He's Hot

Wednesday October 21 2009

He's not from Texas, but he sure knows how to pose, and he knows when he looks good.

Blame it on me, using him as an exceptionally handsome model for the last 14 years.

Everything IS bigger and better in Texas... bigger and better when it's Stormy in a Texas blanket (posing in Owyhee), anyway.

2009 Kentucky Cup Endurance

Wednesday October 14 2009

Great weather for an endurance ride, if you're a duck. On second thought, I didn't see any ducks anywhere around. Mid-40's and dumping rain most of the morning, then rain and wind, then light rain and wind, then mist and wind, more rain, more wind, and colder. By noon the officials had decided to shorten the 100-mile ride to 75 miles. Slick course with deep mud, that only got slicker and deeper as the day wore on.

One of those days that this wimpy endurance rider was glad she was not riding.

Lots of blankets in the vet gate


On people too


This little river at the out gate was not there yesterday.




Jeremy, riding Sir Smith, is cold...


but they head out on Loop 3.


Valerie Kanavy, twice former World Champion, heads out on loop 2 with LM Parys. The mare vetted out lame after loop 2 - they'd slipped and fallen on a road.




Gabrielle Mann and Big Easy - they stopped after Loop 2 - conditions just too tough, not worth risking an injury.


Lost a shoe? Put it on in the rain while the horse is eating.


Boy is it muddy.


One of my heroes, Jan Worthington (she's 69) and her cool horse Golden Lightning (Leon), going out on loop 3.




How do you cool a hot horse down on a cold wet windy day? There's a fine line between cooling him down while keeping him warm, and crossing that line to where he's too cold. Here they're putting water on his neck and shoulders, but you can see his tail is clamped to his butt.


Here they're pouring water all over him (and it's cold water, not warm) - neck, shoulders, back, butt. You risk causing the horse to cramp up, pouring cold water on his back and butt. A lot of horses did cramp up behind and were pulled.


The vetting area is a sea of mud - as is everything else.
'

My hero Jan and Leon finished third and got Best Condition!


Many more photos, and stories, at the Kentucky Cup on Endurance.net

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.

1 Day and Counting Down

Friday October 9 2009

A few more photos to preview The Equestrian Vagabond's photo show at Judeen's Art Studio and Gallery in Paducah, Kentucky.

Mane Frame II - yearlings in Belgium


Reflections II - weanlings in Washington


Regret I - in the sunset in Ridgecrest, California


Snow Princess - snowy day in Oreana, Idaho


Stormy Water I - that's Stormy (The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet, of course), in Ridgecrest, California



Up top:
Web II - South Island, New Zealand


That's 14 hours, 50 minutes and 45 seconds left to go - time to hop on the plane!

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.