Last Ride of the Season: Hillbillie Willie’s Trick or Trot

October 29 2024

My Oscars speech:

This weekend could not have been accomplished without help. I forgot Willie’s bridle. No way would I have started him in his lovely hybrid Jaquima halter (and, turns out, No. Way. could I have ridden him on the first loop in that!!!) So, mucho mucho thank you to Stevie, who supplied a headstall that fit Willie’s big honkin' Standardbred head, and thank you to Layne, who happened to have in her barn the exact same big honkin’ kemberwick port mouthpiece bit Willie uses! (He hates a snaffle). Both of those saved my bacon whilst Willie was On Fire the first loop!

In Endurance riding, you have to be flexible. Have goals, yes, but leave them subject to change, depending on your horse, depending on the day. My goals for the last ride of the season were two LDs at the Trick or Trot ride over the Eagle Canyon trails. And of course a calm start with a finish at the end! I hoped Willie had the same goals.

No matter how you slice it, in the spring or fall, the trails at Eagle Canyon are hard. Willie is not a hill horse. He *can* climb hills, but they are hard on him, and often he just isn’t comfortable on the downhills. And everything on these trails are up, or down, with little flat in between. 

It was near freezing in the morning, so we saddled up early and walked around camp for 20 minutes before the ride. Willie had plenty of energy but was calm. When I mounted up amongst the witches and headless horseman and skeletons (it was Halloween), he stayed calm. When the trail was open, we strolled out side by side with Karen and Riley, and Willie stayed calm as we started trotting up the long hill (first of a thousand) out of camp. We trotted (uphills) and walked (downhills) with Riley for a mile or two, after which Willie started revving up. By the time another mile passed, he was like, Alright already, time to move. 

Hopes for a slower ride went out the window then. Willie wanted to go, so we went! It really does no good fighting him for mile after mile, because he’s wasting as much energy revving as he would if he was just moving out. There were gopher holes, and some badger holes to be a bit careful of, but he’s pretty sure-footed and pays attention, more-so when he’s moving out than when I’ve got an anchor hold on him. 

I always tend toward the conservative - that’s my endurance upbringing - looking forward to finishing one day and riding the next day, but after a while, I gave up and let him go. Willie’s not so much about having to get to and be in the front; he just likes to move out and have a space in front of him (that coveted Bubble a lot of us like), to adventurously fly down an open and new trail, the bigger view the better, the twisty-er the trail the better. I really think he likes the feel of the wind in his mane and tail! I know he loves the Endurance trails, which are soooooo much better than running round and round and round a racetrack.

In the April 25-miler at Eagle, the first few miles he was on crack and legs spinning every which way, and at the first vet check, he had a hitch behind and was pulled. Today, I just figured with a hard fast 12-mile first loop, either he’d pass the vet check and we’d go on to loop 2 (where I knew he’d slow down), or if he got pulled, it had just been a hard fast first conditioning loop of 12 miles, and it was fun.

He zipped along happily on a loose rein, up and down and up and down, and the 12 miles flew by, and we arrived back in camp some 18 minutes ahead of the next rider. Not my intention! But happily, he was already pulsed down when we arrived, and he was sound! Forty minute hold and we were off on loop 2.

We did take loop 2 easier. I let Willie pick the pace. Trot or canter or pace where he wanted to, walk when he wanted to. Nearing the end of loop 2, he was taking more of the downhills at a walk, and I even dismounted to walk down several long steep hills. As long as I knew I could climb back on him at the bottom! He drank deeply at the water troughs (yay!) and the only other horses we saw on loop 2 were in the distance on the 50-miler, and a few trail riders out for their own fun.

Willie pulsed down right away when we got back to camp, finishing first, trotting out sound (yay!!!!), and later just missing Best Condition by a point or two. So close! Nora’s Portia finished second, after taking a tumble a couple of miles from the finish and bruising Nora spectacularly (but nothing broken!!) and took Best Condition.

I was thrilled with Willie’s ride, and thought I’d just end our season on that note. He didn’t eat great throughout the day (he got A's on his gut sounds at the first vet check and finish, and his pulse was always low, so nothing was wrong), and day one was just one tough ride for a not-hill horse, even though it was only 25 miles. We didn’t get our two days of riding in, but a sound finish on a hard ride - a perfect end to a season of Standardbred fun!

Top photo by Steve Bradley!

2024 Eagle Canyon: Help, My Horse is on Crack!

April 26 2024

For all you Hillbillie Willie fans who’ve been following his Endurance career, you all know that all I really want out of an Endurance ride is a calm start and a sound horse at the finish. At Eagle Canyon, I got neither!

I always underestimate Willie’s fitness in the first ride of the seasons, but I still opted for caution in doing the 25 on Day 2 (I shot Day 1’s ride; Steve Bradley shot Day 2 so I could ride!), particularly because Willie is not a hill-climbing horse, and this ride is *full* of hills. It’s a tough ride for your horse’s first one of the season.

I had no indication Willie would suddenly become demonically possessed at the start of this ride. We’ve been working on calm starts the last 7 years, and last season was pretty much perfect, going out calm every ride on a loose rein, either in a group or riding solo. 

I took him on a long uphill walk on Friday, and he was perfect. After shooting on Saturday, I rode him on a solo warm-up trail ride (I tried this at Autumn Sun two years ago, and he was a total freak riding by himself leaving his buddies in camp; I felt like I was on a half-broke 2-year-old); he was perfect.

Ten minutes before the start on Sunday, he was walking around mostly calmly, grazing, watching horses, a little squirmy, but nothing unusual. I expected everything to go smoothly, because he gave me no indication that a dragon was about to erupt.

As Regina hollered, “Trail’s open!” I tried to find a little bubble. I didn’t want to be right in front of a bigger group, but I didn’t want to be near the faster starters. I found a small bubble but as soon as we hit the road, a crazy demon took over my horse. All his brain cells went out the proverbial window and he morphed into Secretariat (he is an ex-racehorse after all). Oh my lord. Worst start I’ve ever had on him. Instant freight train wanting to run away, legs spinning, feet plop-pounding the road, trotting, cantering, prancing sideways (he’s never done that!), pacing, pogo-sticking, pacelope-i-don’t-even-know-what-those-legs-were-doing, snarling, snorting, bowing his head in a pretzel to his chest, walking that tightrope just this side of exploding, simply demonically possessed and planning to win the Kentucky Derby. Holy crap.

I prayed my reins or snaps wouldn’t break as I had an anchor hold on him, trying to talk him into just not exploding, just ease up a bit, chill out Buster Brown, eeeaaassy, and when we got to Layne’s house and turned left onto a climbing trail, he hobby horsed in place (he’s never done that!) and was snoring blowing pounding wanting to sprint up the hill, doing the work of 12 horses and already we were right behind Vicki Nichols who was in third, with her lovely gelding Rio just trotting steadily and business-like up the hill with Jennifer and Tamara just in sight going over the hill. No way was I letting Willie get his way and sprint up to the front and on to the vet check 15 miles away, I kept him behind Vicki (but not up their butt), and then Cat and DWA Haffir joined us, and finally, after a couple more hills and miles with Willie watching Rio still moving steadily and calmly, Willie started calming down a bit. Good thing as my fingers were going numb on the reins.

Eventually the real Hillbillie Willie, the horse I knew, came back to earth, forward and strong and bowing his head but not pulling, (he looked good by the time we got to the water tower where Steve was taking pictures), and if he did start to pull, just asking with my legs brought him back. I was even able to take one hand off the reins now and then to take pictures. He felt smooth and fit and effortless, handling those hills like they were nothing.

It’s been years since I rode at Eagle Canyon. It is a beautiful ride, in the green (this time of year) foothills rolling off in the distance, with snow-covered Bogus Basin ski area off to the east. We had perfect weather - not too cold or hot or windy, which, at Eagle, can have all of those in one weekend! Willie and Rio and Haffir cruised along the two-track roads at a sensible pace, up and down hills, on the flats, passing cows, passing the canyon with the cross.

(Proceeds from this ride are donated to the Women and Children's Alliance in honor of SueB, a victim of domestic violence, whose husband pushed her off the cliff.The WCA hopes to help other successful, smart, beautiful women like SueB leave these abusive relationships before it’s too late.)

After 15 miles we trotted on into camp for our first vet check. Willie pulsed down right away, and we trotted out for Jessica. But wait - she asked me to trot again with Mel watching! Willie was off behind! I was rather astounded, as I had not felt anything. Mel agreed he was off a bit. She trotted him out for me (I couldn’t see it), Jessica trotted him out for me (I still couldn’t see it), then Jocelyn trotted him out for me and I finally did see it on the right hind. I was glad it was caught before I went back out on those hills on the second loop.

It was only a slight lameness, but I was a bit concerned, because I have gotten good over the years feeling even one bad step, and I had not felt this at all. But, horses can be running on adrenaline in a ride, and when they get into a vet check, they can just let down and relax, and it hits them. It was a bit cool with a bit of a breeze, so standing around would also let a horse stiffen up a bit. I untacked him and purposely let him stand around and cool off even more and eat for half an hour, had Jocelyn trot him out again, and I could detect it a bit more.

Like I said, Willie’s not a natural mountain horse, he’s a flat-lander, and maybe those hills got to him, or, in the exciting drama of the wild start he tweaked something. 

And that wild start - just when you think you have things figured out with your horse, you don’t always! Sometimes, even after seven years of good starts, your horse can lose his marbles, and you just have to ride it out a while until he comes back to you.

Hopefully our next start will be drama free with a sound finish!

top photo by Steve Bradley! 

Cover Photo #48

Thursday May 31 2018

I've been waiting for the surprise to hit the fan. 

I knew my photo would be on a cover of Endurance News, I just didn't know which cover or when. It's the next June issue!

It just so happens that my 48th cover photo features my good friend Connie and her horse DWA Saruq (one I've ridden in a couple endurance rides), who was bred by my good friends Helen and Archie of DWA Arabians.

I kept it a secret, and the timing was such that I told Connie her birthday surprise was in the mail. Helen and Archie will be thrilled, too, when they find out. They breed wonderful Arabians, and they have long contributed to our sport of endurance, so it's lovely that one of their home-bred horses is now a cover boy!