[RC] FW: Dial and Frost Become U.S. IAHA 50-mile Champs - Steph Teeter
Dial and Frost win IAHA 50-Mile National Championships at Fort Howes
Ride
Ashland,
Montana (June 9, 2002): Sunday the U.S. National Champions for the
IAHA (International Arabian Horse Association) were determined at the Fort
Howes Endurance Rides. Brittney Dial is the U.S. National IAHA 50-mile
endurance Champion for the pure bred division. Karen Frost is the U.S.
National IAHA 50-mile endurance Champion for the half-arab division. Brittney
also was the top IAHA junior rider. The 50-mile ride held Sunday was a
combined IAHA event and an AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) event.
Karen Frost finished first in the overall event and was the AERC 50-mile
winner.
This years Fort Howes Endurance Rides were held over a three-day
period (June 7, 8, and 9). During the first two days the weather was basically
clear for the riders. However, late Saturday afternoon the weather changed
it rained over an inch and it hailed. Dry and dusty conditions changed to wet
and muddy conditions. However, by Sunday morning the course was mostly firm
and good for riding. Only a few course changes had to be made for safety
reasons. Sundays 50-mile race started at 8
am and the temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thirty-four riders started the 50-mile AERC ride, 18 in the IAHA pure
bred division, and 5 in the IAHA half-arab division. Of the 34 starters, 27
finished. Surprisingly, 4 of the top 10 finishers were junior
riders.
On Saturday morning there had been almost 200 horse trailers in the
Fort
Howes camping area. By dinner time
Sunday all but about 30 of those horse trailers had left for the drive home.
Dinner was served for 65 people it consisted of pork, potato salad, tossed
salad, and chocolate cake.
IAHA and AERC officials gave out the awards right after dinner. The
Fort
Howes ride is blessed with generous
sponsors. Top ten winners walked away from the awards with their arms full.
Karen Frost rode a horse she calls Fox to victory. The horses real
name is Abu Ja Ben Ishma. Karen
said, We bought the horse for ranch horse, but that work was too slow for
Fox. Hes 14 years old and hes a prairie horse. I just let him do what he
wanted to do in the ride. Karen has been endurance riding for 9 years and
hails from Jordon,
Montana. She has won 5 Mountain Region
rides but didnt compete for the last two years. Three years ago, while she
was in a competitive ride, she was kicked by another horse and her leg was
broken. It took her two years to recover well enough to ride again. This was
her first IAHA ride ever.
This years Fort Howes Endurance Rides drew an unusually large field of
entrants. The rides determined, among other things, the 2002 International
Arabian Horse Associations Champion endurance Arabian horse in both the
100-mile and the 50-mile ride. Also, this was only one of a few races in the
U.S. which
will determine who qualifies for the World Endurance Championships in
Spain in
September.
The entrants in the 50-mile ride are given 12 hours to complete the
course. Entrants in the 100-mile ride are given 24 hours to complete the
course. A ride time of 11 hours is considered a very good time in the
Fort
Howes 100-mile ride. With the top
level entrants this year 6 horses completed the course with a ride time under
11 hours.
Horses must make mandatory, periodic stops during ride. During these
rest stops a veterinary checks the horse for soundness and metabolic fitness.
If a horse passes the veterinary check it can proceed on the next leg of the
ride.
The Fort Howes Endurance Rides are held about 25 miles South of
Ashland, Montana, off Otter Creek
Road. They are hosted by Bill and Jan Stevens on
the old Circle Bar Ranch. The rides traverse their property in the valley
and most of the course is in the hills of the
Custer National
Forest above their ranch. Much of the course loops
around interesting rock formations and follow Native American trails and game
trails. No part of the trail is paved. The rides include 100-mile, 50-mile and
25-mile rides.
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