Enduranceridestuff.com
Another Tevis Cup ride is now history. Out of 169 starters, 87 completed this year for a 51% completion rate. Some of the stats have been posted on the Tevis News Twitter page. Once more info comes in and gets verified it’ll go up on the Tevis Cup website.
I had originally planned to ride this year. The horse had other ideas! Actually, I should say “horses” because after Bo was injured after a fall I gave some thought to taking Chief. Then Chief decided to rip his eyelid apart - it’s still has some mild swelling and you definitely need a horse that can see clearly and very well on a ride like the Tevis. I haven’t taken Chief on Tevis before because I’ve been so afraid of him getting hurt. I know that sounds weird, but I am a bit over-protective of him. I love riding him on technical trail and it’s where I think he is at his best too.
[...more]
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Vermont 100: Patty Stedman's story
Patty Stedman's Story
Hey Ridecampers!
Ned is 15 this season, with over 2000 competition miles and eight seasons to his credit, and the most frequently used phrase when I talk about him and our endurance competition plans is “he doesn’t owe me a thing.” He doesn’t.
All those miles on a body that is not classically made for endurance – too big, too warmbloody, movement more suited to dressage than the profound daisy-cutting efficiency that is ideal in endurance, heat management issues, a topline only a mother could love, a profoundly opinionated temperament that often lands us in “I refuse to go 1 mph faster than this” territory. But stoic, and never a quitter. (A slower-downer, but not a quitter.) Recently, his chiropractor started talking kissing spine in his SI region – which would be a reasonable explanation for his lifelong aversion to steep downhills and the ongoing issues we’ve had with loin soreness, which I’ve always sworn was not related to saddle fit, but the work, based on the patterns of soreness. I’ve managed Ned with a huge dose of worry and a lot of paranoia over the years.
So my younger horse, Ace, physically more suited to endurance, has been getting primed and prepped for a 100, and Rich and I decided we’d head to Vermont for the 50 with the two veteran horses, and ride together, with Rich understanding that Ned and I would be slowing he and Sarge down mightily.
full story at http://www.endurance.net/rides/2009Vermont100/
Hey Ridecampers!
Ned is 15 this season, with over 2000 competition miles and eight seasons to his credit, and the most frequently used phrase when I talk about him and our endurance competition plans is “he doesn’t owe me a thing.” He doesn’t.
All those miles on a body that is not classically made for endurance – too big, too warmbloody, movement more suited to dressage than the profound daisy-cutting efficiency that is ideal in endurance, heat management issues, a topline only a mother could love, a profoundly opinionated temperament that often lands us in “I refuse to go 1 mph faster than this” territory. But stoic, and never a quitter. (A slower-downer, but not a quitter.) Recently, his chiropractor started talking kissing spine in his SI region – which would be a reasonable explanation for his lifelong aversion to steep downhills and the ongoing issues we’ve had with loin soreness, which I’ve always sworn was not related to saddle fit, but the work, based on the patterns of soreness. I’ve managed Ned with a huge dose of worry and a lot of paranoia over the years.
So my younger horse, Ace, physically more suited to endurance, has been getting primed and prepped for a 100, and Rich and I decided we’d head to Vermont for the 50 with the two veteran horses, and ride together, with Rich understanding that Ned and I would be slowing he and Sarge down mightily.
full story at http://www.endurance.net/rides/2009Vermont100/
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Two Point GPS - Karen Bumgardner
The ears are my two point gps system, high tech stuff right there!
It was the coolest old dug out, flat rocks laid in there horizontally to build a smooth solid wall. The poles over the top were supports for a sod roof. The dugout was near the banks of Hart Creek, and upstream was an awesome cave with a sign mostly covered with brush. I had to see what it said. It read "Oreana Savana". Not sure exactly what that meant. This was just one of the many sights at the Almosta Bennett Hills ride at Oreana.
The Bennett Hills ride was planned for the gooding area. To make a lon story short, it got rained out and John & Steph Teeter stepped in, offering trails and camp and much more just 5 days before the ride date. WOW!
I rode Thunder day 1 on the loop that left Oreana and climbed up to Toy Mtn. Sego lilies decorated the landscape along with a few left over Indian Paintbrush, Lupine, and Arrowleaf. It was a 50 mile loop - HOORAY!!! - with an out vet check and it was a wonderful reminder of the old days of endurance when you really had to ride coyote smart. I rode with my friend Linda and we had a blast! The horses had lots of creek crossings with good water. A bite of grass here and there. Even though it was the mid 80's the last few miles Thunder had to throw in some power spooks to be sure that I was still there and maybe I'd let him go faster? Not! We finished 8 and 9, snapping pictures of cool rock formations and scenic vistas along the way.
Sunday was day 2, I was going to ride spooky Thunder another day. Linda opted out on her mare but rode Blue on his second 50. He had spent all day Saturday having a fit in the corral in camp wondering why we had left him there. So he was a happy camper trotting down the trail Sunday after we got the first spook out of the way. We had a 25 mile loop that zigged and zagged over to Hart Creek and over little hills, rocks, sagebrush, through the creeks, past the homestead, and back to camp. After a vet check and an hour hold we were to repeat the loop in reverse. Only our hour hold was more like a hour and a half. it went something like this: Merri asks me, "Hey Karen aren't you guys going back out?" I answered "yup at 11:19." She said, "well you're late, it's 11:31!" Oh well, the extra time for the horses to eat and drink wasn't a waste as it was heating up and they'd need the energy. It heated right up to 95. and I think the water in my bottles was 120! But we finished and the horses were in great shape and hungry but then Thunder is always hungry. We were top 10 and "turtle" all at the same time too.
It was a great weekend and those that missed it really missed some
good trail and that nice 50 mile loop! Classic endurance stuff
there. I love it!!!!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Gotland Endurance - We did it!
Gotland Endurance Blog
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Jen Simmons
I achieved my goal, and finished in less time than last ride! I placed 9th... out of nine... but only 2 minutes after the 8th place finisher!
Summer is finally heating up here. And last weekend's ride was on the first real warm day we've had. So even though I groaned when I realized I would have to wake up at 6am, I was happy we were scheduled to start an hour earlier than normal.
It was a nice relaxing morning for me. I got to the barn by 7 and was on the road by 7:30. I actually arrived on time for once - no rushing! I got signed up, tacked up and was actually waiting around for the ride to start. Unheard of!
It was overcast and breezy, but you could feel the heat coming, so we were all anxious to get started. I stood around with all the experienced endurance horses at the start line. They were all anxious to get going... Willow was more anxious to get as much grass in her stomach as possible.
The time keeper finally said it was a go and we were all off quickly. Willow and I stretched out in a nice trot, but we were quickly outdistanced by the others. That was OK, I had one person behind me; he had a young horse and wanted to teach her to not gallop like a mad thing at the start. Willow was too sensible to do something like that... that would be too much like work!
We maintained a good trot for about a mile and a half before we were passed by the rider behind us. But that didn't last long as I called him back from the wrong trail. We continued on.
All of a sudden, a pack came up from behind us. I was confused! These people had long outdistanced me! They had taken the wrong trail.
Full Story
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Jen Simmons
I achieved my goal, and finished in less time than last ride! I placed 9th... out of nine... but only 2 minutes after the 8th place finisher!
Summer is finally heating up here. And last weekend's ride was on the first real warm day we've had. So even though I groaned when I realized I would have to wake up at 6am, I was happy we were scheduled to start an hour earlier than normal.
It was a nice relaxing morning for me. I got to the barn by 7 and was on the road by 7:30. I actually arrived on time for once - no rushing! I got signed up, tacked up and was actually waiting around for the ride to start. Unheard of!
It was overcast and breezy, but you could feel the heat coming, so we were all anxious to get started. I stood around with all the experienced endurance horses at the start line. They were all anxious to get going... Willow was more anxious to get as much grass in her stomach as possible.
The time keeper finally said it was a go and we were all off quickly. Willow and I stretched out in a nice trot, but we were quickly outdistanced by the others. That was OK, I had one person behind me; he had a young horse and wanted to teach her to not gallop like a mad thing at the start. Willow was too sensible to do something like that... that would be too much like work!
We maintained a good trot for about a mile and a half before we were passed by the rider behind us. But that didn't last long as I called him back from the wrong trail. We continued on.
All of a sudden, a pack came up from behind us. I was confused! These people had long outdistanced me! They had taken the wrong trail.
Full Story
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Ride Recap: Old Dominion - Danielle
Ridendurance.blogspot.com - Full Story
Monday, June 15, 2009
This past weekend was the 35th running of the Old Dominion Endurance Ride offering three distances: 25, 55, and 100 miles. Originally started as the U.S. Calvary Mounted Service Cup, the ride has morphed into its present-day format. While doing a little research on the history of this ride (one of my favorites) I came across a copy of the January 1922 issue of The Calvary Journal which spends several pages covering the 1921 Mounted Service Cup which ran from Red Bank, NJ, to the foot of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.
This was the second year the OD was held at its new ridecamp in Orkney Springs, Virginia. Orkney Springs itself is a neat little town, as I was told by a local who stopped by the vet check to watch the event. In the mid-1800s, Orkney Springs was a popular tourist destination as its hot springs were said to have curative powers. Now the town is home to Shrine Mont Conference Center and is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. It's a beautiful town and facility nestled at the base of the Great North Mountain.
I arrived at camp Friday afternoon as the horses were starting to vet in. After setting up my tent in what was to become the "spill over field" (more horses arrived than they originally planned!) I stopped in at the registration pumphouse to see how everything was going. Lorna, the amazing ride secretary had everything under control, so I walked over to the vet field to meet the vets and help out. At one point I found myself and a group of volunteers tying reflective ribbons to clothes pins which would be put out on the trail to guide the 100 milers into base camp. Before I knew it, it was 5pm and time for me to head to Shrine Mont (about a mile from camp) for the volunteer meeting. Mary and Bonnie gave a wonderful talk and organized all the volunteers. I was one of the few people comfortable with doing P/R, so I was given a job quickly and told to show up at the first check by 7am.
More...
Monday, June 15, 2009
This past weekend was the 35th running of the Old Dominion Endurance Ride offering three distances: 25, 55, and 100 miles. Originally started as the U.S. Calvary Mounted Service Cup, the ride has morphed into its present-day format. While doing a little research on the history of this ride (one of my favorites) I came across a copy of the January 1922 issue of The Calvary Journal which spends several pages covering the 1921 Mounted Service Cup which ran from Red Bank, NJ, to the foot of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.
This was the second year the OD was held at its new ridecamp in Orkney Springs, Virginia. Orkney Springs itself is a neat little town, as I was told by a local who stopped by the vet check to watch the event. In the mid-1800s, Orkney Springs was a popular tourist destination as its hot springs were said to have curative powers. Now the town is home to Shrine Mont Conference Center and is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. It's a beautiful town and facility nestled at the base of the Great North Mountain.
I arrived at camp Friday afternoon as the horses were starting to vet in. After setting up my tent in what was to become the "spill over field" (more horses arrived than they originally planned!) I stopped in at the registration pumphouse to see how everything was going. Lorna, the amazing ride secretary had everything under control, so I walked over to the vet field to meet the vets and help out. At one point I found myself and a group of volunteers tying reflective ribbons to clothes pins which would be put out on the trail to guide the 100 milers into base camp. Before I knew it, it was 5pm and time for me to head to Shrine Mont (about a mile from camp) for the volunteer meeting. Mary and Bonnie gave a wonderful talk and organized all the volunteers. I was one of the few people comfortable with doing P/R, so I was given a job quickly and told to show up at the first check by 7am.
More...
Descanso 50 - Kevin Myers
From the Horse's Mouth
Easyboot Glue-Ons at the Descanso 50 in San Diego County
June 16, 2009
I finally got to take Far to his first 50 in the Easyboot Glue-Ons on Saturday. This was to be the biggest experiment so far in the five-week transition. It was a resounding success: my ride this weekend confirmed this set-up as one that works well - even for a layman like me.
We had some challenges during the glue-on process on Thursday night because we ran out of tips to apply the Equi Pak glue around the top of the boot. It was a simple case of thinking there was another bag of tips in the box, when there were actually none left. The result was having to use our fingers to apply the bead of glue around the top of three boots. It worked just fine, but it did not look as professional.
Descanso is a six hour drive from home and is located in the mountains 45 miles east of San Diego at an elevation of 3,400 feet. We arrived at base camp early Friday afternoon; let the horses eat and drink for a few hours before vetting in, then prepared the two out check bags for ride day. The Glue-Ons were staying on nicely, but I was apprehensive about being caught out on the trail with a lost boot. The race was one long loop out of camp with three out vet checks, two of which were in the same location. Since Far wears a different sized boot on the front versus the hind, I packed two spare Easyboot Gloves in my saddle pack and two additional spares in each of the two out check crew bags. I would not need them, as it turned out.
More...
Easyboot Glue-Ons at the Descanso 50 in San Diego County
June 16, 2009
I finally got to take Far to his first 50 in the Easyboot Glue-Ons on Saturday. This was to be the biggest experiment so far in the five-week transition. It was a resounding success: my ride this weekend confirmed this set-up as one that works well - even for a layman like me.
We had some challenges during the glue-on process on Thursday night because we ran out of tips to apply the Equi Pak glue around the top of the boot. It was a simple case of thinking there was another bag of tips in the box, when there were actually none left. The result was having to use our fingers to apply the bead of glue around the top of three boots. It worked just fine, but it did not look as professional.
Descanso is a six hour drive from home and is located in the mountains 45 miles east of San Diego at an elevation of 3,400 feet. We arrived at base camp early Friday afternoon; let the horses eat and drink for a few hours before vetting in, then prepared the two out check bags for ride day. The Glue-Ons were staying on nicely, but I was apprehensive about being caught out on the trail with a lost boot. The race was one long loop out of camp with three out vet checks, two of which were in the same location. Since Far wears a different sized boot on the front versus the hind, I packed two spare Easyboot Gloves in my saddle pack and two additional spares in each of the two out check crew bags. I would not need them, as it turned out.
More...
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Compiègne – two CEIO's in a row
Compiègne – two CEIO's in a row
Leonard Leisens
Endurance-Belgium
Compiègne has something special that everyone likes. First, it is always a very competitive race attracting the best horses from France and abroad. Then, the venue is second to none : the racetrack, the cozy stables, he tribunes at the Grand Stadium, the forest with the outstanding going, the people… And last but not least the very gourmet catering which was installed near the Grand Stadium. What can you ask more? Nothing, except to keep Compiègne as it always has been : a technical race with hills punctuating every loop and a good footing for the horses. This year the circuit was mainly flat, most of the hills were removed from the loops. This was under the special request of Jean-Louis Leclerc, the French Chef d'Equipe who wanted a circuit to test the French horses in preparation for Babolna and Assisi.
This is a view of endurance. Flat circuit, foolish speed, technical skill reduced to a minimum. Many riders didn't like too much the new face of the race, but one has to adapt to new situations. The first race was the CEIOYR on the distance of 130km. It was crazy… Speed, stress, animosity, closed faces. This is how competitive endurance has become. There were 51 couples at the start. Among them, 32 completed the ride. This is not too bad, taking into account the speed. One has to figure out that at the start of the last loop, after 110km and with 20km to go, there were 26 horses in just 3 minutes. Watching the young riders taking the start of the last loop at full gallop, just separated by a few dozen meters was quite an experience. The tension was palpable. Every junior had the feeling that the victory was possible. The fight during the last loop was phenomenal. The leaders covered the 20km at full gallop reaching an average speed of near 30kph. At this game, the young Roman Lafaure - let's better say his horse Kaltsoum Cabirat – was the best, arriving detached at the Grand Stadium, just a few seconds before Justin Mourou on El ABiad. At the third place, and only seven seconds behind the winner, Laetitia Goncalves on Jasmina des Ayssade. The three first average a speed of 29.8kph. They should be ready for Babolna. After, one had to wait seven minutes to watch the next group. In the team competition, France finished first followed by Belgium and Brazil. The Brazilian young riders were riding French horses in an exchange program launch by Guillherme Ferreira.
The day after, the seniors riders had to compete on the CEIO. The distance of 160km normally leads to some kind of respect among the riders. But this event was at the same time considered by the French Chef d'Equipe as a test to make his selection for the European Championship. So the riders having some ambitions to enter the French squad had to demonstrate the quality of their horse. They did, no question about that. The winner was Laurent Mosti who already accomplished an exceptional season last year. He was riding an eleven year mare, Khandela des Vialettes, by the French flat racing Arabian Regal de Khan. A very strong and powerful – and not Arabian looking – mare. The mare already placed second last year in Compiègne, ninth in Dubai and second in Newmarket. Second was Guy Dumas on the part-bred Mohac and third the European Champion Jean-Philippe Francès on Hanaba du Bois. Fourth Caroline Denayer on her 15years old gelding Gwellik du Parc, a horse with incredible recoveries. He is by Djellik (son of Persik) out of a Fawzan's mare.
At the team competition, France win by far. Belgium has been second until the last vetgate, when its hopes disappeared when Dario was eliminated at the recheck. Switzerland was then happy enough to get the silver medal.
Leonard Leisens
Endurance-Belgium
Compiègne has something special that everyone likes. First, it is always a very competitive race attracting the best horses from France and abroad. Then, the venue is second to none : the racetrack, the cozy stables, he tribunes at the Grand Stadium, the forest with the outstanding going, the people… And last but not least the very gourmet catering which was installed near the Grand Stadium. What can you ask more? Nothing, except to keep Compiègne as it always has been : a technical race with hills punctuating every loop and a good footing for the horses. This year the circuit was mainly flat, most of the hills were removed from the loops. This was under the special request of Jean-Louis Leclerc, the French Chef d'Equipe who wanted a circuit to test the French horses in preparation for Babolna and Assisi.
This is a view of endurance. Flat circuit, foolish speed, technical skill reduced to a minimum. Many riders didn't like too much the new face of the race, but one has to adapt to new situations. The first race was the CEIOYR on the distance of 130km. It was crazy… Speed, stress, animosity, closed faces. This is how competitive endurance has become. There were 51 couples at the start. Among them, 32 completed the ride. This is not too bad, taking into account the speed. One has to figure out that at the start of the last loop, after 110km and with 20km to go, there were 26 horses in just 3 minutes. Watching the young riders taking the start of the last loop at full gallop, just separated by a few dozen meters was quite an experience. The tension was palpable. Every junior had the feeling that the victory was possible. The fight during the last loop was phenomenal. The leaders covered the 20km at full gallop reaching an average speed of near 30kph. At this game, the young Roman Lafaure - let's better say his horse Kaltsoum Cabirat – was the best, arriving detached at the Grand Stadium, just a few seconds before Justin Mourou on El ABiad. At the third place, and only seven seconds behind the winner, Laetitia Goncalves on Jasmina des Ayssade. The three first average a speed of 29.8kph. They should be ready for Babolna. After, one had to wait seven minutes to watch the next group. In the team competition, France finished first followed by Belgium and Brazil. The Brazilian young riders were riding French horses in an exchange program launch by Guillherme Ferreira.
The day after, the seniors riders had to compete on the CEIO. The distance of 160km normally leads to some kind of respect among the riders. But this event was at the same time considered by the French Chef d'Equipe as a test to make his selection for the European Championship. So the riders having some ambitions to enter the French squad had to demonstrate the quality of their horse. They did, no question about that. The winner was Laurent Mosti who already accomplished an exceptional season last year. He was riding an eleven year mare, Khandela des Vialettes, by the French flat racing Arabian Regal de Khan. A very strong and powerful – and not Arabian looking – mare. The mare already placed second last year in Compiègne, ninth in Dubai and second in Newmarket. Second was Guy Dumas on the part-bred Mohac and third the European Champion Jean-Philippe Francès on Hanaba du Bois. Fourth Caroline Denayer on her 15years old gelding Gwellik du Parc, a horse with incredible recoveries. He is by Djellik (son of Persik) out of a Fawzan's mare.
At the team competition, France win by far. Belgium has been second until the last vetgate, when its hopes disappeared when Dario was eliminated at the recheck. Switzerland was then happy enough to get the silver medal.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Schellbourne XP
from Karen Chaton's blog
June 5, 2009
I haven’t been able to keep up with photos or anything this week, too busy riding and getting everything done.
I’m sure those of you who have been to multidays know what it is like. It’s a lot of work to take care of yourself and two horses plus ride 50 miles a day and have very much time left for anything else.
I’ve been having a great week so far and have ridden Chief 150 miles (wow, already!?!). He is doing very well and I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I have so many great memories riding my horses on these trails. Chief also has memories as it is clearly obvious that he remembers the trails. This year we haven’t been able to do one of the passes and whenever we pass by that area where the turn would have been Chief lets me know it by turning his head and neck and repeatedly looking, as if to ask “are you sure we’re going right?”. He is a pretty smart horse and I have to give him credit for doing that. He also has alerted me to sighting a big buck the other day and wild horses today. His ears are like radar!
I have so many photos but the internet has been iffy so I won’t even try to post them yet. The wildflowers this year are about the best I remember ever seeing on this ride. Lots of grass for the horses, and fantastic scenery. Riders from all over are having a great time and enjoying the ride.
This is a challenging ride with lots of climbing. Tons of hills - with long, long downhills so each day the numbers are dwindling. We have still had a really good turnout all things considered. Today there were around 60 riders. I’ll try to get the results posted as soon as I can. We’ve been giving some stuff to Steve Bradley to send on so check ridecamp for more info there.
...more
June 5, 2009
I haven’t been able to keep up with photos or anything this week, too busy riding and getting everything done.
I’m sure those of you who have been to multidays know what it is like. It’s a lot of work to take care of yourself and two horses plus ride 50 miles a day and have very much time left for anything else.
I’ve been having a great week so far and have ridden Chief 150 miles (wow, already!?!). He is doing very well and I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I have so many great memories riding my horses on these trails. Chief also has memories as it is clearly obvious that he remembers the trails. This year we haven’t been able to do one of the passes and whenever we pass by that area where the turn would have been Chief lets me know it by turning his head and neck and repeatedly looking, as if to ask “are you sure we’re going right?”. He is a pretty smart horse and I have to give him credit for doing that. He also has alerted me to sighting a big buck the other day and wild horses today. His ears are like radar!
I have so many photos but the internet has been iffy so I won’t even try to post them yet. The wildflowers this year are about the best I remember ever seeing on this ride. Lots of grass for the horses, and fantastic scenery. Riders from all over are having a great time and enjoying the ride.
This is a challenging ride with lots of climbing. Tons of hills - with long, long downhills so each day the numbers are dwindling. We have still had a really good turnout all things considered. Today there were around 60 riders. I’ll try to get the results posted as soon as I can. We’ve been giving some stuff to Steve Bradley to send on so check ridecamp for more info there.
...more
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Endurance Riding, Mountaineering and Big Mouth Disease - Becky Coffield
Truewest.ning.com - Full Story
May 30, 2009
Besides being impulsive and frequently out of control, I also suffer from Big Mouth Disease. I often get the feeling that lots of people don’t like this about me.
My last attack happened when a co-worker told me about his wife doing endurance races. It hit like a thunderbolt. Suddenly I heard not a word he said as I saw my destiny as a world-famous endurance rider!! Fabulous images crossed my mind as I envisioned myself galloping through the dell, trailering around the world to compete, collecting ribbons and trophies, appearing on a late night show as a celebrity. Could this be an Olympic event for me?
Had I kept this inspiration to myself, there would have been no harm, no foul. But no. I had an onset of “Big Mouth Disease.” Because I regularly suffer from an overabundance of enthusiasm, I have a tendency to tell every walking human being who is not comatose of my grand schemes and ideas. That very day I told the entire student body and staff at the high school where I taught, half of Costco and the Oriental drycleaners (who I think speak no English) of my new ambition. When I told my long time horse shoer of my plan, he only arched his left eyebrow as he looked from me to my lazy, fat horse, Quincy. He said not a word, but listened as I babbled for an hour about training schedules, competitions and other nonsense I’d gleaned from internet experts.
Ah, reality. I was well into my second day of training when I became aware that my horse could handle long distances far better than my left knee could. I had forgotten about the Four-Hour-Fix my knee needed…the fix being to dismount and walk for a long spell. (This was the result of renting a horse in Mexico where the stirrups were set so high I had to ride like a jockey for hours.)
More!
May 30, 2009
Besides being impulsive and frequently out of control, I also suffer from Big Mouth Disease. I often get the feeling that lots of people don’t like this about me.
My last attack happened when a co-worker told me about his wife doing endurance races. It hit like a thunderbolt. Suddenly I heard not a word he said as I saw my destiny as a world-famous endurance rider!! Fabulous images crossed my mind as I envisioned myself galloping through the dell, trailering around the world to compete, collecting ribbons and trophies, appearing on a late night show as a celebrity. Could this be an Olympic event for me?
Had I kept this inspiration to myself, there would have been no harm, no foul. But no. I had an onset of “Big Mouth Disease.” Because I regularly suffer from an overabundance of enthusiasm, I have a tendency to tell every walking human being who is not comatose of my grand schemes and ideas. That very day I told the entire student body and staff at the high school where I taught, half of Costco and the Oriental drycleaners (who I think speak no English) of my new ambition. When I told my long time horse shoer of my plan, he only arched his left eyebrow as he looked from me to my lazy, fat horse, Quincy. He said not a word, but listened as I babbled for an hour about training schedules, competitions and other nonsense I’d gleaned from internet experts.
Ah, reality. I was well into my second day of training when I became aware that my horse could handle long distances far better than my left knee could. I had forgotten about the Four-Hour-Fix my knee needed…the fix being to dismount and walk for a long spell. (This was the result of renting a horse in Mexico where the stirrups were set so high I had to ride like a jockey for hours.)
More!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
16,000 feet of climbing; 45 miles: Sweet! - Kevin Meyers
The Stuff That (Endurance) Dreams Are Made Of
3 Days; 16,000 feet of climbing; 45 miles
There are a few fleeting moments in life when everything comes together just right. This weekend was one such experience. Our ride plans changed mid-trip and we enjoyed a challenging three-day test experiment at Groom Creek in the mountains near Prescott, Arizona. I’m pleased to report a perfect ten for the glue-ons: I’m convinced.
We had the first rain in Arizona in months for the two days leading up to our departure. The trimmer came out the day before we were to apply the boots to get the hooves looking nice and balanced. For Rocky, the rain and the trim would make him too sore to ride. Far would have no issues with tenderness.
The rain stopped long enough to prepare Far’s feet for the glue-on boots. This horse is now at almost three weeks since his shoes were removed and has adapted nicely to barefoot. His hoof wall is breaking out a little where the nail holes are, but there is nothing that concerns me. The rain seemed not to soften his feet that much, and we set about drying his feet out by using the heat gun on the sole and around the outside of the wall. You can tell when the feet begin to dry because they change color.
The trick is to have everything at hand. Here is a photo of the materials we used to apply the boots.
More...
3 Days; 16,000 feet of climbing; 45 miles
There are a few fleeting moments in life when everything comes together just right. This weekend was one such experience. Our ride plans changed mid-trip and we enjoyed a challenging three-day test experiment at Groom Creek in the mountains near Prescott, Arizona. I’m pleased to report a perfect ten for the glue-ons: I’m convinced.
We had the first rain in Arizona in months for the two days leading up to our departure. The trimmer came out the day before we were to apply the boots to get the hooves looking nice and balanced. For Rocky, the rain and the trim would make him too sore to ride. Far would have no issues with tenderness.
The rain stopped long enough to prepare Far’s feet for the glue-on boots. This horse is now at almost three weeks since his shoes were removed and has adapted nicely to barefoot. His hoof wall is breaking out a little where the nail holes are, but there is nothing that concerns me. The rain seemed not to soften his feet that much, and we set about drying his feet out by using the heat gun on the sole and around the outside of the wall. You can tell when the feet begin to dry because they change color.
The trick is to have everything at hand. Here is a photo of the materials we used to apply the boots.
More...
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
A Horse called Monk
MONK's ride is scheduled for Sunday the 25th of May. It is in Idaho which is about a 10 hour drive from our Ranch in Penn Valley, CA. MONK got a early 3 mile Pony and then locked in his stall for breakfast while we finished loading the trailer. MONK loaded easy and we were off. We plugged the Idaho ranch location into our GPS and it said that we would arrive at about 7:30PM. We had almost a full tank of diesel. Sign said that it was 74 miles to Winamucca, Dodge computer said that we had about 78 miles worth of fuel left, so we decided to fuel in Winamucca.. Well as the we got a little closer the signs read like 35 miles to winamucca, Dodge computer said 2 miles left. Nothing in either direction for miles and miles... As the computer DTE got to 0 a big sign was visible in the distance. Fuel at Puckerbush....now there is a name.. We pulled into the big truck bays and Nancy took cash into the store... 10 minutes later she came back out, she said that she had to get her drivers license for them to hold until I was done fueling... never heard of such a thing. Anyway, when you are on 0 or minus 0 can't complain too much. I told Nancy that it was a good omen, that MONK was going to do good. With a full tank we headed out. As we got into Winamucca there were lots of signs "Welcome Bikers", and bikers there were.... Funny how they all seem to look the same, my wife says I should no go into why I think they look all the same.. They were coming from the north, from the south, traveling in groups as large as 50, and all of them with no mufflers.
...more
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Cache Creek Ridge Ride - Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
The inaugural Cache Creek Ridge Ride was this weekend, held on
the annual weekend where it "suddenly gets really hot and everyone
wilts" (followed next weekend by the "pours with rain and everyone
gets wet at Wild West" weather... we'll see how that goes).
Looking at the GPS track, the trail was a tangled mess of loops, but
in reality it was *perfectly* marked and only a lack of attention on our
part had us go off trail a couple of times (gawping at the views).
What is most memorable about this ride is it had more water than
I've ever seen at a ride before - at times it was every half mile. It was
quite astonishing. Where there weren't troughs, there were a multitude
of cow ponds... so much for being worried about the water issue. We
actually made bad time because we kept stopping to sponge and let
the horses drink (good for the horses, bad for "making time while it
is still cool").
But it was just as well - the temps went up into the mid/high 90s (after
only just getting into the low 80s for the last few weeks) and we quavered
at the thought of being out there. I even clipped my horse for the first
time in my life (and afterwards wished I'd taken more off).
RM Jennifer Stalley opted to start the ride at 5:30 (well, I *did* want to
go to this ride for "Tevis training" - and that's exactly what I got), which
worked out really well.
There were a fair few climbs - thankfully, mostly gotten through before
the worst heat of the day; the footing was about perfect (probably a
good ride for a comfortably barefoot horse); and the views were beautiful.
I have to complain however. Jennifer told us there would be no rocks
or branches and I saw at least three rocks. And whacked my head on
a branch twice. And I saw some dead cow bones. She never mentioned
those.
Of course I fell off (which makes the fourth ride I've managed to fall off
during), but got a soft landing.
Roop was a little hot at the very end and took a while to pulse down, but
he'd been in Mr Self-Preservation mode for most of the day and was
getting As for everything else, so I was very pleased with him.
It was definitely Hot Weather Horse Management 101 out there - good stuff.
I know many people wisely chose to pull at the last vet check when a
long climb in the worst heat of the day took quite a bit out of the horses,
but as far as I know, none of those pulled horses were any worse for
wear - just very hot.
All in all, an excellent ride - lots of fun - kudos to Team Stalley and their
volunteers (many of which had never seen a horse, let alone done anything
endurance related) for putting this ride on.
the annual weekend where it "suddenly gets really hot and everyone
wilts" (followed next weekend by the "pours with rain and everyone
gets wet at Wild West" weather... we'll see how that goes).
Looking at the GPS track, the trail was a tangled mess of loops, but
in reality it was *perfectly* marked and only a lack of attention on our
part had us go off trail a couple of times (gawping at the views).
What is most memorable about this ride is it had more water than
I've ever seen at a ride before - at times it was every half mile. It was
quite astonishing. Where there weren't troughs, there were a multitude
of cow ponds... so much for being worried about the water issue. We
actually made bad time because we kept stopping to sponge and let
the horses drink (good for the horses, bad for "making time while it
is still cool").
But it was just as well - the temps went up into the mid/high 90s (after
only just getting into the low 80s for the last few weeks) and we quavered
at the thought of being out there. I even clipped my horse for the first
time in my life (and afterwards wished I'd taken more off).
RM Jennifer Stalley opted to start the ride at 5:30 (well, I *did* want to
go to this ride for "Tevis training" - and that's exactly what I got), which
worked out really well.
There were a fair few climbs - thankfully, mostly gotten through before
the worst heat of the day; the footing was about perfect (probably a
good ride for a comfortably barefoot horse); and the views were beautiful.
I have to complain however. Jennifer told us there would be no rocks
or branches and I saw at least three rocks. And whacked my head on
a branch twice. And I saw some dead cow bones. She never mentioned
those.
Of course I fell off (which makes the fourth ride I've managed to fall off
during), but got a soft landing.
Roop was a little hot at the very end and took a while to pulse down, but
he'd been in Mr Self-Preservation mode for most of the day and was
getting As for everything else, so I was very pleased with him.
It was definitely Hot Weather Horse Management 101 out there - good stuff.
I know many people wisely chose to pull at the last vet check when a
long climb in the worst heat of the day took quite a bit out of the horses,
but as far as I know, none of those pulled horses were any worse for
wear - just very hot.
All in all, an excellent ride - lots of fun - kudos to Team Stalley and their
volunteers (many of which had never seen a horse, let alone done anything
endurance related) for putting this ride on.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Barefoot at the Biltmore Challenge 2009
from Darolyn Butler
When we decided to make the 2200 mile round trip haul to the Biltmore Challenge this year, we didn’t even begin to know what a challenge it would become.
The riders in this trip included daughter, Cecilia Butler-Stasiuk, Enrique Searle Martinez (an Intl. rider from Chile), Deborah Sterling from Dallas, Tex, Carol Bracewell newly moved to Florida, Elizabeth Martin from Houston and me, Darolyn Butler.
The Spring ride season had kept us really busy with attending rides at least every two weeks with as many as 18 horses at one competition. The thing that initially made Biltmore tough was we had the big Bluebonnet Challenge Ride the very weekend before we were to leave for Biltmore on Tuesday. So as soon as we came off that trip with 12 horses, we started stripping trailers and repacking daughter CeCi’s trailer for the trip. We were taking 7 horses, (one to be delivered to a new buyer in N.C.) so my LQ trailer was out of the running, and although we could fit the 7 horses in my 4-Star, it didn’t have the, at least, minimal living area that CeCi’s and husband Jason’s did. So that meant the daunting job of sifting through my two personal trailers and the storage sheds for everything one needs for a week long trip on the road as well as the accruements for 6 competing horses.
By Monday afternoon, saddles and tack had been pulled and lined up in the barn hall; a cafeteria table was laden with all the other goodies, lanterns, electrolytes, blankets, etc to be loaded in an orderly fashion on Tuesday morning followed by an early afternoon departure. Then mother nature struck. We had been having fairly continuous rains for two weeks and the ground was seriously saturated already when on Monday night storm after storm here in the Gulf Coast put up to 10 inches of rain in the watershed area of Cypress Creek which we live on.
I was awakened around 5:30 AM Tuesday morning from the yelling and knocking of one of my boarders who had arrived to help us evacuate the horses. I quickly checked the flood stage on the computer and was shocked to see the creek level was over 23 feet, (normal is 3 feet) and I usually evacuate at 16-18 feet. I quickly put on my official flood tennis shoes (never get in flood water with boots on… rubber or leather) and dashed out to see the level on the road at the end of my drive way. It was already high. We quickly got the Envoy, the small truck and tractor out. I frantically called a neighbor, Richard, employee Jessie, and a boarder, Donna Shifflette with goose hook ups as I had only 1 truck and three gooseneck trailers sitting in my place. I got the first rig out as quick as possible, and up to high ground, then back for a second one. CeCi and help loaded the ready saddles into her trailer, but we didn’t have time to load horses, or any other equipment, feed or hay. Friends and volunteers were showing up to help with the eminent 68 horse evacuation and calls were going out to those that I knew would help and had experience at this massive chore.
Richard hooked up to CeCi’s rig, Donna arrived and hooked up to the LQ. And then all 68 horses were marched through knee deep to chest deep flood water to the waiting trailers. The local Constables were called to help slow down traffic for us as we had to make many u turns in the middle of Cypresswood Drive’s 4 lane highway. Of course morning traffic was at its peak, although many people were being discouraged from driving as the whole of Houston was under water in many places.
Our stallion was ridden over to Sovereign Farms (next door) along with 3 of the Biltmore bound horses. The other four ended up at the ten acre pasture over near Bush Airport where we are able to place the horses for a few days. At that point, I wasn’t even sure Biltmore was still possible…. But as the last horses were successfully taken off the flooded farm, I reloaded the Biltmore horses from the “evac pasture” and took them back to Sovereign where they had a regular box stall.
In the meantime, CeCi had organized a brilliant canoe brigade for bringing out at least a dozen sacks of feed, 12 bales of hay, and all of our other ride and camping equipment. The neighbors were kind enough to let us park the 4 rigs at their place & we spent the rest of the day sorting through the trailers and repacking the Sundowner which we would be traveling in. Bummer, late that afternoon, someone stole one of our canoes from the frontage road so that made it a bit more difficult to get things out.
As the rain had stopped, I fully expected the Creek to go down & perhaps we could start “un-evacing” the horses on Wednesday morning, still with time to leave for Biltmore by Wednesday afternoon. Not to be, the rains started again that night and the Creek went up 3-4 more feet to a final crest of 27-28 feet. Luckily CeCi’s husband Jason arrived from their home in N. Texas that evening and helped with the final pack out on Wednesday morning, and agreed to stay at the ranch and bring the horses back in later Wednesday or Thursday when the water went down. So, with 3 final canoe trips bringing out our personal luggage, food and other supplies, CeCi, Enrique and I got on the road by mid afternoon. Jason would later fly into Biltmore with crew Member Donna Shifflette.
Only a bit drained, (no pun intended), we started East on I-10 hoping to make at least 500 miles (about ½ of the journey) that day. We arrived at an RV Park near Mobile and parked for the night. We had a successful early start on Thursday morning expecting to arrive at Biltmore around 4:30-5:00 PM. That would have still given the horses a fairly good rest for the competition. However, the demons were rampant and we had a double blow out on the right rear side of the trailer just across the Georgia state line. One wheel/tire had been totally sheered off, and the battered rim was all that was left on the other. This event alone could make a small novel, but the short version is, US Rider sent us a local trailer to pick up the horses & place them safely on a small farm, but the mechanics they sent were not anywhere capable of taking on this massive repair issue. Coincidentally, a mechanic had had a flat just behind us, and it turned out his company was the best garage for miles around, A La Grange Automotive, in La Grange, Ga. These guys were amazing, The blow outs occurred at 1:30 PM, they started work around 2:30, they had to order/pick up parts, etc., and they did all the work on the side of the road as there was really no way to get the trailer towed without using two tow trucks they told me. They had me rolling by 5:30 PM. I went back south to get the horses, back North and stopped in La Grange for fuel and to have them install two new batteries while we had a gourmet dinner at Waffle House and on our way by 9 PM.
We rolled into Biltmore around 4:30 AM… I did have to stop once and take an hour nap. Unloaded, built pens and crashed for a few hours. I had kept our “on-the-road & in-the-air” riders and crews apprised of the issues and progress throughout the day, because at one time I really thought there was no way to get that trailer fixed and having desperately, but fruitlessly searched for a 6 horse trailer to rent in the area it looked like mission impossible. We even considered having Jason start driving with my 4-Star…. But time certainly wasn’t on our side there. So to have these guys fix the trailer and get us on the road was like a small miracle.
Checking the horses upon arising Friday morning we discovered Macproof was a bit droopy. As he was CeCi’s mount for the 100 we started scrambling on what to do. Should we drop him back to the 50, should we scratch him entirely??? We had an extra horse with us, Tarzan, who was being delivered to his new owner (and part of our crew) Kate Burnett. We asked, and a very generous Kate agreed to let him go in the 50 under Elizabeth Martin/Houston. CeCi changed to DJB Juniper in the 75, Enrique took DJB Fantasia in the 50, and Carol Bracewell took DJB Boomer in the 50, leaving Deborah Sterling on DJB Cherrys Juliet and me on Mercy as the only ones on our original horses. Of course this called for saddle readjustments and all sorts of stuff.
After confusing the heck out of ride management, Cheryl Newman, who was wonderful by the way… we got all of the entries done and started vet checking the horses. The veterinarians expressed concern about the horses attempting it barefooted, but we assured them we did have boots if needed.
Cheryl had sent out an e mail warning us all about some new bluestone gravel that had recently been put on about a mile of road. I really wanted to drive up to that area and take a look at it and the edge of the road to see how it could be handled by our barefooted horses, but I just didn’t have enough time. The ride meeting started at 5:30 and with weigh ins and such, we just barely made it there. Since we were riding the longer distances, CeCi and I were a bit concerned about this gravel road, and CeCi momentarily considered putting on front shoes, however, judgment prevailed and we both fitted our easy boots and Easyboot gloves & placed them on the saddle in case we needed them. All 6 horses started barefooted.
The hundreds went out first of course, with a four wheeler leading the way in the dark. I started back a ways and through the first loop made my way up to 12th or so. Mercy was handling the terrain beautifully. CeCi started 30 minutes later in the 75, and 30 minutes later Enrique, Carol, Deborah and Elizabeth in the 50. I think almost everyone in the ride took a wrong trail here or there and we were no exception. It’s always so frustrating when every moment counts and one has made a stupid error or in some cases, there was just a missing marker. They are not allowed to use any ribbon at Biltmore and for the most part they are excellent marked trails, but just tricky at times.
CeCi hit the bluestone gravel first on her last loop of the 75, but I didn’t get a report as I had to leave on that same loop before she came in. Mercy was tiring a bit and I was falling off my pace, but CeCi and Enrique were going strong. CeCi did not boot for the gravel and came through fine. She ended up placing 2nd by about 5 minutes I think, and 1st FEI. Enrique was 4th in the AERC 50 & 1st FEI and BC in the FEI. Carol and Deborah finished middle of the pack and received their 1 Stars (the goal) and Elizabeth finished way back on Tarzan who was not nearly as conditioned as the other horses… but he didn’t do to bad for a stand end. I just received an e mail from new owner Kate, she said the folks at his new stable near Raleigh were just in awe of his feet and totally impressed with how they looked after 50 miles. They just couldn’t believe it.
I started the 5th loop (the one with the mile of bad gravel road) with the “gloves” on so I wouldn’t have to stop and put them on at the gravel, but I noticed Mercy didn’t seem nearly as surefooted with them on as it had rained and the trails were very slick in places. Shortly after the gravel, Nina Warren came by and we chatted about the slickness… geesh I thought, and quickly got down and removed them. They are really quick and easy to take off. I had to do that loop one more time and the next time, I just waited until I got to the gravel, put the boots on, and then removed them right after once again. So in total, I may have run about 8 miles of the 100 in the boots. My finish at 11:21 PM gave our little group of 6 Cypress Trails Horses a 100 per cent completion rate in a race that went from 67% in the 50, to 62% in the 100. I think both riders and veterinarians were amazed. I’m always surprised though that more people don’t ask to look at their feet after such a ride.
One fellow rider did ask me if I fed a special supplement to make their feet hard. “Nope”, I said. “Oh, they are just Texas tough?” he replied. I laughed, “Are you kidding? I live in a swamp and sand. I have to go lookin’ for broken asphalt to find anything abrasive to ride on. They are just healthy feet and have thick hoof walls and soles.” It’s really interesting; Mercy and June both have very flat feet. I used to stress about the lack of concavity, but now I think those thick soles just give them extra protection.
Valerie Kanavy rode a brilliant 100 Mile ride on her latest up and coming star, Spectacular Gold, followed closely by Farzad Faryadi on Bullwinkle.
75 Milers: A local rider, Bonnie Hannah won the AERC Divistion on Rezus Respite. CeCi and DJB Juniper 1st FEI Division. B.C. went to Stagg Newman's horse Super ridden by Dom Freeman of Britain.
50 Miler: Bob Geilen won and BC'd in the AERC Division and Enrique Searle Martinez and DJB Fantasia won the FEI & BC Division.
Our group was on a total high. This is 18 year old Enrique’s 5th ride since he’s been in the U.S. and he impresses me at each one of them. Deborah and Elizabeth are very new riders and doing great. Carol is an old hand, but has had some injuries that have kept her sidelined. So good to have her up and riding. I know I can always count on the ladies to take care of my horses. And of course the indomitable CeCi, who did a fabulous job on one of my favorite mares, Juniper. Crew was audacious as CeCi’s husband, Jason Stasiuk, Donna Shifflette, Kate Burnett, and Elizabeth’s Aunt Diana proved to be right on top of everything! And of course, there were those that jumped in with help at the line, like Jeremy Reynolds and loaners of hay and “strange grain”!! Thanks everyone!!
When we decided to make the 2200 mile round trip haul to the Biltmore Challenge this year, we didn’t even begin to know what a challenge it would become.
The riders in this trip included daughter, Cecilia Butler-Stasiuk, Enrique Searle Martinez (an Intl. rider from Chile), Deborah Sterling from Dallas, Tex, Carol Bracewell newly moved to Florida, Elizabeth Martin from Houston and me, Darolyn Butler.
The Spring ride season had kept us really busy with attending rides at least every two weeks with as many as 18 horses at one competition. The thing that initially made Biltmore tough was we had the big Bluebonnet Challenge Ride the very weekend before we were to leave for Biltmore on Tuesday. So as soon as we came off that trip with 12 horses, we started stripping trailers and repacking daughter CeCi’s trailer for the trip. We were taking 7 horses, (one to be delivered to a new buyer in N.C.) so my LQ trailer was out of the running, and although we could fit the 7 horses in my 4-Star, it didn’t have the, at least, minimal living area that CeCi’s and husband Jason’s did. So that meant the daunting job of sifting through my two personal trailers and the storage sheds for everything one needs for a week long trip on the road as well as the accruements for 6 competing horses.
By Monday afternoon, saddles and tack had been pulled and lined up in the barn hall; a cafeteria table was laden with all the other goodies, lanterns, electrolytes, blankets, etc to be loaded in an orderly fashion on Tuesday morning followed by an early afternoon departure. Then mother nature struck. We had been having fairly continuous rains for two weeks and the ground was seriously saturated already when on Monday night storm after storm here in the Gulf Coast put up to 10 inches of rain in the watershed area of Cypress Creek which we live on.
I was awakened around 5:30 AM Tuesday morning from the yelling and knocking of one of my boarders who had arrived to help us evacuate the horses. I quickly checked the flood stage on the computer and was shocked to see the creek level was over 23 feet, (normal is 3 feet) and I usually evacuate at 16-18 feet. I quickly put on my official flood tennis shoes (never get in flood water with boots on… rubber or leather) and dashed out to see the level on the road at the end of my drive way. It was already high. We quickly got the Envoy, the small truck and tractor out. I frantically called a neighbor, Richard, employee Jessie, and a boarder, Donna Shifflette with goose hook ups as I had only 1 truck and three gooseneck trailers sitting in my place. I got the first rig out as quick as possible, and up to high ground, then back for a second one. CeCi and help loaded the ready saddles into her trailer, but we didn’t have time to load horses, or any other equipment, feed or hay. Friends and volunteers were showing up to help with the eminent 68 horse evacuation and calls were going out to those that I knew would help and had experience at this massive chore.
Richard hooked up to CeCi’s rig, Donna arrived and hooked up to the LQ. And then all 68 horses were marched through knee deep to chest deep flood water to the waiting trailers. The local Constables were called to help slow down traffic for us as we had to make many u turns in the middle of Cypresswood Drive’s 4 lane highway. Of course morning traffic was at its peak, although many people were being discouraged from driving as the whole of Houston was under water in many places.
Our stallion was ridden over to Sovereign Farms (next door) along with 3 of the Biltmore bound horses. The other four ended up at the ten acre pasture over near Bush Airport where we are able to place the horses for a few days. At that point, I wasn’t even sure Biltmore was still possible…. But as the last horses were successfully taken off the flooded farm, I reloaded the Biltmore horses from the “evac pasture” and took them back to Sovereign where they had a regular box stall.
In the meantime, CeCi had organized a brilliant canoe brigade for bringing out at least a dozen sacks of feed, 12 bales of hay, and all of our other ride and camping equipment. The neighbors were kind enough to let us park the 4 rigs at their place & we spent the rest of the day sorting through the trailers and repacking the Sundowner which we would be traveling in. Bummer, late that afternoon, someone stole one of our canoes from the frontage road so that made it a bit more difficult to get things out.
As the rain had stopped, I fully expected the Creek to go down & perhaps we could start “un-evacing” the horses on Wednesday morning, still with time to leave for Biltmore by Wednesday afternoon. Not to be, the rains started again that night and the Creek went up 3-4 more feet to a final crest of 27-28 feet. Luckily CeCi’s husband Jason arrived from their home in N. Texas that evening and helped with the final pack out on Wednesday morning, and agreed to stay at the ranch and bring the horses back in later Wednesday or Thursday when the water went down. So, with 3 final canoe trips bringing out our personal luggage, food and other supplies, CeCi, Enrique and I got on the road by mid afternoon. Jason would later fly into Biltmore with crew Member Donna Shifflette.
Only a bit drained, (no pun intended), we started East on I-10 hoping to make at least 500 miles (about ½ of the journey) that day. We arrived at an RV Park near Mobile and parked for the night. We had a successful early start on Thursday morning expecting to arrive at Biltmore around 4:30-5:00 PM. That would have still given the horses a fairly good rest for the competition. However, the demons were rampant and we had a double blow out on the right rear side of the trailer just across the Georgia state line. One wheel/tire had been totally sheered off, and the battered rim was all that was left on the other. This event alone could make a small novel, but the short version is, US Rider sent us a local trailer to pick up the horses & place them safely on a small farm, but the mechanics they sent were not anywhere capable of taking on this massive repair issue. Coincidentally, a mechanic had had a flat just behind us, and it turned out his company was the best garage for miles around, A La Grange Automotive, in La Grange, Ga. These guys were amazing, The blow outs occurred at 1:30 PM, they started work around 2:30, they had to order/pick up parts, etc., and they did all the work on the side of the road as there was really no way to get the trailer towed without using two tow trucks they told me. They had me rolling by 5:30 PM. I went back south to get the horses, back North and stopped in La Grange for fuel and to have them install two new batteries while we had a gourmet dinner at Waffle House and on our way by 9 PM.
We rolled into Biltmore around 4:30 AM… I did have to stop once and take an hour nap. Unloaded, built pens and crashed for a few hours. I had kept our “on-the-road & in-the-air” riders and crews apprised of the issues and progress throughout the day, because at one time I really thought there was no way to get that trailer fixed and having desperately, but fruitlessly searched for a 6 horse trailer to rent in the area it looked like mission impossible. We even considered having Jason start driving with my 4-Star…. But time certainly wasn’t on our side there. So to have these guys fix the trailer and get us on the road was like a small miracle.
Checking the horses upon arising Friday morning we discovered Macproof was a bit droopy. As he was CeCi’s mount for the 100 we started scrambling on what to do. Should we drop him back to the 50, should we scratch him entirely??? We had an extra horse with us, Tarzan, who was being delivered to his new owner (and part of our crew) Kate Burnett. We asked, and a very generous Kate agreed to let him go in the 50 under Elizabeth Martin/Houston. CeCi changed to DJB Juniper in the 75, Enrique took DJB Fantasia in the 50, and Carol Bracewell took DJB Boomer in the 50, leaving Deborah Sterling on DJB Cherrys Juliet and me on Mercy as the only ones on our original horses. Of course this called for saddle readjustments and all sorts of stuff.
After confusing the heck out of ride management, Cheryl Newman, who was wonderful by the way… we got all of the entries done and started vet checking the horses. The veterinarians expressed concern about the horses attempting it barefooted, but we assured them we did have boots if needed.
Cheryl had sent out an e mail warning us all about some new bluestone gravel that had recently been put on about a mile of road. I really wanted to drive up to that area and take a look at it and the edge of the road to see how it could be handled by our barefooted horses, but I just didn’t have enough time. The ride meeting started at 5:30 and with weigh ins and such, we just barely made it there. Since we were riding the longer distances, CeCi and I were a bit concerned about this gravel road, and CeCi momentarily considered putting on front shoes, however, judgment prevailed and we both fitted our easy boots and Easyboot gloves & placed them on the saddle in case we needed them. All 6 horses started barefooted.
The hundreds went out first of course, with a four wheeler leading the way in the dark. I started back a ways and through the first loop made my way up to 12th or so. Mercy was handling the terrain beautifully. CeCi started 30 minutes later in the 75, and 30 minutes later Enrique, Carol, Deborah and Elizabeth in the 50. I think almost everyone in the ride took a wrong trail here or there and we were no exception. It’s always so frustrating when every moment counts and one has made a stupid error or in some cases, there was just a missing marker. They are not allowed to use any ribbon at Biltmore and for the most part they are excellent marked trails, but just tricky at times.
CeCi hit the bluestone gravel first on her last loop of the 75, but I didn’t get a report as I had to leave on that same loop before she came in. Mercy was tiring a bit and I was falling off my pace, but CeCi and Enrique were going strong. CeCi did not boot for the gravel and came through fine. She ended up placing 2nd by about 5 minutes I think, and 1st FEI. Enrique was 4th in the AERC 50 & 1st FEI and BC in the FEI. Carol and Deborah finished middle of the pack and received their 1 Stars (the goal) and Elizabeth finished way back on Tarzan who was not nearly as conditioned as the other horses… but he didn’t do to bad for a stand end. I just received an e mail from new owner Kate, she said the folks at his new stable near Raleigh were just in awe of his feet and totally impressed with how they looked after 50 miles. They just couldn’t believe it.
I started the 5th loop (the one with the mile of bad gravel road) with the “gloves” on so I wouldn’t have to stop and put them on at the gravel, but I noticed Mercy didn’t seem nearly as surefooted with them on as it had rained and the trails were very slick in places. Shortly after the gravel, Nina Warren came by and we chatted about the slickness… geesh I thought, and quickly got down and removed them. They are really quick and easy to take off. I had to do that loop one more time and the next time, I just waited until I got to the gravel, put the boots on, and then removed them right after once again. So in total, I may have run about 8 miles of the 100 in the boots. My finish at 11:21 PM gave our little group of 6 Cypress Trails Horses a 100 per cent completion rate in a race that went from 67% in the 50, to 62% in the 100. I think both riders and veterinarians were amazed. I’m always surprised though that more people don’t ask to look at their feet after such a ride.
One fellow rider did ask me if I fed a special supplement to make their feet hard. “Nope”, I said. “Oh, they are just Texas tough?” he replied. I laughed, “Are you kidding? I live in a swamp and sand. I have to go lookin’ for broken asphalt to find anything abrasive to ride on. They are just healthy feet and have thick hoof walls and soles.” It’s really interesting; Mercy and June both have very flat feet. I used to stress about the lack of concavity, but now I think those thick soles just give them extra protection.
Valerie Kanavy rode a brilliant 100 Mile ride on her latest up and coming star, Spectacular Gold, followed closely by Farzad Faryadi on Bullwinkle.
75 Milers: A local rider, Bonnie Hannah won the AERC Divistion on Rezus Respite. CeCi and DJB Juniper 1st FEI Division. B.C. went to Stagg Newman's horse Super ridden by Dom Freeman of Britain.
50 Miler: Bob Geilen won and BC'd in the AERC Division and Enrique Searle Martinez and DJB Fantasia won the FEI & BC Division.
Our group was on a total high. This is 18 year old Enrique’s 5th ride since he’s been in the U.S. and he impresses me at each one of them. Deborah and Elizabeth are very new riders and doing great. Carol is an old hand, but has had some injuries that have kept her sidelined. So good to have her up and riding. I know I can always count on the ladies to take care of my horses. And of course the indomitable CeCi, who did a fabulous job on one of my favorite mares, Juniper. Crew was audacious as CeCi’s husband, Jason Stasiuk, Donna Shifflette, Kate Burnett, and Elizabeth’s Aunt Diana proved to be right on top of everything! And of course, there were those that jumped in with help at the line, like Jeremy Reynolds and loaners of hay and “strange grain”!! Thanks everyone!!
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Tall Pines Endurance Ride - Anne P
Beavercreekfarm - Full Story
How the West Was Spun Blog
May 4, 2009
We are back from the Tall Pines Endurance Ride. We had an absolute blast! By far, this ride was the nicest we've been to so far.
Ride camp is about 1.5 miles in on BLM/National Forest land in the Gila National Forest, near Silver City, NM. The camp is an open area where several arroyos run down out of the mountains.
Friday, we rode out on the 30-mile ride. There were two loops: One 16-mile loop that went out of camp through the arroyo and then headed up into the mountains behind us, past an old mining camp and then back down another sandy wash and headed out cross-country through a private ranch, before turning and coming back into camp. The second loop was 12 miles and a bit more technical. We headed out of camp in the same arroyo, but then turned more quickly and went up into the steeper, rockier mountains, where we rode under HUGE pine trees, before easing back down through a narrow rocky canyon, and then riding back down the arroyo into camp.
The trail was wonderfully marked, so there were no real worries about getting lost. The ride managers had water out about every 4 miles, which was great, since it was warm, and Sam and Bhen are more used to the cooler mountain temps these days.
More...
How the West Was Spun Blog
May 4, 2009
We are back from the Tall Pines Endurance Ride. We had an absolute blast! By far, this ride was the nicest we've been to so far.
Ride camp is about 1.5 miles in on BLM/National Forest land in the Gila National Forest, near Silver City, NM. The camp is an open area where several arroyos run down out of the mountains.
Friday, we rode out on the 30-mile ride. There were two loops: One 16-mile loop that went out of camp through the arroyo and then headed up into the mountains behind us, past an old mining camp and then back down another sandy wash and headed out cross-country through a private ranch, before turning and coming back into camp. The second loop was 12 miles and a bit more technical. We headed out of camp in the same arroyo, but then turned more quickly and went up into the steeper, rockier mountains, where we rode under HUGE pine trees, before easing back down through a narrow rocky canyon, and then riding back down the arroyo into camp.
The trail was wonderfully marked, so there were no real worries about getting lost. The ride managers had water out about every 4 miles, which was great, since it was warm, and Sam and Bhen are more used to the cooler mountain temps these days.
More...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
2009 Pan American Championship - Uruguay
Steph's Wrap-up Stories:
Part 1 - The Ride Venue
The venue is empty - all the tents are packed up and put away, the USA horses left this morning, all's quiet. The hotel here is empty too, except for me.
...more
Part 2 - The Team Effort: Uruguay and Argentina
This event really felt like a team affair. More so than other Championships I've been too. Perhaps it was due to the individuals who participated, or maybe the nature of the countries - more sensitive to each other, to a group effort, to National pride. Maybe it was just my perception - but it was a delightful competition in this respect.
...more
Part 3 - The Team Effort - USA
And the Americans had a great competition! Finally! The last time the USA won a Team medal was at the Pan American Championship in 2005 held in Argentina. It was a very good event for the riders, the crews, and the USEF staff.
...more
Part 5 - The Team Effort: Guatemala and Malaysia
And hooray for Guatemala! They have only been doing Endurance for 4 years, but are learning fast and are highly dedicated.
...more
Part 1 - The Ride Venue The venue is empty - all the tents are packed up and put away, the USA horses left this morning, all's quiet. The hotel here is empty too, except for me.
...more
Part 2 - The Team Effort: Uruguay and ArgentinaThis event really felt like a team affair. More so than other Championships I've been too. Perhaps it was due to the individuals who participated, or maybe the nature of the countries - more sensitive to each other, to a group effort, to National pride. Maybe it was just my perception - but it was a delightful competition in this respect.
...more
Part 3 - The Team Effort - USAAnd the Americans had a great competition! Finally! The last time the USA won a Team medal was at the Pan American Championship in 2005 held in Argentina. It was a very good event for the riders, the crews, and the USEF staff.
...more
Part 5 - The Team Effort: Guatemala and Malaysia
And hooray for Guatemala! They have only been doing Endurance for 4 years, but are learning fast and are highly dedicated.
...more
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Million Pines - Angie's Story
Whoopee, finally back at Million Pines my FAVORITE event after one year
of being a good mom and staying home for daughter's senior prom. (I
talked to her on the phone the other two years that she went and she sent
me photos of her hairdo on my cell phone) :-P We have gone to this ride
almost every year...I think 15 out of 18 that they've had. It's always
held on Josie's birthday weekend and she's had most of her birthday
celebrations there until a 3 year break where she went to proms that were
always held on that weekend. That's finally history so we were excited to
be back! Buddy Lynda Webber hauled down with us with her horse Bailey and
she and Josie would be riding possibly top 10 while 7 and I aimed for a
good completion a little farther back.
As Steve Rojek said, the weather was a "gift". It was cool, low humidity,
a light breeze, no sign of rain, PERFECT. They warned us the trails were
WET but that just meant there were some deep creek crossings. No mud
worth mentioning really. While I went south to Million Pines Jody went
north to Chicken Chase. Whoever that was that said they wanted to ride
with Jody, let me warn you...she is rediculously COMPETITIVE in ALL
THINGS. If you trained with her she'd try to beat you at training...and
she'd want Joni to beat you too! :-) So, she's turned Joni loose to ride
as an adult featherweight this year, meanwhile Josie is finally competing
more after graduation and she rides as a featherweight. Meanwhile Jody
and I are both dealing with trying to get a decent horse started and
having our share of delays, so our kids are getting the impression they
might be better than we are at this...and of course we talk to each other
about how *we're* the reason they're doing any good anyway...but she
still wants to BEAT ME at getting a horse started and her kid do better
than mine to show she's better at that part too!
Long story short. Perfect day, everybody had a great time, 7 had a good
day but Lynda and Josie were having a *really* good day. They did have
one mishap. There was the coolest swamp you had to ride through. I'd
give anything if the photographer could have gotten us there. Without
markers, and a great deal of faith in Wesley Crowe I would never have
*dreamed* of letting a horse put one foot in it, much less ride through
it. There was just a low black lake (swamp), in a darkish hollow, with
Cypress trees growing right up out of the water with the creepy looking
roots. The grove was thick but had a wide path through the middle that
was wide enough for a car to have driven through if it had been drained.
There was a good current crossing the path at one point and as the horses
stepped down into it the water went up high on their chests. When Lynda &
Josie were crossing it with the front runners Lynda's horse Bailey
stepped through is running martingale and had a not so fun "incident".
She had to jump off into the chest high water and try to disassemble the
thing with an anxious horse trying to go on with the others. He knocked
her off her feet at one point. Josie & Kyle stayed with her but it took a
while and they finally convinced Kyle to go on. Could have been a lot
worse I guess. >shudder< Lynda's pretty tall. I crossed the same thing
with a running martingale and if I'd have had to get off I might have had
to dog paddle! :-O
At the next check Lynda decided to drop back and let her horse eat a bit
so she took herself out of the hunt. Wesley Crowe's horse won the race
with Brandy riding, Josie, Steve Rojek & Elizabeth Allen? tied for 2nd.
When I finished Josie ran over and told me Jody had called and Joni had
won Chicken Chase. Great, Josie pulls off a 2nd and "Miss Competitive"
had to manage a first! >g
BC...Josie's Cade won!!! OK, so what *I* wanted to know was how Jody did
on Booger since I'm sure she'd consider that the tie breaker on the
weekend. Well, she finished higher...I *think* she said 11th...but there
were 30? entries. 7 finished 18th, but there were over 60 entries... hmm.
This could get involved. I mean...their times beat ours, but you just
can't compare different courses...right? I would be willing to call it a
tie and not count the rest of the season but that will never do for her.
Honestly, Million Pines is the friendliest, prettiest setting, best run,
*fun* ride I know. Nobody does it better and they just keep pulling off
the good weather. I had the prettiest camp I have ever had, parked in a
shady grove of pines looking across his beautiful lake watching his 2
Arabs and a very fit goat trot and canter circles around that lake night
and day. Josie has had a heck of a Spring and this was definitely the
cherry on top of the icing on the cake. She's been coveting that same
trunk for as long as she can remember and had been soo disappointed when
she was a little girl the year Kaboot came in 2nd in BC and *almost*
brought one home. This was a dream come true for her. :-)))
Angie McGhee
of being a good mom and staying home for daughter's senior prom. (I
talked to her on the phone the other two years that she went and she sent
me photos of her hairdo on my cell phone) :-P We have gone to this ride
almost every year...I think 15 out of 18 that they've had. It's always
held on Josie's birthday weekend and she's had most of her birthday
celebrations there until a 3 year break where she went to proms that were
always held on that weekend. That's finally history so we were excited to
be back! Buddy Lynda Webber hauled down with us with her horse Bailey and
she and Josie would be riding possibly top 10 while 7 and I aimed for a
good completion a little farther back.
As Steve Rojek said, the weather was a "gift". It was cool, low humidity,
a light breeze, no sign of rain, PERFECT. They warned us the trails were
WET but that just meant there were some deep creek crossings. No mud
worth mentioning really. While I went south to Million Pines Jody went
north to Chicken Chase. Whoever that was that said they wanted to ride
with Jody, let me warn you...she is rediculously COMPETITIVE in ALL
THINGS. If you trained with her she'd try to beat you at training...and
she'd want Joni to beat you too! :-) So, she's turned Joni loose to ride
as an adult featherweight this year, meanwhile Josie is finally competing
more after graduation and she rides as a featherweight. Meanwhile Jody
and I are both dealing with trying to get a decent horse started and
having our share of delays, so our kids are getting the impression they
might be better than we are at this...and of course we talk to each other
about how *we're* the reason they're doing any good anyway...but she
still wants to BEAT ME at getting a horse started and her kid do better
than mine to show she's better at that part too!
Long story short. Perfect day, everybody had a great time, 7 had a good
day but Lynda and Josie were having a *really* good day. They did have
one mishap. There was the coolest swamp you had to ride through. I'd
give anything if the photographer could have gotten us there. Without
markers, and a great deal of faith in Wesley Crowe I would never have
*dreamed* of letting a horse put one foot in it, much less ride through
it. There was just a low black lake (swamp), in a darkish hollow, with
Cypress trees growing right up out of the water with the creepy looking
roots. The grove was thick but had a wide path through the middle that
was wide enough for a car to have driven through if it had been drained.
There was a good current crossing the path at one point and as the horses
stepped down into it the water went up high on their chests. When Lynda &
Josie were crossing it with the front runners Lynda's horse Bailey
stepped through is running martingale and had a not so fun "incident".
She had to jump off into the chest high water and try to disassemble the
thing with an anxious horse trying to go on with the others. He knocked
her off her feet at one point. Josie & Kyle stayed with her but it took a
while and they finally convinced Kyle to go on. Could have been a lot
worse I guess. >shudder< Lynda's pretty tall. I crossed the same thing
with a running martingale and if I'd have had to get off I might have had
to dog paddle! :-O
At the next check Lynda decided to drop back and let her horse eat a bit
so she took herself out of the hunt. Wesley Crowe's horse won the race
with Brandy riding, Josie, Steve Rojek & Elizabeth Allen? tied for 2nd.
When I finished Josie ran over and told me Jody had called and Joni had
won Chicken Chase. Great, Josie pulls off a 2nd and "Miss Competitive"
had to manage a first! >g
BC...Josie's Cade won!!! OK, so what *I* wanted to know was how Jody did
on Booger since I'm sure she'd consider that the tie breaker on the
weekend. Well, she finished higher...I *think* she said 11th...but there
were 30? entries. 7 finished 18th, but there were over 60 entries... hmm.
This could get involved. I mean...their times beat ours, but you just
can't compare different courses...right? I would be willing to call it a
tie and not count the rest of the season but that will never do for her.
Honestly, Million Pines is the friendliest, prettiest setting, best run,
*fun* ride I know. Nobody does it better and they just keep pulling off
the good weather. I had the prettiest camp I have ever had, parked in a
shady grove of pines looking across his beautiful lake watching his 2
Arabs and a very fit goat trot and canter circles around that lake night
and day. Josie has had a heck of a Spring and this was definitely the
cherry on top of the icing on the cake. She's been coveting that same
trunk for as long as she can remember and had been soo disappointed when
she was a little girl the year Kaboot came in 2nd in BC and *almost*
brought one home. This was a dream come true for her. :-)))
Angie McGhee
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Serious about Saddlery
Horsebytes - A blog for Seattle-area horse folks
Posted by Monica Bretherton
No group is more intense about saddle fit than endurance riders - with good reason. Ideally, the saddle is the "user interface" between horse and rider, helping to distribute weight and keep rider and horse in tune, but it can rapidly become a source of discomfort or outright pain for both on a longer ride.
So I was intrigued when a few months back, Cathy Leddy showed me her Specialized Saddle's shim system that customizes the fit under removable foam panels. In theory, this seemed like a great system, but I am skeptical of perfect systems, as life as a way of throwing me the curve balls.
There are already a lot of shim systems out there, most of them in saddle pads. the best known is perhaps the Corrector by Les Brown. Some upscale makers like Thinline and Mattes have also added systems of their own. There is a big market for correction saddle pads as a quick fix for some of the most common saddle fitting problems, like a back that is changing through fitness, as skilled saddle flockers are hard to find. At between $150 and $300 dollars, though, pads can be a pricey bandaid that don't quite do enough.
A different animal
The Specialized Saddle is different than a correction pad. The adjustment shims are an integral part of the saddle, through the wonders of velcro with high density foam ships sandwiched in between. The adjustments are made in the space between the tree and the thick foam panels that spread the weight on the horse's back, so there is no lumpiness or bumpiness in the curved weight-bearing surface.
The gullet width can also be altered by adjusting where the panels are attached to the tree, so the standard saddle is truly customizeable to almost any horse (for a super-wide back, the company makes an extra-wide tree).
Well, I thought, sounds great, but how does this work out in practice? With all this focus on fitting the horse, was the rider being neglected?
[...more]
Posted by Monica Bretherton
No group is more intense about saddle fit than endurance riders - with good reason. Ideally, the saddle is the "user interface" between horse and rider, helping to distribute weight and keep rider and horse in tune, but it can rapidly become a source of discomfort or outright pain for both on a longer ride.
So I was intrigued when a few months back, Cathy Leddy showed me her Specialized Saddle's shim system that customizes the fit under removable foam panels. In theory, this seemed like a great system, but I am skeptical of perfect systems, as life as a way of throwing me the curve balls.
There are already a lot of shim systems out there, most of them in saddle pads. the best known is perhaps the Corrector by Les Brown. Some upscale makers like Thinline and Mattes have also added systems of their own. There is a big market for correction saddle pads as a quick fix for some of the most common saddle fitting problems, like a back that is changing through fitness, as skilled saddle flockers are hard to find. At between $150 and $300 dollars, though, pads can be a pricey bandaid that don't quite do enough.
A different animal
The Specialized Saddle is different than a correction pad. The adjustment shims are an integral part of the saddle, through the wonders of velcro with high density foam ships sandwiched in between. The adjustments are made in the space between the tree and the thick foam panels that spread the weight on the horse's back, so there is no lumpiness or bumpiness in the curved weight-bearing surface.
The gullet width can also be altered by adjusting where the panels are attached to the tree, so the standard saddle is truly customizeable to almost any horse (for a super-wide back, the company makes an extra-wide tree).
Well, I thought, sounds great, but how does this work out in practice? With all this focus on fitting the horse, was the rider being neglected?
[...more]
Monday, April 13, 2009
MONK Wins 50 Mile FEI Endurance Ride
FEIRedHorse.blogspot.com, Chris Martin
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Get R Done, FEI Endurance Ride
MONK Wins 50 Mile FEI Endurance Ride
at Get R Done, Inyokern, CA
There is a reason not many people live in Inyokern, CA, that reason is weather. We made the 10 hour drive to the ride and arrived at about 5PM on Thursday. The wind was blowing maybe 40mph before it really picked up. I got MONK's food and water out and tied him to the trailer and went inside and hunkered down and read my book. The trailer was rocking from the wind blasts. As soon as it got dark I went out and put on his blanket and walked him around a bit. The wind blew until I fell asleep at about 10PM.
Friday morning came and the wind was gone. Tempature was mid 40's so I stayed inside for awhile after I got walked MONK and got him some more grain.
The camp is situated about 1/2 mile from where everything else happens. We made the trip over to the vet area at about noon and vetted in. I actually made the jog down and back without my knee giving me too much problem. We headed back to camp to wait for Lindsay and Eric to arrive. The crewing area is at the main vetting area so you have to haul all of your stuff to the crewing area, so I loaded up the truck and drove down and then hauled all of the stuff the 100 yards to the crewing area. Being there early help secure us a primo spot, so I laid out the water buckets, chairs and ice chest in a area of about 12x12.
When they showed up at about 5pm we had to get the saddle adjusted for her stirrup length. I took off the fenders that I ride in and put on the webbers for her. That took more then a few minutes and I had her ride MONK around for a few minutes to make sure we got it right. Once we had the saddle correct we had to take all of the tack down to the main vet area to get Lindsay weighed. For the 50 mile FEI ride you have to weigh 155#'s. The scale weighed in KG and she was 70.2 which is just over the weight requirement.
Lindsay arrived at the trailer at 6am to get monk ready for the 7am departure. Everything went smoothly and we were ready to start a warm up a little after 6:30am. MONK looked good as did Lindsay, they make a great pair. The game plan was to have fun and keep MONK safe. Lindsay has 200 endurance miles of holding MONK back. We took a video of the start of the ride as we drove along side the riders. When we stopped to turn around Lindsay and MONK were 7th.
Controlled start, see video in Picassa link. Eric and I waited out on the trail to take some pictures of the coming down the trail. Lindsay was riding with 3 other riders, so top 4 riders, all FEI riders right together. We took some video and headed back to wait for them to arrive.
They did something that I had not seen before with the gate into the hold. As it was explained, you come into the first water troff where crewing is allowed. As soon as your horse is ready, 64bpm, you call for a time. If you are FEI and you reach the vet and your horse is above 64 your are out. If you are AERC you get to go to the end of the line and start over.
Being first in line we were not able to take advantage of what the other riders figured out in a heartbeat. As soon as all vets were busy you just called for time where ever your horse was because you knew you were going to stand in line for awhile. That way you got quite a jump on others who did not figure it out... Might work in a perfect world.
After lunch all 4 of the 50 mile front runners headed out. We met them at various locations along the trail and took more video.
At the last water trough all 4 riders came in together, all looking strong. I gave MONK his electrolytes quickly and Lindsay was out on the trail. She got about a 90 second jump on the other three riders. She held this lead all the way to the finish line............ Remaining 3 riders showed up 1 minute after Lindsay.
The other problem that caused miner problems was the scales at the finish line did not work.. Now this would not make a big difference except that FEI top ten riders have 10 minutes to present their horses for a CRI. If your horse has reached the 64 bpm you can get a completion at that time. If not then you have to come back in 30 minutes for another exam, but the CRI is used to compute your scores for Best Condition. The problem is that the finish line is about 200 yards from the vet area. We had to take saddles off and play games with the scales for 5 minutes. That 5 minutes is valuable time that we could of been taking care of our horses. There was no water or feed at the finish line so we just stood around, taking our saddles off and then back on and then back off again.
When we were finally done re-inventing the weigh in procedure we headed for the vet. Horses grabbed a very quick drink and out time was up. Again, being first in line has a disadvantage in this case is that all riders behind you have the benefit of being having to wait, their horses will more then likely have a better CRI then the first place horse, with was MONK.
Two of the front four horses were pulled for lameness. I understood that they had come a very long distance for the one star FEI ride, somewhere like Colorado.
After our showing for BC and our completion Lindsay walked MONK back to camp. Eric and I put all of the crewing stuff in the back of the truck and headed back.
Ride time was just short of 5 hours, which is not really that fast for a very flat 50. I do understand that it was a real 50 though.
Lindsay and I iced and wrapped MONKS legs before they headed home. I had decided to stay the night and leave in the morning.
MONK looked great in the morning. I pulled his wraps and took him for a walk. We went over the the vet area at about 7am to pick up Lindsay's completion T shirt and to see how we did on the BC score and to pick up his pass port. I was very disappointed that MONK did not get BC as he did get all A's except one B, BC went to the 2nd place rider, who I understand has a very talented horse. So, they were apparently out of the top ten bucket so I grabbed Lindsay's T-shirt and left.
A short 10 hours and MONK was home, he jumped out the trailer and immediately started eating grass. Where I live they can just hang out, as long as one is in the paddock nobody runs off.
On Firday morning I had a short meeting with Garrett Ford, owner of EasyCare Inc. the providers of the Glove and Glue on Easy Boots. I showed him the Goober Glue inside some used boots and told him about how well it worked and how I was using it. He seemed very interested. I will have product next week so will be looking for a few more testers.
Posted by Chris Martin at 7:10 PM
[...more]
Monday, March 30, 2009
Red Barn, Chester GA - Angie's Story
Just back from Red Barn/AHA Championship. If you looked at the techno-color weather
channel graphics, yep, that was us. Weather.com said it was going to rain 2" or so
Thurs, 1-2" Fri. have tornados and hail with rain Saturday. Then I had to make the
decision whether to just say, "what the heck?" and go or actually say,
"This is insane; why would I drive TOWARDS Armageddon? Well, for one thing we couldn't back out since Josie had been offered a ride on an FEI horse to get qualified for Young Riders and we couldn't stand the owner up. So...decided it was just one of those days you hope they're wrong and go.
We headed out Thursday morning. When I got up the wind was so strong the house was
popping and moaning. I had to lean into the wind to do my chores. It died down by 9 AM
but we drove I was getting constant updates from all sides on my cell phone, people
telling me the "convection index" was extremely high and climbing. That's
apparently something that tells you if your chances of joining Dorothy and Toto in Kansas
are good. At one point as we were driving through Atlanta in a blowing rain I said,
"So, what should we do? Turn around? and Bill just laughed and pulled out his
wallet and handed me a quote someone had posted on ridecamp which was a forward from
another site.
It said some stuff about how as humans we need to place themselves in spots where the unexpected can ambush us. " It said "On a subconscious level, we need these mishaps. We understand that they pack powerful medicine. They're antidotes to the quiet desperation of modern life, reminding us that we as individuals, as a species-are survivors, showing us how truly extraordinary it is what humans can endure. How much we can outwit, outflank, or with clenched teeth, simply withstand." Then it ended with, "Sometimes we have to set out-presumably innocent of our interior motives-and go have a really bad time".
It seemed so appropriate at the time I just decided what the heck, let the bad times roll.
We drove through rain almost till we arrived. When we pulled it it was clear, and the ground was dry! They were supposed to have a couple of inches of rain but all they'd had were high winds. We hurried desperately trying to get a ride in on the borrowed horse to set stirrups, etc. It's not every day an 18 year old gets to ride one of Valarie Kanavy's horses and we were pretty overwhelmed by even the prospect when she offered. Managed to get in a pre-ride, set up camp, and still no rain! Went to bed expecting al heck to break loose any second. Nothing. Friday dawned with a light rain at 5:30 AM, but it stopped in time to saddle. We couldn't believe our luck when the ride started in the dry. All day reports came in that the "big storm" was hitting in an hour or two, then nothing. Finally some HIGH winds came through and rain for an hour and a half but considering what we'd expected it was blissfully wonderful weather.
I've got to throw in now that the camp and management for this ride were something I hadn't expected. WONDERFUL!!!. The name "Red Barn" made me picture cow pastures with a big red barn. Nix that. Try a summer camp setting, lots of TALL pines (lots of picket line opportunities) a lake, cottages, WONDERFUL. Also, management was unreal. The FOOD!! Would you believe racks of bbq ribs & all the fixings? I couldn't believe how well everything worked out. Then, Josie's borrowed mount, My Wild Irish Gold was an absolute DREAM (OK, she can throw a heck of a spook but lets herself get caught again thank you Megan Savory & Kyle) and came in 3rd and took BC! We'd worried how Josie would handle two days, but she rode a 50, came in and did a pre-ride with Cade & my borrowed mount Bailey, and then was good to go for Sat. All was well Friday night. We were still getting all the dramatic weather predictions but I'd pretty much decided this place was charmed. All the wild violent stuff was just splitting and going north and south of us. I went to bed to a warm peaceful evening.
Saturday morning I was out at 5:30 and saw flashes of lightning in the distance. Ugh. The 100's & 75's rode out in a controlled start at 7 AM with thunder rolling and the lightning coming closer. The treetops were unmoving against the dark sky, no wind at all, whatever it was was coming slowly and would probably hang around. The 50's were supposed to start at 8:00. As the thunder and lightning picked up I got Josie to come out and saddle early and figured we could walk them thirty minutes to warm up and maybe get back in the trailer during the worst of the storm and hope it blew over quickly. We made one trip across camp and a huge KRACK-BOOM!! sent me hustling back to put the horses on the picket line and jump inside the trailer. The rain started and the lightning increased. I thought a lot about how stupid it is to get yourself killed but how much worse it would be to see your kid hit when it had been your call. Josie got all mad and was saying, "Let's just GO!" but I saw no reason to start on time when I'd just heard from the timer that we were catching the tail end of the worst of the storm and after that we'd be all clear. Why die for a top 10 muck bucket?
Might throw in here that I was not riding my own horse. Buddy Lynda Webber had a small skin cancer removed from her forehead this week and her Dr. wouldn't release her to ride fearing an infection. I needed a mount and her Bailey is a doozy so we both agreed I'd put a fifty on him to help her get him ready for the 100 at Biltmore. I figured I had plenty of horse to go fast later since he was BC at Hahira so what's a few minutes?
It died down enough to feel a little less INSANE to get on a horse and we left camp 8 min. late but walked a full 15 min. to warm them up before beginning to trot. 30 min or so later we were on 2 track going through the woods coming up on a dirt road crossing and I saw a chestnut horse running full tilt with no rider down the road. It was almost past us when for some reason it just hit me to do my best horse whinny. I used to be pretty good at that when I was a kid. Amazingly enough, the horse slammed on the brakes and took a hard left and trotted towards us in the woods. I jumped off Bailey and with both horses blocking trail managed to catch the mare. Josie had a hay rope in her pack and after a couple of tries we got her caught, tied and ponying down the road behind us. We could see she was a 75 miler so had at least an hour and 15 min. lead on us so figured it might be 10 or 15 miles before we found the owner. A mile or 2 later we saw a rider running across a distant field, staggering in the mud, waving. Josie said it looked like the love scene in an old movie. >g< I rode out to meet her and it was Eva DePaulis. She mounted up with her new blue hay rope reins and did the rest of the loop with us.
The rest of the story is, RAIN, THUNDER, RAIN, LIGHTNING, Why do you speed up when you see a bolt snake across the sky ahead? I dunno. I guess we figure a moving target is harder to hit. The trail held up pretty well CONSIDERING. I mean, things can always get worse. The sound of that ride was SPLASH, SPLASH instead of clip-clop. The trail had a current. The worst part was circling huge plowed fields. Those got bad. Management stayed so calm it was amazing. No snippiness. No panic. Just calm concern for us and appreciation for our sticking it out. Gary Sanderson made a run to town and came back with cups of Raman noodles and hot drinks. He was dishing it out. Honestly, the cup of soup he put in my hadn when I finished that ride was HEAVEN! Everyone was smiling all day. Something about doing something absolutely STUPID makes people smile. You just had to laugh at the rediculousness of it all. There was actually a tornado WARNING for the first few hours. In other words, one was on the round somewhere near. The trot out area was a swamp. It was pretty funny to watch riders and horses slogging along and imagine anyone telling what we were doing. The horses were doing great. We actually made good time overall after you averaged in the firm footing roads you could FLY on, and they were down when we got to the checks. We slowed down at the end since it was easy to be going along on firm ground then suddenly hit super soft sand that just gave way and almost do a nose dive. Pat Oliva passed us 1/2 mile from the finish line and knocked us out of top 10. Oh well, considering how we started the ride it was amazing to be that high up and honestly, who wanted to hang around for another hour and stand for BC when you could stay in the trailer and put on dry clothes! :-))
I think I read a typo that said the completion rates were low. I think starting rates were low. Half the 25 milers didn't start. Something like 17 out of 33. Only 17 50's started out of twenty something signed up. I think 10 out of 15 75's started and around 20? 100's.
I was so wet that I may as well have jumped in the lake to get the sand off. It was worse at the checks where you were near all those metal tent frames and freezing. I'd rather take my chances with lightning going down the trail keeping warm. Finishing was BLISS. I know I'll enjoy my next thunderstorm when I'm snuggled in a warm bed 10 times as much as anyone who didn't do that ride. :-) I can only imagine how those in the longer distances felt.
Kudos to Eric Reuter who ran a computer and handled sorting out probably a record number of different rides including AERC, FEI, AHA, and CT and never getting short tempered!!! He was amazing.
Nobody would ever have dreamed there was an FEI going on so far as being trouble by it. It was as down home a ride as any Million Pines you've ever been to. I can't say enough about the place & people and will definitely go back, despite the forecast again. Thanks to all involved!
Angie McGhee
channel graphics, yep, that was us. Weather.com said it was going to rain 2" or so
Thurs, 1-2" Fri. have tornados and hail with rain Saturday. Then I had to make the
decision whether to just say, "what the heck?" and go or actually say,
"This is insane; why would I drive TOWARDS Armageddon? Well, for one thing we couldn't back out since Josie had been offered a ride on an FEI horse to get qualified for Young Riders and we couldn't stand the owner up. So...decided it was just one of those days you hope they're wrong and go.
We headed out Thursday morning. When I got up the wind was so strong the house was
popping and moaning. I had to lean into the wind to do my chores. It died down by 9 AM
but we drove I was getting constant updates from all sides on my cell phone, people
telling me the "convection index" was extremely high and climbing. That's
apparently something that tells you if your chances of joining Dorothy and Toto in Kansas
are good. At one point as we were driving through Atlanta in a blowing rain I said,
"So, what should we do? Turn around? and Bill just laughed and pulled out his
wallet and handed me a quote someone had posted on ridecamp which was a forward from
another site.
It said some stuff about how as humans we need to place themselves in spots where the unexpected can ambush us. " It said "On a subconscious level, we need these mishaps. We understand that they pack powerful medicine. They're antidotes to the quiet desperation of modern life, reminding us that we as individuals, as a species-are survivors, showing us how truly extraordinary it is what humans can endure. How much we can outwit, outflank, or with clenched teeth, simply withstand." Then it ended with, "Sometimes we have to set out-presumably innocent of our interior motives-and go have a really bad time".
It seemed so appropriate at the time I just decided what the heck, let the bad times roll.
We drove through rain almost till we arrived. When we pulled it it was clear, and the ground was dry! They were supposed to have a couple of inches of rain but all they'd had were high winds. We hurried desperately trying to get a ride in on the borrowed horse to set stirrups, etc. It's not every day an 18 year old gets to ride one of Valarie Kanavy's horses and we were pretty overwhelmed by even the prospect when she offered. Managed to get in a pre-ride, set up camp, and still no rain! Went to bed expecting al heck to break loose any second. Nothing. Friday dawned with a light rain at 5:30 AM, but it stopped in time to saddle. We couldn't believe our luck when the ride started in the dry. All day reports came in that the "big storm" was hitting in an hour or two, then nothing. Finally some HIGH winds came through and rain for an hour and a half but considering what we'd expected it was blissfully wonderful weather.
I've got to throw in now that the camp and management for this ride were something I hadn't expected. WONDERFUL!!!. The name "Red Barn" made me picture cow pastures with a big red barn. Nix that. Try a summer camp setting, lots of TALL pines (lots of picket line opportunities) a lake, cottages, WONDERFUL. Also, management was unreal. The FOOD!! Would you believe racks of bbq ribs & all the fixings? I couldn't believe how well everything worked out. Then, Josie's borrowed mount, My Wild Irish Gold was an absolute DREAM (OK, she can throw a heck of a spook but lets herself get caught again thank you Megan Savory & Kyle) and came in 3rd and took BC! We'd worried how Josie would handle two days, but she rode a 50, came in and did a pre-ride with Cade & my borrowed mount Bailey, and then was good to go for Sat. All was well Friday night. We were still getting all the dramatic weather predictions but I'd pretty much decided this place was charmed. All the wild violent stuff was just splitting and going north and south of us. I went to bed to a warm peaceful evening.
Saturday morning I was out at 5:30 and saw flashes of lightning in the distance. Ugh. The 100's & 75's rode out in a controlled start at 7 AM with thunder rolling and the lightning coming closer. The treetops were unmoving against the dark sky, no wind at all, whatever it was was coming slowly and would probably hang around. The 50's were supposed to start at 8:00. As the thunder and lightning picked up I got Josie to come out and saddle early and figured we could walk them thirty minutes to warm up and maybe get back in the trailer during the worst of the storm and hope it blew over quickly. We made one trip across camp and a huge KRACK-BOOM!! sent me hustling back to put the horses on the picket line and jump inside the trailer. The rain started and the lightning increased. I thought a lot about how stupid it is to get yourself killed but how much worse it would be to see your kid hit when it had been your call. Josie got all mad and was saying, "Let's just GO!" but I saw no reason to start on time when I'd just heard from the timer that we were catching the tail end of the worst of the storm and after that we'd be all clear. Why die for a top 10 muck bucket?
Might throw in here that I was not riding my own horse. Buddy Lynda Webber had a small skin cancer removed from her forehead this week and her Dr. wouldn't release her to ride fearing an infection. I needed a mount and her Bailey is a doozy so we both agreed I'd put a fifty on him to help her get him ready for the 100 at Biltmore. I figured I had plenty of horse to go fast later since he was BC at Hahira so what's a few minutes?
It died down enough to feel a little less INSANE to get on a horse and we left camp 8 min. late but walked a full 15 min. to warm them up before beginning to trot. 30 min or so later we were on 2 track going through the woods coming up on a dirt road crossing and I saw a chestnut horse running full tilt with no rider down the road. It was almost past us when for some reason it just hit me to do my best horse whinny. I used to be pretty good at that when I was a kid. Amazingly enough, the horse slammed on the brakes and took a hard left and trotted towards us in the woods. I jumped off Bailey and with both horses blocking trail managed to catch the mare. Josie had a hay rope in her pack and after a couple of tries we got her caught, tied and ponying down the road behind us. We could see she was a 75 miler so had at least an hour and 15 min. lead on us so figured it might be 10 or 15 miles before we found the owner. A mile or 2 later we saw a rider running across a distant field, staggering in the mud, waving. Josie said it looked like the love scene in an old movie. >g< I rode out to meet her and it was Eva DePaulis. She mounted up with her new blue hay rope reins and did the rest of the loop with us.
The rest of the story is, RAIN, THUNDER, RAIN, LIGHTNING, Why do you speed up when you see a bolt snake across the sky ahead? I dunno. I guess we figure a moving target is harder to hit. The trail held up pretty well CONSIDERING. I mean, things can always get worse. The sound of that ride was SPLASH, SPLASH instead of clip-clop. The trail had a current. The worst part was circling huge plowed fields. Those got bad. Management stayed so calm it was amazing. No snippiness. No panic. Just calm concern for us and appreciation for our sticking it out. Gary Sanderson made a run to town and came back with cups of Raman noodles and hot drinks. He was dishing it out. Honestly, the cup of soup he put in my hadn when I finished that ride was HEAVEN! Everyone was smiling all day. Something about doing something absolutely STUPID makes people smile. You just had to laugh at the rediculousness of it all. There was actually a tornado WARNING for the first few hours. In other words, one was on the round somewhere near. The trot out area was a swamp. It was pretty funny to watch riders and horses slogging along and imagine anyone telling what we were doing. The horses were doing great. We actually made good time overall after you averaged in the firm footing roads you could FLY on, and they were down when we got to the checks. We slowed down at the end since it was easy to be going along on firm ground then suddenly hit super soft sand that just gave way and almost do a nose dive. Pat Oliva passed us 1/2 mile from the finish line and knocked us out of top 10. Oh well, considering how we started the ride it was amazing to be that high up and honestly, who wanted to hang around for another hour and stand for BC when you could stay in the trailer and put on dry clothes! :-))
I think I read a typo that said the completion rates were low. I think starting rates were low. Half the 25 milers didn't start. Something like 17 out of 33. Only 17 50's started out of twenty something signed up. I think 10 out of 15 75's started and around 20? 100's.
I was so wet that I may as well have jumped in the lake to get the sand off. It was worse at the checks where you were near all those metal tent frames and freezing. I'd rather take my chances with lightning going down the trail keeping warm. Finishing was BLISS. I know I'll enjoy my next thunderstorm when I'm snuggled in a warm bed 10 times as much as anyone who didn't do that ride. :-) I can only imagine how those in the longer distances felt.
Kudos to Eric Reuter who ran a computer and handled sorting out probably a record number of different rides including AERC, FEI, AHA, and CT and never getting short tempered!!! He was amazing.
Nobody would ever have dreamed there was an FEI going on so far as being trouble by it. It was as down home a ride as any Million Pines you've ever been to. I can't say enough about the place & people and will definitely go back, despite the forecast again. Thanks to all involved!
Angie McGhee
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