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"97 Great Northern Connection by Myna Cryderman, ride manager
The 5th annual Great Northern Connection was a great success according to competitors. Some comments
heard from riders were: " It's incredible that you can have three challenging beautiful trails so dramatically
different within 40 miles of each other. It's such a fun, relaxed, well organized ride. The trails are so
beautiful. We're coming back again and bringing friends. It's really worth the long drive. It's great to be able
to do 200 miles of riding in three days without needing any crews." These may be some of the reasons why
this ride has grown every year since its inception, with people coming greater distance every year to attend.
This year saw competitors from Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Alberta, Saskatchewan and of
course from all over Manitoba.
Day 1 at Spruce Woods was the IAHA Region 17 championship. The winner and Best Conditioned was
Connie Farmer of Wichita, Kansas riding Czech. The challenging trail on this day featured a ride through
Manitoba's own desert. The riders felt they had been transported to the sand dunes of the Sahara at points
along the trail. Lory Sivertson of Rolette, North Dakota won the limited distance ride.
Day 2 at Souris Bend is a challenging trail along the Souris River valley. There are some hill climbs which
compare to anthing you'll find in Alberta according to riders from Edmonton. The many river crossings were
welcome as the day was hot. Trisha Dowling of Saskatoon riding AU Kari On won the 50 miler and was also
Best Conditioned. The limited distance was won by George Dorward of Winnipeg on Desert Sheik.
At Turtle Mountain on Day 3, the trails were easier but equally beautiful. The gently rolling trail passes
many lakes through the forest. Riders reported sighting moose, elk, deer and every small animal
imaginable. The 100 miler was completed by the winners Shirley Donahue of St Cloud Minnesota and her
granddaughter Jessie Vinkemeier in 16 hours and 38 mins. Jessie's horse Princess Megan was BC. The
50 miler was a 3 way tie between Wayne Delbeke of Edmonton on JR, Trisha Dowling of Saskatoon on AU
Kari On and Brain Zwaan of Saskatoon on Jazz. Wayne's horse JR was Best Conditioned. Lory Sivertson
was again the winner in limited distance.
Happy riders drove away saying they'd return next year."
Now for my side of the story. The Great Northern Connection is a series of three rides held at three different
sites that are about 30 miles apart, yet have completely different terrain. The series is managed by Myna
Cryderman, who does an incredible job of organizing the rides - she marks all the trails by herself, and
recruits a few friends and relatives the days of the rides. It's an incredible amount of work, but Myna does a
terrific job. The ride veterinarian was Dr Pat Ilott, and she did a wonderful job of getting us all through without
any major problems.
The weather was typical for end of June in Canada - that means a down parka in the morning, a tank top by
lunch and the down parka back on by 6 PM! But we do have 18 hours of daylight this time of year which is a
real bonus. I decided that it was time to put my Arabian, Cruise to the test and see if we could handle three
days of 50's. My husband (Brian Zwaan) was grounded, as his appaloosa strained his suspensory two
weeks ago, but he brought his saddle along "just in case" and it turned out to be good that he did! The
Spruce Woods trail was mostly sand tracks with a few miles of "rollercoaster" sand dunes, that were
deceptively hard on horses. Although the tracks looked like easy footing, the horses' hooves sunk 3 inches
with every step. A few horses that scrambled too hard in the sand developed minor lamenesses. But the
weather cooperated and all horses did well metabolically. This was the first time that I've used my VMAX
HRM in competition (my Christmas present from Brian) and I found it very helpful all weekend in monitoring
how my horse was doing. (Thanks Roger - for a really nice product). Cruise pulses down really fast, and I
could call for a check without getting out my stethescope. Although I had intended on being in the middle of
the pack, Cruise and I found ourselves behind the frontrunners and he settled into his own pace behind
them, so we finished 3rd, with a ride time of 5:15. Brain didn't stay grounded for long. Myna generously lent
her four year old Arab ("Opie") to Brian for the 25 mile ride, and Brian schooled him along well for a 5th place
finish in the LD.
After awards, everyone convoyed over to the Souris River Campsite. A very different trail this time. Mostly
woodsy tracks, but with lots of steep climbs. My birthday present to myself was a biothane breast collar
from Sportack, and it stood me in good stead on this ride (the buckles would give way on my old leather one
- I don't buy everything I hear about on this list, but so far I've made some great purchases). Good footing,
but lots of knee-knocking branches. Lots of river crossings - wide, belly deep, fast water, big rocks, but very
refreshing for the horses. After a couple of rider wrecks in the first few miles, Cruise and I somehow found
ourselves in front and stayed there for first place and the BC. Much slower trail with all the climbs and
crossings, so our ride time was 8 hours.
Another convoy over to the Turtle Mountain park. Again, completely different terrain. Mostly dirt roads and
snow mobile trails through the woods and by lakes, but no major climbs or water crossings. Wayne
Delbecke offered his wife Elaine's Arabian gelding "Jazz" to Brian to ride in the 50. So the three of us went
around together. Cruise was getting tired, and it showed as he interfered and cut his rear fetlocks, but he
was still game to go (rear ankle boots are on order!). He still pulsed down incredibly fast. Since we had the
only horses to do all three days of 50's, we decided that it was fitting to finish as a three way tie with a ride
time of about 6 hours. The BC went to Wayne's big gray Arabian gelding "JR" (Cruise had the same vet
score, but Wayne weighs more than I do!).
Brian and I had a really good time. The ride workers and the other riders were great people and we made a
lot of new friends. We really appreciated Wayne and Elaine Delbecke and Myna lending horses for Brian to
compete on. The trails were beautiful and challenging, and I'm really proud that my young horse was up for
the test! Myna Cryderman deserves a medal for all her hard work in putting on this series of rides. You can
bet that we'll be back next year! And those of you from the States should really consider booking this one on
your calendars - just across the border, the US dollar goes along way, and the weather is just right when it's
too hot to compete farther south.
Our next ride will be in the Kananaskis park, in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta on July 26. IMHO, the best
way to see the Canadian Rockies is from the back of a horse!
Cheers!
Trisha
Trisha Dowling, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM & ACVCP
Associate Professor, Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology
Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4
306-966-7359/FAX 306-966-7376
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