 20 miles and has the technical terrain on it that includes a lot of boulders, narrow singletrack trail and creek crossings through large boulders and deadfall. This year was drier than most so the water crossings and mud were pretty safe.
The second loop is 30 miles and is also the LD trail. There are three vet checks on the 50, and one on the LD. The 50′s start at 6 a.m. and have 12 hours while the 30′s started at 8 and had 7:15 to complete.
The 50′s had over 100 entries (and the LD’s around 30′ish). We started out in a controlled start at a walk that took us across the highway crossing then up and over a small hill. Once we got down to a two track trail on the other side we were able to start trotting. Soon after that we turned right and headed up the first good climb of the day. This is always a fun trail to ride because your horse has to pay attention to the turns and the rocks. It gets steeper as you go as well.
I was riding Chief and he loves these kinds of trails...
Read more here:
http://enduranceridestuff.com/blog/2010/08/2010-eastern-high-sierra-classic-50-ride-report-photos/
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Dear Denny
Patty Stedman's blog - life and its oddities
Ah, the magic of FaceBook.
Denny Emerson and I are “friends” on Facebook.
Now, to be fair, I’ve never been formally introduced to Denny, but I have always admired his long-standing dedication to both distance riding and eventing. During Ned’s first 100 in Vermont, we rode together for a mile or so, and Denny complimented my horse. That further raised my opinion of Denny and his excellent eye for a quality equine.
Not too long after that, I had the privilege of hearing Denny speak at the AERC Convention, where he captivated the audience with self-deprecating tales of his life around horses. His humility and his love for the horse came through crystal-clear (not to mention his razor-sharp wit) and I found myself alternately laughing hysterically and brushing away a tear as he spoke.
I’ve read his columns in The Chronicle of The Horse, and a candid girl myself, I appreciated his well thought-out but frank opinions on eventing and horsemanship.
It was done. I was an official member of the Unofficial Denny Emerson Fan Club.
Like so many others, including Denny, I got bitten by the Facebook bug during the last year or so, and we became “friends.” This is a dubious term, of course, since Denny has 1,023 friends and, as noted above, we have never been formally introduced.
When perusing Facebook (aka “wasting time”) a week or two ago, I saw a post he made and a photo he posted about a past VT 100-Mile CTR he’d ridden. Labor Day Weekend is the 75th anniversary of this beautiful and challenging competitive trail ride, so I popped him a reply to ask if he was planning to attend. He replied that the horse he was planning to ride had developed a cough. I sent a quick note asking if we should try to find him a horse to ride. His reply:
“Can you?”
Well, darn it, I could!
I sent Denny a quick private message, letting him know that my husband and I had already planned to attend the VT ride with two of our horses. I gave him a brief introduction to Ned, who I’d not planned to take to the ride, saying he was fit and capable of going the distance in Vermont (he is four for four on the Moonlight endurance rides, twice finishing the 100 there), and as long as Denny wasn’t interested in a perfect final score, Ned could probably take him around.
Denny accepted.
We haven’t spoken yet, but I’ve found myself with the perverse desire to try to explain Ned, who, as I’ve told people repeatedly, has adequate personality for an entire herd of horses.
So Denny, my friend, here goes …
Dear Denny –
I can’t tell you how humbled I am about your taking me up on my offer to share Ned for the Vermont 100 Mile CTR next month!
I’ve been struggling with the temptation to send you a note to try to explain the profoundly quirky character that is Ned. I chide myself then about the fact that you’ve ridden hundreds, nay, thousands of horses, and that surely Ned cannot be the oddest, the most opinionated, the most ego-driven horse you’ve ever met.
But since I’ve owned the big lug since he was a four year old (the classic 30-day-training-wonder with no power steering or brakes) and he’s now sixteen, well, there’s probably a few things you might want to know.
--
Full posting at http://www.pattistedman.com/2010/08/dear-denny-8410/
Ah, the magic of FaceBook.
Denny Emerson and I are “friends” on Facebook.
Now, to be fair, I’ve never been formally introduced to Denny, but I have always admired his long-standing dedication to both distance riding and eventing. During Ned’s first 100 in Vermont, we rode together for a mile or so, and Denny complimented my horse. That further raised my opinion of Denny and his excellent eye for a quality equine.
Not too long after that, I had the privilege of hearing Denny speak at the AERC Convention, where he captivated the audience with self-deprecating tales of his life around horses. His humility and his love for the horse came through crystal-clear (not to mention his razor-sharp wit) and I found myself alternately laughing hysterically and brushing away a tear as he spoke.
I’ve read his columns in The Chronicle of The Horse, and a candid girl myself, I appreciated his well thought-out but frank opinions on eventing and horsemanship.
It was done. I was an official member of the Unofficial Denny Emerson Fan Club.
Like so many others, including Denny, I got bitten by the Facebook bug during the last year or so, and we became “friends.” This is a dubious term, of course, since Denny has 1,023 friends and, as noted above, we have never been formally introduced.
When perusing Facebook (aka “wasting time”) a week or two ago, I saw a post he made and a photo he posted about a past VT 100-Mile CTR he’d ridden. Labor Day Weekend is the 75th anniversary of this beautiful and challenging competitive trail ride, so I popped him a reply to ask if he was planning to attend. He replied that the horse he was planning to ride had developed a cough. I sent a quick note asking if we should try to find him a horse to ride. His reply:
“Can you?”
Well, darn it, I could!
I sent Denny a quick private message, letting him know that my husband and I had already planned to attend the VT ride with two of our horses. I gave him a brief introduction to Ned, who I’d not planned to take to the ride, saying he was fit and capable of going the distance in Vermont (he is four for four on the Moonlight endurance rides, twice finishing the 100 there), and as long as Denny wasn’t interested in a perfect final score, Ned could probably take him around.
Denny accepted.
We haven’t spoken yet, but I’ve found myself with the perverse desire to try to explain Ned, who, as I’ve told people repeatedly, has adequate personality for an entire herd of horses.
So Denny, my friend, here goes …
Dear Denny –
I can’t tell you how humbled I am about your taking me up on my offer to share Ned for the Vermont 100 Mile CTR next month!
I’ve been struggling with the temptation to send you a note to try to explain the profoundly quirky character that is Ned. I chide myself then about the fact that you’ve ridden hundreds, nay, thousands of horses, and that surely Ned cannot be the oddest, the most opinionated, the most ego-driven horse you’ve ever met.
But since I’ve owned the big lug since he was a four year old (the classic 30-day-training-wonder with no power steering or brakes) and he’s now sixteen, well, there’s probably a few things you might want to know.
--
Full posting at http://www.pattistedman.com/2010/08/dear-denny-8410/
The Tevis 2010- a comeback ride and always an adventure!
Nick Warhol
This ride! It’s been 4 years since I was able to enter, and that’s way, way too long. Follow my math logic- if I want to equal my hero Barbara White and get myself 30 buckles, and if I enter every 4 years, (add the three, carry the seven), I’ll be about 153 years old if I keep at this pace. I guess I either should have started sooner, or, darn it, enter every year. Tevis 06 was my Donnie’s first 100, and he romped through it. The next year I was recovering from my ACL replacement surgery, so Judy rode the D man to a great completion. In 08 was the fire and the canceled ride, and last year my boy was recovering from an injury, so no go for me. I have been pondering the 2010 Tevis for the past 18 months while Donnie healed up, and as my luck is occasionally good, the endurance gods smiled on me and he’s better. We made his comeback ride at Washoe in April, did all three days at the Wild West ride in May, rode the beautiful but tough Mendocino Magic ride in June, all just fine. It’s a hard thing to be off of your horse for so long, but its part of the game, and it just makes it so much sweeter when he comes back.
This year was also special since my long time riding buddy Sally Abe (pronounced Ahh-Bay) got the chance to start for the first time! Two of her three horses are retired, and her endurance horse Phathom is now an ex-endurance horse. He’s just not up to it anymore, (she needs number 4!) so she has had to wait. My friend Jackie Bumgardner stepped up and loaned Sally her superb mare, Odessesy, for the Tevis. 5000 miles with only a couple of pulls, completed Tevis before- perfect! We went to Bridgeport to pick up the mare and Sally got to know the horse as she completed the Mendocino ride in great shape. We were ready! Yahoo! Judy enlisted our friend Karen Bottanni to help with the Crewing duties, and Sally had her friends Alair Davidson and her fiancé Phil Hartley come along. Sally’s riding friend Shawn-Dei Linderman also came to help and see the circus. Phil’s my shoer, so that sure can’t hurt! We drove up on Thursday afternoon as usual and staked out our secret spot in the gravel parking lot. No dust, and a straight shot for the crew out forest road 6 in the morning- it’s worth the 7 minute walk to the start area. In the afternoon Sally and I went out for a ride down the start road for a few miles, and stopped to look up, way up, at the peaks of Squaw Valley. We’d be up there in a day and a half! Sally was very excited. It’s so pretty here at this point- quiet, peaceful, no dust. Just wait!
Friday morning was nice and cool. The weather in northern California has been so nice this summer. In fact it was the coolest July in our parts in something like 100 years. That’s just fine with me. I like it like this. We walked over to Robe Park to take in all the activities. I always see so many of my friends here. Steph Teeter is here, riding her second Tevis. Her first was in 97, as was mine. (Kind of a gap, there, Steph!) Kathy Meyers is here from New Mexico riding Blue, a horse she rode a long time ago when she lived in Cal. We did some shopping, signed up with Calstar Helicopter rescue, (oh yes, every year!) and I got to see the new horse safety vests. These things are an air bag for a rider? Apparently if you get launched, something senses that and flips a switch and inflates the vest with air to cushion you before you whump on the ground. What will they think of next? I wonder if it works? Who wants to test it? At 11:00 or so we moseyed back to pick up the ponies and wandered back over with our tack to the vetting area. The ride has it worked out pretty well. The vetting went smoothly; we got weighed, sorted, stamped, and bar-coded. Well, almost. They put a yellow hospital-type Tevis arm band with rider info written on it. Except they covered up the writing with the other end of the band. I got my band, walked away, and had a small anxiety attack. Well, as much of one as I am capable of, I guess. I’m one of those people who have a problem with wearing jewelry. It took several years for me to be used to the wedding ring, and if you put a watch on my right wrist I’ll yank it off, screaming! They stuck my new yellow band on my right wrist, and it was too tight. I walked away, but in a moment I started to get light headed, dizzy, and passed out- well, okay, not really, but I had to go back for a redo. The nice lady gave me another one that was nice and loose. Whew! Crisis averted. If this was my biggest problem for the weekend I’ll be happy! Sally and I went out for a little longer ride and had some excitement. We were paused under some giant pine trees, letting the horses graze on the nice, green grass in the serene forest. Suddenly a huge pine cone the size of a football comes crashing down through the tree towards us, causing an avalanche of pine cones to rain down on us. The horses jumped a bit- that was fun!
The ride meeting was very good this year- the WSTF guys have this figured out as well. (It used to be WAY too long) Into bed at 8:30- I slept fine, but I think Sally was pretty much awake all night. 3:30 am Saturday morning is dark, but the trailer lights take care of that. The horses are nice and calm as we tack up; Judy and her gang have everything all set and ready to go. We walk out of camp like we are riding up my driveway at home. It seems like it should be more exciting to embark on the journey, but that will come. We walked over to the entrance of Start Pen 2 and went on in. The WSTF guys almost have the start figured out. The pen concept works great, but Pen 2 wasn’t very good. The last time I did this we were in Pen 3, in the vetting area, and everyone just walked in a nice, big, quiet circle until we were routed out onto the road. Pen 2 was like a crowded airport- horses and people just moving in every direction at random, bumping into each other, helmet lights flashing, riders trying to find their friends, one guy got tossed off: it was sort of controlled chaos. Ride suggestion number one: why not use the old Pen 3? Or if not, make Pen 2 the roads that circle that part of the area. Get everyone walking in one direction- it would be much better than the milling about. We finally got released and hit our first bottleneck- the number taker. Why single track? Why not 2 or three lanes, just like the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Maybe we can use Fastrack? Ride suggestion number two: more number taker lanes. It would be much better. Past the number taker jam up and onto the road at a walk- we were all spread out nicely and lookee here- we hit the actual start at 5:17, only 2 minutes past the 5:15 start time. Pretty darn good. Off we went at a trot, and right over the crazy little ditch that caused the big hubbub 4 years ago. You just never know. The pace was fast as we trotted along the fire road for the first 3 miles or so to the single track. We did not slow down, but just kept sailing along. No riders had fallen off, no horses tied to trees, no carnage at all- nice! A great start. We really moved along on the single track full of horses all the way to the highway crossing before Squaw Valley. They were right about this when they warned us about the crossing at the meeting- they were doing road construction and had it all goofed up. We had to walk along the road, cross under it, walk in the other direction, turn around, walk back, turn again, then finally up the embankment. Great for the spectators- they saw our profiles three times! Now the climb starts up the long, twisty climb up the side of Squaw. The group of riders I was with were going a perfect pace- trot up, but walk the really steep stuff. Perfect! Sally and O hung in behind Donnie and me as they had done since the start. We cruised on up, with no yellow jacket bites, thank goodness, and before long we dropped down to the main ski run. Up some more, and left turn off the wide road onto the single track. Yikes- here’s the rock Gloria Vanderford’s horse slipped down on a few years ago when I was behind her. Yuck. No problems, but as we headed along I looked down to the right and way down below us, on the ski run, were horses. Pleasure horses from Squaw Valley? At this hour? (we got a little closer) Riding kind of fast? (closer yet) With numbers on their rumps? Uh-oh, someone missed a turn. It seems a bunch of riders missed the left onto that single track and took the ski run up to where we joined them. They did not cut any mileage, but had a little smoother run up that mile or so. All together now we worked our way up the ski run to the water stop at high camp, then up and over the tippy top of the peak, past Watson Monument, and down the super cool soft trail that takes us to the Granite Chief Wilderness. This is the most amazing part of the trail, and has some of the trickiest rocky sections. The trail was in very good shape, and for all the snow around there wasn’t much water in the bogs. The little waterfall we have to jump up was only a trickle. Both horses made it through the rock fields just fine, and Sally said something to the effect of “I don’t think I’ll look at a trail with rocks on it the same again.” A rocky, dusty road took us towards the trot by at Lyon Ridge, but the vet check had moved locations since I had been here. We hung a left down a tight little trail to a very nice trot by area with much more room for the horses than the old intersection. Good job on the trail! Much better than every other time I have done it. A quick trot for the vet and back towards the old trot by on the rocky jeep road. A left turn takes us climbing up the long, rocky, dusty ridge trail that winds its way a few miles to cougar rock. There were not many horses about, and as a result the dust was almost non-existent. I was leading Sally as we approached Cougar Rock; we were taking the bypass as usual. There was a rider going over, and one rider in line waiting for her chance at the famous climb. Donnie and I started down the trail towards the bypass trail. It’s a tiny little thing blasted out of the side of the rock on the riders left with a steep drop to the right. There was a photographer up on the top of Cougar rock snapping photos of the woman going over. He took a step backward and stepped into air. He fell down off the top of the rock, a fall of at least 20 feet, and landed smack on the solid rock of the bypass trail, just a hundred feet in front of Donnie and I. Donnie stopped quick, and I could not believe what I had just witnessed. I thought he was dead. How could he have survived that? The rock emptied of people who rushed down to help the poor man. I had to back Donnie up on the tight little trail- there is no way to turn around on that tiny thing. Good boy, Donnie. Tom Johnson was the ride official at the site- he quickly made the correct call to close the bypass trail and send all the riders up over the rock. I got back to where Sally was- she had been behind me and had seen it. We were in kind of a state of shock. The lady in front of us headed up and over the rock, but had to abort half way up and jump off her horse to keep him from backing up. We led our horses over the top, and once up over it, stopped for a minute to stop shaking. It was absolutely one of the worst things I have ever witnessed in my life. It was the sound of his body hitting the rocks that sticks with me. Consider this- had it been 20 seconds later, he would have landed right on top of me and my horse. He did survive; they had to get two helicopters to get him out of there. He ended up with both wrists broken, a broken leg, broken nose, a concussion, and more scrapes and bleeding than I want to remember. Egad- what a way to ruin your day.
We trotted on down the trail- what else could we do? Past Elephant’s Trunk, and back on the dusty trails that wind their way to Red Star and our first real vet check. We arrived a little later than planned, but spent about 10 minutes cooling the horses. Donnie was down to 48 in a couple of minutes, but Odessey was taking a little longer. There were people getting pulled everywhere, and lots for not recovering. Odessey came down, and the vet even commented that we must have been there a while, as her pulse was 52. We trotted on out the 7 mile road to Robinson flat, past the two empty water troughs (bummer) and reached the crazy stop at about 11:00 am. Our crew was there to meet us, and whisked the tack off as we headed down to the pulse takers. Donnie was down, but Odessey was having some unusual issues. She took about 10 minutes again to drop, but at the vets her pulse was bouncing a little: 56, 72, 56. Nope- that won’t do. The vet staff is very careful about anything even resembling a metabolic issue, so poor Sally was pulled. They gave the horse fluids as per their normal practice. Sally was pretty disappointed, but was thrilled about what she had seen so far. She got to see the best part of the trail, and although Odessey is an amazing horse, it just was not her day. This ride can do that to the best. Donnie vetted through very nicely and started his eating binge. Time for my biggest problem of the day so far- we could not find the bread, so I ate Sally’s fantastic egg salad with a piece of cold grilled chicken breast as a spoon. Worked great- just bite off the spoon! The bread was found, and I was saved again. The crew is just great; the riders are spoiled at this ride. I sat in the shade as I finished my lunch, washed the dust off, and tacked back up. Donnie and I headed out on the trail up the mountain behind the check, which leads to a nasty section of rocky and dusty trail. (I liked being on the road out of Robinson a lot better.) This finally ended with the downhill into Dusty corners and some water, then on to the cool single track trail that ends up at Pucker point. This trail can be really dusty, but Donnie and I did the whole 4 or 5 miles all alone- what fun. We ended up at the vet check at last chance, where we vetted through with a moderate vet line, maybe 10 minutes. I hate to lose those precious minutes, but Donnie got to eat, so it’s a good thing. I led my boy down the first canyon to the swinging bridge, then tailed up to the top of Devils Thumb. About three quarters of the way up there is a rider sitting on the trail, her horse is down below, having fallen off the trail. Oh no, oh no. It’s a good thing it was in a switchback, and the horse was stuck a bit under a down tree in a little canyon about 50 feet down the trail. Boy, it could have been a lot worse. There were some people there: I helped out a bit, and took the riders number up the trail and reported it in Deadwood. Some volunteers were able to cut the tree and lead the horse back up the incline to the trail. Yuck- thank goodness it turned out okay. I vetted through in Deadwood and kept on moving down the trial, hooking up with the one and only Barbara White. We rode together out of the check and all the way down the second canyon. I started tailing up into Michigan Bluff, but darn it, I could not quite make it all the way. I hopped back on Donnie who liked trotting up the steep climb. Up to the water (and a huge drink) at Michigan Bluff, and on down the road to Chicken Hawk and the next vet check. I walked in with Donnie down, but ended up getting stuck in a long vet line that cost me probably 15 minutes as well. I was using up more than my allotment of dawdling credits; I don’t like being anywhere near the cutoffs, and I was flirting with 30 minutes. Time to pick it up. I trotted quickly to the top of the Volcano canyon trail, then hopped off and ran down it on foot, pretty fast, doing my best imitation of Chris Knox. Right, uh huh. Donnie trots along behind me down the tight switch backs to the creek at the bottom, then we boogied up the last couple of miles uphill to Foresthill. I caught Robert Ribley right on the road in, so we cruised on in together into the teeming throng of people. Its still fun to come in to all that cheering and happy stuff. My crew was there and stripped my horse; he was at 52 when we got to the water on top. A quick trot for the vet, Dr Laserschef, who is a miracle worker. He was looking at Donnie’s feet, and I pointed out a cut that I noticed while tailing. He leans down and pulls a stick off the horse. There! Fixed! Just like that. What a guy! Judy and Karen took care of my horse while I ate and cleaned up. They had a nice parking place, but a poorly parked car in a turn made it tough for big rigs to make the turn on this little downhill turn out. One guy in a big living quarters snagged a rock and busted out his septic tank, which dumped all over the road right in front of us. Nice! Peeyeuu! Karen did not like the trucks coming so close to my horse when they swung wide for the turn, so she packed him up and moved to a new site out of harm’s way. What a good crew!
I put on my white shirt, picked up my little flashlight, and headed out into the dusk. I have often told people that all you have to do is survive getting to Foresthill, and from there the ride gets fun. I could not have been more accurate. I hooked up with a rider who was riding for her first time, both her and her horse. She asked if she could follow, since she said she was not sure where to trot. We mostly walked down the steeper trails and rocky sections towards the river, then made the right hand turn and took off. The moon was out, the night was nice, and I was on my boy. This is the best part of the ride bar none. We scooted along and hooked up with three other horses that were going our great pace. When we caught up to five more, it was too many, so I held back a bit and we went on by ourselves again. Its three and a half hours of absolute joy on the way down to Francisco’s. I was making up time, and got in and out of the check, but not before scarfing sandwiches and lemonade. The ride workers are the best ever here, but I had one little issue that I have to report since it was so silly. This wonderful volunteer came up and held my horse for me while I got food. She asked if she could fill my water bottles- Yes! They were bone dry and I had forgotten to fill them. I told her they were the ones on my saddle. She returned with three bottles of fresh, clean water. Three? Two clear, and one red. Uh oh. She was so happy to help, until I said that the red bottle on the back of my saddle was the one with my electrolytes in it. She had emptied it out and filled it with water. She was heartbroken! If there was a samurai sword available I think she may have committed Hari-Kari! I told her it was okay, don’t worry, but she was so upset that she had done that. I told her I’d borrow some, and the first person I asked gave me some of the kind I use. It was a non event, but it shows the dedication of those great people down there.
Out of the cool check and down the trail to the river’s edge and past all the sleeping campers who probably wonder why horses keep clomping by their tents all night. I followed a small group of people down to the river crossing; we rode along in silence, me just loving it. I crossed and got my feet all wet- Donnie isn’t very tall, and the water was high. I joined back up with Barbara and rode along with her down the few miles along the river to the vet check at the quarry. It’s lit up with generators like a Caltrans night work crew down there. I vetted next to Barbara, but her vet said he saw something in her horse’s right front. He told her to take it easy, walk in, all the usual stuff. He told her that every horse that had been in there had something going on. My vet looked up at me and said “except this one!” That was nice. I usually just get in and out here, but the D horse was really hungry, so I let him eat out of a 50 gallon mash for a while. Probably a bit too much for him to finish in our allotted time, so we headed out down the flat road along the river all by ourselves. I started singing again, as is my ridiculous habit when I ride by myself at night, until I caught Robert again. He was walking, so I trotted on by and crossed highway 49. The highway patrolman there helping said my horse looked great, but I was certifiable. Maybe, maybe. We walked over to the downhill that leads to no hands bridge and hoofed it down. I led my horse across, as I usually do, because I like leading across it, and staring at that moon as I go across. The moon taunts me when I get pulled, but once again this year, I beat it. Robert came trotting by, but slowed up and we walked a bit together. You have to love Robert- the guy really knows what to say. He looked up at the night and said- “Ya know what? This is just one tough-ass ride.” He hit the nail right on the head. Yes, it is exactly that. It’s one of the things that makes it so special. I bid the talented Mr. Ribley adieu and Donnie scampered on down the road towards the finish. Riding along the moon lit river right here for a bit is a special treat, and is probably my favorite point of the ride. We hung a right turn and walked up the long climb up to Robie Point; that street light up there looks pretty good when you summit. I heard Tony Benedetti and another rider talking just ahead of me. Donnie thought we ought to go smoke by them, but I thought, no, let’s just ease on in. Two miles to go and all is perfect. We trotted quietly along on the roads and walked the last climb (the climbing just keeps on coming!) up towards the finish. Once we heard the people there, I gave Donnie a tiny squeeze and he burst into a canter across the finish line. Oh yeah, he’s the man. He’s cantering across the finish line on his own. Judy and Karen were there, as was Sally. I had not seen her since we separated in Robinson Flat so many hours ago. She’s such a good sport, and there is always next year. She will get that buckle as sure as I’m typing this. We vetted at the finish, where I always remember being pulled on my first Tevis. Not this time! My Donnie zipped back and forth for the vet, who said wow, he looked good. We went down and did a victory lap for the bunch of guys the ride must have hired to be a cheering section. Pretty funny- they whooped and hollered for everyone who finished. Nice touch! Donnie trotted at high speed, and broke into a canter just under the finish banner. Ho hum, when can we go riding again? Ya gotta love it. Back to the barn and food for the boy. Odessey gives him a nice greeting, but eating is what he has on his mind. This year the horses have to go back for a post ride metabolic check between 1 and 2 hours post finish. A very good idea, but I wasn’t going to make it that long. To the camper and sleep. Judy and Karen took care of my boy and the final vet check while I crashed for about 3 hours. That’s a long day.
The awards BBQ was yummy, and the ceremony is always fun. I got up to get my fourth completion, (five finishes) out of 8 starts. Hey- I’m back to 50% now. My Donnie is quite a guy- he’s three for three here. I’m more than thrilled he has come back, and even stronger than before. He loves his job, and I’m glad he landed with me. Thanks again, Barbara and Ron. Thanks again, Judy, Karen, Shawn-dei, Alair, and Phil. I couldn’t do it without you guys.
Sally will be back, and that first buckle is waiting. Not finishing has probably made her even more ravenous for it. I feel bad for the poor photographer, and for the lady whose horse fell down, and all those people who tried it and did not make it. I’ve been there, too many times. But not this year. Donnie and I beat the moon again this year. And we’ll be back, every time we can. Why? Robert said it best- this is one tough ass ride. But it’s the best there is.
Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca
Nick's story page
This ride! It’s been 4 years since I was able to enter, and that’s way, way too long. Follow my math logic- if I want to equal my hero Barbara White and get myself 30 buckles, and if I enter every 4 years, (add the three, carry the seven), I’ll be about 153 years old if I keep at this pace. I guess I either should have started sooner, or, darn it, enter every year. Tevis 06 was my Donnie’s first 100, and he romped through it. The next year I was recovering from my ACL replacement surgery, so Judy rode the D man to a great completion. In 08 was the fire and the canceled ride, and last year my boy was recovering from an injury, so no go for me. I have been pondering the 2010 Tevis for the past 18 months while Donnie healed up, and as my luck is occasionally good, the endurance gods smiled on me and he’s better. We made his comeback ride at Washoe in April, did all three days at the Wild West ride in May, rode the beautiful but tough Mendocino Magic ride in June, all just fine. It’s a hard thing to be off of your horse for so long, but its part of the game, and it just makes it so much sweeter when he comes back.
This year was also special since my long time riding buddy Sally Abe (pronounced Ahh-Bay) got the chance to start for the first time! Two of her three horses are retired, and her endurance horse Phathom is now an ex-endurance horse. He’s just not up to it anymore, (she needs number 4!) so she has had to wait. My friend Jackie Bumgardner stepped up and loaned Sally her superb mare, Odessesy, for the Tevis. 5000 miles with only a couple of pulls, completed Tevis before- perfect! We went to Bridgeport to pick up the mare and Sally got to know the horse as she completed the Mendocino ride in great shape. We were ready! Yahoo! Judy enlisted our friend Karen Bottanni to help with the Crewing duties, and Sally had her friends Alair Davidson and her fiancé Phil Hartley come along. Sally’s riding friend Shawn-Dei Linderman also came to help and see the circus. Phil’s my shoer, so that sure can’t hurt! We drove up on Thursday afternoon as usual and staked out our secret spot in the gravel parking lot. No dust, and a straight shot for the crew out forest road 6 in the morning- it’s worth the 7 minute walk to the start area. In the afternoon Sally and I went out for a ride down the start road for a few miles, and stopped to look up, way up, at the peaks of Squaw Valley. We’d be up there in a day and a half! Sally was very excited. It’s so pretty here at this point- quiet, peaceful, no dust. Just wait!
Friday morning was nice and cool. The weather in northern California has been so nice this summer. In fact it was the coolest July in our parts in something like 100 years. That’s just fine with me. I like it like this. We walked over to Robe Park to take in all the activities. I always see so many of my friends here. Steph Teeter is here, riding her second Tevis. Her first was in 97, as was mine. (Kind of a gap, there, Steph!) Kathy Meyers is here from New Mexico riding Blue, a horse she rode a long time ago when she lived in Cal. We did some shopping, signed up with Calstar Helicopter rescue, (oh yes, every year!) and I got to see the new horse safety vests. These things are an air bag for a rider? Apparently if you get launched, something senses that and flips a switch and inflates the vest with air to cushion you before you whump on the ground. What will they think of next? I wonder if it works? Who wants to test it? At 11:00 or so we moseyed back to pick up the ponies and wandered back over with our tack to the vetting area. The ride has it worked out pretty well. The vetting went smoothly; we got weighed, sorted, stamped, and bar-coded. Well, almost. They put a yellow hospital-type Tevis arm band with rider info written on it. Except they covered up the writing with the other end of the band. I got my band, walked away, and had a small anxiety attack. Well, as much of one as I am capable of, I guess. I’m one of those people who have a problem with wearing jewelry. It took several years for me to be used to the wedding ring, and if you put a watch on my right wrist I’ll yank it off, screaming! They stuck my new yellow band on my right wrist, and it was too tight. I walked away, but in a moment I started to get light headed, dizzy, and passed out- well, okay, not really, but I had to go back for a redo. The nice lady gave me another one that was nice and loose. Whew! Crisis averted. If this was my biggest problem for the weekend I’ll be happy! Sally and I went out for a little longer ride and had some excitement. We were paused under some giant pine trees, letting the horses graze on the nice, green grass in the serene forest. Suddenly a huge pine cone the size of a football comes crashing down through the tree towards us, causing an avalanche of pine cones to rain down on us. The horses jumped a bit- that was fun!
The ride meeting was very good this year- the WSTF guys have this figured out as well. (It used to be WAY too long) Into bed at 8:30- I slept fine, but I think Sally was pretty much awake all night. 3:30 am Saturday morning is dark, but the trailer lights take care of that. The horses are nice and calm as we tack up; Judy and her gang have everything all set and ready to go. We walk out of camp like we are riding up my driveway at home. It seems like it should be more exciting to embark on the journey, but that will come. We walked over to the entrance of Start Pen 2 and went on in. The WSTF guys almost have the start figured out. The pen concept works great, but Pen 2 wasn’t very good. The last time I did this we were in Pen 3, in the vetting area, and everyone just walked in a nice, big, quiet circle until we were routed out onto the road. Pen 2 was like a crowded airport- horses and people just moving in every direction at random, bumping into each other, helmet lights flashing, riders trying to find their friends, one guy got tossed off: it was sort of controlled chaos. Ride suggestion number one: why not use the old Pen 3? Or if not, make Pen 2 the roads that circle that part of the area. Get everyone walking in one direction- it would be much better than the milling about. We finally got released and hit our first bottleneck- the number taker. Why single track? Why not 2 or three lanes, just like the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Maybe we can use Fastrack? Ride suggestion number two: more number taker lanes. It would be much better. Past the number taker jam up and onto the road at a walk- we were all spread out nicely and lookee here- we hit the actual start at 5:17, only 2 minutes past the 5:15 start time. Pretty darn good. Off we went at a trot, and right over the crazy little ditch that caused the big hubbub 4 years ago. You just never know. The pace was fast as we trotted along the fire road for the first 3 miles or so to the single track. We did not slow down, but just kept sailing along. No riders had fallen off, no horses tied to trees, no carnage at all- nice! A great start. We really moved along on the single track full of horses all the way to the highway crossing before Squaw Valley. They were right about this when they warned us about the crossing at the meeting- they were doing road construction and had it all goofed up. We had to walk along the road, cross under it, walk in the other direction, turn around, walk back, turn again, then finally up the embankment. Great for the spectators- they saw our profiles three times! Now the climb starts up the long, twisty climb up the side of Squaw. The group of riders I was with were going a perfect pace- trot up, but walk the really steep stuff. Perfect! Sally and O hung in behind Donnie and me as they had done since the start. We cruised on up, with no yellow jacket bites, thank goodness, and before long we dropped down to the main ski run. Up some more, and left turn off the wide road onto the single track. Yikes- here’s the rock Gloria Vanderford’s horse slipped down on a few years ago when I was behind her. Yuck. No problems, but as we headed along I looked down to the right and way down below us, on the ski run, were horses. Pleasure horses from Squaw Valley? At this hour? (we got a little closer) Riding kind of fast? (closer yet) With numbers on their rumps? Uh-oh, someone missed a turn. It seems a bunch of riders missed the left onto that single track and took the ski run up to where we joined them. They did not cut any mileage, but had a little smoother run up that mile or so. All together now we worked our way up the ski run to the water stop at high camp, then up and over the tippy top of the peak, past Watson Monument, and down the super cool soft trail that takes us to the Granite Chief Wilderness. This is the most amazing part of the trail, and has some of the trickiest rocky sections. The trail was in very good shape, and for all the snow around there wasn’t much water in the bogs. The little waterfall we have to jump up was only a trickle. Both horses made it through the rock fields just fine, and Sally said something to the effect of “I don’t think I’ll look at a trail with rocks on it the same again.” A rocky, dusty road took us towards the trot by at Lyon Ridge, but the vet check had moved locations since I had been here. We hung a left down a tight little trail to a very nice trot by area with much more room for the horses than the old intersection. Good job on the trail! Much better than every other time I have done it. A quick trot for the vet and back towards the old trot by on the rocky jeep road. A left turn takes us climbing up the long, rocky, dusty ridge trail that winds its way a few miles to cougar rock. There were not many horses about, and as a result the dust was almost non-existent. I was leading Sally as we approached Cougar Rock; we were taking the bypass as usual. There was a rider going over, and one rider in line waiting for her chance at the famous climb. Donnie and I started down the trail towards the bypass trail. It’s a tiny little thing blasted out of the side of the rock on the riders left with a steep drop to the right. There was a photographer up on the top of Cougar rock snapping photos of the woman going over. He took a step backward and stepped into air. He fell down off the top of the rock, a fall of at least 20 feet, and landed smack on the solid rock of the bypass trail, just a hundred feet in front of Donnie and I. Donnie stopped quick, and I could not believe what I had just witnessed. I thought he was dead. How could he have survived that? The rock emptied of people who rushed down to help the poor man. I had to back Donnie up on the tight little trail- there is no way to turn around on that tiny thing. Good boy, Donnie. Tom Johnson was the ride official at the site- he quickly made the correct call to close the bypass trail and send all the riders up over the rock. I got back to where Sally was- she had been behind me and had seen it. We were in kind of a state of shock. The lady in front of us headed up and over the rock, but had to abort half way up and jump off her horse to keep him from backing up. We led our horses over the top, and once up over it, stopped for a minute to stop shaking. It was absolutely one of the worst things I have ever witnessed in my life. It was the sound of his body hitting the rocks that sticks with me. Consider this- had it been 20 seconds later, he would have landed right on top of me and my horse. He did survive; they had to get two helicopters to get him out of there. He ended up with both wrists broken, a broken leg, broken nose, a concussion, and more scrapes and bleeding than I want to remember. Egad- what a way to ruin your day.
We trotted on down the trail- what else could we do? Past Elephant’s Trunk, and back on the dusty trails that wind their way to Red Star and our first real vet check. We arrived a little later than planned, but spent about 10 minutes cooling the horses. Donnie was down to 48 in a couple of minutes, but Odessey was taking a little longer. There were people getting pulled everywhere, and lots for not recovering. Odessey came down, and the vet even commented that we must have been there a while, as her pulse was 52. We trotted on out the 7 mile road to Robinson flat, past the two empty water troughs (bummer) and reached the crazy stop at about 11:00 am. Our crew was there to meet us, and whisked the tack off as we headed down to the pulse takers. Donnie was down, but Odessey was having some unusual issues. She took about 10 minutes again to drop, but at the vets her pulse was bouncing a little: 56, 72, 56. Nope- that won’t do. The vet staff is very careful about anything even resembling a metabolic issue, so poor Sally was pulled. They gave the horse fluids as per their normal practice. Sally was pretty disappointed, but was thrilled about what she had seen so far. She got to see the best part of the trail, and although Odessey is an amazing horse, it just was not her day. This ride can do that to the best. Donnie vetted through very nicely and started his eating binge. Time for my biggest problem of the day so far- we could not find the bread, so I ate Sally’s fantastic egg salad with a piece of cold grilled chicken breast as a spoon. Worked great- just bite off the spoon! The bread was found, and I was saved again. The crew is just great; the riders are spoiled at this ride. I sat in the shade as I finished my lunch, washed the dust off, and tacked back up. Donnie and I headed out on the trail up the mountain behind the check, which leads to a nasty section of rocky and dusty trail. (I liked being on the road out of Robinson a lot better.) This finally ended with the downhill into Dusty corners and some water, then on to the cool single track trail that ends up at Pucker point. This trail can be really dusty, but Donnie and I did the whole 4 or 5 miles all alone- what fun. We ended up at the vet check at last chance, where we vetted through with a moderate vet line, maybe 10 minutes. I hate to lose those precious minutes, but Donnie got to eat, so it’s a good thing. I led my boy down the first canyon to the swinging bridge, then tailed up to the top of Devils Thumb. About three quarters of the way up there is a rider sitting on the trail, her horse is down below, having fallen off the trail. Oh no, oh no. It’s a good thing it was in a switchback, and the horse was stuck a bit under a down tree in a little canyon about 50 feet down the trail. Boy, it could have been a lot worse. There were some people there: I helped out a bit, and took the riders number up the trail and reported it in Deadwood. Some volunteers were able to cut the tree and lead the horse back up the incline to the trail. Yuck- thank goodness it turned out okay. I vetted through in Deadwood and kept on moving down the trial, hooking up with the one and only Barbara White. We rode together out of the check and all the way down the second canyon. I started tailing up into Michigan Bluff, but darn it, I could not quite make it all the way. I hopped back on Donnie who liked trotting up the steep climb. Up to the water (and a huge drink) at Michigan Bluff, and on down the road to Chicken Hawk and the next vet check. I walked in with Donnie down, but ended up getting stuck in a long vet line that cost me probably 15 minutes as well. I was using up more than my allotment of dawdling credits; I don’t like being anywhere near the cutoffs, and I was flirting with 30 minutes. Time to pick it up. I trotted quickly to the top of the Volcano canyon trail, then hopped off and ran down it on foot, pretty fast, doing my best imitation of Chris Knox. Right, uh huh. Donnie trots along behind me down the tight switch backs to the creek at the bottom, then we boogied up the last couple of miles uphill to Foresthill. I caught Robert Ribley right on the road in, so we cruised on in together into the teeming throng of people. Its still fun to come in to all that cheering and happy stuff. My crew was there and stripped my horse; he was at 52 when we got to the water on top. A quick trot for the vet, Dr Laserschef, who is a miracle worker. He was looking at Donnie’s feet, and I pointed out a cut that I noticed while tailing. He leans down and pulls a stick off the horse. There! Fixed! Just like that. What a guy! Judy and Karen took care of my horse while I ate and cleaned up. They had a nice parking place, but a poorly parked car in a turn made it tough for big rigs to make the turn on this little downhill turn out. One guy in a big living quarters snagged a rock and busted out his septic tank, which dumped all over the road right in front of us. Nice! Peeyeuu! Karen did not like the trucks coming so close to my horse when they swung wide for the turn, so she packed him up and moved to a new site out of harm’s way. What a good crew!
I put on my white shirt, picked up my little flashlight, and headed out into the dusk. I have often told people that all you have to do is survive getting to Foresthill, and from there the ride gets fun. I could not have been more accurate. I hooked up with a rider who was riding for her first time, both her and her horse. She asked if she could follow, since she said she was not sure where to trot. We mostly walked down the steeper trails and rocky sections towards the river, then made the right hand turn and took off. The moon was out, the night was nice, and I was on my boy. This is the best part of the ride bar none. We scooted along and hooked up with three other horses that were going our great pace. When we caught up to five more, it was too many, so I held back a bit and we went on by ourselves again. Its three and a half hours of absolute joy on the way down to Francisco’s. I was making up time, and got in and out of the check, but not before scarfing sandwiches and lemonade. The ride workers are the best ever here, but I had one little issue that I have to report since it was so silly. This wonderful volunteer came up and held my horse for me while I got food. She asked if she could fill my water bottles- Yes! They were bone dry and I had forgotten to fill them. I told her they were the ones on my saddle. She returned with three bottles of fresh, clean water. Three? Two clear, and one red. Uh oh. She was so happy to help, until I said that the red bottle on the back of my saddle was the one with my electrolytes in it. She had emptied it out and filled it with water. She was heartbroken! If there was a samurai sword available I think she may have committed Hari-Kari! I told her it was okay, don’t worry, but she was so upset that she had done that. I told her I’d borrow some, and the first person I asked gave me some of the kind I use. It was a non event, but it shows the dedication of those great people down there.
Out of the cool check and down the trail to the river’s edge and past all the sleeping campers who probably wonder why horses keep clomping by their tents all night. I followed a small group of people down to the river crossing; we rode along in silence, me just loving it. I crossed and got my feet all wet- Donnie isn’t very tall, and the water was high. I joined back up with Barbara and rode along with her down the few miles along the river to the vet check at the quarry. It’s lit up with generators like a Caltrans night work crew down there. I vetted next to Barbara, but her vet said he saw something in her horse’s right front. He told her to take it easy, walk in, all the usual stuff. He told her that every horse that had been in there had something going on. My vet looked up at me and said “except this one!” That was nice. I usually just get in and out here, but the D horse was really hungry, so I let him eat out of a 50 gallon mash for a while. Probably a bit too much for him to finish in our allotted time, so we headed out down the flat road along the river all by ourselves. I started singing again, as is my ridiculous habit when I ride by myself at night, until I caught Robert again. He was walking, so I trotted on by and crossed highway 49. The highway patrolman there helping said my horse looked great, but I was certifiable. Maybe, maybe. We walked over to the downhill that leads to no hands bridge and hoofed it down. I led my horse across, as I usually do, because I like leading across it, and staring at that moon as I go across. The moon taunts me when I get pulled, but once again this year, I beat it. Robert came trotting by, but slowed up and we walked a bit together. You have to love Robert- the guy really knows what to say. He looked up at the night and said- “Ya know what? This is just one tough-ass ride.” He hit the nail right on the head. Yes, it is exactly that. It’s one of the things that makes it so special. I bid the talented Mr. Ribley adieu and Donnie scampered on down the road towards the finish. Riding along the moon lit river right here for a bit is a special treat, and is probably my favorite point of the ride. We hung a right turn and walked up the long climb up to Robie Point; that street light up there looks pretty good when you summit. I heard Tony Benedetti and another rider talking just ahead of me. Donnie thought we ought to go smoke by them, but I thought, no, let’s just ease on in. Two miles to go and all is perfect. We trotted quietly along on the roads and walked the last climb (the climbing just keeps on coming!) up towards the finish. Once we heard the people there, I gave Donnie a tiny squeeze and he burst into a canter across the finish line. Oh yeah, he’s the man. He’s cantering across the finish line on his own. Judy and Karen were there, as was Sally. I had not seen her since we separated in Robinson Flat so many hours ago. She’s such a good sport, and there is always next year. She will get that buckle as sure as I’m typing this. We vetted at the finish, where I always remember being pulled on my first Tevis. Not this time! My Donnie zipped back and forth for the vet, who said wow, he looked good. We went down and did a victory lap for the bunch of guys the ride must have hired to be a cheering section. Pretty funny- they whooped and hollered for everyone who finished. Nice touch! Donnie trotted at high speed, and broke into a canter just under the finish banner. Ho hum, when can we go riding again? Ya gotta love it. Back to the barn and food for the boy. Odessey gives him a nice greeting, but eating is what he has on his mind. This year the horses have to go back for a post ride metabolic check between 1 and 2 hours post finish. A very good idea, but I wasn’t going to make it that long. To the camper and sleep. Judy and Karen took care of my boy and the final vet check while I crashed for about 3 hours. That’s a long day.
The awards BBQ was yummy, and the ceremony is always fun. I got up to get my fourth completion, (five finishes) out of 8 starts. Hey- I’m back to 50% now. My Donnie is quite a guy- he’s three for three here. I’m more than thrilled he has come back, and even stronger than before. He loves his job, and I’m glad he landed with me. Thanks again, Barbara and Ron. Thanks again, Judy, Karen, Shawn-dei, Alair, and Phil. I couldn’t do it without you guys.
Sally will be back, and that first buckle is waiting. Not finishing has probably made her even more ravenous for it. I feel bad for the poor photographer, and for the lady whose horse fell down, and all those people who tried it and did not make it. I’ve been there, too many times. But not this year. Donnie and I beat the moon again this year. And we’ll be back, every time we can. Why? Robert said it best- this is one tough ass ride. But it’s the best there is.
Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca
Nick's story page
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