The Freak and The Fearless: The Legend of Witezarif and Donna Fitzgerald

Saturday October 15 2011

"On the trail he flowed so smoothly it would make your heart beat faster to watch him... His joy was in movement, pure unbridled joy at going down a trail." - Julie Suhr

He didn't look like much, just a laid back, plain, skinny and rather slight 14.2-hand bay gelding with a big scar on his shoulder. He didn't act like much, especially in the vet checks of endurance rides. "After he had a bucket of water poured on him, he could look like a drowned rat!" recalls endurance competitor and arch-rival Hal Hall.

"In vet checks, he'd stand with his hip cocked, his head down 5 inches off the ground," says Ann Hall, Hal's wife. "You'd think, 'This is the day Donna and Witezarif will get beat!' But as soon as she got on him, his head would go up, his tail would go up, and they roared out of the vet check."

Witezarif most certainly - at least on looks alone - didn't leave an impression that he would become one of the greatest endurance horses ever to look through a bridle. He and his partner Donna Fitzgerald dominated the 100-mile Tevis Cup and the Virginia City 100, and other rides in the 1970's. The pair won Tevis six times, four of them in a row - a record that is unlikely to ever be equaled - and finished second once by one minute. Witezarif won the Virginia City 100 six times, five of those with Donna, and finished it 11 times.

"He must've had a tremendous sized heart, and she was a dynamite horsewoman. She was very balanced; she knew what buttons to push on Witezarif, she got every ounce of energy out of him." - Hal Hall

With all the unparalleled achievements, and the unbridled accolades from defeated rivals, one might expect that Witezarif and Donna suffered from a superiority complex. They didn't.

Donna, rather shy and reticent, is quite matter-of-fact and unpretentious about her success with her extraordinary partner Witezarif ("Witez" she called him). "She was quiet and unassuming, but a MONSTER on a horse," Hal Hall says. "She was not demonstrative, very polite. If you saw her walking down the street, you wouldn't think she was competitive." To this day, Donna doesn't sing her horse's (or her own) praises, and she downplays their impressive accomplishments. Other than wearing a Tevis buckle at a very rare appearance at the Tevis or Virginia City ride, you still wouldn't get a hint that she was a one-half of a Legend.

Witezarif himself was rather aloof. His personality was, Donna says quite simply, 'Let me do my job.' "He wasn't a particularly friendly horse," Donna says. "He did kick me a few times."

Once was when she tried to show him for Best Condition after finishing a ride. "He didn't show well for the vets - he couldn't lead, he'd drag back behind me," Donna remembers. "At the time I didn't know how to teach him to trot beside me, so that's what we went with. Once I tried slapping him in the stomach to trot out beside me, and he kicked me!"

Another time during Tevis, riding along a cliff above a canyon, Donna and Witez were riding by themselves in front, and he spooked. "His hind end went over the edge! I bailed off him - I rode him in a halter in those days - and I pulled him by his halter back onto the trail. Then he bolted past me and kicked me, and ran on down the trail.

"I wasn't hurt," Donna continues, "and was afraid he'd go run off a cliff, or I'd never see him again... but there he was at the bottom of the next hill, waiting for me, and he nickered at me when I came up to him. I got back on him, and off we rode."

They won Tevis that year.

He kicked Pat Fitzgerald, Donna's husband, for good measure once, too. He was moving horses around a corral in the mud one day. "His legs got stuck in the heavy mud, and Witez ran past him and kicked him just to do it. It broke Pat's knee."


Foaled in 1963, Witezarif came from Hyannis Cattle Company in Nebraska. HCC horses were mainly Crabbet/Kellogg Egyptians Arabians crossed with Polish breeding. They were known for being rugged, and for possessing good legs and good bone, strength, and stamina. "Endurance riders got the culls from the cowboys," Hal Hall says. HCC was a 'mom and pop operation' back then, and if you could get one of their top picks, "they were the cream of the crop." Hal would know - one of the HCC horses he obtained, El Karbaj (a younger 3/4 brother to Witezarif), won the Tevis Cup twice - defeating Donna and Witez in 1974 by 1 minute - and the Haggin Cup (Tevis Best Condition) twice.

Around 1967, Pat Fitzgerald had gone to get a horse from HCC's neighbor, Rushcreek Ranch - also known for their rugged, well-bred Arabian endurance horses. Ted Jerry with HCC, a friend of the Rushcreek Ranch, told Pat he had a horse for him to look at. Pat could take him home and use him, or sell him. Pat took him home and tried him and kept him - it was Witezarif.

By Witezar, a son of Witez II, and out of Razifa (by Zarife), Witezarif has the classical Desert Bred, Egyptian, Polish, and CMK (Crabbet-Maynesboro-Kellogg) lines in his pedigree. In addition to dual Tevis Cup winner El Karbaj, Witezarif's dam Razifa also produced AERC National Champion Law Thunder.

Donna recalls Witezarif was 4 1/2 or 5 years old when Pat bought him. The AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) didn't start keeping computerized mileage records until the 1980's, but Donna remembers that Witezarif did his first endurance ride in 1968, at 5. He also rode in and completed his first 100-mile rides that year, including his first Virginia City 100, with Louie Henderson riding.

"When he was young," Donna recalls, "he was spooky, but after he did a few rides, he was quiet, and his energy level would come down. He almost fell asleep on the trail!"

Maybe that was Witzarif's strategy for his winning ways. Or, perhaps it was the work he did when he wasn't on an endurance ride. Witezarif wasn't treated like a big star - he worked, along with his stablemates, including Pat's Tevis horses, in a trail riding stable that Pat and Donna ran in the mountains in South Lake Tahoe. Only Donna rode Witez, though. All the horses worked every day in the string and were typical of plodding horses you find at some dude ranches. "They were like all the other horses in the dude string after a while - people couldn't make them do anything!"

The trail riding was all walking, up and down the steep hills around South Lake Tahoe - a practice many modern day top trainers employ for their endurance horses now. In the afternoons, Donna would take Witez out for more training, and they'd trot. "I'd go up every hill I saw, and we had some big and steep hills." One of her favorite training rides was a loop up to the top of Hidden Valley and back, about 20 miles.

There was no special feeding program, there were no special supplements, electrolytes, or balanced feed rations for Witezarif or the other horses. "In the winter we fed the string alfalfa and half grass, no grain. In the summer they got straight alfalfa, good hay, and grain - and that's because they worked. if they didn't work, they didn't get the good stuff."

"He was an unpreposessing individual in a corral full of Arabian geldings until I followed him on the trail and 'ate his dust' for a goodly number of miles! Watching his hocks work like effortless pistons, one learned to appreciate this gelding & his rider who paced him so well on long rides. Following Donna on the trail was just that, following, not catching up!" - R.B. Barsaleau

All that work - walking all day every day, then training on those steep hills was surely one of the reasons for Donna's and Witezarif's momentous success at Tevis. Tevis is known as one of the toughest 100-mile rides in the world. It is the ultimate challenge for a horse and rider team: riding in the dark, and daylight, and likely dark again, intense heat, hazardous trails, 19,000 feet of climbing and 22,000 feet of descending. And you’re crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains: temperatures can range from below 40* F in the morning to 120* F in those steep canyons in the afternoon. Much of the trail passes through inaccessible and rugged wilderness, reached nowadays only by foot or horseback or helicopter; so for much of the ride, if anything unexpected happens, you are on your own. Many miles of the Tevis trail are along cliffs with a thousand-foot drop below you. You and your horse need to be fit, and you'd better know each other. Even so, your chance of completing the ride is just over 50%.


The starting line is near Truckee, California and ends in Auburn, California. You have 24 hours to complete the ride; winning time varies when parts of the trail have to be re-routed, but averages around 12 to 14 hours. A statistic once concluded that half of the finishers cross the finish line with less than an hour to spare.

It's a difficult ride for the typical Tevis horse and rider, but Donna and Witezarif made it look so easy. "They were virtually untouchable over the years at Tevis," says Hal Hall. "They were Fearless. No Fear. That's how I'd describe both of them. To keep up with them was a bit of a chore, to put it mildly - but I finally figured it out.

"The Tevis trail's very technical, lots of descents and climbs." Hal laughs as he recounts his vision of Donna and Witezarif. "She and the horse - I distinctly remember - would pass me at a gallop, on single track switchbacks - and these are old mining mule trails - down into the canyons, where one misstep - one step off, and off the mule train would go. Donna'd gallop past me, without hesitation. I could hear them coming - and i finally learned to get out of the way, ride my own race and not try to keep up with them."

In the 1972 Tevis Cup, Hal had the lead at 90 miles. "At the American River crossing (the same one used today), I looked back and saw a cloud of dust. I was hoping it was just the evening angle of the light and haze... but no, it wasn't haze. It was Donna and Witezarif, galloping all out. She beat me that year by 1 minute.

"I learned to take advantage on the uphills. Witezarif was a rather long, lean, narrow-faced horse - did not look like much of a mountain horse. He and Donna took every advantage of the downhills - and I'd catch her near the top of the canyons and hang on to the end. Witezarif wasn't an uphill horse, he was a downhill horse."

Ann Hall agrees. "Witezarif would canter down hills. Donna had to have nerves of steel to do that! She must have had tremendous faith in the ability of that horse. And I think she was a good rider."

"Donna started with a good horse and made him a legend through time, work, and patience. She rides a smart ride and conquers pain and exhaustion for some of her wins." - Marion Robie

Donna herself sums up their Tevis success quite laconically as, "Sometimes I'd gallop down the canyons in Tevis." Witezarif was also great at going over Cougar Rock (which riders can now choose to go around). She didn't realize how good he was until she rode other horses over Cougar Rock. "Some of them scared me and I was afraid they'd fall off it. Witez - He'd go over it like it was nothing." Other horses and his placement in the ride made no difference to Witezarif. "He could be behind other horses, he didn't care about other horses, sometimes he followed for miles then passed. It didn't matter."

When it came to the Virginia City 100 around Virginia City, Nevada, Hal Hall concedes total defeat. "Witezarif and Donna dominated Virginia City. I could never out-do her on that ride - it was her home turf."

Virginia City is another arduous 100-mile ride, thousands of feet of climbing and descents in the surrounding desert and mountains, with extremely technical and rocky footing in much of the ride. The winning time is usually around 11 to 13 hours. (Witezarif still co-holds the second fastest finish time of 10:59, in 1969.)


Witezarif won the Virginia City 100 six times, five of them with Donna riding. He completed the ride 11 times, the first time in 1968 at age 5 with Louie Henderson riding. Australian Sue Scantlebury rode him to a tie for the win in 1969 (he also received the Best Condition award); Donna finished on him in 1970, 1971, and 1973. Then the winning streak began. The pair won the ride the next four years in a row. They finished again in 1978, and Witezarif earned his 1000-mile Virginia City blanket, one of only four horses to ever do so. Witezarif returned to Virginia City one more time, in 1980, at age 17, finishing the ride once again with Debbi Early riding.

The only 'blight' on his record - if one has the cheek to call it that - is that for all his wins, Witezarif didn't win many Best Condition awards. But there's a likely explanation for that. Back then, BC judging didn't take into account the modern-day factors such as weight carried, CRI (cardiac recovery index), and finish times; it just depended on the judges' opinions of how alert and animated the horse was when he trotted out. Had the modern scoring system been used, Witezarif might have racked up a few more of those awards. While Witezarif was known for acting half asleep during his trot outs in vet checks and Best Condition judging, his recoveries and pulse were known to be "phenomenal in any kind of weather and over all types of terrain."

"He was a freak. He accomplished what he did out of finesse; and she had no fear." - Hal Hall

Witezarif retired from endurance riding around 1983, age 20. Donna rode six 50's on him that year. "I'd decided he'd done enough; it was time to retire." His career mileage record on AERC is listed as 5044 miles. Asked if he missed the endurance trails, Donna said she didn't know. "He had other horses to hang out with."

AHA records indicate Witezarif died on May 31, 1998, although Donna remembers that he lived to be 37. "He hurt himself when he was about 35 - he was turned out with other horses, and one night I kept hearing clanging outside, but I didn't get up. Finally I did - went out at 3 AM in the ice, and dark; the ground was frozen, and Witez had fallen with his feet under the cattle manger, and he couldn't figure out how to get himself out. I pulled on his tail, and because it was icy, I was able to slide him out from underneath the manger. But he'd been down so long it hurt his hip, and from then on, he had problems with it. He did figure out how to roll and get back up; he'd sit like a dog, push up with his good leg."

Just as she almost understates her fabulous success with her phenomenal partner, Donna doesn't make a big deal now of Witezarif's passing, nor of her and Pat leaving their riding stables in 1978, nor of their retirement from endurance riding; she's just pragmatic. "Other things came up."

Witezarif was the AERC's first equine Hall of Fame honoree, in 1975. Donna Fitzgerald won the Hall of Fame award in 1978. Did Witezarif know he was special? "I dont know about that," Donna says, "but he did seem to like the attention."

I asked Hal Hall if he thought we'd ever see his like again. "I don't think it will happen again. He was truly remarkable.

"Today, people ask What If... Would Donna and Witezarif hold their own against (former multiple World Champion endurance rider) Valerie Kanavy, in international competition? And I think that they would. I saw Donna on less mountainous country, on 50 mile rides, and she shined."

Their hoofprints have faded away, but their memory and records and Legend shines on: the Fearless rider and her Freak of a horse, one of the greatest teams to ever ride down the endurance trails.

If I were to pick one horse that defined our sport at the highest level it would be Witezarif. He outshone anything else our sport has seen so far. - Julie Suhr

*******************************

Top Photo - Donna and Witezarif on Cougar Rock in Tevis - Charles Barieau photo
(Thank you Kate for this one!)
Second Photo - Witezarif, probably at a vet check or vetting in
Third Photo - L to R: Donna, Marion Robie, Bob Suhr, listening closely for ride instructions during the pre-ride briefing at the 1968 Challenge Ride - Jim Whitcomb photo)
Fourth Photo - Sue Scantlebury on Witezarif
(Thank you Julie for these 3!)

42nd Virginia City 100

(by request, I've put my long story of the Virginia City ride here)

Saturday September 19 2009

When anybody asks me how rocky a particular ride is, I say, "Have you ridden in Nevada? Nothing's rocky compared to Nevada. You don't know Rocks until you've ridden in Nevada."

The Virginia City 100 was my first 100-mile ride in 2002, on a horse, Royal Raffiq, doing his first 100. We finished. I got my silver bracelet. : ) It is one tough, Rocky ride, with a lot of mountains to climb and descend. It is one very special tough ride, very like the Tevis in that it feeds an addiction for some people, who keep coming back to ride it, year after year, despite knowing how hard it is going to be.

I rode it in 2002 with Jackie Bumgardner and Nick Warhol, and Nick wrote a story about it - Virginia City: Tougher Than Tevis? This year's Virginia City was particularly tough, with 42 starting and only 18 finishing - their worst percentage ever. Ride manager (and rider and finisher) Connie Creech said, " The weather? Hard tough trail? All the rocks? I don't know why."

Every year lately, whether or not the VC 100 will even be held is up in the air. The basecamp has been moved around Virginia City and squeezed (and next year it will again have to be moved somewhere else). Basecamp was, in fact, part of a 'Stagecoach route' - a circular dirt track, inside of which everybody was camped - where a 4-pinto-horse drawn stagecoach carried tourists at a gallop around the circular road many times a day. Made for some excited endurance horses tied to trailers.

Just about every year, trails must be changed due to housing developments, or in this year's case, a new railroad track. Four new hard miles of trail had to be added to go around the new tracks, while 4 miles were taken off elsewhere. And there are always rocks. Lots of rocks. There's the infamous Bailey Canyon on loop one, that even the front runners have to walk - and it takes at least an hour to get through it. Dave Rabe, who marked much of the trail, said, "I hit EVERY ROCK on the quad marking trail." If you have trouble picturing all the rocks, just imagine all the mining that went on here, all the rock the miners had to deal with when they dug tunnels and holes in the ground. I think all of those rocks were deposited on the roads and trails of the VC ride.

Old hands, and new riders and horses alike tackled the trails this year for the 42nd annual VC 100. There were 3 loops: Loop one, 55 miles, with one out vet check and a 45-minute hold at 24 miles, a trot by and 15-minute hold after 14 more miles, and a vet check and hour hold back in camp after 16 more miles. Loop 2, 22 miles and a vet check and hour hold back in camp. Loop 3, 23 miles with an out vet check and 15 minute hold after 16 miles, then the finish, at the cemetery in Virginia City. Guaranteed to be after dark. : ) A time and place where some people refuse to spend any extra time. Tinker Hart, who's both ridden and volunteered at the VC 100 (and who was riding a first-time horse this year) said, "I won't sit there at the finish waiting for anybody, no way, uh uh!"

It really is a terrific ride, giving you the real flavor of the old Wild West: starting a ride on horseback in downtown Virginia City, a town founded in the 1950's after the discovery of gold at the head of Six-Mile Canyon in 1859 by two men. One story is that Henry Comstock jumped their claim, ending up rich and with the biggest Comstock mine named after himself. Reportedly, he later lost all his property and possessions and ended up broke, and later committed suicide. One of the men who found the gold at Six-Mile Canyon, Peter O'Riley, eventually got rich from mining, and from the Virginia House Hotel he built, and from dealing mining stocks. He eventually lost everything he had and ended up in an insane asylum. Or so the story goes. Don't forget to visit the Suicide Table in the Delta Saloon, where at least 3 gamblers purportedly shot themselves after losing at the Faro gaming table. At its peak in the 1860's, Virginia City had 30,000 residents, and produced over $400 million (the price in those days) of gold and silver. Virginia City has been a National Historic Landmark since 1961.

You'll ride past countless old abandoned mines (the whole town of Virginia City appears to be built on mine slag heaps!), and you'll pass many wild horses throughout the ride. You'll start in the dark, and you'll finish in the dark (if you make it that far). You might encounter some Virginia City ghosts along the way - a few crew members waiting at the cemetery in the wee hours of the morning saw one.

The VC 100 starts in front of the Delta Saloon (established 1863, and open 24 hours a day) at 5 AM, in the dark. (Difference from then to now is the paved streets!) Dave Rabe (13 VC buckles prior to this year) and Gina Hall (9 buckles prior to this year) led the controlled start, darkness swallowing the horses, sparks flying from horseshoes, as they walked out of the town. A mile or so later they hit a dirt road where they let everybody go. It was blustery overnight, not exactly cold - most people wore Tshirts or a light wind breaker to start; it was expected to reach the 90's today, an unseasonably hot temperature, tough to deal with on a 100-mile ride.

It was Eileen Bissmeyer, riding Ace, a two-time Virginia City finisher, and Tevis Cup finisher this year in his last ride, leading the pack into the first vet check after 24 miles. They had an 8 minute lead over Kristine Hartman ("Kristine with a 'K'!") and Klassy Sam ("Klassy with a 'K'!"). Klassy Sam has been with the Hartman family since 2007, completing all but one of his 25 starts, finishing 2nd in the VC 100 in 2007, and 4th in 2008. Kristine was one of those who had a Perma-Grin on her face all day.

There were two pulls at the first vet check, one of whom was Helen Mooney and BR George De Soi (Georgie)(sometimes Georgie Porgie, because he's one of those Good Keepers), attempting their first 100. They were also going for the NASTR Triple Crown, having already completed the 50-mile Nevada Derby in April, and the 75-mile NASTR in June. Georgie is 10 years old, and came from Jerry Zebrak. "He is an off-the-track horse, but he's very good. He's my Steady Eddie." I think it was lameness that got them at this vet check - Georgie's only pull for lameness over his 24 starts - though Helen had already packed up and hauled for home (30 minutes away) by the time I'd gotten back to camp.

The 15 miles from vet check 1 to the trot-by and hold at Washoe Lake State Park involves the trek through Bailey Canyon. At last night's ride meeting, Connie Creech got some laughter when she said, "If you don't know Bailey Canyon, you're in for a treat!" It is a treat in that it's picturesque - and very rocky. "Bailey Canyon is a WHOLE LOTTA ROCKS!" More laughter, from those in the know, and those about to be.

Bailey Canyon might be what got Ace and Eileen Bissmeyer. She wasn't the first one into the next trot-by and hold at the lake; she wasn't anywhere in front. We asked some riders if they'd seen her; they said she was walking in, because Ace was lame. That left Kristine and Klassy Sam in front by 10 minutes, ahead of Nanci Gabri and Maveric, and Leigh Bacco on EZ Silver Dollar. They'd been riding together since the start.

Nanci's been riding Maveric for 3 seasons; they last finished Tevis in August. Leigh's horse arrived as a Christmas present from her partner Matt in 2008 wrapped in a bow. He actually came from right down my own Bates Creek Road in southern Idaho. Leigh's ridden endurance for 13 years, and says that EZ Silver Dollar is "the most steady horse I've ever had." This was only the horse's fifth ride; in his previous ride he finished the Tevis with Matt.

Andrew Gerhart and MP Martini followed them 4 minutes later; he's finished the Virginia City 100 twice, the last time in 2008 on MP Martini.

Just a minute behind Andy were the father-son duo of Matt and Colton Madeiros, riding Rushcreek Oladom and Rushcreek Lance. You may remember them from the AERC National Championships where they finished 10th and 11th in the 100-mile ride, just 8 days ago - on the same horses. There were some raised eyebrows at this back-to-back 100 so close in timing, but time (about 18 hours) would tell about their decision today. There were in fact 5 Rushcreek horses entered in the ride; they are known to be pretty tough endurance horses.

Instead of the 90+ degrees that was predicted, a blessed cloud cover had blown over, and it stayed quite windy. People later wondered if this dehydrating wind contributed to some of the pulls of the ride, because a few riders noted how dehydrated they were themselves at the end of the day (or night).

Many riders coming into the Washoe Lake vet check had big smiles on their faces. One was Karen Chaton riding her horse Ravenwood Mosham (Tigger), for the first time in over a year. She'd given him to Dave Rabe to ride last year after he bucked her off. Since then, Dave's ridden him on a number of rides, including 3 hundreds (one of them Virginia City last year). Karen wasn't sure, however, if she'd be riding Tigger - it depended on if, when Dave woke up in the morning, his horse White Cloud was okay. If White Cloud was OK to go, Dave would ride him, and Karen would ride her own horse. She was trying not to get too excited about it, because she really did want to ride. Turns out she did get to ride, and was having a great time. It was her first VC ride since 1998.

Another having a great time was Anne George from New Mexico. It was a big decision to haul all this way to ride in her horse's second 100. Chance G7 is a pinto National Show horse - quite a looker. Anne said "The ladies in my barn back home are taking bets as to if I'll finish or not." I asked Anne if Chance was a calm horse to ride... because I've ridden a few National Show horses who are not. Anne guffawed, "Oh heck no!" She fell off him at the finish of their last 50 when he spooked from a man and dog at the trailer. She was excited about the VC, but a bit worried about the start, because she didn't know how Chance would behave. She kept asking how far it was on pavement with the controlled start before they could move out. "I don't know about that first 30 minutes..."

A couple of horses were pulled here at the lake, both for metabolics. Eileen Bissmeyer still hadn't arrived when the last horse had; veterinarian Michele Roush drove off in her truck to look for her. She found Eileen and Ace along East Lake Road where the trail crossed it; Eileen had already called for her crew to come pick her up in her trailer and take her home. Michele looked the horse over and he was alright except for being lame.

The 16 miles back to camp included the SOBs: a set of three tough very steep and rocky SonsOfBitches hills to negotiate. They are especially aggravating when it is very hot, though today at least the temperature was agreeable. Kristine, a marathon runner with her husband Mike, was at least one person hiking the SOBs on foot to give Klassy Sam horse a break. I had hiked the first SOB hill when I rode VC, and almost passed out. I got back on for the other two.

Kristine's lead had increased on this loop, but Klassy Sam was eating so well at the reservoir stop a couple of miles later, she hung out there for 20 minutes and let him eat. Besides, she wanted to ride with Nanci and Leigh. The three girls rode the last several miles of loop 2 together, arriving in basecamp for the hour vet check at 6:43 PM.

And that's when it happened: Klassy Sam, being led by Kristine, suddenly started to collapse right at the in timer's table. He went from looking like a normal horse to a very stressed one in an instant - it was as if he knew he was back in camp and he could let go. Kristine later said she'd had absolutely no indication from Sam that anything was wrong. He'd been doing everything normally all day - EDPP (eating, drinking, peeing, pooping) - his heartrate was normal, and they were going slower than their usual Virginia City pace. The other two girls agreed he seemed fine, forward and eager on the trail.

It was distressing to watch, as several people jumped in to quickly help untack the horse and keep him on his feet and moving toward the veterinarians. The vets quickly jumped in to set up an IV fluid on him, sending someone to warm up the fluids in a microwave (the breeze was strong, and slightly cool), with many other people jumping in to dry the horse off, cover him with blankets, take the blankets back off, and help move him to their trailer (he'd been given a sedative, so was a bit unsteady on his feet.)

Kristine was overwhelmed by the help from everybody, many of them strangers to her. She held it together for a while - rather being in shock, as she'd only had one metabolic pull in her 14 years of endurance riding, and Kristine and Sam had never had a pull together; but then she fell apart. Eventually Sam was stabilized enough to be hauled off to the Comstock Large Animal Clinic.

Meanwhile, at 7:43 PM Nanci Gabri and Leigh Bacco left on their 3rd and final 23 mile loop as darkness was descending over the old mining town. There wouldn't be any moonlight tonight - not even a sliver, to help riders on their way. Matt and Colton Madeiros were the next two, following them over 30 minutes later, the Rushcreek horses still going strong.

There were several Rider Option pulls at the vet check as the evening progressed. Gloria and Hugh Vanderford withdrew; their horses looked good, but Hugh didn't feel good. Didn't want to risk another 4 (at least) hours out on the trail.

Steve Thompson and Beat's Walkin had finished Virginia City in 2005, but it wouldn't happen this year. They started out on loop 3 but turned around because Beat's Walkin was lame. Jerry Zebrack had done the same thing earlier starting out on loop 2 but turned around when his horse BR Flotiki de Soi was sore.

Tinker Hart pulled her mare RTR Thunder's Hat Trick (Hattie) after loop 2, who was just too tired. She'd gotten off Hattie and walked her in the last several miles. "She's lost her enthusiasm. I risk losing her mentally if I push her." After a final vet inspection, the vets congratulated her on her decision of putting the welfare of her horse first. "Good job Tinker."

As the chilly night wore on, and we started thinking about looking for some finishers soon, we were still waiting for 5 more people to come off loop 2. The clock ticked on, well past an expected arrival time of finishers, and well past the cut-off time for horses coming off loop 2.

Finally night ride manager Scott Dutcher got a call from the finish timer at the (spooky) cemetery that the first riders had come in: Nanci Gabri on Maveric, and Leigh Bacco on EZ Silver Dollar, had ridden the entire 100 miles together, with Nanci putting Maveric's head in front on the finish line. They finished in a ride time of 15 hours and 10 minutes. Shortly afterward, 2 riders came in off loop 2. They would be given a choice, after their hour hold, of going out on loop 3 and trying to complete the ride by 5 AM. The other 3 riders would be too late to try. Two of those were riding mules; Rose Bishop on a big part Standardbred mule Cougar's Folly, sponsoring a friend's daughter riding a small Arabian mule, Jani Motto on Randy Nelson. Rose and Cougar last completed the Tevis in 18th place; junior rider Jani and Randy Nelson was riding in their first 100. Tough to be pulled for Overtime after such an effort, but that's the way the Virginia City is.

I heard the next three finishers - Matt and Colton Medeiros, and Dyke Kauffman - had come in to the cemetery when I went and crawled into bed. It's a 20 minute walk from the finish line at the cemetery, through the streets of Virginia City, to basecamp. So I missed the drama of the trot out: all three horses were off! The vets sent them away, giving them the AERC hour to see if they could work out of it. When they came back, Matt's horse trotted out soundly, but both Colton's horse Rushcreek Lance, and Dyke Kauffman's horse Sutter were pulled lame at the finish. A tough blow! Dyke had been pitched off his horse coming in off loop 2, right where the railroad tracks crossed the dirt road into camp. The horse had tripped over the crossing, and luckily Dyke's right eyebrow caught his fall. (Nope, no helmet on.) His wife Beth said, "He was bleeding like a stuck pig!" In the morning he had a big lump over the eye.

The remaining riders slowly trickled in throughout the night, or morning. If you were gunning for Top Ten in this year's ride, you could finish at 4:01 AM and still do it. Connie Creech and her mare LS Steele Breeze finished 9th, Connie earning her 19th Virginia City buckle (Yes - that's NINETEEN; only 2 other riders have earned their 2000 mile buckle at Virginia City), and Karen Chaton and Tigger finished 10th.

Karen had a blast in the entire ride. She's a person who really does enjoy every ride she does, even if they aren't going her way. She did have a scare when Tigger choked while leaving the final out vet check after midnight, with seven miles to go. She turned around and headed back to the vet check, where Dr Susan McCartney massaged his throat, which got things moving again. Karen stayed an extra 45 minutes there, with Tigger eating bran mash, and returning to normal. "It was a bit scary going out with him again, but I figured I'd just turn right back around to the vet check if anything happened." Tigger was just fine the last 7 miles and the next morning.

Karen's crew Amy Bray enjoyed the ride also also... with the possible exception of the final couple hours waiting for Karen to arrive at the Virginia City cemetery finish. She and Dave Cootware both saw a ghost there. I think most ghosts don't bother you, but, still, it makes you wonder a bit. You don't know who the ghosts are, or what they have been through in a place like Virginia City. Perhaps the ghost was one of an old gambler, still betting on a horse race, waiting for his horse to cross the finish line.

The last two riders - the two that had left after cut-off time on the last loop - arrived at the finish at 4:55 AM in 17th and 18th place, with 5 minutes to spare.

That left just 18 horses standing after the dust (or, rather, rocks) settled. Why was the VC so difficult this year? "The ride was harder this year, I don't know why. It seemed rockier, humid. It beat me up!" said Leigh Bacco, who earned her 4th VC buckle. Steve Thompson said, "The four miles added were harder miles, the 4 they took out were easier. It seemed rockier this year." One rider suggested it was the wind, that really dried himself out. Maybe it prevented the horses from sweating so much.

The next morning, six horses showed for Best Condition. They all looked pretty darn good trotting out. A lot of the riders looked pretty sore.

Before awards were handed out for the 18 finishers, Connie Creech first presented the perpetual trophy that the NASTR club made in honor of Al Beaupre, the "Al Beaupre 1000 Mile Challenge Cup." Al was a long-time rider, runner, and supporter of the Nevada trails. He started riding endurance in 1973, completed 11,361 AERC miles, 8 Tevis Cups, the National Ride N' Tie Championships 10 times, a Western States 100-Mile Run once at the age of 51, and he was one of only 2 riders (Phil Gardner being the other) to complete the Virginia City 100 twenty times. (Yes, TWENTY times.) He passed away in July. Al touched the hearts of so many riders, in evidence by the statements made by the twelve 1000 mile VC riders present on Sunday (12 of 30 whose names are engraved on the trophy), and by the sniffs and tears and wiping of eyes and breaking of voices. Notably present was Donnna Fitzgerald, rider of the great Witezarif, a horse who finished Virginia City 11 times, won it 5 times, and who won Tevis 6 times. The Virginia City 100 is a modern day aspect of Virginia City history, one that still fits in with the old west: some incredible horses and riders, with a passion for conquering tough trails in the West.

Connie then presented the awards to the finishers. Several riders earned their first buckle, some of them on their first try.

Special mention not only goes to Gina Hall, finishing in 12th place, who earned her 10th buckle - she'll be the newest addition to the Al Beaupre trophy - but to her horse Fire Mt Destiny, who earned his 500 mile halter. He's one of 51 horses (YES, that's FIFTY-ONE) to finish the ride five times. (And 4 of those horses finished VC at least 10 times!) Fire Mt Destiny has completed all 63 of his rides with Gina (an 11,000+ mile rider), including 10 hundred-milers! It should probably be mentioned that I believe I was the first rider to climb on Destiny's back when Jackie Bumgardner was breaking him as a youngster. (That has nothing to do with anything, but I thought I'd slip that in there. : )

Deborah Breshears, finishing 8th on Solar Flame (their first VC buckle, Flame's first 100), won the NASTR Triple Crown.

Four of the five Rushcreek horses finished the ride, including Matt Medeiros' Rushcreek Oledom. "It was a tough decision to come here a week after the National Championships... I wish I could have finished with my son Coleton." There was a hitch in his voice this morning too.

Head veterinarian Jaime Kerr gave us an update on Kristine's horse, Klassy Sam. He'd been given 60 liters of fluid overnight, and he hadn't really improved much, though he was stable. Blood tests indicated he had a latent bacterial infection, that the stress of the ride had brought out. "This is a sport that sometimes pushes horses to the edge," Jaime said "and, well, sometimes, Shit Happens."

Best Condition went to 6th place (at 2:42 AM) Erasmo Sauceda and his mare JC Charisma. This was only the mare's fourth ride, and her first 100. It was Erasmo's 2nd VC buckle. The pair last finished in first place in the Camp Far West 50 on September 6th.

Erasmo said a while back, he bought a mare who accidentally got pregnant. Charisma was the product. She is 8 years old now, half Arab, half something else (likely some appaloosa in there). "I had her for sale for $1000 for a long time, and nobody wanted her, so I kept her." Someone in the crowd yelled, "Is she still for sale for $1000?" Erasmo laughed. "I was impressed by her. And now I'm going to have nightmares for 2 weeks about rocks!"

The Virginia City 100 is what Real Endurance Riding is all about. It's not whose horse can gallop for 100 miles in 6 hours and 30 minutes; it's not about winning every ride and it's not about being a flash in the pan for one season then disappearing.

It's about the the horses who go ride after ride, year after year, multi-days and 100-milers; it's about the returning riders who enjoy every step of the trail that beats them up; it's about the riders who take care of their horses, those who turn back or stop when their horse is lame and walk back 5 miles to camp; it's about the endurance people who jump in to help a stranger when a horse is in distress.

It's about riders who remember one of their own with a special honor every year, and will never let his memory fade.

But make no mistake, the Virginia City 100 is a tough ride. Tough on volunteers and riders and horses, tough on horse feet and horseshoes and boots, tough on the old ghosts who wait for their horses to finish.

Is the Virginia City 100 tougher than Tevis? Come ride it next year and you decide.

P.S. Kristine's horse Klassy Sam is not out of the woods yet. He'd improved somewhat by Monday, with his pulse returning to 44 from 68, indicating his pain had decreased. He was still, however, on IV fluids and had a stomach tube. But by Wednesday noon, he'd taken a backwards step. He was still eating and drinking well, but temperature and heart rate were elevated again.

Kristine is wrecked by this. She has said she can never get on a horse again. Absolutely nothing had indicated to her anything was wrong during the ride, and tests show it was likely started by a bacterial infection, picked up either at the ride or earlier. Keep sending good thoughts their way. It could happen to your horse one day, too, endurance rider or not.

2009 Virginia City 100

Saturday September 19 2009

The Virginia City 100 is one of the toughest endurance rides in the U.S. (held for the 42nd time this year) and takes in the whole flavor and history of the Wild West: it starts in front of the Delta Saloon on main street of Virginia City, Nevada at 5 AM, passes old gold and silver mines, travels through wild horse country, and finishes in the Virginia City cemetary (a few riders saw ghosts early in the morning!)

It is always a hard ride, but for whatever reasons - weather? more rocks? tougher trail? ghosts? - only 18 finished out of 42 starters. I rode it and finished in 2002, and a few times during the day this year I was a wee bit jealous of riders on the trail. Come about 11 PM, when the first riders hadn't finished yet, and I was about to crawl into my sleeping bag, I wasn't so jealous. (I had, of course, brought my helmet and chaps and Raven, just in case a horse turned up : ). Maybe next year : )

Here's a taste of the trail.



Loop 1 in the morning.








Wild horses on Loop 1.


On Loop 1 near Washoe Lake.




Trotting out at a vet check in camp.


Connie Creech finished and earned her NINETEENTH BUCKLE! (meaning - she's completed the ride 19 times!)


Karen Chaton, running on foot down the rocky road off of loop 1. Notice Tigger is spooking at something.


Heading out on Loop 2 above Virginia City.


Most of Virginia City appears to be built on mine slag heaps!


Many more photos, and stories coming, at
www.endurance.net/international/USA/2009VirginiaCity