Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

DERBY DASH

Again, a bit late with the ride story, but these rides have been coming at us weekend after weekend, so have to go to as many as possible now, for in July and August my calendar is blank… Plenty of time for the horses and our pocket books to rest then.

This is one ride that we don't have to haul very far, as it is our own training ground at Cave Run Lake. 
This was Brenda Kenley's first attempt at managing an AERC ride and I have to say right off, that she took that bull and got him in hand right away.  Everything ran smooth as silk, even answered her prayers for good weather.  Sunny, and dry and the trail was in excellent condition. Those that didn't make this ride really missed a good one!  I'm hoping that Brenda and DBDR can do this again, as everyone I talked to wanted to come back.  Mary Lynn, Paige and I had the honor of marking the blue loop earlier in the week, and it took us nearly five hours!! To do fifteen miles of it… Still one of the riders announced that the blue loop wasn't marked as heavily as the orange and pink….Well, when there is no where else to go, how many ribbons does one need?… However, I do understand how important those confidence ribbons are, so I promise to use even more ribbon next year…

I was the 'in and out' timer the first day, so enjoyed sitting in the sun and watching all the riders come and go. A neat perspective.

I was stationed near my trailer, so it was easy to have Tom do his magic on our horses, who needed a reshoe in the worst way.  Thank you, Tom Keith.  You seem to always be there to save us.

Paige (my granddaughter) and her Mom, Amy (drafted crew) arrived after they had finished up with work and school (field day for Paige who had run so many yard dashes that I was wondering if she could ride her horse the next day). Not to worry, youth renews itself by the minute.

Slick is usually a lot to handle at the start, so we waited until most of the riders had crossed the road before we walked up. Slick was being very nice and I had just sighed a sigh of relief, when another rider appeared at a canter and buzzed by us…the end of a sane horse for me…But, for the first time in several rides, Slick did not buck….yeah…but boy was he charged. He was going to catch that cantering rider no matter what 'mom' had to say about it. I was able to hold him at a trot, mostly, but little Jack and Paige were cantering to stay up.  Not, in my opinion a great way to warm up… Well, we did catch 'that' rider, then overtook several more that were moving along at a nice trot, while we did our zoom, zoom thing.  Finally into the woods on a nice single track, surely Slick would settle into a steady pace, nope, jumped every rock, small dip and powered up every hill, snorting and blowing, tossing his head with anxiety…Got to the horse camp, spotted other riders ahead and was still in full go mode…Jack and Paige (who was still smiling, as she loves to canter) were keeping right up.  After a couple of small climbs and taking the fork to the blue loop, (which was a great disappointment to Slick) Slick allowed some riders to pass and we finally settled into a nice long trot.  Whew…nothing like the adrenaline of a start like that one.  We enjoyed the trail from the different perspective of competition, and were amazed that this time, we did the full 17 ½ miles in 2 hours and 31 minutes… Way behind the first ones in, but for us, it was a quick loop.

Both horses pulsed right down and we got to relax at the trailer while the horses chowed down and had a good rest.  Then back out for the shorter orange loop.  This time we started off like the QH part of Slick is, and actually had to do some urging on that gravel road.  This time both horses decided to have a nice long drink at the horse camp and settled into a nice going pace.  No hard climbs this time and we were in a pocket by ourselves, mostly. A few fifty milers passed us, without a problem and we had a wonderful ride.  Riding with a junior can be very refreshing, as they see things in such a new and wondrous way.  It reminds us oldies, why we are really out there.  The sun is brighter, the trees are greener, the water is actually fun to splash into, and our horses are our partners.
We were coming up to the final mile of gravel road into camp, when another fifty miler came by us. I had been dreading that last mile, thinking we would probably be dogging it. But the rider from TN on a beautiful gray Arab sailed by while we were at the last water hole, and we tucked in behind her several yards back.  Paige was quite impressed when that gray Arab sailed over a rather large log like a gazelle… It was a pretty picture, to see such grace.  Her presence picked our pace up and I had my hands full again as we came back into camp to the finish.  Again we pulsed right down and passed the vet exam.  Paige placed 10th!  Was she proud…!

What a great weekend!

Thanks to all who made it possible.  The Daniel Boone Distance Riders are so lucky to have so many members willing to work and volunteer to make our rides 'over staffed'…
Thanks to Kevin Sloan DVM who slept in a tiny tent, held up with his twitch handle…hard core outdoorsman for sure.  And of course the ever watchful, Ottis Smitt DVM, who kept us on track with our horses well being.

Thank you, Brenda for a job well done!

Janice & Slick, Paige & Jack