Old Dominion

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

Well, I couldn't stand the suspense so I called Matthew, who was riding
his young Saddle/Arab "Tater" on the horse's first 50.

He didn't know who'd won the 100---but at Pickett Springs (87 miles,
just before the climb over Sherman's Gap) Joanne Sowa riding Sagamore
Houdini and Wendy Mattingly (sorry, don't have horse's name) were riding
together as they had been for some time. Pop said they left Pickett
around ten minutes to eight, which would put them over Sherman's before
dark. There were still ten horses within 20 minutes of each other at
that point, including Jeanne Waldron. About 36 or 37 horses started the
100. 

On the 50, riders encountered "severe conditions and dryness --
essentially no water between McCoys 12 miles out] and Fitchett's [26
miles] so you really had to husband what you had." Temps reached 90
degrees and relative humidity around 60% -- "not crushing" but still hot
enough that ride vet Kathy Eichelberger wouldn't let anyone leave
Liberty Hall (last vet check on both rides, I think) until each horse's
body temp was below 103 degrees F.

"Tater just went like a bird, he had never been more than 25 total...
I just rode at a fair pace what I thought he could 25 comfortably and
see what else there was. The winning time for the 50 was 7:47, and he
was 6th in 7:58 minutes. 

"From the 25-mile point on he was very steadily making ground on the
leaders all the way...the woman who won it is from Potomac (MD) -- a
foxhunter and eventer, started to do a little endurance and loved the
atsmosphere, a nice horse and a superior horsewoman...

"71 started and 45 finished the 50. But of the 26 nonfinishers, 21 were
over time so only 5 actually pulled. There were lots of starters who had
never done a 50 in the 50, they had done of our LD rides and moved up..."

Matthew was thrilled with his horse's performance -- especially for
Tater's smooth, generous gaits and way of going ("I like that in a horse
for an old man") and offered up one of his pearls: "Horses that don't
make you tired don't get tired themselves..."

Then he said he was heading out to give Tater a hug....

Hope someone will send us more results real soon...

Bobbie