Three inches of rain Friday night put pleantly of trail water on the
usually dry trail, which was a big contributor to the very high competition
ratio (16 of 18) in the 100. Steve Rojek won for the second year in a row
on Hawk by about 30 minutes. Valerie Kanavy came sporting a new cast on
the broken leg she got from trying to jog on ice, so her daughter rode
Cash.
But the real story of the FOF lay back in the pack. Mary Ellen Shoemaker
stated doing endurance seriously a two years ago. She found an experienced
horse, Rush Creek Quick, wasting away in a pasture. Quicky was nothing but
skin and bones but she liked him. It seems that someone had just thrown the
poor horse away to die. He had done two 100's, one being the Tevis. She
bought Quicky and starting the process of rehabiliation. In December my
wife, Kathy, told Mary Ellen that she should do the 100 and FOF. She had
only done four rides and was petrified by the idea. But we worked on her
and I told her I would ride with her the whole way if she would do it.
(She even made me put a glo stick on the back of my helmet so she wouldn't
lose me).
In '92 Hurricane Andrew ravaged South FL. Dian Ebel's horse Eban was a
victom of Andrew with a sever trama from flying debris. Dian tried severl
rides the next year only to have Eban come up lame. She was told by her
vet that Eban could not do endurance any longer - just pleasure trail
riding. But Dian just kept riding and working with him. So here Dian was
in the FOF 100 with Eban sponsoring a junior, Kim Anderson - Ken's
daughter.
On Feb between 4 and 4:30 AM Truman Prevatt, Mary Ellen Shoemaker, Dian
Ebel and Kim Anderson crossed the finish line with sound and happy (but
maybe a bit hungry) horses.
To finishe is to win, but sometimes it is a lot more.
Truman
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The race is not always to the swift, but to those that keep running.
Truman and Mystic "The Horse from HELL" Storm
and Danson "The Demon in Training" Flame
prevatt@lds.loral.com - Sarasota, Florida
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