Oh, yes, the event. The ride is put on by the Quicksilver Endurance
riders, and was managed by Brian Reeves and Val Weiser, who are both
Internet endurance buddies. Judith Ogus was there working, and special
accolades go to the hard working Mary Thompson Moore for being ride
secretary. The infamous Maryben Stover was there working the ride,
continuing her usual barrage of Appaloosa Jokes. The ride was a carbon
copy of the famous Shine and Shine rides put on by Becky Hart in the
winter months, which made me a little disappointed. The last time I
rode this ride it did a big, neat loop through a little town and out
away from the Quicksilver park. This year (as well as the SASO rides)
the ride just did two loops of the same roads. Poor Shatta- he did all
three SASO rides earlier this year, and was in no danger of getting lost
at any time. I rode the ride from start to finish with my barn buddy
and conditioning partner Sally Abe on her little gelding Ahkiba, also
known as Akebono. Judy waited until the end and rode a controlled ride
on her fire breathing Appy. Also in attendance was our long time good
friend and endurance mentor Marilynn R. Russell riding her feisty mare
Cresta. She also had her old retired gentleman Centur out for the 25
with first time rider Jane Hart on board. Lots of the regular Nor Cal
gang were in attendance- Julie and Bob Shur, Beth and Scott Wachenheim,
Jazon Wonders, Becky Glazer, Teresa Cross, Jamie Kerr (riding a MULE!),
Diane and Jack Enderle, and to top off the list was none other than
Becky Hart, riding none other than Rio. Yes, they finished. There are
no words to describe that horse. At the last vet check Shatta was
grazing on some hay when Becky and Rio walked up. Rio dropped his nose
to eat, and rubbed noses with my horse for a second. I told Shatta "If
ever there was a nose for you to rub on, that's the one I want you to
rub."
The ride started out with a genuine trailer rodeo. The ride management
had to drive about 40 rigs from the start and park them in a parking lot
the size of an average mini-mart. They got them in there, but opening
tack doors was interesting. We walked the 2 miles of controlled start
to the park, where we took off up the big hill. Then it was just a lot
of good (although a little hard) roads for the entire event. Head vet
Nancy Elliot did a great job of keeping 80 some odd horses moving
through the checks with only a couple other vets. There were no
treatments, and most of the pulls were rider option or lameness. Scott
W pulled his big horse at check three since he was a little concerned
about his recovery. Poor old Centur came up a little lame very early in
the ride, so Marilyn pulled him.
One problem came up when someone sabotaged the course markings at a
point where riders had to make a turn on the first loop only, and not
the second. Two riders need special mention when they missed the first
check, rode about 10 extra miles, turned around, rode back, and
completed the ride. Just think- the first ever Quicksilver Fall classic
70! A lot of people could do this ride blindfolded, but the course was
well marked for the first timers. One funny thing- Judy was trotting
along the trail when she came across a runner with his dog, who turned
out to be Bill, one of her office mates at work! Judy said: "Bill?"
Bill said: "Judy?" They introduced their pets to each other and went on
their way.
How did it go for us? Perfect! I don't think I can describe my ride
better than that. Shatta was ultra strong all day, he drank as well as
he ever has, he ate well all day, he did not spook at anything, he even
let me give him his electrolytes a few times (which he really, really
hates). Sally and I just bopped along all day at a nice moderate pace,
finishing in just under 6 hours for 14th and 15th place. The best news
was at the finish, where Shatta trotted perfectly sound- so much for
the stone bruise! Judy came bounding across the line at 3:30 or so
with her War Pony still looking fresh. She and Becky Glazer rode a lot
of the last loop together and had a great time talking about all the fun
rides those two have had. Marilyn made it in with Cresta- there was no
question when she arrived, since Centur started bellowing like a
Canadian moose when he saw his stable mate show up! The ride provided a
very nice BBQ dinner, finishers got a tee-shirt, and I even won a cool
little hand made ceramic plate for taking first middle weight. I'm not
sure of the number of starters/finishers, or top ten, so I'll let Val
post that info. Everyone felt so happy for Judy and her spotted
speedster! It's nice (once again) to have him back in the completion
category.
Thanks for the ride, Quicksilver guys and ride volunteers! Next stop-
Death Valley!!!!!!
Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca.
Shatta- Who has gone around this 20 some-odd-mile loop EIGHT times now
this year, and was still happy to sail along. Is that some sort of
record?