Wednesday || Thursday || Friday
Fandango Day 1 || Fandango Day 2 || Fandango Day 3
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United States Equestrian Federation
American Endurance Rides Conference
Pacific Northwest Endurance Rides
Southwest Idaho Trail & Distance Riders
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2008 Owyhee Fandango - Idaho
Images by Merri Melde
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Owhyee Endurance Rides || Official Web Site || FEI Definite Schedule(PDF)
Course Description || History of Owyhee County
Owhyee Fandango 2008
Results
Results Summaries || Detailed Day 2 Results (100/75/55)Galleries
 Day 3 Part 1 Images by Merri |
 Day 3 Part 2 Images by Merri |
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 Day 2 Images by John Teeter |
 Day 1 Images by Merri |
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 Owyhee Four Seasons Images by Merri |
 Tuesday Images by Merri |
 Thursday Images by Merri |
 Friday Images by Merri |
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A Belgian's View of the Owyhee Fandango
Images by Caroll Gatelier - Endurance-belgium.com
 Saturday |
 Monday |
2008 Owyhee Fandango: Day 3
Monday May 26 2008It wasn't a particularly tense weekend despite some serious competitors with serious goals on yesterday's FEI 100-mile ride - maybe it's the wild west setting out in the boonies - but today was particularly casual, more like a group of people getting together for a trail ride.
After finishing her 100-mile ride on Jazzbo last night and getting to bed around midnight, Nance Worman saddled up Quinn this morning and was in the saddle by the 7:30 AM start time, looking pretty darn good. Just nine other 50-milers hit the trail today, while many riders and crew started packing up for a leisurely departure for home. Connie was one of 50's, riding her beloved Phinnaeas, after he had a day off yesterday.
Gretchen hadn't planned on her two horses doing three days of the ride, so Steph gave us two of her horses to ride today, Rhett and Quickie. I took Rhett, because I expected he would be a handful, and Gretchen got to ride Quickie. The gray mare is half Arabian and half Orlov trotter, and man can that horse trot. She can trot as fast as some horses gallop. Our original thought was to drag ride and close gates, and maybe pull ribbons, but I realized that unless we started an hour behind everybody, Rhett wasn't going to have any part of going slowly or pulling ribbons, (he won the 50-mile Eagle Extreme two weeks ago with Steph), and Quickie does not specialize in standing still, especially if somebody is leaning off her sideways to pull ribbons off sagebrush. So, unless we wanted to walk the entire 15.5-mile first loop on foot, we would be taking Steph's advice, "Go on out there and have fun! Just ride!"
2008 Owyhee Fandango: Day 2
Sunday May 25 2008Putting on an FEI ride really is like a 3-ring circus that a ride manager has to perform in - jumping through hoops in all three rings at the same time. The hopping starts way before the ride, filling out forms and following myriad technical procedures for USEF. Putting an FEI ride on in the middle of a 3-day Pioneer ride might prompt some people to call the ride manager crazy.
But that's Steph Teeter, and this was the 2008 Owyhee Fandango. Today's ride included a 100-miler with 25 starters (16 FEI), a 75-miler with 4 starters (1 FEI), a 55-miler with 20 starters (no FEI), and a 25-mile ride with 16 starters.
The 100 and 75-mile rides started in the dawn at 6 AM with a first loop of 15.5 miles up on the flats on both sides of Bates Creek Canyon. Dennis and Sue Summers, Cheryl Dell, and Joyce Sousa on LV Integrity lit out at a strong pace, with the rest of the field at a steady trot for a smooth start, all but for Bev Gray. Her gelding Amazing Ku stepped in a hole going over the bridge over the dry creek; he took a tumble and Bev took a tumble, giving her tailbone a good crack. But Amazing Ku was fine, and Bev climbed back on and headed out on the trail.
2008 Owyhee Fandango: Day 1
Saturday May 24 2008A lovely cool morning greeted 66 Owyhee riders onto the trails for the first Owyhee Fandango: 45 50-milers, 17 25-milers, and 4 Trail Riders. One trail rider who moved here from the east, said that in previous home, LD'ers were frowned upon, much less Trail Riders. Here in Oreana, we love to have you, whether you ride 10 or 100 miles (heck, we'll saddle your horse for you), whether you're a rider or groom or volunteer. Just come on to the high desert and enjoy the wild west! Clouds over the mountains indicated we might have a bit of weather later in the day, but nothing to worry about. (right?)
The Raven hopped in his Raven bag, Gretchen & I saddled up for a leisurely 7:30 AM start - the sun having already been up for an hour, and we mounted up and moseyed up to the start.
A few of the 50-mile riders revved up around the out timer for a cracking start, but most of the field wandered up and walked around, stopping to chat with other riders. Dennis Sousa and LV Integrity - one of the most amazing endurance horses around - were watching the proceedings; Dennis would be crewing for Integrity and his wife Joyce in the 100-miler tomorrow.
Pre-Fandango: Friday
Friday May 23 2008A whole slew of riders and officials arrived in Oreana basecamp Friday, including my pal Gretchen Montgomery from Bridgeport, California, coming to get her Merri fix. Gretchen and I used to ride together 3 to 4 times a week in the summers in Bridgeport, but now, I get to see her only once or twice a year. She brought two horses, and as it often goes in endurance riding, plans change. I was going to ride Bev Gray's horse True Colours on Day 1, but, it was decided that Amanda Washington could ride him on Day 2 since she needed a horse to ride, and since Colour only needed one ride, I could now ride Gretchen's horse Royal Raffiq - who I've done 750 miles on over the years - with Gretchen and Spice on Day 1.
Camp steadily grew bigger throughout the day as more riders pulled in with their rigs, from the fancy 5-horse trailer with living quarters up to the 70's campers pulling a 2-horse and the little truck and trailer with a tent on the side. Riders took their horses on rides or walks around camp, the radio crew worked hard on setting up their base station at the house, and horses were vetted in with the veterinarians Robert Washington and Michael Peterson.
I was dressed for a warm-up horse ride - chaps on and gloves in hand, when I was called on to make a last-minute chauffeur run to the airport...
Pre-Fandango: Thursday
Thursday May 22 2008That's it! I'm not looking at the weather report anymore! Now we're up to 70% chance of rain on Friday - which would actually be nice, for the dusty trails and the thirsty wildflowers - and no wind, which is great. However, now thunderstorms are added to the mix Saturday and Sunday, and you all know how terrified I am of lightning! Steph said, "You better ride fast!" We decided to stop looking at the weather report during the day, because it kept getting worse. But no matter what, it will be cool, in the 60's and 70's, great for the horses.
UPS and Fed-Ex are making trips several times a day 5 miles down the dusty road to the Teeter Rancho to drop off boxes of ride awards and glow sticks. John Favro is fine-tuning the lawns, and the rakes are still flying on some of the riding trails around basecamp.
More arrivals today:
Pre-Fandango: Wednesday
Wednesday May 21 2008The sum of today: wind and more wind!
Candace Kahn, who blew in yesterday evening with her horse from Medford, Oregon, said that was some of the strongest winds she'd driven in. It continued today - 20 mph with gusts to 37 - and tomorrow it will be even stronger. Great clouds of dust are whipped up from bare fields, and there's a fire burning 8-10 miles from here (going the other way).
Starting Friday, the winds will die down, but now, there's a solid chance of showers through Monday - some front stalled out in the Pacific. Normally it doesn't rain here in Oreana unless it says 100%, as we're in a rain shadow of the Owyhee mountains. But, you never know. As long as it doesn't say "thunderstorms," I'm good.
Pre-Fandango: Tuesday
Tuesday May 20 2008Steph took off toward the north on the 4-wheeler to mark trail, and Carol and I took August and Mac to the south to flag the Hart Creek trail. Rushcreek Mac, a former Rushcreek ranch horse, is not sure he wants to be an endurance horse over a cow-pony yet, but he's for sure still a great gate horse and he's now a great ribbon horse. You just have to point him at a gate and he knows how to open it, how to position himself; and it took hanging two ribbons for him to figure out trail flagging. He'd stop as close to a bush as I wanted, and not move a foot, even when I leaned and hung off of him sideways like a trick rider.
Though it's been a terribly dry spring, there are a few little canyons of bright flowers. At the far end of Pickett Canyon, there are a dozen shades of Indian paintbrush, and just overnight, asters and penstemmons have popped out.
Back at the ranch, John and Susan Favro were giving the yard a last mowing and weed-eating.
Pre-Fandango: Monday
Monday May 19 2008The first Fandango-ers have arrived...
Two-time World Endurance Champion Valerie Kanavy pulled into the Teeter Rancho ("the boonies," Valerie chuckled) early Monday morning with two horses and two grooms after a cross country drive from Virginia. Both horses are half-qualified for the World Endurance Championships in Malaysia in November - they've each completed a 100-mile ride under 12 km/h (13 hr, 20 min ride time) - and she plans to try to get the second one under their girths on this trip.
Originally she'd thought Steph was putting on an FEI 100-mile ride each day of the May 24-26 ride, and she was willing to ride a hundred on the first and third day (diehard!), until Steph told her we had only 1 100-miler. So after the Fandango, Valerie and her crew are heading to Fort Howes in Montana for the other hundred mile ride for her other horse two weeks later. She hasn't decided yet who she'll ride where. Valerie and her groom Laura Vilaregut - from Catalonia, Spain; last month she won the Junior Catalonian Championship - took the horses, King Ali Gold - who won the December 31 2007 New Years in New Mexico 100 miler, and Flash Flame - who won the 2005 Arabian Nights 100-mile ride here with Danielle Kanavy, out on a trail ride to get the kinks out after their long haul.
Saturday May 17 2008 - Countdown to Fandango
The 3-day ride here, the Owyhee Fandango, is one week away.
Trails are getting marked, pens being set up, weeds being pulled, road being dragged, horses are getting ridden, and we are keeping an anxious eye on the weather. Right now, depending on who you talk to it feels: numbingly hot enough for a nap (the horses), Great! (Steph), or stunningly hot enough to crawl in a deep hole lined with ice (me).
If you ride, you want to do it earlier in the morning, finish before 11 AM, or much later in the evening, after 7:30. Jose wasn't too excited about his 9 mile ride with August today. Neither of them were too enthused, so we didn't rush through it, instead doing a little bit of work and a little bit of grazing along the way. May as well take advantage of some of the green grass before it all withers.
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