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AERC Pre-Registration discount for entries received by August 20.
FEI CEI***/** entry closing date is August 17. (cancellations will be fully refunded if notification of cancellation is received by Aug 24). |
All entries include:
Meals prepared by The Cantering Chef |
The Course
will consist of flat and moderately rolling trails and jeep roads. Special features include sections of the Oregon Trail, and along the Snake River canyon. Footing is generally very good, with some sandy sections, and a few rocky stretches. This will be a fast course, and it will probably be hot (average daytime highs in the mid to upper 80's), dry and sunny. We will have plenty of water on the course. There will be two holds out of camp. We will have food and water for riders and support crew at the out-vet check. There are some trees for shade at the vetcheck, but you may want to set up extra shade. This year we are getting record rainfalls, the trail should be much less dusty! ~~~> If you do not want to ride during the heat of the day, you can always relax during the afternoon and resume the ride in the evening - we will dot the course with glow sticks, and night riding in the desert can be a wonderful experience. You will have 24 hours to finish the course, it is not a difficult course.
There is ample water at basecamp for horses, riders and rigs. There is also a accessible RV septic dump. We will provide straw for horse bedding and dust control if desired. Both grass and alfalfa hay will be provided during the ride at both vet locations. Full trail descriptions and maps may be found: Here.
News/Update: July 29
Don't forget to PreRegister! (forms are at
here - please preregister even if you just 'think' you
might come. We'll refund in full if you cancel within a week. This is a 'big
deal' ride so we really need to know how many riders and diners there will be. It's
an extra $20 at the door if you don't preregister. Dinner, lunch at the
ranch vetcheck, and awards breakfast come with the ride entry. Extra dinners
and breakfasts (crew, etc) need to be purchased. Plus there's a Thursday
night 'Wine and Cheese Social' get-together sponsored by Specialized
Saddles. We'll have our usual eclectic collection of music and videos for
entertainment.
We're offering both 100 and 50 mile distances this year and FEI divisions in both distances too. Why ride the FEI 50? You get to spend an extra $20 and get a special award (rocks are not being ruled out) and say 'I rode FEI'. But - to ride either of the FEI divisions you need to be a member of USEF, your horse must have an International or National passport, and your horse must be current on the flu vaccines (initial series and 6 month booster). Plus you must ride at weight - 165 lbs ... I think.
We are making a few minor changes in the trail, always searching for the best footing, and avoiding some sections that got washed out. There will be less road this time, and riders will only have to do that nasty 1 mile road section out of camp twice. You'll be finishing on the road behind camp instead of on the nasty road section. And there's hardly any dust this year - the floods washed it all away... The vet/trot area will be closer to the rigs in camp, and you'll be able to crew anywhere you want - should be easier for riders and crews this year.
Plus we're adding 5 miles. I've measured this course twice this spring (seemed awful fast last year) and with my ATV got 96.2 miles one time, and 94.1 the other (different direction, and different combinations of repeat legs, and I ATV'd a section of trail that I couldn't access last year). So... we're adding 5 miles.
There's enough rock out there that I recommend padding - if you're going slow it's not a big deal, you can slow down for the rocky sections, but if you're trying to make time it would be a good idea to pad. Just make sure you use good thick pads (this country is hard on pads) and good packing (I prefer the equipak products).
This is not a hard 100, the biggest challenge could be the heat (could be hot and dry, could be hot and humid if we get a thunderstorm - normal high for this day is 85 degrees... but we all know that weather in the northwest is never normal) - but you'll have 24 hours to finish, so if you just intend to finish, plan on taking it easy during the afternoon - it cools down nice here in the evenings and the trails are pretty easy to follow in the dark, plus we'll have plenty of glowsticks.
This is a very competitive ride - but we really try to make sure everybody has fun too. See ya there!
Steph
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Contact Information 15401 Bates Creek Rd Oreana, ID 83650 Phone: 208 834 2788 Fax: 209 755 8107 Email: steph@endurance.net |
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