Sunshine on the Kentucky Cup Endurance Race

Tuesday October 13 2009

Just driving into Lexington, Kentucky, among all those rolling hills and white fences of the Thoroughbred farms got my blood racing, and when I crossed Man O' War Boulevard, (Man O' War Boulevard - seriously!), and Citation Boulevard, it literally got my heart pounding. And the Kentucky Horse Park - don't even get me started (I'll follow up on that later).

And in the Kentucky Horse Park - some of the cream of the endurance crop around the world, and friends from around the world, here for the pre-ride for next year's World Endurance Championship. Here are a few photos of the days before:







That's Leon, the gray horse on the left... I'm sure he remembers me, we met in Dubai in February.






Gabrielle, from California, and Big Easy. Little guy, but tough.


Maria from Sweden


Mercedes from Argentina


Mustafa, from India - he had a great time here!


Feast your eyes on these sunny (or somewhat sunny) pictures because it's all clouds and rain and mud from here!

Tony Benedetti - Pacific North Chef d'Equipe

Friday October 9 2009

He's a bit like an art sculptor, who gathers the different material, works and molds the pieces into one form, shapes it into a piece, and finely details it for the Big Show. But instead of clay or metal, Tony Benedetti, Chef d'Equipe for the Pacific North riders, takes 6 endurance horses and riders from different backgrounds and with different goals, and molds them into a team, shaping them into a finely tuned machine for the Big Show - the Kentucky Cup Endurance ride.

Tony's a bit like a chess player too, trying to figure out the best moves with the best riders and horses to get the best performances out of all of them. Of his 6 horses and riders now in Kentucky, he'll have to choose 4 to be on the Pac North team, and 2 to ride as individuals - and with the talent he has behind and between the reins, that's going to be a difficult and strategic move.

in 1993 Tony was a rider on the North American team, and that was where he realized 'chefing' was very important. He thought it could be done a different way, and that's what got him started doing it. He's been a chef d'equipe "about very other year since 1995." And he thoroughly enjoys chefing and coaching riders. "It's satisfying - helping riders and squads turn in the best ride possible, with the ultimate goal of winning a medal."

He likes the task of taking 6-12 individual people and creating a team culture - and ultimately being successful while having fun getting there. "That is very important, because if you don't have fun, why bother with it?"

Shaping and coaching a group of riders for such a big event is a great challenge. "Despite saying 'this ride is like any other ride', international competition is not like any other ride. It's more difficult, more intense, they've travelled further, and trained more stringently. Most riders don't ride as a team, ever, so that's a different challenge in itself."

Tony is going to have a very difficult time choosing his squad of 4 and the individuals - "it's a great group of very equal and very experienced riders and good horses to work with." The Pacific North riders are Dennis Summers and SHA Ebony Rose, his wife Sue Summers and Mags Motivator, Joyce Sousa and LV Integrity, her daughter Jennifer Niehaus and NH Copperblaze, Gabriel Mann and CM Big Easy, and Carol Giles and SAR Tiki Galaxy. These riders have previously been on 5 World Championship and Pan American teams.

With such talent, several of them capable, on a good day, of finishing in the front, will his riders try to win, or will they just try for a team and individual medals, or will they be riding just to finish well, with the ultimate goal being riding in next year's World Championship?

"Everyone recognizes that next year is The Big Race. But everyone wants to come here and do well, too. They don't want to leave their best race here, but they do want to be competitive. There are some riders in Kentucky not going for the WEC team next year; this one is their big race. Every rider is a bit different." He'll talk to all of his Pac North riders to assess their goals; he'll also look at how the horses have done over the season, and how they are faring in Kentucky - how well they've held up to travel, how they're eating, how sound they are, how they look and feel.

With the strong group he's got, he can't go wrong no matter what he decides.

Kentucky Cup: Cheryl Dell and TR Reason to Believe - Springville, CA

Friday October 9 2009

He lost his mother when he was 6 hours old, and he was raised with a goat. Maybe that's one explanation why 11-year-old Reason "has got personality!"

Cheryl Dell, a veterinarian from Springville, California, first saw Reason when she was looking for a backup endurance horse. She couldn't, however, afford him at the time, and tried not to think about him. It was her husband who secretly went and looked at Reason and rode him, and arranged with Carl Fudge of Sturgeon Creek Arabians in Manitoba, Canada to make payments. Since then (2005) it's been a great ride: 21 finishes in 23 starts (in the US), 19 of those in the top five, including 8 wins and 4 BCs, and 5 hundred-mile finishes.

On the endurance trails, Reason is "point and go" - though he wasn't always that way. "What a difference a couple of years makes in personality, vet checks, and on the trail. He's now all business, no nonsense. He grew up, got seasoned. He conserves his energy at the start... but he didn't do this at first! It used to take him a long time to pulse down at first because of the excitement. Now he gets excited, but he's calm about it, not amped or wacky. Now he's usually always down in 1-2 minutes in the vet gates."

This is one main reason why Cheryl and Reason are a pair to be reckoned with in the Kentucky Cup. The Spaniards seem to have this down with many of their top international horses, cantering into a vet gate and the horse pulsing right down in under a minute.

The pair participated in the World Endurance Championship in Malaysia last November, where Cheryl thought they might do well, but in the middle of the ride Cheryl was struck with a terrible stomach virus that put her into the hospital where she slept for 24 hours on IV fluids. "You know endurance riders can ride with anything - the flu, broken bones, but this came on fast and it knocked me out!"

Reason travels well - "he's like 'whatever'" - and he flew into Kentucky a few days ago, with Cheryl as groom for him and 2 other horses. Reason is settled into a farm near the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, and Cheryl and her Pacific South teammates are in a house just down the road.

"This is SO much easier than we've ever had it, being so close to the horses. In Malaysia we were 45 minutes from the horses, and we were always exhausted, running back and forth all day, several times a day, to take care of the horses, go to meetings, etc. Here we can relax, and take care of ourselves, which is just as important as taking care of the horse, as it benefits your horse if you are rested and healthy and ready to ride."

Cheryl will be waiting for instructions from the Pac South coach Skip Lightfoot as to how to ride the 100-miler (4 riders will be chosen to ride on a team, 2 will ride as individuals); and while she always rides according to Reason's ability on a given day, and she's focused on the ultimate goal of the 2010 WEG ride next September, she's hoping she can let Reason go a bit to see what he can do. "I had a hard time holding him back in his last ride." Cheryl and Reason finished 7th in the AERC National Championship in Greenville, California, on September 13th.

Cheryl knows her horse so well after riding him for 5 years. "He's super affectionate, he runs up to you in the pasture (as opposed to running away from you). He'll shove me with his head when he's ready to go."

With just 3 carefully chosen rides this year - 1st place in the American River Classic 50 miler in April, 2nd place in the Owyhee Fandango 100 in May, and 7th in the AERC National Championship 50 in September, Reason will be shoving her on the 14th. Watch for this pair to finish near the front.

Kentucky Cup: Sue Hedgecock and Julioslastchance - Park City, Utah

Thursday October 8 2009

Wednesday found Sue Hedgecock of Park City, Utah, and a load of horses, "driving across Kansas at the speed of light." That was a good thing, since she'd left home in a snowstorm the previous day, driving considerably slower. They are headed for Lexington, Kentucky for the October 14th Kentucky Cup Endurance pre-ride.

Since starting his endurance career in 2007, 8-year-old Julioslastchance, her mount in Kentucky in the 100-mile race, has 11 finishes in 14 starts, having finished in the Top 10 in all but one of those completions. "He's a big trotter. He likes to compete," Sue says.

Sue likes to compete also, and It's easy to see where she gets her competitiveness from: she used to be on the US Olympic Ski Team with her twin sister. She still teaches snow skiing in the Park City mountains in the winters.

Sue is excited about riding in Kentucky, but also a little worried. Julio has tied up twice, the last time in his most recent ride in the Owyhee Fandango 100 in Idaho in May. "I wracked my brain trying to figure out what it was that those 2 rides had in common, what ingredient it was that caused him to tie up. I think it was standing around too much before the rides; he needs to be ridden daily." Sue since changed Julio's training and nutrition program, and has been conditioning him all summer.

The area where Sue lives outside of Park City is great for endurance training. She has a long gradual uphill climb that goes from 4500 to 7000 feet, and she has a good 30-mile trail she can do. "I've put on my heaviest gear, plus 40 lbs, to get him working and build muscle."

Julio is clipped since he already got a jump on his winter coat, and temperatures in Lexington should be in the 40's at night, and 60's during the day. "That should be about perfect."

Sue's looking forward to arriving in Lexington and getting settled, getting on her horse, and seeing what he can do. Additionally, two more of her horses, Fast Eddie and Steadys Temmpo, will be ridden by Brazilians on the 120 km ride.

Ultimately, Sue has her eye on the WEG in Kentucky next year. "I'm not aiming to get nit-picky at this ride, I'm aiming to make it work."

Another Top Ten finish, this one in Kentucky, would work just fine.

Kentucky Cup Endurance: Becky Hart, USA Chef d'Equipe

(Over the next few days, I'll have a look at some of the competitors in the Kentucky Cup Endurance ride, the pre-ride for the 2010 World Equestrian Games Endurance)

Thursday October 8 2009

Becky Hart is an AERC Hall of Famer with 20,000 AERC miles under her belt, and a former multiple World Endurance Champion; but what she won't be doing at the Kentucky Cup and North American Endurance Team Challenge in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 14th, is riding. Becky is also the US Endurance Chef d'Equipe, but what she also won't be doing at the Kentucky Cup is coaching. "I'm going just to watch, though if someone asks for advice, I can give it."

Since this competition is the pre-ride for the World Equestrian Games Endurance in September of 2010, Becky is hopeful all of the US riders will be focused on that bigger picture. Some riders are going to Kentucky this year to qualify their horses and get their COC (Certificate of Completion - a 100-mile ride time in under 12 hours and 20 minutes) for next year; some are already qualified; but "some of the horses are so good that even if they aren't going for a win in the Kentucky Cup, they'll be right up there."

Becky expects Spain to do well in the 100-mile ride - which is to be expected, since Maria Alvarez Ponton will be heading the Spanish contingent. Maria was recently crowned the European Champion in Italy last month, in addition to her World Endurance Champion title from Malaysia in November of 2008 - on the same horse. She will be riding a different horse, Sahara, in the Kentucky Cup; and her husband Jaume Punti Dachs will also be riding. "Spain is the one we've patterened our crewing efforts after," Becky says, "though since only 2 people are allowed in the crewing box in Kentucky, we can't do our bucket brigade.

"It'll be a good competition, a fast course."

Becky really won't, however, be just kicking back and watching the Kentucky Cup, either. You can bet she'll be wholly occupied, appraising and absorbing every detail of the ride - the horses, riders, times, course - with a critical eye regarding the World Equestrian Games endurance competition next year - the ultimate goal of the US riders and coach.