Leatherwood Ride (Whew)

[Howard4567@aol.com]

Hey y'all.  Just finished 25 miles at Leatherwood and I feel like I did 
eighty.  Up, down, Up, down, crazy switchback, then up again.  Steep, steep, 
steep. Rugged, rugged, rugged. Needed a breast collar and a crouper just to 
keep the saddle somewhere on his back.  Just a total killer ride.  You've got 
to try it next year.  And to my fellow Florida crackers, deep sand does not 
train for hills (mountains).  Only hills train for hills.  My horse was 
blowing harder than Monica most of this ride.  (sorry for that, especially to 
my horse)  

This was Leatherwood's first endurance ride and a lot of the mid-eastern 
endurance riders were telling me it was just as difficult as Old Dominion and 
makes Biltmore look like a cakewalk.  Keep it in mind if you want a real 
challenge this time next year.  They are going to try and open it up to more 
riders next time.  Had problems with camping space.  I rented a cabin that 
was only a couple miles from ride camp, kept my horse in a beautiful barn and 
spent most of my time in a jacuzzi drinking beer before the ride.  Maybe 
that's why I came in 18th.  After this Florida summer I'm giving up beer, 
jogging ten miles a day and working out on that stairmaster (after I take it 
out of the box it came in and put it together).  Wife, please get up off the 
floor and quit laughing.

First class facility, I know cause I don't have any.  Even if you don't enter 
the ride you can rent a stall for your horse, and camp out or rent a cabin.  
It's got to be the best area around for training your horse.  Being a 
lowlander it convinced me why some of the top riders come from or train in 
mountain country.

BTW, for those of you who don't consider 25 to be an endurance run (I 
apologize to open up this can of worms again) I really want YOU to do 
Leatherwood's 25 and then come up to me and say that doesn't qualify.  You 
got to consider the terrain.  In the lowlands 25 is limited.  In the moutains 
I'm not so sure.

cya,
Howard (Rookie Mountain Rider)



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