[RC] FW: Heather Reynolds Wins Fort Howes 100-Mile Endurance Ride - Steph Teeter
Steph
HEATHER BERGANTZ REYNOLDS WINS FORT
HOWES 100-MILE RIDE
Ashland, Montana (June 7, 2002): Heather Bergantz Reynolds, riding
Crystals Charm, shaved an amazing 2 hours off the previous course record in
the Fort Howes 100-mile endurance ride Friday. Jan Stevens, the ride manager,
said, We had some of the best endurance racers in the
U.S. attending
this years 100-mile. I thought the course record would be broken. I never
guessed it would be by this large a margin.
The Fort
Howes 100-mile Endurance Ride is
held on the Circle Bar Ranch (20 miles South of Ashland) and on
Custer National
Forest land. The start of the race was 4:30 in the morning. Fifty-seven horses and
riders were entered. There were five mandatory rest stops for the horses
totaling 3 and one-half hours. Heather crossed the finish line at 4:57 pm for a total ride time of 8 hours and
57 minutes.
Heather is from San Jose,
California and said that she had expected
the course to be more difficult. I was just hoping to average 10 miles an
hour. Most of the course is wide open and you can really move, she said. She
had one scare during a hold period. She had passed the veterinary check and
was preparing to leave when she discovered her horse was missing one shoe. She
had to get this repaired before she went on and lost some time doing
so.
Heather is no stranger to endurance riding. In her 14 years of
endurance riding she has had many successes. Last year she won the Pan Am
endurance championship on the same horse which she calls by the nickname
Red. She was the AERC National Endurance Junior Champion.
Placing second in Fridays
Fort
Howes 100-mile race was Cia Reis
riding Wave. Cia had a ride time of only 9 hours and 18 minutes. She has
been riding in endurance races for 10 years. Cia was the U.S. National
Champion in the 50-mile endurance last year. Cia said, I really wanted to win
this race. Wave really rocks going down hill but is slow going uphill. There
were three of us, Heather, Valerie (Kanavy), and I, who were running pretty
much together. Then in that last 15-mile loop Heather kept up the pace and my
horse started to get a bit tired I wont push my horse.
Cia said she had trouble getting control of her horse at the start and
by the time she got to the first hold she was back in fifteenth place. She
worked at slowly gaining on the field.
Cia lives in Pennsylvania
and says this is her first ride in the West. She said it was a lovely ride,
well-marked, and plenty of water. The trails were mostly rarely used
two-tracks or rutted cow paths. She thought the competition was fierce because
this was the largest selection ride in the
U.S. this
year. A lot of top endurance riders were here today because they wanted to
qualify to represent the
U.S. in the
World Competition in
Spain in
September, she said.
Valerie Kanavy, from
Virginia, came in third with a very good ride
time of 9 hours and 25 minutes. She was riding Shahdon. This was only his third 100 so I was
very proud of his performance, she said. Valerie has won the gold medal in
two World Endurance competitions.
Other top finishers were: Fourth: Lois McAfee from Indiana riding
Gallant Legacy, fifth: Carol Giles riding SAR Tiki Stranger, Sixth: Jan
Worthington riding Brown R. Timothy, and seventh: Candy Barba riding
Zalmara Din. At 10:00 pm there
were still 10 riders out on the course. Riders not completing the course in 24
hours are disqualified. The ride management put glow sticks out on the last
loop so that riders can continue to follow the course after dark.
Friday evening was topped off when three hundred people were treated to
a pork roast dinner. Four whole pigs were roasted in a pit, then dug out of
the pit and carried to the dinner tents with a back hoe. The pork was served
with scalloped potatoes, tossed salad, and apple crisp for desert. One of the
entrants played and sang country music for the enjoyment of all.
The Fort Howes Endurance Rides continue on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturdays rides will be an Open AERC 25-mile limited distance ride and an
Open AERC 50-mile ride. As of Friday evening there were 30 entrants in the
25-mile ride and 41 entrants in the 50-mile ride.
Three photographs are being sent as email attachments
in support of this news release. The photos should be credited to Fritz
Harshbarger. Any public relations correspondence should be directed to fthowesride2002@xxxxxxxxx
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