Metabolic Lessons Lead to Triumph in Vermont

The Biltmore Syndrome
Since my first AERC ride nearly 20 years ago, I'd never had a full-fledged metabolic pull until this year's Biltmore. My friend Lisa Green had entered her mare LR April Breeze in the FEI 100 on May 5, and I offered to accompany her on
Breeze's older full sister, LR Amana Tabi. I'd competed "Moo" twice before and crewed her for more than a decade, including the 2006 US team trials and 2008 & 2010 national championships, so I thought I knew how to take care of this mare.



Amana & me at Biltmore: not our day!

Amana is little, but years of training on Virginia's rock-strewn mountains have made her powerful and a challenging to keep in check. Lisa and I knew we needed to start slow, and stuck admirably to that goal our the first loop. We did our best on the second loop, which was long and challenging. Amana kept wanting to go faster despite wearing a severe bit and my consistent use of "half-halt" aids. The two sisters were clearly feeding off each other competitively.

While talking at the second vet check, Lisa and I agreed to split up. I stayed an extra 10 minutes in the hold so she & Breeze could get well ahead. Amana was eating and drinking well, but had not yet peed, so we spread a bag of shavings near our crew area as encouragement. Still no luck.

On the 3rd loop, I ended up riding with a happy young law school student named Clarke aboard Orion, the experienced 100-mile horse of our ride managers, Stagg and Cheryl Newman. Amana seemed content with the slower pace and I really enjoyed getting to know Clarke. As we finished the loop, a light rain helped drop temps but bounced the humidity levels back up. Amana still wouldn't pee, although she had "all A's" on her vet card and continued to eat and drink.

About six miles into the fourth loop, I pulled Amana into tall grass just off the trail to try (again) to get her to pee. No luck. She drank well at one of the water stops, but then got sluggish towards the end of the loop, hesitating pick up a trot. Feeling despondent, I dismounted and hand-walked her the last several miles into to the hold. Amazingly, she trotted out and had a normal CRI during the vet inspection. However, my fellow AERC board member Nick Kohut didn't hear ANY gut sounds and held my card.

Amana ate steadily during the next 20 minutes, and trotted out willingly during our represent to Nick, but he still was not hearing any gut sounds. This mean I was pulled and sent to Biltmore's spaciously new treatment facility up on a rise. As Lisa's son Hunter Green walked with me, we could see several horses being treated ahead of us. The so-called "Biltmore syndrome" looked to be in full force. While waited for our turn, Amana started to act distinctly uncomfortable and Drs. Bob Marshall and Lynn Johnson whisked her into a stall as soon as it came available.

Her bloodwork showed several parameters, including calcium, were way out of normal range, with severely compromised kidney function. As it grew dark, with two out of an eventual four bags of fluids in her, Amana finally peed and began looking happy and alert - just in time as Lisa arrived, having decided to rider-option Breeze.

Lisa has since decided to retire Amana and in July bred her to Erin Champion's stallion Kongtiki in July, while she loaned Breeze to a friend from Holland who successfully finished the even tougher and more humid Old Dominion 100 on June 10.

The "Beast of the East"
The Old Dominion is rightly known as "The Beast of the East." This was the ride's second year using a two-day format, so Teresa and I were able to complete Gryphon and Welcome in the Old Dominion 50 on June 9, then I could still run Waites Run for the 100s the following day. Our horses passed the first vet check with no issues, but the second loop seemed even longer and rockier than usual, with much of the trail turned into a semi-creek from all the rain. During the second away hold, I had asked one of the vets to recheck Gryphon's heartrate. He had dropped to the 40s, but Welcome was still in the 60s. Hmmmmm.

Teresa & Welcome in Ohio

Both horses had good vet scores and CRIs at the last hold. With just 8 miles to go, and discovering we were just within Top Ten, we went faster than we should have to the finish. Gryphon squeaked by with a 64/64 at his completion exam  (he normally drops to the 50s even without sponging) but Welcome failed to recover in the 30 minutes allowed, and did not receive a completion. Dr. Lynne monitored her carefully and gave her a tummy soother of sucralfate and some other buffers, then released us to get the horses home.

Teresa's PEMF machine proved its worth later that evening, after we got the horses home, helping stimulate good appetite and gut sounds to speed Welcome's recovery. The next day, my longtime friend Samantha Zarek and I ran the Waites Run gate & go (57 mile mark for the 100s) and again saw firsthand the toll the unusually hot & humid (even for Virginia) weather was taking on the horses.

Black Sheep Blaahs
I talked Teresa into coming with me to the Black Sheep Boogie ride in Ohio three weeks later, where I planned to compete Siena. We'd loved the trails last November, but hot, humid summer weather made them treacherous. A heavy rainstorm started up just as we were heading to bed, requiring us to buckle on their rain sheets. While the rain stopped by early morning, I was concerned about our horses struggling in the mud and we agreed to downgrade from the 50 to the 25-mile ride. As if confirming our decision, another heavy batch of rain came through as the 50s were tacking up.

Siena somehow dinged her right front hoof bulb near the end of the loop, and was slightly off at the first vet check, so I was pulled again. Switching gears to crew for Teresa, I enjoyed catching up with Sallie Sullivan who was also hanging out in the vetting area as her daughter competed Ivan.

Teresa kept Welcome slow and steady and earned a completion, but while talking to the vet we noticed one of her haunches was higher than the other.  About 20 minutes later, I was grazing Welcome when she peed dark. We found Dr. Bob Marshall, who helped us administer 2 bags of fluids at my trailer, stabilizing her for the trip home. Both mares arrived at my place in good shape, and we felt we dodged a bullet.

Besting Ontario's Heat Wave
My next endurance adventure was working as a 2* Technical Delegate at the Coates Creek ride in New Lowell, Ontario on June 30. I received excellent mentoring from Heather Hoyns, Rocio Echeverri from Costa Rica and Ron from New Zealand. Canada was experiencing a heat wave and the officials and vets decided to reverse the order of the loops for the second day of the ride so that the 21-mile loop would be finished earlier in the day. Since I wasn't needed as an official on the second day, I agree to ride my friend Kelly Corbin's little chestnut gelding, Summit.


Yes, my helmet is backwards.Blame the intense heat!

He was both spunky and smooth, reminding me of a cross between Gryphon and Siena, but refused to drink on the long first loop. Having flashbacks to Biltmore, I finally got him to pee on trail (after peeing myself!) and kept aggressively giving him electrolytes and calcium gluconate. I spent extra time at each water stop, and even used the water hose force some extra fluid down his gullet. All this effort paid off, and "Sum Sum" finished in good shape, much to my relief.

Side note: My friend Libby Llop, her son Quentin Peter and wife Anne Dewar had just started their trip home from the ride when a van of Canada Day vacationers (returning to Toronto and using a side road to avoid traffic) ran the stop sign and hit them sideways, totaling both truck and trailer but miraculously leaving them and their horses relatively unhurt. PHEW!)

Armed with these experiences from our recent rides, Teresa and I tackled the Vermont 75, with Rich (her sister's boyfriend, a farmer & CDL driver) flying in to help us make the 600+ mile drive. We drove through the night Thursday and arrived by 6 a.m. Friday, giving the horses a full day to rest and recover. Teresa discovered that the bed & breakfast she'd rented was only three miles away, and came to fetch me for a go-see. I was gone less than an hour, but that's all it took for G to scare W into the portable corral, where she somehow scraped the inside of one back leg.



Welcome the unicorn in cool VT

You can imagine how awful I felt, all that effort and Teresa might not even be able to start. We trotted Welcome for DVMs Pam Karner and then Heather Hoyns, who much to our relief said the mare's hind end looked fine but she might need some work on her right shoulder (a perennial issue). Teresa used her new generator w
ith the PEMF machine, then went to pulse our friend's horses while I stayed with the treatment vet to get Welcome pre-loaded with fluids. She advised we keep icing the hurt leg, which I did every hour on the hour, using an ice pack and leg wrap to hold it in place. Somehow that afternoon we squeezed in a few hours for Rich to pre-drive the holds.


It sure was weird sleeping in, since the 75-miler didn't start until 9:15 a.m. We came into the 20-mile vet check just after noon. As while Teresa trotted her mare out for the vets, I could see a wobble in Welcome's step. The vet did too and held her card. That was a stressful hold, as T did all she could to massage and help Welcome. Libby and I had tacked up and were heading out on the second loop as Teresa trudged back up the hill from the represent. I couldn't tell much from her body language, but when she said that all 4 vets had cleared her to continue, I immediately leapt off G and started tacking Welcome (Libby continued on).

T & Welcome leading the way, as they did most of the day. I'm brandishing a half-eaten bag of carrots. 

The day passed in a happy mix of trotting and cantering wherever we could, walking the steeper hills and allowing the horses to continually grab grass from the side of the trail. A nearly-full 5 lb. bag of carrots I grabbed for the second loop was all gone well before it ended. One of our favorite memories was being given beers at Margaritaville, one of the runners' stops. As much as we tried to stay hydrated, we quickly felt drunk and happy. I even managed to turn a cartwheel after clearing the second vet check!

Rich continued to be the best crew ever, always meeting us at the in-timer after helping Libby. It was like he'd done this many times before, and best of all, Gryphon really took a shine to him so I was free to eat or nap or whatever during the brief rest stops.

During the third hold (pronounced "Talkenback") Libby gave us some great advice about making time to get off single track before dark. We were able to do so, and got into the final hold around 9 p.m.

Teresa's bright pink-lighted breast collar was the perfect beacon to help us through the final loop. We occasionally rode with other riders or runners, and got great help and both horse and people food from Kristi Johnson's husband at the midpoint crew station. With only a few miles to go, Karen Isaacs, her 9-year old daughter and friend in the 100 came zooming by, on great horses bred by the Meutens. We played it safe and arrived at 12:45 a.m. Gryphon was freaked out by the lights and took a few minutes to calm down enough to vet, but thankfully we made it through. What a great feeling! All our hard work and lessons learned paid off.

The perfect weather held until around 9 the next morning, when the rain that had been steadily moving north finally hit our area. Just as well, it kept temperatures cool for the long drive home!

The Cold, Wet Rides of Spring: Leatherwood, No Frills and NYA

The spring of 2018 passed like a blur! Fresh off his six-week rest, I planned to compete Gryphon at the March 24 Leatherwood ride near Winston-Salem, NC. Teresa wasn't cleared to ride, so we recruited my old friend Cat Carter to ride Welcome, with Teresa to crew for us. After setting up camp next to Amy Stone and her mom, the three of us took our the horses out for a quick warm-up ride so I could show Amy and Cat, who hadn't been there before, some of the super-challenging trails.

Visiting with the Stoneburners and other friends as the last rays of light faded from the sky, we nervously scanned our phones. The next day's forecast called for a return to winter with near-freezing temperatures and a mix of rain and snow, and the first drops began falling as we tacked up the next morning.

A rain/snow mix made Leatherwood even more challenging.

Amy's horse kicked out at Welcome early on the first loop, but both horses seemed fine. The rain fell more and more steadily, so by the first vet check we were all soaked. Somehow it was Amy's horse, not Welcome, who came up lame and not able to continue. Leaving my horse with Teresa, I headed to the stable bathroom, where I hung my wet coat and began drying myself in front of the propane heater before bundling up again. As Cat and I headed back up the mountain at the start of the long second loop, we ran into snow at the slightly higher elevation which began sticking to evergreen branches and turning the trail to mud. We got a break during the long flat section in the middle of the loop, but were again soaked and slightly miserable on our return to camp. Despite carrying the extra weight of our wet selves and all our clothing, Gryphon and Welcome again vetted through just fine, and I repeated the process of thawing myself out and applying dri(er) clothes.

In 20 years of competition, I've never had to steel myself to go out on trail again as that day. The last loop began with several especially steep climbs. While I usually let G-unit pick his pace, knowing momentum would be critical to getting through that loop, I used my voice to keep him moving. Cat and Welcome kept up, eventually giving him a break by taking the lead. What I remember most was getting facefuls of snow from the low-hanging branches that made my face feel as if it was on fire from  the after-effects. We finally finished just after 3 p.m., tying for 7th. I'd planned to head home, and while the others cared for the horses and took showers, I packed up camp and lined a tractor to tow us to the main road through camp (4WD can't get you out of every situation!). Once we were back on the interstate and refueled, Teresa took over driving just as it grew dark and we hit a microburst snowstorm near Charlotte. Cars had skidded into ditches on both sides of the highway, but T kept the rig slow and steady and by midnight we had dropped off Cat at her car and made it back to much my much warmer and drier home on Mt. Airy Drive. How appropriate that the Top Ten award was wool socks with the Leatherwood logo!

I'll devote another blog post to our adventure at the World Endurance Championship test event (pre-ride) in Tryon, NC on April 20, where Teresa and I helped crew for the Oman team and their French trainer, as well as Tom McGuiness of Ireland, owner of Horseware.

No Frills was cold but at least no rain!

Since I couldn't get off work that Friday, Teresa also hauled G&W to the Old Dominion's No Frills ride, held April 24 with basecamp next to our friend Lisa Green's. Temps dropped to the low 20s overnight so tacking up was a shivery experience, but the day warmed up beautifully. We decided to aim for Top Ten, and on the long second loop didn't stay an extra minute at the grassless gate & go, but let the ponies pause for a few bites in a small field about 8 miles further down the trail. Lisa happened to be driving by as we started on the long dirt road back into camp, and accompanied us part of the way back, handing us a beer to start celebrating early.

By now, Azzam had graduated and headed west to work at a ranch in South Dakota. Taking his place as our training partner was Jeannette Lazzaro, an Air Force flight technician and event rider getting ready for the Mongol Derby. Jeannette was a great match for Siena, and with Lily Kuhn again helping me make the drive, we competed together at the New York Adventure on May 27, taking our time to help ensure a completion for Siena, while Lily again used Shiloh for drag riding. So cool to have my three veteran endurance horses together at a ride!

A Siena sandwich at the New York Adventure.

On a Roll: Broxton & Take No Prisoners

Fueled by the prospects of being able to tackle some major endurance challenges in the coming year, Teresa and I began strategizing how to prepare our horses for some of our sport's rockiest and most difficult rides.

Teresa and Siena at Broxton.

As a baby, Teresa had kidney issues and was treated with steroids, a side effect of which was growing up with a DDD chest that made riding horses a sometimes uncomfortable experience, even wearing two bras. She'd decided to get breast reduction surgery in February, and we were able to enjoy 50 miles at Broxton Bridge in SC the week before, with me aboard Gryphon and her on Siena. Back in Virginia, my new friend Azzam, a mechanical engineering student from Saudi Arabia, kept

Siena and me at Take No Prisoners

Welcome fit while Teresa recuperated.

My mom and I were enjoying an afternoon in Virginia Beach with Teresa post-surgery, when I got a call from Barb asking me to fetch Chrome, who had gained weight and height over the winter and was becoming a bit of a pest. Gryphon needed a break anyway, so I swapped him out. We'd taught Chrome how to lunge and started him under saddle the previous summer, and to my delight he remembered enough so that I could pick up on his training to lunge and be backed.

Meanwhile, my friend Caron began patiently schooling Siena into a dressage frame, having great success in getting her to round, use her back and develop the neck muscles just in front of the withers. I could tell the difference by early March, when I competed her at the Take No Prisoners ride in South Carolina.

My friend Lily Kuhn and I packed up Chrome and Siena, heading southwest on I-85 just in time to escaping the brunt of a windstorm that caused hundreds of thousands of power outages. After a short warm-up ride together the day before the competition, Lily took Chrome through his first pre-ride vetting experience. he also got his first experience staying behind in camp the next day while Siena was on trail, devouring almost an entire bale of hay. As we began the trek home last that afternoon, it felt great to watch the two of them munch clover at a roadside stop.

All about EPM & Sarcoids: Perseverance Pays Off!

The year I turned 50 was difficult for Siena and Gryphon, my two competition-age horses. After we spent 90 days (late May-late August) treating Siena's Lymes with minocycline (17 pills per feeding, $1,600 total), she continued to act fearful and hesitant at the trot and canter, even though technically sound.

My friend Teresa McCarty suspected EPM, so my local vet did the standard neurological exam of turning her in circles, etc. He didn't see much of a physical issue, but I insisted on getting her tested. Yep, she came back positive.

Hoping I'd caught the EPM early, I began treating Siena with Rebalance (cheaper than Marquis) and spent September & October administering 2X daily syringes of a sweet-smelling but nasty-tasting clear liquid that she came to hate.

Gryphon at Big South Fork - left chest
strap loose so it didn't rub his sarcoid.

I learned there's a link between ulcers and EPM - those nasty little protozoans are able to cross the blood/brain barrier at ulcerated areas - and also that Lymes and EPM can create a double whammy. If you suspect something similar might be going on with YOUR horse, go to www.panthogenes.com, print the form and mail it with a red top of your horse's blood to save a bunch on diagnostics (thanks Jennifer Smith for this tip!)

Meanwhile, Gryphon's chest sarcoid grew from the size of a walnut in May to baseball size by July (the Xterra ointment my vet prescribed seemed to piss it off). Located just to the right of the breast collar center strap, this big, red, bloody blob made me embarrassed to compete him.

My vet's next attempt to eradicate it involved chopping off as much as he could using local anaesthetic (afterwards I spent 20 minutes holding gauze to Gryphon's red spurting chest until the clotting process finally took over). The little guy then suffered through two rounds of chemo that caused patches of hair to fall out, so that he reminded me of the Velveteen Rabbit. He made it though a tough 55 miles at Big South Fork in September, then the damn thing started growing again and I feared it might be cancerous.

Most of the remaining sarcoid mass was subcutaneous, so my vet now suggested a trip to Blue Ridge Equine for complete sedation surgery (estimated cost $2,500).

Welcome at Fort Valley,
thrilled to be back on trail! 

I'd already spent over $5,000 that year on my two horses, so partially motivated by cost savings I instead tried the treatment suggested by longtime endurance vet Dr. Stan Alkamede of Ontario, whose company developed Novavive, an immune system booster that offers a more modern approach to combating sarcoids. I bought two 5 ml vials for about $400 and with help from Teresa, divided it into four 2.5 doses given at weekly intervals. Following Dr. Stan's instructions, we sedated Gryphon each time and perfused the area in and around the sarcoid using a fine gauge needle, finishing up just before Thanksgiving.



Teresa and me at Black Sheep Boogie, well bundled
since it was only 19 degrees at the start of the ride.

While G&S were out of commission, we got our competition fix on borrowed horses. For Ride Between the Rivers in August, Lisa Green graciously let Teresa and me use her wonderful mares Breeze and Amana. Then Barb Horstmeier let me swap out 3 year old Chrome for her 12 year old mare BR Welcome Tarika, who'd been on an 18 month layoff. Once we got Welkie fit, she completed the Sand Hills and Fort Valley 50s in October with me aboard, followed by  the Black Sheep Boogie and JD's 50s in November with Teresa aboard.

Princess Siena sails through JD's 50.

 

The 2017 AERC ride season ended on a happy note, with Siena achieving a Top Ten finish at JD's with energy to spare. And with short days giving me little opportunity to see my horses in daylight, it was almost Christmas before I noticed that Gryphon's sarcoid had miraculously disappeared. You need to give it several weeks to take effect, but Novavive WORKS!

On a windy, below-freezing afternoon just before the New Year, Teresa and I packed up her 5 little dogs, along with Siena, Welcome and Gryphon, and headed to Florida for 10 days. We spent the first weekend at Leah Greenleaf's ride, with Solstice Pecile doing a lovely job aboard Siena. The next day, New Year's Eve, was the warmest of our entire stay. While the horses rested, we trekked to Cedar Key with the dogs for a wonderful afternoon of walking around the quaint bayside town, then enjoyed steamed shrimp and tropical drinks at a dog-friendly outside bar.

Snorkeling at Devil's Den on New Year's Day.

Bob Gielen again gave us a place to spend the week, and facing cold and rainy weather, Teresa used his electric hookup to ensure we stayed warm and toasty each night. I normally hate cold water, but on New Year's Day, Teresa's excitement at having Devil's Den in Williston practically to ourselves helped me take the plunge into this subterranean river to enjoy paddling around with a snorkel tube, fish and a turtle surrounding us as we hovered above the scuba divers, their lights shining in and out of subterranean caves.

Siena's front legs were a little puffy after the deep sand of the Greenway ride, so we rested her and competed Welcome and Gryphon on the Friday of the Goethe ride. The next day, I volunteered as an official while Teresa crewed for our friend Alisija Zabavska, who finished 2nd in the FEI 100. Meanwhile, Virginia was enduring an arctic blast, with single-digit temperatures and a heavy snowfall just before we returned, grateful that our endurance adventures had provided a temporary reprieve from winter.

Tennessee-Brand Kindness Makes Big South Fork a Ride to Remember

It's been a tough year for my two competition-age horses, Gryphon and Siena. 

 

Siena with Sarah Buckley aboard

After a promising start to her season, Siena's Lyme disease relapsed in May (after a heartbreaking finish-line pull at the Biltmore 75). The poor mare looked WORSE after 60 days of treatment, so we tested her for EPM and the results were positive despite her not having obvious neurological issues. Halfway into that 90-day treatment, she's already looking much better, with powdered colostrum and Cavalor brand probiotics to help her body cope. After some more time off, she'll hopefully bounce back like many other great horses who've been sidelined by these chronic conditions.

 

As for G-unit, in early spring a tiny sarcoid on his chest tripled in size over just a few weeks. It resisted initial treatment with Xterra ointment and grew to the size of a baseball before I convinced my vet to chop it off, followed by 2 doses of chemotherapy drugs injected into the wound site that made him uncharacteristically lethargic plus caused him to shed so much fur he looked like the Velveteen rabbit.

 

Sympathizing with my lack of rideable horses, my friend Barb Horstmeier offered to swap out my 3 yo Chrome for her 13 year old mare BR Welcome Tarika. I'd briefly boarded Welcome at my place when she was 4 and truly enjoyed getting her back in shape throughout the month of August.

 

With Gryphon finally acting perky, I decided to make the 600-mile trek to the Big South Fork ride in Oneida, TN on Sept 8 & 9. Barb met me near Roanoke on the haul west. We stopped at a rest area around lunchtime to let the horses graze, only to discover that the starter on my old but reliable F350 had died. I lined up a tow and alerted the Ford dealership in Kingsport so they had parts ready when Barb and the truck arrived shortly before closing (I'd stayed with the horses). We got back on the road by 6 and pulled into ridecamp just after dark, getting help from my fellow AERC board members Susan Kasemeyer and Bob Marshall to register and vet in.

 

Thrilled to be out on trail with G again!

Friday dawned crisp and clear and I enjoyed a blissful first loop aboard Gryphon, who managed to keep up with Erin Champion's big horse. We talked back and forth about horses with Lymes and EPM not always having obvious symptoms, and I arrived back in camp with Gryphon looking bright-eyed and eating voraciously. 

 

Having missed the ride briefing and wanting to slow up a bit, I left out on the 2nd loop alone and chose the wrong direction on the loop's lollipop for about 2 miles before Anne Liddell got me straightened out. Within 20 minutes I was back on track, and delighted when Diane Doll and April Johnson caught up to pull us through the rest of the loop.

 

Diane and April were delayed by needing a shoe on one of the horses reset, but I managed to catch up to Roxanne Ciccone just after the beginning of the final loop. Without her help, I might have gone the wrong way at two intersections. It was a LOONG tough section of trail with several steep climbs and a 10-minute stop partway through, and we didn't finish until almost 5 p.m.

 

Dr. Bob noticed Gryphon's back was pretty sore while doing the completion exam (I'd forgotten to bring the thick saddle pad Lisa Green gave me) so I poulticed G's saddle area as well as his legs. Barb and I enjoy the afternoon sun and our beverages of choice while chatting with other riders before dinner and the Saturday ride briefing. Claire Summers kept me enthralled as she shared her adventures during the Mongol Derby. She said the paleo-food was much better than expected, the steppes were beautiful and a lavender-like scent of wild herbs pervaded the whole region. She and her partner Rachel figured out a sluggish pony can be ponied by a fast pony and are already saving $$ for another go, planning to shave a couple of days off 9 days it took them to coverthe 600-mile trek based on all she's learned.

 

Welcome is a delight to ride!

Walking over to get coffee early Saturday morning, I learned that the Big South Fork River was still too high for horses to safely cross, so we'd be using the same trails as Friday and not have to pack for away vet checks. Welcome was calm as I warmed her up, and Vickie Crance for setting a steady pace of mostly trotting on the first loop. As we finished walking up a steep hill at the end of the loop and Welcome resumed her trot, I could feel something wasn't quite right. At the vet exam, Dee Dee Huff gave us a chance to try to represent but even with help from a nice masseuse lady (sorry I forgot her name!) couldn't work out Welcome's cramp in time and decided to start packing to head home a bit earlier than planned. When we loaded around noon, G didn't react when I rubbed his back and Welcome was moving better.

 

We'd gone less than 10 miles and were starting back uphill from the Big South Fork River gorge when a critical fuse on my truck blew and the truck accelerator pedal stopped working. Barb stayed with the rig as park rangers arrived to help direct traffic, while I flagged down a ride back to camp to look for help. Two nice young men worked the better part of an hour checking and finding the right fuse to replace  before I realized we'd need another tow and called my husband Shan to explain he'd need to come fetch us with his truck.

 

The tow driver's friend in Oneida had just opened an automotive repair shop, so I had him take it there while April Johnson's husband Daniel, who was no longer needed to keep water tubs at the away hold filled up, used ride manager Eric Reuter's big truck to get the trailer and horses back to camp. I'm very grateful to Eric for allowing us to borrow his truck for another 4 hours, and to Daniel for agreeing to help move the horses about 80 miles south to Eric and Nelia's farm, closer to the interstate and much easier to find after dark.

 

Barb and I tried unsuccessfully to nap while waiting for Shan, who pulled up at 9:30 p.m. after encountering lots of traffic from those fleeing Hurricane Irma. We drove straight through the night, dropping off Barb around 2 a.m. and making it home just as the sun was rising, where I watched each horse take a good roll before heading to bed. The best news came a few days later, when the Oneida mechanic called to say he'd gotten my truck running for a very reasonable price. I won't have a chance to fetch Trucky for a few weeks, when Susan K agreed to pick me up at the airport and drive me up to the mechanic (she lives on the same road as Eric).

 

While this year's Big South Fork presented some unexpected challenges, it was tremendously uplifting to experience the kindness and generosity of all the folks who helped us make it safely home. This sport has helped me discover there are great people all across this county, with some especially wonderful folks hailing from Tennessee!!

 

 

 

 

The book of Hebrews, Chapter 13 verse 2: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Redhead Power

At the Young Riders Team Challenge, a 120 km FEI event held on Nov. 12 at Broxton Bridge Plantation in SC, months of preparation, persistence and working conscientiously to address issues as they arise paid off more wonderfully than I could have ever expected! (In other words, sometimes an apparent setback is only the first stage of a big leap forward, one must just keep the faith!)

Sarah's hair matches Siena!

That Thursday, 17-year old Sarah Buckley's connecting flight from Maine was delayed a few hours, but she still arrived at my place that afternoon in time for a test ride on Siena, where she immediately noticed my little chestnut mare was moving much more balanced, thanks to consistent schooling in draw reins with lots of sidepassing and cantered circle to help round her up and use her back and hind end more fully.

Lisa Green agreed to give us a lift down, and by 7 p.m. the two mares and we three ladies were heading south. We pulled into cold, quiet basecamp around 2:30 a.m., tied the horses with hay bags and water, and slept until daylight. That Friday was a blur, as Sarah attended the four breakout training sessions for young riders. Lisa & I set up camp, and then our crewing area. Dr. Ann Stuart performed a chiro check on Siena, working on her right shoulder (might have gotten stiff from trailering frontwards instead of her preferred direction backwards.)

Around noon, me and our team of four young riders (Calla, Amelia, Hunter and Sarah), plus Calla's sister India who was riding the 50s, tacked up the horses for a 4 mile warmup before the vet in. All of the kids were riding their horses for the first time, even Sarah, who was aboard Breeze so I could evaluate the cough Siena still had from the previous weekend, although no other symptoms were in evidence. It seemed to work itself out as we neared the end of the ride, and I could tell each of the team was doing a great job managing their unfamiliar mounts. It's amazing how talented and brave our young riders can be!

Using a megaphone so everyone around could hear, Jack Weber read aloud a brief bio about each rider from the six teams as their horses were presented for the vet-in. Afterwards, I was running around finding a bridle to borrow for Siena (since in the dark I'd accidentally left hers at home), which is why I missed being in the team photo! I was also busy crewing for my friends Megan Davis and Meghan Dunn (Meghan was riding Megan's horse - long story why they needed help but I trotted ginormous Shabaani at nearly every vet check and was delighted when they finished 3rd and earned a Certificate of Capability!)

We all slept soundly and the temperatures didn't drop as much as forecast. Nonetheless, it was brisk (low 40s) as the riders set off at 7 a.m. on the first 24 mile loop, which included a midpoint trot out for the vets but no hold. Lisa and Sarah ended up riding together nearly all day - after all, the two mares had trained together and paced well, with Breeze leading most of the time so that Siena could draft off her (less work for most horses unless they prefer being alone). By the second hold I was starting to relax, since Siena's sore shoulder and cough were no where in evidence and she was pulsing down remarkably fast. Tom Hutchinson, listening with a stethoscope less than a minute after we pulled her saddle and before we'd put more than a sponge or two of water on her neck, looked up in surprise and said "She's already at 48!" which was well below the 64 pulse criteria. I soaked her usual Safe Starch pellets in water, tossing in a bit of Lisa's oats and sweet feed, and she happily gobbled this mash up at every hold, nibbling on alfalfa and coastal hay towards the end. Sarah also took great care of herself, although we had to find her a pair of chaps to borrow early on! Around 4 p.m., I walked out to the finish area with two horse coolers, a bucket of water and some electrolytes and horse treats. About 4:20, Meg Sleeper's chestnut mare Rabia, ridden by Marcelo from Guatemala, crossed the line in first place. Eight minutes later, and much sooner than expected, Lisa and Sarah appeared on our line of sight and cantered across together, with Lisa finishing second overall and Sarah in third place/second young rider.

Just as in Canada, the completion trot out was a nerve wracking experience since the vets asked to Siena trot a second time. She was more warmed up for the second trot and everyone could tell how happy I was to learn she'd completed as I cried and hugged my mare, then Sarah. India had successfully completed the 50-miler earlier that afternoon, and only a short time after Sarah, Hunter, then Amelia and then Calla all completed successfully, for a 100 percent completion rate among our Gold Medal winning Northeast Team (technically only three of four riders need to complete to be considered for a team medal, but team vet Pam Karner, chef Natalie Muzzio and I were especially proud of this achievement reflecting the careful riding and quality equitation. Not all the teams were so lucky - only one of the other five actually finished enough riders to be considered.

Both Lisa and Sarah agreed to present for Best Condition - it's a great final check of a horse's metabolics and you never know who might get stiff and not trot as well! During the lull between BC and the awards, which didn't start until almost 9 p.m., I carefully poultice both mare's legs while Lisa tried to work out the kinks in her sore back (from all that cantering!). I'll never forget the sight of Sarah bounding along in excitement - she's normally very reserved - after the selectors for next year's U.S. Young Riders Team told her they wanted to see her continue the qualifying process, which includes three more 120-km completions, ideally on alternative mounts to Siena.

With a cracking fire and the making of homemade s'mores in the background, the award were a wonderful experience. Each member of the organizing committee, including my friend Amelia and her son Jason who did a fantastic job keeping us all fed, were introduced and applauded. Then each person who finished received wonderful recognition from ride organizer Cheryl Van Deusen. The awards were especially nice, with each member of our Gold Medal Team receiving a lovely embroidered cooler for their horse. As we headed home the next morning, I was on Cloud Nine that we'd have such great news for Sarah's proud parents and many excited friends.

Fueled by Kerry Butter

Check out our lakefront view at Skymont!
 

Of all my horse friends, the one who lives closest is Kelly Lane, who a few years back moved just down the road in New Kent County. While we regularly meet up for training rides, she isn't able to get away for AERC rides nearly as often as yours truly.

So, we were really looking forward to traveling together to Mustang Memorial in southern New Jersey on Oct. 1. Then Mother Nature struck, turning my place into Noah's Ark (we were hit with 8 inches of rain in just 12 hours the Wednesday before the ride, with the wet stuff moving north for an unrelentingly gloomy weekend forecast).

We'd already decided to use Kelly's rig instead of mine, a Yukon SUV pulling a teeny Brenderup --  NOT the best setup for a muddy basecamp! Considering another option, I sweet-talked Kelly into adding over 500 miles to our trip by heading west to the Skymont Ride in central Tennessee. Ike Nelson does a fantastic job of managing this fundraiser for the local Boy Scouts. Having traveled there two years earlier with Gryphon, I knew how my way around and how fun those trails are along the scenic Cumberland Plateau. Best of all, their forecast called for sunny skies and perfect fall weather!



Siena chomps as I enjoy more Kerry Butter!  

We both worked all day Thursday. I was helping run a conference in DC and my train didn't reach the Staples Mill Rd station until 9 p.m., so it was nearly 11 p.m. with a steady drizzle falling when we finally finished packing and hit the road.

Taking turns driving and sleeping, Kelly and I covered the 600 miles in under 12 hours, arriving mid-morning. While I grazed our hungry horses in a grassy field near camp, she found a place to shoehorn the rig at the very end of the crowded basecamp. But our cozy site was right on the lake! After hauling our crewing area gear to the other end of camp and going for a warmup ride, we enjoyed some wine & appetizers that included Kerry Butter from Ireland and Ciabatta Bread (Kelly is quite the "foodie," and high fat diets provide necessary energy for riders as well as their horses!)

Heading toward the ride briefing along the glowstick-marked path to the lodge on the other side of the lake, we caught up with friends over dinner, including Dana Abernathy and Joe Ford, who'd both successfully completed their rides earlier that day. Sleepily returning to our campsite, I happily snuggled in the back of Kelly's SUV until time for the pre-dawn feed.



At last! Kelly & Dinero finished with all As about 5 p.m.

Ride day dawned crisp and clear! I decided to ride close to the front and Siena was a pro all day, slowing down for the technical rocky sections & cantering the flat, smooth ones. On the first loop, I paced with old pal Debbie McClary on her young mare, then caught up with Leigh Ann Pauley on the second loop and Kathy Torgeson on the third. Kathy's mare (who'd done Tevis same year as Gryphon) was the only horse doing BOTH days of the ride, so when Sudi Lenhart and Debbie caught up to us on the last loop just 3 miles before the finish, Debbie and Kathy opted to hang back. I gave Sudi a quiet pat on the back and a grin, then we enjoyed a good-natured race to the finish, taking turns leading those last few miles. Sudi, who is President of the Southeast Endurance Riders Association, graciously held back as we crossed the dam to the finish line so we could tie for second place.

Siena had fantastic recoveries and solid vet scores all day, and I'd planned to stand for Best Condition. Then Dr. Otis saw her favoring her left hind during the warm up. We'd finished an hour behind winner Tina Cochran, so probably wouldn't have had a chance anyway. Given that this was Siena's prep ride for the FEI 75 at Broxton, I asked Dr. Ike, who is an equine chiropractor, to check her. He found soreness in her lumbar region that he said could wait til I got home to be adjusted.


Siena enjoys a hearty roll after her 2nd place finish.
 

Later that evening, after I'd helped Kelly & D.D. with their completion and got some packing done, we enjoyed wonderful photo slideshow of the day by the ride photographer and hearty meal served by the Boy Scouts, sharing our table with Angie and Josie McGhee and Jodi Buttram and her daughter Joni Burden.

Heading along the glowstick trail to bed, Kelly checked her SUV only to find that the battery had drained. Some nice neighbors gave us a jump start and we decided to go ahead and hit the road while the vehicle recharged rather than taking a chance on it not starting when we'd originally planned to leave in the wee hours. Kelly left her air mattress set up in the back, we again took turns driving and sleeping, pulling into my drive before 10 a.m. Sunday.

My 2-year old gelding Chrome's microchip had come in the mail, so after work Monday I trailered him & Siena over to the vet so he could get it implants and she could get her chiro adjustment. I was delighted that she was moving soundly during the pre-examination, but she deserved this therapy after 50 fast miles of trail and 1,200 miles of hauling in a strange trailer. And Chrome got some great experience learning to enter a stall all alone and stay patient!

A Tale of Two Chestnuts

Colleen Greene hit it out of the park in managing her very first AERC ride, at Powerline Park in Southeastern Ohio on Sept. 17. I was looking forward to seeing some new trails, and along with a few other endurance friends from Virginia made the trek over the mountains to reach basecamp by noon that Friday.

Located a few miles north of I-70 on a hilltop overlooking the Ohio Valley, this 1,000+ acre private property had hosted some extreme ATV competitions, with the beer cans and two grave-type memorials as sober evidence.



Lily and her good old Shiloh after their drag ride

But that afternoon the sun was shining, the breezes were blowing and it was wonderful to be alive and surrounded by some of my favorite endurance friends, including Dale Weaver and Peggy Thompson who parked right beside us.

I'd brought good old Shiloh to keep Gryphon company and for my friend Lily Kuhn to enjoy. She volunteered all weekend and got to ride the last loop, managing to keep Shiloh from doing his infamous drop & roll going through the pond crossing!

The weather forecast called for a spot of rain early Saturday, which happened to coincide with the start of the 50-mile ride. As we "endured" a thorough soaking, I followed behind Dale on his 18-year old mare Luminaria, watching her slip and slide through the first few steep ATV paths off the hilltop to the lower trails.  The rain soon let up and the trails quickly dried, but a few riders decided discretion was in order and optioned to not continue.

Dale and I were delighted to find that the trails, while technical and steep in places, were very doable and lots of fun. Never have I ridden such a well-marked trail, with spotters at several different points to keep us all honest. Pulsing ahead of Dale at the first hold, Gryphon had a 64/56 CRI and I decided to pick up the pace a bit, riding long enough with Skip Kemerer to have a good chat about AERC ride sanctioning (hopefully he'll bring back Michaux!), and had fun encouraging new rider, Sam Hammond from western NY state, who completed her first 50 that day.

G-unit proved that little can be POWERFUL!

By the 2nd vet check it was clear that 15-year old Gryphon was having a VERY good day. I caught up to frontrunner Laura Bramel on the 3rd loop and we left out together on the 4th loop, taking our time to let the horses eat and drink along the way before letting Laura take the win (my goal that day was best condition).

I almost didn't want this ride to end! Gryphon looked amazing at his best condition trot out, and I basked in the many compliments my plucky little rescue received before grabbing a brief nap.

All the riders and volunteers gathered for a yummy potluck dinner as the sun began to set. Realizing I couldn't wait for awards - I had nearly 8 hours of driving ahead - Dale agreed to pick up my loot and we hit the road with 2 glowsticks duct taped to the upper back corners of my rig since the running lights were on the blitz (don't worry! brakes and turn signals still operational!)

Lily snoozed and I played old CSNY cassette tapes: "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming ... four dead in Ok- Hi -Oh," pondering the weekend's events and what had transpired halfway around the world that same day, at the World Endurance Championships in Slovakia.

While my friends Meg and Tom didn't complete (Meg's Anglo Arab Rim was pulled at the last hold and Tom's Reinman, a second cousin to my Siena, at the exit exam before the 4th loop), three other U.S. horses - Greyson bred by the Crandells, Meg's mare Rabia and Valerie's Colin for Gold - all finished to make their riders from England, Guatemala and Japan and associated crews super happy and proud.

But what many will remember about this year's WEC is that a 15-year old chestnut mare from the United Arab Emirates, allowed to go out on the 4th loop despite fatigue and possibly some pain blockers, took such a bad stumble on course that she broke her right front leg and had to be put down right then and there. I heard that Tom's wife Gina witnessed the tragedy and know this has reopened the gaping wound of what's wrong with the international level of our sport, which uses fast flat courses that push even the best endurance athletes in the world to the breaking point.

I cried for that mare - I still do when I think of her helplessness to have her rider listen to her fatigue and the price she paid for human ego - and vow to do what I could as the owner of an FEI passported mare with much potential, as an apprentice FEI official and as a member of the AERC International Committee and board of directors to take a stand. Tom Hagis spoke for us all in his desire to see the  UAE riders banned for the next decade. As Neil Young sang so long ago,

Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her, and found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Back on Track with G-Unit during the Dog Days of Summer

My friend's grandson treats Shiloh to a carrot as Ginger looks on

After Sarah Buckley & Siena's outstanding performances at the Biltmore and Coates Creek FEI rides, Princess SiSi got the rest of the summer off competition to focus on "ring work" (3-4 times weekly attempts at dressage-type riding and side-passing using side reins as a crutch). Hoping her carriage and back strength will benefit to help Sarah successfully compete her at the Nov. 12 Broxton Young Riders Team Challenge, which is also a demo event for the FEI Young Riders World Championship in Verona, Italy next year.

As the heat of July bore down without pause, it was time to learn if $750 in stifle injections solved Gryphon's hind-end lameness issues following his pulls at Foxcatcher and Biltmore. Hoping a trip 700 miles north would mean a cooler if not less mosquito-filled ride, I talked my husband Shan into taking off work for the haul north of Ottawa to Chrystal and Rob Woodhouse's new Pioneer Ride in the Madawaska Highlands.

We swung by Dessia Miller's in Stormont to pick up her young rider Marissa, the niece of my friend Kim Wooley, and to meet Chrome, the 2 year old offspring of her 100-miler finishing stallion Cognac Amberfyre "Farley" and Lynda Townsend's nicely bred mare Vondelehrs Black Bart. When I got talked out of breeding Siena to Farley for the time being, Dessia offered me a fantastic deal on one of his offspring, without the stress of foaling and accident-prone babyhood. We were hauling Marissa's mare to and from the ride and would pick up Chrome on the trip home.

We enjoyed talking with Marissa about school, hockey and other aspects of life in the Great White North. She saved the day by having Canadian cell service to helping guide us through some confusing turns on the way to the back of beyond.Arriving at the remote ridecamp by early afternoon, we decided that Gryphon got along so well with Marissa's mare they could stay in the same pen.

While Marissa hung out with friends and family, Shan, me and our collie mix Ginger unhooked to explore the area, stopping at the crossroads of a tiny town with the only diesel for miles to soak up local atmosphere and share a yummy poutine (French fries with cheese curds and gravy) from the roadside food truck. On the way back, Shan got some advice from the nearby campground owner on the best trails to ride his dirtbike while I headed to the ride briefing for the 2nd of the 3-day ride.

As Chrystal read out results from the first day's ride, I saw Earle Baxter and Maribel who'd been with me at the New Mexico ride in April, along with my old friend Libby Llop, who'd gotten pulled at the finish but brought two other horses and was planning to go out the next day.

Temperatures dropped nicely overnight, with gray skies on the second day that helped keep temperatures from climbing too high. We trotted steadily for 12 miles to a 15-minute hold, then continued on to the 25-mile vet check before turning around and returning the way we came, with a 2nd vet check at the same place we'd had the morning hold. Despite the difference in size (Libby's Andalusian cross mare was 16'2" to Gryphon's 14'2"), the two horses paced well together and we shared food and helped each other at each stop. I'd come up with the idea of soaking some dried out baby wipes with fly spray, pulling a couple out of a ziplock bag every so often to refresh the ones tucked on each side of our horses' browbands. The long day of riding gave me plenty of time to soak up the harsh but serene beauty of the landscape, which included numerous ponds and marshes. At one point we rode past a lonely cabin labeled "Gary's Weatherstation" accessed by a bumpy road, with a sign along one boulder-filled hilly section labeled "Marge's Tilt a Wheel."

As the never-ending ups and downs started taking their toll, I dismounted several times to jog beside Gryphon and hand-feed him bits of roadside grass. Just before 4 p.m., we reached the finish line and Gryphon completed with solid vet scores. Head vet Stan Alkemede encouraged me to come back in an hour to stand for best condition, and I was thrilled with his post-ride CRI of 14-12 (heartrate of 56 beats per minute before the trotout and only 48 afterward, obviously the heat conditioning he'd suffered through back home contributed!) He earned the second Best Condition of his career and I celebrated with a glass of wine. Shan and I decided one day of riding those tough trails was enough and we packed up (plus I helped Libby's husband Quentin get their truck to a high point of land to negotiate some over-the-phone stock trades) while waiting for Marissa to finish her set-speed ride on the 3rd and final day.

Dessia helped us make an early-evening appointment with the vet at the border crossing before giving Chrome's feet a quick trim. The Canadian vet, who was stuck there late to inspect a load of still-alive Peking Duck, couldn't have been nicer and reality returned as I turned my phone off airplane mode to receive 3 days of missed emails, texts and voicemails. Chrome unloaded and reloaded twice on the long trip home and was greeted by loud whinneys from Shiloh and Siena as we pulled in the drive just before sunrise that Sunday morning.



Gryphon is already grinning as we start the Iron Mountain Jubilee

As the heat continued through August, I patiently exposed Chrome to the pleasures of fly spray and cold hosing. He quickly acclimated to the herd, with Shiloh showing particular affection for the little "pomey" with his inquisitive, sweet face, crooked blaze and the dog-bone shaped white spot on his muzzle. I'd been thinking of entering Gryphon in a 100-miler at the end of the month, but with work duties limiting the time I could be out of the office and Shiloh having taken a young rider through 30 miles of West Virginia's Ride Between the Rivers in early August, I opted for a much shorter trip and offered my Teresa a chance to ride with me at the Iron Mountain Jubilee in southwest Virginia.

Siena seems to enjoy her role as Chrome's big sister

Teresa's new friend Lilias, who grew up in not far from the IMJ basecamp, was a welcome addition to our road trip. Arriving by late morning, we three soaked in the New River before setting up our crew area at the away vet check and checking in Gryphon and Shiloh. Lilias bought ice to help us cool Shiloh on ride day. Even through we were going slow and steady, it took nearly 20 minutes to pulse him down at the last hold and nearly the full 30 minutes allowed at the finish. I was too hot and tired myself to consider that he'd have gotten stiff during that timeframe, and he ended up being slightly off to get pulled at the finish. We all hit the New River one more time (except Gryphon who didn't need ANY cooling at the holds and is water phobic!). Watching Shiloh enjoy his hippolike roll of contentment, I felt a bit better about putting his 24-year-old body through all those hills and rocks in the heat. We got to my place just before midnight and enjoy DVRed Olympic jumping competition the next morning over waffles and omelets. Teresa's Kagen water leg wraps worked wonders and Shiloh had virtually no filling in his legs and was trotting sound when we checked him the morning after.

It's nearly mid-September now and the hot weather still hasn't let up. While Shiloh and Gryphon rest up, I've enjoying taking Chrome and Siena on trailer rides over to my friend Maury's, where I pony Chrome off Siena while she legs up her two hunt horses. Cooler weather can't get here soon enough!

In Which I Gain Unexpected Joys and Insights from Riders Young and Old

For 17 years now, heading down to Asheville for the Biltmore ride early each May has been a rite of spring. I started this year's drive Thursday evening with 23-year old Lily, a neighbor with mild cerebral palsy who's been riding with me for several years and loves volunteering at endurance rides, and 17-year old Sarah from Maine, who I met a few years ago at the Pine Tree Ride. Sarah would be riding my mare Siena in the 55-mile ride to try for her FEI 1* (the first step in qualifying for young riders events - she'd then need to complete three 2* 75-mile rides.

With another neighbor, Sarah Williams, helping make the 450-mile drive down, we arrived just before the start of the first day of competition, set up Gryphon and Siena's paddock and grabbed some sleep. Later that day, Lily and Sarah got to tour the Biltmore mansion while I ran some errands and set up our crewing area for the next day.



Sarah & Siena made a great team at Biltmore!

With perfect weather for Saturday, Sarah and I got off to a smooth start and took our time on the first two loops, riding with my friend Ricky Stone on his mare Ziggy.

Gryphon was having back pain and issues with his hind end, so was pulled at the second hold. I was impressed with Sarah's riding ability and told her she could set her own pace, so she picked up speed the last two loops and finished in great shape with a 7-hour ride time.

Lily had a lot of fun not only scribing for the vets and helping trot out horses for tired riders, but assisting treatment vet Lynne Johnson, who was up late that night keeping a watchful eye on several horses with metabolic issues.

Heading home early Sunday morning, I received a call from my husband that his mom was at the hospital in Winston-Salem, which was right on our way home. Sarah Williams and the girls refueled my truck and grazed the horses a bit while I briefly visited with my mother-in-law (Shan arrived later that day, which happened to be Mother's Day!)

We arrived back in New Kent in time for me and Sarah Buckley to drive to Williamsburg to visit my own mother and show Sarah some historic sites. That evening, we had time for her to show me some schooling techniques to help teach Siena to flex and be more responsive in picking up her right lead. I was very grateful and kept practicing right through Siena's next competition in Rhode Island later that month, with the goal of preparing her for Sarah to use at her first FEI 75-mile ride in Canada on July 3.

Two old geezers earn Best Condition!

Meanwhile, my vet adjusted Gryphon's back and we decided to inject his stifles. I had again volunteered to run the Waites Run hold (54-mile mark in the Old Dominion 100) and with Gryphon still in recovery mode, came up with the idea just riding the 25 and offering Shiloh to my friend Deck McCain. Here's the story I contributed to the SERA newsletter about our excellent adventure:

With 90 years between them, and nearly 50 years of endurance experience, the team of Deck McCain and Mary's Howell's 24-year-old 1/2 QH gelding Count Shiloh earned Best Condition in their completion of the annual Old Dominion 25 Mile Endurance Ride on Saturday, June 11, 2016.

"Deck and I became close friends last summer," Mary explained. "He kept Shiloh at his farm in Nash County, NC while I getting our new place in Virginia ready for my horses. Each time I'd visit Shiloh, Deck and his mare Smarty would take us out on their local trails, and we had a blast riding together."



The climb was worth it for the great Shenandoah Valley view.

Knowing Deck would enjoy the Virginia mountains, she offered him to loan him Shiloh for the Old Dominion limited distance ride in exchange for helping at the 54-mile mark gate & go, her volunteer assignment later that day.

"I was on my other gelding Gryphon, and figured we could finish the LD in time to make the hour-long drive out to Waites Run before it needed to open at 2:30 p.m.. We took it easy first loop, with walking the long hill climb and dismounting to jog both horses down the steepest part of downhill road to help Shiloh stay sound." 

Despite the heat and humidity, both horses vetted through in great shape, so they agreed to pick up their pace on the return. "Once Shiloh realized we were heading back to camps, he switched on his super-efficient trot, with Gryphon cantering to keep up. The two pasture mates crossed the finish line together, but predictably big-bodied Shiloh took almost 15 minutes more than Gryphon to meet the 60 pulse criteria.

Deck downs trial mix while Shiloh rubs his head at the vet check.
This image got over 450 "likes" on the AERC Facebook page!

"I decided to show both horses for best condition after learning how close we were behind the winning horse," Mary said. After weighing in and trotting both horses for the hour-after-exam, they hit the road for Waites, arriving in plenty of time to set up and help cool the horses of 100-mile frontrunners Stagg and Cheryl Newman.

"I was thrilled by how many first-time 100 mile riders were entered this year, and what a good job they did of managing their horses in the heat," Mary said. As the last horses left Waites around 7 p.m., she and Deck loaded water tanks from both there and Bucktail camp, arriving back at basecamp just after the 25 & 50 milers awards ceremony wrapped up.

"We walked up to get our completion awards and learned that the 216 lb Shiloh carried, plus good vet scores, more than made up for the time difference. For him to earn a BC after 17 years and 5500 miles of AERC competition shows what a great team he & Deck made, and that all ages can excel in this wonderful sport!"

The Wet Rides of April

Most of April was warm and dry here in Virginia, but wet weather figured prominently at both endurance rides I tackled that month.

On April 9, my riding buddy Brigid, an eventing enthusiast, was looking forward to going with me to her first endurance ride at the Fair Hill International venue in northeast Maryland. While competing in the Foxcatcher 50 miler, she'd get to see much of their eventing course. I'd also find out if the OsPhos shot I'd gotten for Siena would help her remain sound past the 30 mile mark so I could offer her to a young rider trying to start her FEI qualifications at the Biltmore 50 (1 star) on May 7.

To avoid Washington D.C./Baltimore traffic, Brigid, Lily and I left my place before 4 am the Friday before the ride and arrived in Fair Hill in record time. The weather was dry and pleasant throughout the day as we took Gryphon and Siena on warmup rides and visited with friends old and new. I was especially grateful to Felesha Mannino and Roger Wolfe for coaching Lily on her equitation and figuring out how best to create a wedge stirrup so that her left ankle (impacted by cerebral palsy)  could handle more miles in the saddle so she can hopefully tackle a limited distance ride on Shiloh later this year.

Primal scream of anguish or joy of extremes? You decide

Saturday's forecast was dreadful, with a nearly 100% chance of a sleet/snow/rain mix the entire day, and many who had pre-entered decided to stay home. Nonetheless, 32 intrepid souls started the 50 miler at 7 a.m. under gloomy skies. Brigid and I set out at a sedate trot, with Richard Stone and Felesha Mannino joining us to create a foursome who stayed together for much of that 25-mile loop. About 15 miles in, precipitation started falling just as we reached the edge of a big green field for the 10-minute gate & go. Sleety rain was coming as us sideways as we remounted, and within 5 miles I was soaked. Felesha grabbed this photo of me & Gryphon crossing the Little Elk River during a few magical moments as fluffy white flakes filled the air around us.

Coming into the first vet check, Felesha dismounted to keep her stallion at a slower pace. Gryphon was tight on his right hind (which has a minor conformation flaw), and I rubbed unsuccessfully trying to work out the muscle cramp -- we ended up getting pulled. But Siena was fine and after finding Brigid dry clothes and a fresh set of gloves, she and Richard set out on the next loop of 15 miles.

Richard's wife Amy and I went under ride management's big tent to warm up and work on drying horse blankets, gloves, etc. as the snow turned to heavy rain. Amy had synced her phone to Richard's using "Map My Ride," so could follow where they were on course. A little over two hours later, two cold and wet but cheerful riders arrived. Lily took care of drying and warming Brigid while I saw to Siena, who was completely sound with all As on her vet card.

The precipitation had slacked off by the time the two "baby endurance riders" (Richard had only done one previous 50) set out on their last loop of 10 miles. Gryphon was restless in his pen, so Amy and Lily helped me pack it up in preparation for leaving. He circled for 20 minutes after we walked him over to the big grassy finish area to wait for our riders, but eventually settled and started chomping grass, much better than allowing him to fret back at basecamp. Even though I train my horses to compete solo, there's no avoiding bonding issues when both are at a ride, but at least I was able to compensate somewhat for his anxiety.

We missed the first to finish rider, but cheered on the next six. Brigid and Ricky tied for 8th just before 4 p.m. in a ride time of 7:09. No one was happier than me when Siena trotted out sound and received her first completion since last June, and I immediately texted Stephanie Buckley in Maine to share the good news that her daughter Sarah could count on Siena for Biltmore.

The weather was fine on the drive home and we made it back by 9 p.m. Brigid slept most of the way back & texted me the next day that her body was one big bruise, but otherwise she loved her experience and wanted to do this again!

The weekend before the April 22-23 No Frills ride, I'd dropped Gryphon off at my friend Lisa's following our USA Northeast benefit trail ride. Early on Friday, Lily and I again headed up before dawn, this time with an empty rig (the look on Shiloh and Siena's faces as I pulled out was priceless!)

We volunteered at the away hold (Vance's Cove) until late afternoon, when I caught a lift back to basecamp to take Gryphon out for a short warmup ride and vet in. I'd had little sleep the night before, so skipped the ride meeting and was asleep before 9 p.m. in a spare bed in Lisa's basement (Lily and Felesha stayed up later and slept in my trailer).

Before dawn the next morning, I could hear heavy rain coming down as I fixed a much-needed  cup of coffee in Lisa's kitchen. Unlike all the poor souls camping out, I had the benefit of using a dry stall to tack up Gryphon. The rain briefly let up just before the 7 a.m. start, with many of us 30 or so riders in the 55-mile all trying to rationalize that at least the hard packed road that we used the first 5 miles would be softer now that it had gotten rained on.

Even though my socks were soaked within 10 minutes as the rain resumed, I enjoyed riding with Maria Muzzio (who was taking her horse Lance's on his first 50). It was so foggy that no views from the ridge crest trail could be seen. Scrambling down the steep descent, I waited several minutes for Maria, then as Gryphon grew increasingly restive, rode the last mile into the away vet check alone, vetting through with no issues. (Maria & Lance arrived several minutes later and opted to continue at a slower pace.) It stopped raining and I traded Lily my raincoat for her dry socks, only to have the rain start again as my 10:34 out time neared. No problem, just grab a spare garbage bag, poke some armholes and make due!

No points for style at an endurance ride!

The second loop of No Frills is nearly 25 miles and infamously tough. It had been several years since I'd had a chance to compete here, but remembered each section well, a psychological advantage for sure! After covering the first 12 miles at a sedate pace, I ended up third in line of a large group of maybe 10 horses. The singletrack trail meant we all had to stop and wait any time a horse wanted to drink from an available puddle.

A few miles before the checkpoint area stocked with horse feed and hay, I took the opportunity of a  wider section trail to pass those in front and let Gryphon pick his own pace. He zoomed along the singletrack and with his short legs was surefooted on all the rocks, putting a big smile on my face as sped along. At the checkpoint, I called out my number to Maitland the radio guy and gave Gryphon some electrolytes before resuming our zesty pace. The skies had cleared and I was able to leave my plastic bag raincoat behind.

Crossing a series of creeks, we passed friends Heather and Peggy. Gryphon he drank deeply before picking up his pace again. A few miles later, we caught up to Kelsey Lewis on Vinny, and I realized we were now well within Top Ten position. Gryphon was hungry by this point, so I dismounted to hand feed him carrots, a baggie of grain and roadside grass as we trudged up a long steep climb.

A few miles later, I began hearing a clinking noise as Gryphon's right hind shoe loosened (his conformation causes him to slide rather than set down the hoof, which over time wears off the nail heads.) Kelsey helped me keep an eye on the shoe and offered to loan me her Easyboot if needed.

Arriving in camp, her horse pulsed through faster than Gryphon, so I ended up leaving out at the same time as Claire Godwin on her 25-year old Mercury, who is even smaller than Gryphon. I enjoyed watching how efficiently Merc used his body, with his short front legs barely bending at the knee as his long hind stride propelled him steadily forward.

I could tell Gryphon's right hind was starting to cramp up and rode as carefully as possible since he resisted letting me slow his pace. Near the end, knowing we wouldn't have much of a chance to find a portajohn after entering camp and trying to get our horses untacked and through the completion exam as quickly as possible, we both agreed to a quick dismount to take care of business.

I'm grateful to the vet who gifted Gryphon with a completion even though his gait was "B-" and immediately rubbed some Surpass on his sore inside thigh, which quickly took effect. The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Kelsey prepare for her horse's best condition exam and visiting with various friends while sponging mud off my gear and packing up (a much simpler task than usual, since I didn't have to break down a corral!)

Next stop, Asheville NC!