2024 Mary and Anna Memorial Ride: Year #8 on the Way to Decade Team

May 29 2024

After Hillbillie Willie’s last ride at Eagle Canyon, where he was on crack for the start of the ride, then got pulled at the first vet check for hind end lameness, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect of him at the Mary & Anna Memorial ride in Oregon. 

I wasn’t worried about his soundness or fitness; the Eagle lameness was very slight, I gave him a week off after Eagle, and when I next rode him, he was sound. 

My main concern was his mental state! At the Mary and Anna ride, he’d be again leaving behind his BFF DWA Barack and his frenemy DWA Papillon in camp while he went out and started the 50-mile ride on Saturday. And when he gets 10 feet away from Barack, he whinnies. So, apologies to everybody in camp :) , we practiced many, many times on Thursday and Friday, leaving our camping spot by ourselves, walking away from Willie’s BFF/notBFF and walking through camp, visiting, grazing, practicing separation. He got a little better each time, but always, even while eating grass, he’s thinking about his buddies and whinnying for them.

Connie and I both wanted to come to the Mary and Anna ride, one we’d never been to, and the site of this year's AERC National Championships in August. My main goal with Willie is reaching Decade Team with him - at least one 50-mile ride a year for ten years. We’d done seven years together. 

So. Saturday. Connie would also be riding Papillon on the 50-miler, but since Willie would be going faster, I saddled him up early and took him out of his pen to ride around and warm up and loosen up 15 minutes before the start. It’s much easier taking a horse out and walking away from his buddies than to be left behind in a pen when his buddies leave.

I still had no plan; was I going to try to ride by myself? Probably not, because Willie would just want to catch every horse in front of him. Later in the season after a few rides, he doesn’t do this, but I knew he’d be raring to go and he wasn’t going to be relaxed at the beginning of this ride.

I didn’t want to start in front nor in back, nor in a big group, and I wasn’t sure of who might be riding our speed and if they might or might not want company. So I just played it by ear, and would wait for what looked like a good time to head out on trail once the trail was open. 

Willie kept his warm-up down to a walk around the other horses, but he whinnied for Barack a few times, and he was getting himself a little more wound up as the minutes ticked down. Finally the starter said “Trail’s open!” and the front-runners headed out. We kept walking around, but the more we walked, the more wound up Willie got, and I spotted a group who walked out, with another single horse or two heading out at a walk, so I pointed Willie to the trail, at a walk. This was where Williie would explode if he was going to do it, but I just hoped and assumed he wouldn’t…… and he didn’t! He was cranked up for sure, but he was not on crack. We settled into a trot as the other riders ahead of us did, and while Willlie was pulling on his reins, he wasn’t pulling TOO hard.

We quickly moved up on Lindsay Fisher and her daughter Hailey and two others, I sure didn’t want Willie interfering with their ride. We were able to safely pass them, and we continued on with a number of riders strung out on the two-track ahead of us on this 20-mile loop, with an out vet check halfway. We motored along, Willie full of beans and pulling, but not crazy (thank goodness!!!! I could handle pulling), a faster pace than I wanted to go, but with Willie, once I’m committed to a place and pace in the ride, we’re committed and I have to deal with it. Besides, it was a chilly morning, so it was okay to move out the first loop or two. 

After a few miles, we ended up matching strides with young rider Laura E; she was catch-riding a friend’s horse and it was her first ride unsponsored. Her mount Wolf turned out to be a Saddlebred, and he and the Standardbred Willie matched strides and pace, and we ended up riding together the whole ride and all four of us enjoyed the company! Willie loves the forest, and he trotted along either ahead of his new buddy or beside him much of the way. After 90 minutes or so, I could finally take one hand off the reins now and then. We still moved out, but he wasn’t pulling anymore, especially since he had good company.

Willie usually doesn’t drink on a ride until after 20 miles or so, and he didn’t drink at the 20-mile vet check. I knew this was normal, but you sure wish they’d just take a drink already. He isn’t a voracious eater either, and he didn’t eat much at the 45-minute hold. This isn’t unusual either, but just eat something already! He did prefer the communal Horse Crack (soaked rice bran, carrots and oats) to his own grain, and when we could find some, he wanted alfalfa. 

We had five minutes left of our vet check when Connie and Pappy arrived; Pappy was getting his pulse taken and Connie shaded Pappy’s eye from Willie, and I stood between Willie and Pappy so they wouldn’t see each other and start whinnying! Pappy walked on to the vet, and I climbed on Willie and was just about to head back out on trail when Willie saw Pappy and whinnied, but we started out onto the trail with Wolf, and Willie quickly forgot about Pappy and got back to business.

The next 20 miles back to camp passed by easily and quickly through the Deschutes National Forest. Willie *finally* drank at the second water tank after the vet check, dunking his nose in and gorging like a thirsty camel. We had a climb up to the crater a few miles out of camp, circling the rim and looking down into the pit (full of ATVers zipping around.) Wolf and Willie cruised into the second vet check back at camp just behind some of the 100s coming off their 40-mile first loop. (We started at 5:45 AM; the 100s started at 5 AM.)

Willie’s gut sounds got a C…. Not good but not surprising, since he didn’t eat much at the first vet check, and no grass along the trail, as he is all business on the trail. But I wasn’t worried because his pulse was 56, and I knew he’d eat back in his pen beside his BFF Barack. I watched his pulse back at camp while he ate (nibbled the whole hold, as usual), which stayed below 60, (when he’s fit, it will stay below 50), and once dropped below 48.

We picked up Laura and Wolf back out on trail for our final 10 mile loop. Five miles into it we had a good climb, up and up a sandy road, and up again to the rim of the crater, around it, and back down into camp. We took a different path to the official finish line…. A finish banner stretched out by the trail, with Jala waiting with her camera, and a finish timer off to the side. Laura said, “You go ahead, my horse is going to spook at the banner.” I said, “OK, Willie won’t spook at it,” but as we got closer, the banner turned into a long wind-flapping stretchy monster, and Willie got bigger and taller like a giraffe until he finally spooked 20 feet to the left! Fortunately my long-legged Standardbred can’t throw an Arab spook, so I rode him to a stop, got off, and escorted him to the banner so he could see it really was just a banner, and he touched it with his nose and sighed, and we walked across the finish line.

At the final vet check, Willie trotted out sound (and smartly, we’d been practicing at home not to dog it!), his gut sounds had improved a little, and his final CRI was 44-44! Icing on the cake of the day! 

This was Willie’s kind of course - pretty flat, with no steep hills, just a few climbs, and dreamy footing, 90% soft two-track with very little rock under foot so he could move out in his big Standie trot. Darlene and Max Merlich had the trails so well marked, and water everywhere we needed it on course. This will be a fun, fast course for the National Championships in August. 

And so, we now reached year 8 of our 10-year Decade Team quest!

Connie took this one!

A National Award for Hillbillie Willie!

 

February 10 2023

“Um… I think you’ve made a mistake,” I replied to the email I got from AERC, saying, “Congratulations on a great ride season! We'll be ordering an embroidered award vest for you…”

It couldn’t be me and Hillbillie Willie. We indeed had a great super fun ride season, but we only did one 50-mile ride and seven LD rides last season. 

But no, they insisted, we got “5th place for Regional LD Mileage Championship in the Northwest!”

One season, umpteen years ago, Jose Viola and I ranked near the top of our Featherweight Northwest division in 50-mile rides. I would glance at the current results from time to time throughout the year in the AERC magazine because I was surprised I got to ride so many miles and stayed up there in the rankings. We got a vest that year too! But since then I’d never ridden enough miles to even pay attention. So I was completely unaware Willie and I ranked anywhere for anything last season.

Now, when you magnify our award and look at it kind of like a horse pedigree, it’s kind of like our award is somewhere down in the fourth generation with dozens of other cousins among eight regions, and it's more accurately a Regional award given by the National organization, but toMAto toMAHto, it was such a fun surprise, and it means so much to me what Willie and I accomplished, and how much fun we had last season.

I love my Standardbred, and WE LOVE OUR VEST!

Hillbillie Delight at Old Selam

Monday September 14 2020

Old Selam was only Hillbillie Willie's second endurance ride of the year. I was a little nervous about the first five or so miles: at his previous ride at City of Rocks, this Standardbred ex-racehorse (owned by Steph Teeter, ridden by me) was hot hot hot, pulling and yanking, rooting, throwing his head up, mouth gaping open or chomping on the bit. He wore me plumb out those first miles, and while it was great to be back in the saddle, I sure wouldn't call them fun miles.

I suspected the bit might have something to do with it; I'd seen some signs on training rides he was no longer thrilled with the bit he's been wearing for four years, so after the City of Rocks ride I experimented, and changed it, from a Kemberwick three-piece mouthpiece to a Kemberwick solid bar with a little whoop-de-do in it. (I tried a simpler three-piece snaffle and he did not like that either… I think the broken pieces now irritate him.) While it's a heavier bit, he seems to be much happier with it. Who knew he would decide he didn't like the bit he's always worn, but there you go.

As at City of Rocks, we rode with Willie's former ranch-mate Smokey and Nance. Jack didn't go with us this time, since Debbie Grose was ride manager and wasn't comfortable riding while managing. But Smokey and Willie had a fun ride together on the 50.

And Willie was a gem throughout the day, even at the start of the ride. He was hot to trot, but there was no yanking, pulling, jerking, chomping, and he was moving along with his head lowered, without me having to ask!

just look at him! ️

Willie looooooooooooves charging along the winding two-track overgrown logging roads through the forest, always eager to see around the next bend, bear or moose or no.

Ooooh that feeling, when your horse is fast and smooth and forward and steady and strong, not spooky (except for coming around that one corner and seeing… two big concrete blocks just sitting right there… where he slammed on his brakes, then jumped back to a trot), powering up hills, slipping to a smooth canter and back to his big trot…

It's taken many years to get him to this point. Of course, he's not always like that, smooth and rounded up, and I call him a continual work in progress, but those great moments, minutes, and miles, are getting longer and more frequent. (Figuring out the bit change really helped.)

:) :)

Photos of Willie and me by Steve Bradley!

For more stories and photos on this awesome Old Selam ride (that you don't want to miss  next year), see:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2020OldSelam/

Seven Grand (With The Raven)

Jose, Tough Sucker

February 5 2016

I didn't have any particular goals when I started riding endurance in 1998, except to ride, ride, ride. 

7000 AERC miles later, it's pretty much the same: all I still want to do is ride, ride, ride (with The Raven).

If this were my Oscar speech*, I'd have a long list of thank you's that you'd have to sit through. But I'll shorten it up for this 7000-mile landmark.

Dudley, City of Rocks

I'm a bit of an unorthodox one in the endurance riding world, as I've never owned my own endurance horse. To be sure, I do own Stormy, The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet, but he's a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse that I didn't feel the desire or need to try to turn into an endurance horse. 

Instead, I rode for the 'normal' endurance people, who inevitably have always had extra horses that needed Rode. So I Rode and Rode and Rode, Lots and Lots and Lots of training miles, and 7000 AERC endurance ride miles, with The Raven, in Texas, California, Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah (and even a 12.5 mile ride in France!).

Jose, Tough Sucker

I rode the USA endurance rides with The Raven on 36 different horses (and many, many more miles on horses for just training rides, but not endurance rides). Some were good horses, some were naughty horses. Some were favorite horses, some were not. Some horses I rode, with The Raven, only once, for 50 miles. Two horses I rode, with The Raven, for over a thousand miles (Royal Raffiq and Jose Viola!). I have learned something from every single one of these horses, and on every ride, I still learn something.

Jose, Death Valley

I've gotten to know some fabulous people through endurance riding. I've gotten to do some terrific rides, with The Raven - some memorable standouts are all 5 days of the Owyhee  Canyonlands (alas, this ride is no longer 5 days long) on Jose one year with Connie and Finneas; the Moab Canyons (alas, now gone - a crime!) on Jose with Steph and Batman; the Virginia City 100 on Royal Raffiq; Tevis on Big Sky Quinn, generously shared by Nance Worman.

It just goes to show you that endurance riding is a catch-all kind of sport. You can ride any kind of horse, any distance you want, with any kind of goals you want, or no goals at all. You can ride for awards, or you can just Ride. You can ride with a Raven. You really don't have to own your own endurance horse. You can ride just about anywhere around the world. And best of all, you can just Keep On Riding! Preferably, with The Raven!

Zayante, Death Valley

*No, I've never had a desire to be an actor, but I'm prepared to give an Oscar speech

But if you really did want to listen to my whole list of thank-you horses, this would be it:

Windswift Barak (Rocky), Masrita, Zayante, Graywing, Senorita Margarita (Maggie), Royal Raffiq, Rocketman, Fire Mt Redman, Oak Hill Kindred Spirit, FC Cloud, Camille BC, Fire Mt Odyssey, Oak Hill Quigley, Definetly Spice, LJ Jasuur Haraka (Jasbo), Krugerand (Charlie), Rip Tyde, Fire Mt Fadrika, Nature's Quicksilver (Quickie), Jaziret Bey Musc (Rhett), Rushcreek Mac, SSS Razzmatazz (Razzie), Jose Viola, Amazing Kon, Big Sky Quinn, Z Blue Lightening, Thunder's Hattrick, Kustom Kavalier, Phinneas, MiLon, Amara's Sonata (Sunny), Marble Leiten (Bodie), Ravenwood Dark Desire (Batman), DWA Saruq, Rushcreek Drover (D), Belesemo Dude (Dudley!)

And, technically, The Raven actually has 5 more AERC miles than I do, and he has two Tevis buckles, where I only have one! 

But that's a story for The Raven to tell later.

Zayante and Raffiq, Death Valley

Zayante, The Best Endurance Horse

Friday November 8 2013

He was a beautiful brilliant white bundle of energy floating above the tan sand, in the golden winter light, a happy horse in the Panamint Valley. - Me, Death Valley Encounter, 2004

He could sneer like nobody's business while motoring down the trail, intimidating the horse next to him with his fearsome attitude.


And well he should - not many could hold a candle up to this invincible endurance horse that is 5th on the all-time AERC mileage list with 13,200 miles, and who was gracious enough to carry 19 of us on his back throughout his 15-year career.

He was bred and born destined for the show ring but through a series of fateful twists, he started his life as a pack horse named Paco, before ending up where he was meant to be: on the endurance trails. Jim and Jackie Bumgardner renamed him Taco and started his endurance training before selling him to Bob and Julie Suhr. The rest is endurance history.**

Julie renamed him Zayante. "We put him in a corral overlooking Zayante Canyon, named after an Indian tribe that once inhabited it," Julie said. "Taco let out this gigantic bugle call to tell everyone he was here and he had a new name as of that moment." For five seasons, Bob and Julie owned and rode their Superhorse, who went 5000 miles without a pull – that’s 89 straight rides, on distances of 50 to 100 miles, including 4 straight Tevis finishes, 42 Top Ten finishes, and 5 Best Condition awards. "He's the best horse I've ever ridden," Julie still says, and coming from someone who has over 30,000 endurance miles and finished the Tevis Cup 22 times and won the Haggin cup 3 times, that's saying something.

In 1995 the Suhrs sold Zayante back to Jackie Bumgardner, because he could be quite the spooky horse. Jackie and Zayante continued on Julie’s original quest to reach 100 rides without a pull. Not only did they accomplish this; in Zayante’s 100th ride, the Gambler’s Special in April of 1996, Zay and Jackie finished in first place.
 

Jackie and Zayante after they hit 10,000 miles in 2002

I stepped in around 2001. I rode for Jackie in the winters in Ridgecrest, California, and there were a number of us vying for Most Coveted (Saddle) Seat of Affection in the Zayante Fan Club. Zayante ultimately willingly carried me over 715 AERC miles.

One of the best endurance horses I've ever ridden, Zayante gave me some of my greatest and most memorable rides on some of the most spectacular trails.

In 2003, Zayante took me on my second 100-mile endurance ride. I was the newbie - it was Zayante's 24th 100-mile ride.

It was great to be riding a white horse in the desert at midnight; there was still a bright moon glow from the low clouds, I was quite warm, my horse was still going strong, and I was so fortunate to be out here, spending a day and a night with a super equine companion.

Zayante didn’t look or feel like he’d been 92 miles – like I certainly did – and he perkily trotted right on out for the last 8 miles. He was still pulling, jigging, ears pricked forward, neck a bundle of energy beneath me. This horse blows me away. I myself was worn, tired, aching, but I could not complain because of this horse who would faithfully and much more willingly than I continue another 50 miles if need be. The wind was blowing a gale at our backs. My tongue was thick and heavy, voice was gone, throat dry and raw, but I couldn’t be bothered to make the effort of reaching for a handy water bottle to take a drink.

The last few miles seemed to take the longest of all until we made the last turn to the north. The lights of the Fairgrounds could be seen in the distance. At 99 ½ miles, at 2:30 in the morning, Zayante gave me a special gift: he spooked so hard (at nothing) I almost hit the sand! Just testing to see if I could stay on after all that riding. What a great, great horse he is!

I rode and finished my first multi-day ride on him at the Death Valley Encounter in California in 2004:

We wound on up through a pinyon forest, ensconced in its permanent blanket of snow for the winter. We reached Rogers Pass at 6560 feet, and it wasn’t the strong cold wind up there that almost blew me off Zayante, but the stunning view into Death Valley and the Badwater Basin (below sea level), and the jumble of Black Mountains and the Amargosa Range and Greenwater Range. Climbing the last steep hill, we could also see the Owlshead Mountains covering the southern horizon. Now I knew why Zayante wanted to get up this canyon so badly - he knew what was waiting here on top.

This was on the last day of the DVE, the last few miles of the 4 days in a row, 200 miles:

Down, down, step by step beside this amazing horse I’d ridden and walked beside for 195 miles, sometimes stepping in rhythm with, sometimes moving on auto pilot with, legs stepping one after the other, on and on, with 2 goals in mind: getting to the finish line and starting the next day. Just me and this horse, taking me up mountains and canyons and valleys I’d never see otherwise, with a power and speed I could never attain, this amazing 18 to 23-year-old steed, now approaching his 10,685th career mile.

We finished just before dark, and passed the final vet check. I got my wish, completing my first multi-day ride on the best endurance horse I have ever ridden.



There are two more very special unpublished stories about Zayante that will be featured in my upcoming memoir. I hope they will do him justice.


Zayante's record stands at 241 finishes in 252 starts, 20 of 25 100-mile completions, 5 Best Conditions, 4 Tevis buckles. He was elected to the AERC Hall of Fame in 2002.

When Zayante retired from endurance in 2005, he hung out on Jackie's ranch with his best pal Ross (Sierra Fadrazal +/ , 8430 miles, Pardner's Award with Jackie in 1998), until Ross crossed the Rainbow Bridge at the age of 33 in 2011.

Ross and Zayante, 2009

Zayante then went to live at Nick and Judy's in the Bay Area - Nick being the president of the Zayante Fan Club, with several thousand miles of trail together. There Zayante continued to live the good life - forever revered, constantly spoiled.

Just a few of Zayante's Fan Club - including The Raven!

Nothing stopped Zayante on the trails, but colic finally stopped him Tuesday night. He's gone to join Ross now, where I'm quite sure they are already galloping circles around the other endurance horses up there.

Zayante, you took our hearts with you when you left us. You will be forever missed.


**Zayante was featured in a story I wrote about him in Equus magazine in 2004, before he reached his 10,000 miles. Read about it here.

2012 AERC Convention (Part II)

Wednesday March 14 2012

It's hard to say what the very best part of the AERC (Endurance) Convention was.

It could have been the trade show, where you could find everything you needed, from saddles to feed supplements and everything in between, and everything you didn't need. The number of booths was down this year, but the shopping looked pretty brisk. Maybe you didn't really need, say, a new pair of tights, but Evelyn was there with her practical, colorful, and wild and fun tights, and who can pass up a pair of tights like this? (Don't blame me, red is Jose's color!)

Funder got her own great pair of tights,

as did Steph:


Authors Julie Suhr ("…but it wasn't the horses's fault!")

and Sharma Gaponoff ("Tevis, From the Back of My Horse") were both there selling and autographing their books.


Jose won a new saddle pad from Specialized Saddles! (It's been too hurricane-windy or too Seattle-rainy since we've been home from the Convention for Jose to try it out, and anyway, he might share it with his pal Mac.)


The Hot Topics sessions are always hopping. Anybody can sit in and put their two cents in on everything from trail closures to membership drives. It's a good forum for good ideas to be discussed. Former World Champion endurance rider Valerie Kanavy had the most common sensical thing to say that I have heard in a long time: Where are all our endurance riders? Where are our kids and juniors? Go to an endurance ride just about anywhere in the world, and you see double and triple the number of riders there, including families (and the entry fee is about double the price as here in the US).

We all need to stop belittling people who 'only' ride 25 miles because 'that's not endurance' because, as Valerie said, they contribute just as much to participation in the rides (sometimes more) and entry fees, which allows her to continue doing the 100-mile rides she loves to do. We need to make our sport more accessible to younger riders and families - put on the 12-mile introduction ride, or, have AERC consider even requiring the completion of a 12-mile ride before throwing the first-timer and her 12-year-old straight into a 25-mile endurance ride. "We need to think outside our box," Valerie said, and she's right.

We need to welcome people, instead of excluding them and hoarding ourselves into little cliques just because 'they' don't do the distance we personally like to do, or the distance that we think defines endurance riding. That person who likes to 'only' ride 25 mile rides this season may become next season's National 100 Mile Award winner. That first-time Junior that rides 12 or 25 miles might be the next National Mileage Champion and new ride manager who puts on new endurance rides for people who like to ride. What we're doing to recruit new riders is not particularly a raging success, especially if we don't fit fit them into our self-made categories - maybe it's time to try something else.

There were some excellent lectures over the weekend. Steph will report on Friday's lectures. On Saturday, Jeanette Mero talked about metabolics, and Susan Garlinghouse spoke about dehydration in endurance horses. I learned a few things - one being that I never want to override my horse so that he has a metabolic problem, but that despite your best precautions, it can happen to anybody. I did once have to deal with a badly colicking horse, far out on trail, and it was a dreadful experience. He hadn't been overridden and he was on his home trails - for the first time in his long career, it just happened. (He lived.)

When you ask your horse to do 50 miles and up, you are pushing that envelope, and the harder you push him, the more you are asking, but you just don't know exactly where that precipice is on that given day until you've irreversibly crossed it.

Fluids, fluids, fluids, Jeanette emphasized, if your horse gets into trouble. Using a lot of fluids immediately at the first sign of trouble has been proven to reverse a majority of metabolic issues. The longer you wait, the more risk to your horse, and, often, the (much) more expense involved because it usually ends up in a trip to the horse hospital and a possibly long recovery. And we need to all get over the stigma we've created about a horse that needs fluids. It can happen to anybody, and it's the welfare of the horse that is paramount. Many horses participating in international 160-km competitions around the world routinely receive fluids before and after their rides as a precaution to rehydrate them.

Fluid treatment itself is not cheap at a ride - $400 to $800 - but Jeanette felt you owe it to your horse to commit to that level of treatment, if your horse gets into a bad situation, especially when this has a good chance of solving the problem.

I agree. We ask a lot of our endurance horses, and when you spend all the months or years training and conditioning your horse, feeding him, thinking of him as part of your family (or as the working part of the equation who supports your hobby), paying for the vet care, shoeing, owning the truck and trailer, traveling to the rides, paying the entry fees, the least you can do for that horse in trouble is commit to that first immediate level of care, if he needs it. It's only right.

Long-time high-mileage endurance riders Robert and Melissa Ribley gave an excellent presentation of AERC - the way we were and the way we are, looking back at some of the pioneering people and rides in the AERC organization.


Some of our top-level Junior and Young Riders gave a talk about their participation in December's Young Riders & Juniors World Endurance Championship held in Abu Dhabi, where 3 of the 3 US riders finished, and the USA team came in 4th. This was an outstanding finish, as the 'team' had been thrown together with not much preparation, unlike the Uruguayan team (1st place) and French team (2nd place) that had been working toward this goal all year.


New USA chef d'equipe Emmett Ross gave a talk on the future of the USA team and this year's World Endurance Championship coming up in Great Britain in August.


Friday night the Western States Trail Foundation had drinks and hors d'oeuvres accompanied by videos from the Tevis trail, and Barbara White announced an exciting new development for this year's Tevis: the Legacy Buckle program. First-time Tevis riders can opt to receive a historic buckle from someone who completed decades ago.  The buckle will be engraved with the rider’s name, horse’s name, and year of finish and will be awarded to you at no charge. Just think - you could be the recipient of a belt buckle previously won by the likes of Julie Suhr, or Barbara White, or Donna Fitzgerald!


The Saturday night awards dinner (you can see some of the awards here) was a just good time, with worthy people and horses receiving very worthy awards, particularly the Pardner's Award (Karen Fredrickson and MRR Pyro (Murphy)), the Perfect Ten Award (Karen Fredrickson and MRR Pyro (Murphy)!), and the National Mileage Championship. This is what American endurance riding is all about - longevity, and riders who know how to take care of their horses over thousands of miles and many, many years.

The best part of the convention possibly could have been seeing so many friends with a common passion and hobby, gathered in one place, putting names to faces, meeting waaaaay too early for breakfast in the morning without a prior shot of caffeine, trying to make your way somewhere but never making it there because you run into too many people to talk with, having dinner with friends - and through it all, everybody talking horses. Just getting to see and hug some of your favorite horse people on the planet might just be enough reason to spend a weekend at the AERC Convention in Reno. Thanks to the AERC staff for the hard work in putting on such a good event.

As a suggestion, the only thing that might improve the Convention would be if we could bring all our horses along for their own convention. But then - we'd all have to saddle up and go for an endurance ride, wouldn't we?

[slide show here]

AERC Convention

Sunday March 11 2012

We were in Reno this weekend for the annual American Endurance Ride Conference convention - a fun weekend with lots of friends from around the country, annual awards (mine and Jose's names were mentioned at the regional awards! Although I missed it because we were at another dinner, where I was of course wearing my VEST), good lectures, a busy trade show.

Like just about everybody else, I came away with material things I needed and didn't need (picture proof soon), way too much food ingested and way too little sleep, some valuable new knowledge, and happiness and enjoyment for some friends who truly deserved some awards they got for their partnership with their horses.

Carla Richardson and her horse SS Kharady Khid not only achieved their 5000 miles and 6000 miles last year but were the 2011 National Mileage Champions, with 2525 miles (they did it in 50 rides!).


Our own Northwest rider Lee Pearce and Fire Mt Malabar won the National Best Condition award - Malabar was 16 for 16 last year, with 5 wins and 12 Best Conditions (and he reached 3000 miles early in the season).

That's Suzy Hayes up top, also in our Northwest region, whose late horse Kootenai Zizzero (Kooter) was elected to the Hall of Fame. I don't know Kooter's whole story yet (we all will soon : ), but one look at his record (15 seasons, 6140 miles, only 3 pulls in 86 rides, 31 hundred mile finishes and 33, yes that's thirty-three Best Condition awards), and at the look on Suzy's face when it was announced, reinforced for us all of us why we ride endurance, and why we all dream of that once-in-a-lifetime heart horse.

Suzy's friend Bev Gray put together a fun video of some of Suzy and Kooter's races back in the 1990's that we'll have soon on Endurance.net (and I'll put a link here), and Suzy was presented with that awesome photo of her horse, taken long ago by my good photographer friend Genie Stewart-Spears.

InVESTed Interest

Sunday March 4 2012

I warned it was coming, and it's here!

Jose Viola's vest arrived - our surprising award for AERC Second Featherweight in the Northwest Region in 2011! There are a lot of partnered miles woven into the stitching of this vest: 820 miles and 16 rides, the most I've ever done in a year.

Jose thinks I look better in the vest so he wants me to wear it, although he has dibs on the pockets and wants them kept filled with treats.

I've NEVER in my 13 years of endurance earned any year-end award, and Jose is a Very Special Horse (the Best Horse Ever, if you must know), which makes this vest the best piece of clothing I've ever owned, and I'm never taking it off!  

(It took many photo sessions to get the perfect photo - less of me, more of Jose, the words readable, no shadows… this will have to do.)

[slide show here]

Endurance Riding: Mileage! Points! Awards! Oh My!

Friday November 18 2011

I recently discovered that it's official: JOSE AND I WON A 2nd PLACE AERC AWARD!!!!!!!!!!!

This momentous occasion coincides nicely with all the talk lately on the AERC forum and Ridecamp on Endurance.net about mileage and the sport of Endurance riding, and what exactly is "Endurance," and the recognition and awards associated with the sport.

There have been lively discussions on what actually defines the sport of Endurance. The AERC bylaws in 1974 said "The term endurance riding is defined as an athletic event in which the same horse and rider cover a measured course (usually 50 to 100 miles)..." Rides under 50 miles (i.e., 25 to 35 miles) are called "LD" or "Limited Distance." That brought about some elitism, or perceived elitism by some riders, though we all know that some days, just saddling up your horse and riding down the block and back on a blustery day on a goosey horse constitutes the most bravest form of endurance there is. The entire membership does agree that we are all slightly crazy to do what we do, whatever the distance we ride.

There was a recent proposal to combine LD and Endurance miles (in addition to keeping them separate), for "career mileage, only." According to a post by an AERC Director, "It would, on a few rare occasions, allow an equine that is very close to reaching its 5,000 mile plateau (and the accompanying 5,000 mile blanket) the opportunity to use any LD Miles it had to count towards the total gross mileage. It has been suggested that, if AERC did combine mileage, the blankets or other similar recognition could include verbiage on any award to be one of the following, "5000 Endurance Miles" or "5000 Combined Miles"."

That proposal created A LOT of opinionated discussions, and brought up the subject of awards. A quick look at a list of AERC annual awards includes:
• Career Endurance and Limited Distance mileage awards for horse and rider;
• 17 National Awards for riders, horses, or both;
• A myriad of Regional Awards (for each of 9 Regions) for horses and riders and both - and in each, for each of 4 Senior weight divisions and a Junior division.

These can be in the form of certificates, plaques, patches, jackets or vests, horse blankets.

Some people prefer to keep the sport of endurance along the lines of its original form and purpose; some people prefer to reach out to a broader spectrum and attract new members by combining mileage and adding extra awards. Some people feel we already have way too many awards handed out. Some people think we don't have enough, and the more awards the merrier.

I say: Endurance riding should be fun. It should be a challenge for you and your horse, one you can accomplish successfully and safely while HAVING FUN. Here in the US (and Canada), Endurance IS fun. It is a family sport. It is a sport where you can choose a myriad of goals for yourself and your horse. You can ride 50 miles by yourself. You can ride 25 miles with a big group. You can ride 100 miles with your 5-year-old kid. You can ride with a Raven. You can ride 25 mile rides forever and never choose to ride further. You can ride only 100 mile rides. You can ride multi-day rides. You can ride just to see some spectacular country. You can ride to win rides in your region. You can ride just to finish and to accumulate miles for yourself or your horse. You can try to chip away at Dave Rabe's 53,000 miles (good luck with that!). You can ride almost 4000 miles in one season. You can ride one 25-mile ride a year or one every 10 years. We'll still say Hi and We're Glad To See You Again when you come back. You can aim to win the Tevis Cup and Haggin Cup in the same year. You can aim to make the US Team and represent your country in the World Equestrian Games. You can participate in endurance here however you want.

In most countries of the world (excepting Australia and Canada), you do not have those choices. In most countries of the world, endurance is not something one would call "fun." It is a business, and your goal must be to win. You don't get 12 hours to complete a 50 mile ride and you don't get 24 hours to complete a 100 mile ride. You can count the number of multi-day rides in all the other countries combined on your toes. You don't have horses who regularly go 10,000 miles, or 5000 miles, or even 3000 miles. They are lucky to go 3 years, and then it's always fast.

In the US we don't care what you wear or if your horse is brushed or if you wear a 3/4 inch heel on your polished boot, or if you have a collared shirt on (unless you choose that option, which is a choice you have here!). When it comes down to it, we really don't care what distance you prefer to ride, or if you don't move up to longer distances, and we don't really care how many miles you have. As long as you just ride. And if you can't ride any more, you're still an Endurance rider. Endurance as a whole is not as snooty and pretentious as other horse sports, mostly because we aren't all trying to win and we have so many different goals we can aim to accomplish. It's really about the horse, and horsemanship, and it's about FUN. And if it's not about fun for you, that's also your choice, here in the US. I say, the more people who can enjoy and appreciate this sport and their horses at all levels and distances, the merrier.

And in the US, we give awards for a lot of things. And this year, for the first time ever in 12 years of riding endurance, I'M GETTING ONE OF THOSE!

But to be more concise: Jose and I finished second in the point standings (I don't even know what points are! And I don't care!) in our weight division (out of 4 weight divisions) in our Northwest division (out of 642 members), out of 9 US divisions and 5328 total AERC members, out of 312,631,171 human beings in the US of A. Not really a big deal if you look at it that way.

To those people who regularly get awards, another vest might not mean that much. But to me - someone who rarely (more like never) is in the running for an award - it will always remind me of 720 miles on my best pal Jose, many hoofprints over fabulous country; hot days, cold days, sun, rain, wind, thunderstorms; laughs and tears; great friends; windburn, sunburn, tiredness, tirelessness; a wild joyous sense of good fortune and delirious freedom and a few wild gallops thrown in for fun. (Did I mention Endurance was fun?)

Sure, I could have gone and gotten my own vest and had my name and Jose's name embroidered on it. But really, that's not the same thing as my AERC endurance organization awarding me this vest with mine and Jose's name on it.

Would I still ride endurance if AERC did away with all the awards and recognition? Sure I would. In the Grand Picture of the World, my vest means nothing to anybody but me and Jose. I once would have said that all those Awards aren't that important - who's going to remember or care next year (or tomorrow), or know what it means, that Jose and I finished second Featherweight in the Northwest Region of the AERC in 2010 - but now that *I'M* getting an award, all I have to say is, once I get my vest, it will be on my back, around Jose's neck, in your face - I won't be taking it off!

[slide show here]

Endurance Glitterati

Wednesday December 29 2010

The dinner party at Dennis and Sue Summers' house last night was like a Who's Who of endurance riding. Between just a handful of the long-time endurance riders there - Dennis and Sue, Christoph Schork, Dian Woodward, Kevin Waters, Pat Murray and Clydea Hastie - the total AERC endurance mileage added up to roughly 108,110 miles (plus 11 Tevis buckles).

That's more than 4 times around Planet Earth.

Wow.

Speechless. Humbled.

And A Medal!

Friday June 18 2010

Jose got another little package in the mail - a medal for his 1000 career endurance miles!

He wasn't quite sure how to wear it - they didn't make it so it would fit around his head and chest (where it would have looked mighty dashing), so he let me stick it on his head.


Besides, he was much more impressed by said deserved bag of carrots.




: )

A Grand For Jose!

Thursday June 17 2010

Jose received an envelope in the mail!

Who was it from? The AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference). What was in it for this special horse?

His 1000 mile certificate! It's official - 1000 career endurance trail miles for Jose Viola. I got to do 620 of those on my favorite horse. : )

Was he impressed? Well, he inspected it closely, but I think that he thinks that every horse that gets a thousand miles should get a bucket of carrots from AERC. We get to frame his certificate, he gets to eat the bucket of carrots.

4 Grand!

Saturday April 17 2010

After 13 years, a few trials, many beautiful trails, a lot of knowledge (but never enough), and many, many wonderful friends, I hit the Big 4-0!

4000 AERC endurance miles. (And when i think of all those training miles that got me there...) Pretty good for never owning my own endurance horse.

On Day 1 of the High Desert Classic outside of Fallon, Nevada on Saturday, where I reached my 4000 miles riding Spice, Jerry Zebrack, riding beside me said, "You must be a good rider, riding everybody else's horses."

My reply was, "The more I know, the more I know I don't know."

Horses never stop teaching you, if you listen. Very often, some of them know more than you do.

I've got a ways to go to catch Hall of Famer Dave Rabe and his 47,000+ miles. I figure at my pace I'll get there when I'm 190 years old. It's my new goal!

And now for my Oscar speech: I couldn't have done this without, well, just about everybody. Thanks to: Spice, Raffiq, the great Zayante, my pal Jose, Rhett, Mac, Quickie, Razzie, Odyssey, Quinn, Kon, Fadrika, Riptide, Jazzbo, Charlie, Cloud, Quigley, Oak Hill Kindred Spirit, Redman, Rocket Man, Maggie, and my first finishers long ago, Masrita and Rocky. Thanks to humans Gretchen (owner of Spice!), Steph and John, Jackie, Robert and Melissa, Sue, Nance (owner of Quinn, my Tevis partner!), Ann K, Quenby, Sally, and Shelley. Those are just the immediate thank yous... many more are in the second and third tier... but my time has run out.


(Top photo by Ren Baylor of Baylor & Gore Photography!)
And yes, that's the Raven with me! He's actually 150 miles behind me, so with 3 more completions, he'll get his 4000 miles!

AERC National Championship - 100 Miler

Friday September 11 2009

It was quite a ride - not an easy one (lots of climbing and descending on the first loop), hot, and quite a bit of strategy. The pace was fast up front, and 3 different leaders got pulled during the day. 62 started at 5 AM, with Lindsay Graham and Monk finishing at 7 PM, and Gail Hought and Ted Goppert finishing at 4:55 AM! 41 finished altogether.

Getting ready today for the 50-mile Championship on Saturday.

Very busy weekend!


Lots more photos are/will be at

www.endurance.net/international/USA/2009AERCChampionship