Mid-Winter Endurance at Broxton Bridge

 

Early in my endurance career, the season ended with JD's on Thanksgiving weekend and didn't resume until late March or April. Two years ago, USA Southeast Endurance began holding a mid-winter fundraiser ride about an hour northwest of Charleston, SC at Broxton Bridge Plantation.

With temperatures in the low single digits and back roads covered with ice and snow from the most recent storm, me and my friend Lisa's three teenage sons left New Kent early on Thursday, Jan. 30, picking up speed once we reached I-95 South.

It's been an unusually severe winter for our part of the county, and this most recent storm struck the Carolinas as well as southern Virginia, with several inches of snowfall visible until well past the South Carolina state Ride management had sent out several emails and social media posts reassuring that the competition would proceed as planned, although late vet-ins would be allowed, and I could tell they were worried about covering costs, much less coming out ahead!

I've been friends with the Green boys: Forest (17), Hunter (15) and Ridge Green (14) since they were little kids. On Wednesday night, Forest had driven the three hours to my house from Star Tanney, Va. and left his ailing truck at our house so my husband could work on replacing the fan drive and serpentine belt. He was going to help me with the return drive and crew, along with Ridge, while Hunter was going to enter at least the first day's CEI 75-mile (120 km) ride. The trip down went smoothly as we all listened to a CD of "Unbroken," Laura Hildebrand's book about the life of WWII POW Louie Zamperini. It was about 40 degrees when we arrived around 2pm and felt like a heat wave as we set up camp.

Hunter and I started with the 100 milers at 8 a.m. on Friday, and we enjoyed watching ice melt from the tree limbs all morning, almost as heavy as rain against clear blue skies. Theresa Carroll on Silas raced off and beat Jeremy Reynolds in the 50. I was keeping a close eye on our speed - for Hunter to earn a COC on Cheryl’s mare Spotty, he'd need to finish no later than 7:30 p.m. As dusk approached, Gryphon did a super job of leading and pacing the last two loops when Spotty wasn’t drinking well or very motivated. Spotty bounced back on the last loop and we finished with 11 minutes to spare, but sadly Gryphon got pulled at the finish. It was a sore back, not a leg, and after a morning dose of bute, he trotted out sound the next day. In Friday's 100 (160 km) event, Heather Reynolds on Chanses, her British friend Nicola Gilbert and Jeremy Olson on Amy Whelan’s big gelding Wallace Hill Shade rode together all day in the 100, which Heather won. Jeremy Olson who came in 2nd earned Best Condition.

Saturday dawned cold and rainy, NOT what was forecast! The 50-milers didn't start until 9 am, giving me time to sop up the Broxton kitchen floor after a spigot broke in the big commercial sink. My easy-to-ride Siena set a great pace on this, her first CEI ride, hanging with Claire Godwin on the first loop, Taylor Stine on Jeannie Waldron’s horse in the 2nd and then Jaber on Peggy Clark’s horse in the final loop. She had good vet scores and CRIs all days and completed in 5th place despite all the mud. Her ride time was about 5:25 and we showed for BC. Despite me & my muddy, wet clothes and tack weighing 184 lbs, nearly 20 more than usual, Peggy's horse won and I'm glad I persuaded Jaber to stop and let him drink twice on that last loop, which surely helped!

Hunter was reluctant to leave Saturday evening as we agreed, since his girlfriend Emilynn was just finishing the 75-mile ride, but at least he got to crew for her all day. Broxton's hot water was out so no one without a living quarters rig could take a hot shower, which helped motivate us to drive 250 miles to the Bruckers in Bear Creek, NC. We overnighted there and enjoyed hot showers and a hot breakfast the next morning.

Safely back to my house by noon, the boys began the last leg of their journey while I set to work taking advantage of the bright sun and mild weather that afternoon to clean mud and sand out of all my tack, gear and trailer. Siena is parked at JD's until the Spring Fling ride in April, and Gryphon has off until Bunny Hop at the end of March. Back to foxhunting on good ole Shiloh, weather permitting!

What I will remember about the 2013 North American Endurance Team Challenge

On December 8-9, Virginia experienced our first icestorm of the season and subsequent power outages, mainly in the mountains and Northern Virginia. My job involves compiling statewide outage totals from 13 member electric cooperatives, so Monday was a LOONG day at the office with our regulatory agency requesting an initial report by 6 a.m. Luckily, I'm an early riser and chipper in the morning, a useful trait for endurance riders as well!

Two mornings later, with most folks' lights back on, my husband dropped me off for a 6:30 a.m. flight to volunteer as a timer's helper at the North American Endurance Team Challenge.

This biannual event helps develop our nation's horses, riders and crews who compete at the FEI (Federation Equestrian International) level and was being hosted by Helen Koehler and the folks at Goethe State Forest south of Gainesville. Helen built the opening ceremony theme around 2013 as the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida by Desoto, with descendants of Spanish Barbs and Pasos becoming the native "Cracker" horse.

I looked forward to seeing many friends from AERC's Southeast, Northeast, Mountain and Central regions as well as from across the north and south borders: Megan Savory Davis helped loan horses to form Team Mexico and several dozen Canadians made the trek from the Frozen White North. Among the 15 Canadian riders were Kim Woolley and Ziggy, Nancy Zukewich and Luba and Dessia Miller with her stallion Farley and Farley's half sister Kiera (same mare I rode in Canada on Labor Day weekend, now piloted by 17-year old Stephanie McLeod) who all overnighted at my place just before bad weather hit on their long drive down.

Arriving in sunny Florida, I had a chance to talk with past AERC President Connie Caudill over lunch while we waited for Texas vets Carter Hounsel and Dennis Seymore to arrive. (Their flight was about an hour later than mine.) Connie shared highlights of the AERC board's response to proposed changes to FEI rules, with which I heartily agreed.

For those unfamiliar with how international endurance competitions have evolved in recent years, the fast flat courses of major overseas events (along with supremely focused training and maybe some beta-blockers that don't easily test) have sliced by hours the winning time for 160km events so that they are now regularly below 8 hours and usually won by a rider from the Mideast (or possibly France, Spain or Italy who each have well developed national endurance programs).

In 2011, the speed requirement to obtain a Certificate of Capability (required to compete at the international level) was increased to 14 kilometers per hour: 8 hours, 35 minutes for a 120km/75-mile ride and 11:25 for a 160km/100-mile ride. Many NAETC riders hoped to complete in time to earn a "COC" for their horse.

Putting those speeds in perspective, my "once in a lifetime" horse Shiloh completed just one 100 in his 5,000+ mile career that included almost 20 19 100 milers at this speed (10 hours at JDs). Little Gryphon's first 100, as fast as his small frame could handle and on a flat trail with optimum weather, took 12:44.

Nonetheless, the U.S. founded the sport of endurance and many of us remain hopeful that our nation will one day again earn a team medal if not an individual medal at an upcoming World Endurance Championship (2014's being set for a fairly technical course in Tarbes France). Valerie Kanavy was the last U.S. rider to win gold at WEC in 1996, although Meg Sleeper finished the 2012 WEC in 11th place on Syrocco Cadence with an impressive ride time of 7:49.

Personally, I'm impressed with how many nations - even unlikely ones such as Japan and Costa Rica - have successfully embraced our sport. As with the Olympics, big international events still allow the meeting of new friends and mixing of cultures and love of the horse in a way that promotes peace, understanding and acceptance. But there's no avoiding the concern that the international playing field is now inherently unfair, with sponsorships and subsidies from the Middle East leading veterinarians and officials looking the other way on rules, especially regarding horse welfare. Humane issues must be our top priority in a sport where the horse portion of the team has no voice other than the concern of its rider and crew.

On Friday, Dec. 13, the 2013 NAETC dawned crisp, breezy and post-card perfect, with very few pulls until late in the day, virtually no metabolic pulls and a substantial percentage (40 of 68) horses completing. But in years to come, what will also be remembered about this event is the untimely passing of Braveheart, the 13 hand rescue horse turned FEI champ who'd suffered some form of major episode in the final miles of the ride (possibly neurological and/or metabolic difficulties) and never regained full consciousness after being sedated for the trailer ride to receive medical help.

As a ride volunteer, I had access to visual and anecdotal information that help me sympathize with the horse's owner and rider while at the same time being haunted by what I might have done had I been in their place. During awards, DVM Dwight Hooten assured all present that a full necropsy and analysis would be done on Braveheart to better understand what exactly happened and if it might have been prevented through better management and veterinary controls. I'd heard earlier in the week that the low potassium levels were showing up on voluntary bloodwork done on many horses who traveled cross-country to attend, and many crews remarked how much electrolytes they used on their horses during ride day, despite the cool temperatures.

With the first horses finishing the NAETC course before 8pm, I was thrilled to see what speed and consistency U.S. horses and riders are capable of,  starting with Jeremy Reynolds who reportedly was running beside his horse running for part of the day and set blistering pace of 1 hour 5 minutes on the final 14.8 mile loop. He finished first just ahead of Nicki Meuten and her amazing mare Not Tonight (Nellie). This was Nellie's 10th straight 100 mile completion, an amazing accomplishment, and Nicki told me that their partnership had developed to the point that she let Nellie set the pace, knowing how just how fast she could safely go. Were it not for a lack of a headlamp to make up for missing glow sticks on the last loop, Nicky and Nellie might have kept their lead, but they were philosophical.

Third and fourth were Kelsey Russell and Valerie Kanavy on Gold Medal farm horses. Kelsey and Irish earned best condition the next morning, and at age 67 Valerie is still a force to be reckoned with! Also in Top Ten were Kyle Gibbon and Steve Rojek, the consummate endurance professionals and gentlemen, along with my pal Natalie Muzzio from Virginia. While the Southeast earned Team Gold, Northeast earned both Silver and Bronze team medals.

When I think back on NAETC in years to come, I will hope that Braveheart's passing marked the start of a new era in use of our collective experience and technology to PROTECT horses. I'll also recall how fantastic some horses looked the "morning after" this ultimate test of a horse and rider's fitness: here's Kyle Gibbon presenting for Best Condition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwcD-EPg0Y0 Would you have guessed that less than 12 hours earlier, they'd finished a deep-sand 100?? Horse doesn't look a bit tucked up although the rider has a bit of "bed head" ;0

Gryphon Soars at his first 100 Miler!

For many East Coast endurance riders, Thanksgiving weekend means a trip to J.D.'s Ride in South Carolina. Ride manager J.D. Fountain learned about endurance more than 30 years ago, and soon after began hosting AERC-sanctioned rides, first out of his own backyard and then from Whitehaven Arabian Plantation, where I first began attending this ride back in 2000. Haven't missed it since because I am most definitely NOT a Black Friday shopper!

For the past several years, J.D.'s basecamp has been on his several acres of raw land along Hartsville-Ruby Road, near Sand Hills State Forest Trails and just across from "The Winery" (a long-since-closed maker of such fine vintages as Wild Irish Rose and Boone's Farm).

I packed early for this ride because I'd be spending Thanksgiving Day with the in-laws, which involved a 7- hour round trip but was well worth the drive. We brought a full bushel of oysters from Virginia's record harvest and every one was devoured.

Early on Friday morning, my friend Jaber Al-Marri from Qatar, an Economics major at American University, drove down from D.C. to meet me. We were on the road by 6 a.m. with Gryphon and Shiloh in tow.

Arriving at basecamp before noon, we parked beside my friend Lisa Green's rig and right next to the crewing area. Jaber and I went for a 3-mile warm up ride, with calm and steady Shiloh leading Gryphon past some scary large mules who were pastured nearby. After test riding my saddles, Jaber decided to use the treeless Ansur for Shiloh.

Shiloh vetted in at a heart rate of 32 and Gryphon at 36. The forecast was perfect and there ended up being 15 of us entered in the 100 miler. As nightfall set in and temperatures began to drop, we blanketed the horses and headed over to BBQ dinner around a bonfire. I passed around a tin of homemade Christmas cookies for dessert, and J.D. gave us his usual disjointed but entertaining ride briefing.

Lisa's 14-year-old son Ridge, Jaber and I were snuggled under the covers before 8 pm and we all slept soundly as temps dropped to the mid-20s. I woke at 5 am to feed and brew a cup of decent coffee using a drop cord and my coffee pot brought from home, going back inside my trailer frequently during the tacking up process to warm my hands and feet in front my Mr Buddy propane heater.  The cold weather meant using a rump rug and Gryphon ended up not needing a single drop of water for cooling all day - a first for me after years of crewing big Shiloh!

J.D.'s 100 has 3 loops that are each repeated twice, with the first 88 or so miles in the state forest. I followed my old friend Debbie McClary and her horse Traveler on the first 25-mile white loop, which is followed by a 13.7 green that uses much of the same trail as white. Gryphon finished these in good time (nearly 10 mph pace) and we headed out on the 3rd loop (repeat of white 25 miles) before 1 pm. Debbie was going faster than me at this point so I ended up riding that loop with aother old friend, Amy Whelan who was helping her 12-year-old daughter Annie tackle her first 100. We made great time, including several stops for the horses to eat hay J.D. had left along the trail.

After Amy's horse got pulled at the 3rd hold, Nicky Meuten and Annie's older sister Josie waited a few minutes to take over as Annie's sponsors. This meant four of us headed out on the green 4th loop just after 5 pm. As darkness fell, we caught up to Claire Godwin whose horse Reveille was very competitive. As a result, we ended up moving out a bit faster than my comfort level - little Gryphon was practically galloping to keep up with the bigger horses, some of whom were still trotting.

Our faster pace caught us up to Debbie McClary just as we reached Nicky's crew who were carrying food and water for the horses in their truck. Neither of us had much "brakes" on our horses (I had switched to a hackamore to make it easier for G to eat and drink on trail and she just had reins clipped to her halter), so we agreed to hold back from the other riders, using our horses as company for each other.

All day long, heat vet Amy Spies was generous with her praise for Gryphon, who had mostly A's and CRIs of 52/52 or 56/56, with lots of impulsion at every trot out. He kept eating, drinking and relaxing well at each hold and my using BCAA's mixed with honey in addition to his regular electrolytes seemed to be helping his energy levels. During the 5th loop, which was just 11 miles, Debbie and I ended up passing Nicky and the Whelan girls when they stopped on trail for their crew (Claire's horse had been pulled). I'm especially grateful to my friends Jennifer Smith and Kelly Lane, who set up shop in a church parking lot halfway through the 5th/6th loops and dispensed hot food and cheer to all us 100-milers who were showing signs of DIMR ("Distance Induced Mental Retardation"). Like many riders who get a touch of motion sickness when using headlamps to ride after dark, I was feeling a bit queasy each time I saw them but gulping some salty chicken soup fixed me right up.

By 9:30 pm we were headed out on our last loop, finishing just after 11:15 pm in 4th and 5th place (Traveler had set the pace and led most of the day so I didn't think it fair to tie). As we neared the finish line, I felt tears forming at the corners of my eyes, so proud was I of the little rescue horse who had come so far since his first LD ride just a year ago. At the completion exam he trotted out almost as fresh as at the vet in. My friend Jenny Poling, who along with Jaber helped crew for me all evening, said "I think you've found your 100 miler!" We blanketed Gryphon well and I was snuggled under the covers before midnight.

The next morning, much to my amazement I wasn't at all stiff or sore. Gryphon is a truly comfortable horse to ride and looked happy and chipper as well. After so many years of trying to find a horse who could take Shiloh's place and do 100s with ease, my dream had come true.

For 2014 I'm planning at least two 100s for my G-unit, keeping in mind that while he'll never be able to cover ground as fast as those FEI horses, he'll do every mile with a smile!

My Three Horses at Fort Valley

October 26, 2013 was a special day among my hundreds of endurance memories. All three of my chestnut horses finished the scenic but tough Fort Valley ride! Hunter Green rode Siena beautifully, taking the place of his brother Forest, who wanted to go bow hunting instead and eventually did shoot a great big buck.





My old friend Dawn Engle Hilliard borrowed 21-year-old Shiloh so she could accompany her husband Dean as he and his horse did a slow and easy limited distance ride to earn their Triple Crown. Shiloh looks gorgeous in this photo! And now he's fit enough to come back to Virginia for a season of foxhunting.
And my little rescue horse Gryphon proudly led Siena and my friend Liz' mare Q all day long on the 50 mile trail, with Janet French on her Paso accompanying us up until the last loop when she slowed up a bit. I truly savored every mile!

FEI Ride Management for Dummies

While I've competed at "Federation Equestrien Internationale" sanctioned events for more than a decade, and managed several AERC sanctioned rides, the Sand Hills Stampede CEI events on October 19 marked my first foray into FEI ride management. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart, but knowing I helped a total of 38 senior and young riders try to qualify themselves and their horses for future FEI events provided ample satisfaction.

It all began a year ago, shortly after the AERC National Championships at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. AERC-International Zone Rep Lynn Kenelly and I were discussing the new FEI speed requirement to obtain a "Certificate of Capability," a 14 kilometer per hour average. We agreed this would be difficult, if not dangerous for horses to earn on the twists and turns of the Biltmore course in Asheville, NC, one of the few FEI rides in the Southeast, and agreed that the trails at Sand Hills State Forest near Cheraw, SC could provide a safer option.

With help from Vonita Bowers at USEF, I paid a $600 filing fee and they generously covered the late fee, for not filing a full year before the event date. Over the winter I began developing entry forms and drafting the definite schedule, which lists all the required FEI ride staff, as well as details such as loop length and inspection schedule. Again, Vonita was a big help and the definite schedule was approved by May. In July, just after posting entry forms as a link on the AERC ride calendar page, I learned that endurance was the next sport to convert to online registration using entry.fei.org. Because Sand Hills was the very first U.S. FEI ride to be held after the October 1, 2013 effective date, USEF allowed me to have riders submit paper entries as usual, which I then submitted to USEF via Excel spreadsheet. Most riders were great about submitting entries by the Oct. 5 deadline, but I ended up being grateful even for the late entries since they helped me come somewhat close to breaking event. Although much of the up-front fees were covered by a $1,000 grant from AERC-International (which I've joined/supported since 2000), after event fees are @ $70 per horse, nearly $3,000 for the 38 entries we ended up receiving in the 4 events (senior and young rider 88km and 120 km divisions). I'm very grateful to my FEI veterinarians - Duane Barnett, Ken Marcella, Art King, Heather Caplan and Liv Rudolphi, as well as my FEI officials who basically worked for free except for a little to cover travel: Jack Weber, John Proudman, Susan Kasemeyer and Adri McCaskill. I'm most grateful to my old pal Patsy Gowen, the AERC ride manager who helped establish this venue more than a decade ago - she and her local friends handled all the trail markings, meals, and other logistics.

Ride day started with a steady rain that followed the 55 and 75-mile riders out of camp. It soon ended, and full sun never broke out, so temperatures stayed decently cool. By the second hold we could tell that the completion rate was going to be really high! Only one of the 20 in the CEI** and three of the 10 in the CEIJY** did not complete, and all of these were for minor lameness - no metabolic pulls!  We did have a couple freak accidents in which two riders - one of them Hunter Green's girlfriend Emilynn DeBassie at right - were hurt enough to need to be rushed to the hospital. I spoke with both ladies Sunday and they'll be back in the saddle again soon.

One surprise was that only about 5 horses in the 75 completed early enough to earn a COC - I thought the trail would be faster, but many must have chose to take it easy and build in breaks during the long 26-mile second loop. Afterwards, Patsy, Duane and I agreed to work on rerouting future FEI events so that no loop is longer than 21-22 miles.

I'd really enjoyed working with Patsy when we co-managed the 2010 AERC National Championships at this same basecamp, with generous vendors and sponsors providing lots of creativity for awards. Trying to keep costs down, I only offered one special award other than Best Condition blankets, a chestnut horse ornament in honor of Kathy Brunjes, who represented the U.S. in many FEI events and actively contributed to our sport in so many ways before her untimely passing just a year ago due to cancer. Barbara Hershberger, who also received BC in the CEI**, received my Brunjes award for having the first chestnut to finish in that distance.


For me, the scariest part of managing an FEI event was the results reporting. Results must be provided to USEF within 10 days or ride management faces a big fine. I had a busy week ahead at work and a full day of driving my friend's rig back to Virginia as a favor to her, and needed to get this task taken care of BEFORE leaving South Carolina. Stubborn as I am, I broke down crying late Saturday night while trying to enter number after number, into the results spreadsheet, which is supposed to show the amount of time each rider took to do each loop, as well as their average speed in kilometers for each loop. The finish times have to be to the second and all the speeds reported to 2 decimal places. I've always had tons of respect for timers like Laurie Underwood, who stay calm, cool and collected keeping track of riders' in-times and out-times coming in fast succession. Patsy, seeing how stressed I was, ran to find Laurie, who was still awake. She patiently read me numbers (so much easier that having to keep switching one's focus from computer screen to handwritten paper notes) and by 1:30 am we had the essential information on my computer, ready for me to polish when I got back to the office.

 

 

 

Mary's Little Mountain Goat at the Finger Lakes

The Northeast Region hosted a new ride this year, the Hector Half Hundred, located on one of the Finger Lakes near Watkins Glen, New York. I couldn't resist going; I've loved this area ever since I was accepted to Cornell University nearly 30 years ago (my dad sensibly insisting on in-state tuition rates at U.Va.)

To break up the long trek north, I loaded up my mare Siena on Thursday after work, reaching the Engle's home in Fairfield, PA just before dark. There I enjoyed Susan's delicious potato soup while my semi-retired horse Shiloh and Siena had a joyful reunion. I decided to take Shiloh along as a buddy horse, with hopes of squeezing in a short conditioning ride once I'd set up camp. Fall color abounded the further north we got. Basecamp was a grassy field overlooking Lake Seneca, with dozens of wineries all around us.

I lost no time in saddling up Shiloh for a short ride to check out the trails, which were spectacular, reluctantly turning back at the 3 mile mark when a heavy rainstorm struck.

Changing into dry clothes, I took a short nap then went to the vet in where I saw that Pam Karner, the head vet and ride manager, was taking temperatures as an extra step (thermometer goes in horse's anus.)  Having never been "temped," Siena was quite squirrelly until I ran back to fetch good ole Shiloh, the perfect buddy horse.


At the ride briefing, Pam explained that she'd received word the previous evening that because of the federal government shutdown, they'd lost use of 30 miles of trail in the Finger Lakes National Forest. The re-routed trail was mostly road, with a fair amount of out-and-back that repeated, but we all enjoyed it immensely. I rode the first two loops with Libby Llop and her young mare May Fly before they were pulled, then continued on the last loop with Sallie Sullivan and Ivan, ending up somewhere around 7th place. It was Sallie who dubbed 800 pound Siena my little mountain goat. It was the first competition I've had a chance to do with her this year, and delighted with her vet scores, I waited to present for Best Condition before leaving. She was slightly girthy on her left side and I was far enough behind the front runners that I didn't have much chance of receiving this award, but was very happy that she received 9 out of 10 on soundness and impulsion.

On the return trip, I reached the Engels by 10 p.m. and got a good night's rest. After helping Dennis fetch 25 bales of hay, I left Siena at the Engels and logged the last 200 miles home with Shiloh on board - arriving in time for a lovely afternoon boating with my husband Shan and our dog Ginger.

I sure hope I'll be able to return to this ride NEXT year and see those 30 miles of trail we didn't have a chance to enjoy this time...

Third Time's the Charm

At the finish of both AERC and FEI endurance riding competitions, each horse must be examined and found "fit to continue" by the ride veterinarians, both in soundness and metabolics, before being awarded a completion. While I've escaped being pulled at the end of a ride since 1999, this past month I got to complete three weekends in a row only to get pulled at the finish of the first two endurance rides and barely squeak by at the third! Fortunately these pulls were for minor lameness issues that were quickly resolved, rather than a serious metabolic problem, and helped add to my cache of endurance wisdom.

Virginia Highlands 55-mile ride - I arrived midway through the first day of this rugged two-day ride near Ivanhoe, Virginia and helped with those finishing the 25 mile distance while waiting for my riding companion Liz Stout to arrive. She brought along her Siberian Husky Kenai, who was recovering from surgery on both his back legs and spent much of the weekend resting in his big crate.

We used Liz's SUV to set up our crewing area at the away hold (ride managers Don and Nicky Meuten's mountaintop retreat, a little slice of heaven!) After grabbing a late lunch, we took the horses out on a "tack check"test ride during which I realized I needed to purchase a second running martingale to control eager little Gryphon, who was super-fit after finishing eight endurance competitions already this year.

Ride morning went smoothly, with Gryphon and Siena traveling happily together down the trail. We took our time on the first loop because portions of trails were quite muddy from afternoon rain showers the day before. I really enjoyed the 24-mile second loop, which had one long hard climb but lots of places to canter along on good footing. Ride management provided horse and people refreshments at the 15 minute hold halfway through this loop, where we learned that six of the front runners had missed a key turn, putting us mid-pack riders in Top 10 position.

At the second hold, I retrotted Siena for Liz when her vet thought he saw a slight hitch in her right hind, then massaged her butt muscles and inner thighs while she ate, just to be on the safe side. Coating back to basecamp on the final loop, we had less than 8 miles left to go when Gryphon started trotting with a noticeable hitch as we made our way up another long climb. Hopping off, I repeated the massage process I'd done on Siena, telling Liz we'd walk the uphills in hopes the cramp would work out. Gryphon was eager to go and would trot smoothly for several hundred yards, then cramp would return. As a glumly headed down a final hill to the finish line. I explained my plan to Liz: get Siena her completion right away (which was 6th place) and use the whole 60 minutes you have to present for completion at an AERC ride to work on Gryphon's cramp.

With help from old friend Mary Farris, we did more massage and stretching exercises plus gave Gryphon her special electrolyte mix in case the cramp stemmed from a body chemistry imbalance. All to no avail! Gryphon has a big heart but a scrawny hind end for scaling all the climbs on a mountain ride like this. The vets complemented his overall metabolics and muscle tone, telling me to administer paste banamine and that he should clear up quickly (which he did - completely sound when I checked on them around midnight). I also presented Siena for Best Condition just for practice, and she looked great!

My friend Dee Dee in Roanoke kept both of my horses for the next 10 days, since I was going to be out of town much of the time and it would save them much of the haul out to the Big South Fork two weeks after Highlands. I returned home to a new retraining project, a 12-year old mare called Serenata who hadn't been ridden much in some years. Her owner had asked for my help in getting her back under saddle and finding her a good home, and I made excellent progress in just 4 days.

Serenata got the weekend off as I traveled to Ottawa, Canada for the two day Stormont FEI ride hosted by Dessia Miller, whom I'd met at the Broxton Ride in February. Dessia is a trainer who also  breeds Arabians on her farm, and I really enjoyed getting to see what life is like in Ontario province. While the food was wonderful and the terrain not much different than, everything cost a lot more. Two 3 lb. bags of ice, a little bottle of soda and small bag of chips was $12!

Dessia's place was just 2 miles from basecamp, so on Friday afternoon she rode her stallion and I rode his half-sister Amber Kiera over for the vet in. I was worried about being able to steer Keiera and make her go smoothly down trail, as she acted quite green, but Dessia's friend Kim Wooley on her mare Ziggy agreed to lead me around the 75-mile course. After heavy rain that evening, we had warm dry weather for ride great day, pacing well with the horses receiving excellent vet scores at each check.

At the very last check, around 7 p.m., vet Art King noted some interference marks on Kiera's inside back fetlocks and suggested I add boots. Not realizing she'd never had any on before, I accepted a brand new pair still with the tag on from Dessia and was unprepared when Kiera reacted strongly, kicking out as if the boots were stinging bees and pulling the sweaty reins through my hands to run through camp. Although she was quickly caught and we finished tacking, I could feel a slight lameness as we headed out into the growing dust for the last 12 mile loop. I switched diagonals and rode as carefully as a I could, but was far from surprised when the vet committee let me know we wouldn't get a completion. All the ride staff were very sympathetic, while I was philosophical, noting that my main reason for attending this event was to gain insights for managing the Sand Hills CEI event the following month.

Dessia later told me she that Kiera had developed a minor case of scratches (irritated skin on the back side of the pastern) that she thought may have also been a factor in our lameness pull. On Sunday, since my flight didn't leave until late afternoon, I enjoyed helping crew for Dessia on her stallion in the 75-mile ride and several others - so many of us Americans were there, including Mary Farris, Lynn Kennelly and Cheryl Van Deusen from the Southeast region that I felt right at home. I especially enjoyed getting to talk with Dave Augustine and Meg Sleeper during one of her holds in the 100-mile event, which she and her amazing little mare Syrocco Cadence won by a large margin.

Back in the U.S., I spend several days at a regional work conference in Norfolk, catching up with some friends who live in that area, before setting off on the 600 mile trek to Oneida, Tennessee for Eric Reuter's Big South Fork ride. I only had a chance to do this trail twice before, in 2002 and 2007, and was really looking forward to seeing those spectacular trails again.

Arriving at Dee Dee's farm around 3pm Friday, I found Gryphon and Siena looking well rested and happy to load for another adventure. We didn't arrive at basecamp 10 pm, but Eric was waiting for me with my registration packet. With help from Mary Farris' boyfriend Ranger, I quickly set up my horse pen and managed a good night's sleep before rising early to vet in and start the 50-mile ride on Gryphon.

He felt sound and forward on the first loop, which featured was even more beautiful than I remembered, especially the 100-yard wise crossing of the Big South Fork River. I vetted through with longtime friends Bonnie from NC and Claire from SC, but decided to slow down and walk any  hills, concerned that Gryphon's muscle cramp might resurface if I pushed too hard. Despite this caution, I felt him start hitching with his hind as we neared the end of the second loop. I hopped off and massaged it, resigned in case our day ended early. But he felt sound the last 1/4 mile into camp, so I went ahead and electrolyted before vetting in hopes that would help. Vet Otis Schmitt noted a minor intermittent issue on the right hind, but thought Gryphon was sound enough to continue. Phew! I gave more electrolytes before heading out, this time with Tamra Schoech and Sudi Leinhart who setting a slower pace in the 100. Mike Everett suggested using BCAAs and I vowed to buy some once I was back in camp.

Gryphon had shared a feed tub with Tamra's Rushcreek gelding at the first hold, and as each of our three horses took turns leading I was thrilled that he stayed sound as the loop progressed. Ken Marcella pronounced him sound at the finish and I shared my concern about his right hind. Since we were 6th (even though I'd taken my time most of the day!), Ken urged me take advantage of the Best Condition exam at the end of that hour. After 40 minutes of eating and resting, Gryphon moved out energetically and looked completely sound. Phew! But I'm going to start using BCAAs and see if that solves the muscle issue. Now Gryphon will get 7 weeks off (just light riding) and I'm looking forward to taking Siena to our first endurance ride together this year.