Can anyone give
me idea where I can find the total results for Fort Howes?? I want to see
everyone who finished not just the "top 15" !!!! I think all who
finished should be announced and all I can find is the top 15.
What about "To finish is to win."
Here is my Fort
Howes "To finish is to win " ride story . This was my first ride on my own bred
and raised endurance horse , CW Ruffian who I helped pull out of the birth sack
a little over 6 years ago . Ruffy's dam Sweet Seo who was raced on the track was
lent to me by Ann Sheridan so I could bred her to a Bezatal son stallion in
CO by the name of Bezibn owned by Leslie Miller . Early in the
morning of April 18 , 1997 I went out and found Seo in the process of
delivering her foal , in a few minutes CW Ruffian emerged and I helped her out
of her sack and into my life . A bright red chestnut filly with a big blaze face
and 3 white socks to her knees . We live on a ranch her in SW MT and Ruff was
turned out to grow up with the dude string , bringing her in a few months a year
to learn a few manners and keep her wild side tuned down . Ruff learned how to
cross creeks , avoid bogs , run up and down sagebrush hills all with her buddies
out in the pastures . In the late summer of her 4 year old year Ruff was sent to
a friend of mines place to start her under saddle , after 30 days riding I
picked her up and continued riding her all fall and into the early winter months
when she was again turned out for the winter . Brought her in again in the
spring and just trail rode her the entire year of her 5 year old year . ( Here
where we live the snow gets too deep in the winter to ride so our riding season
is usually between April and early November) This spring we started getting
ready to go to her first endurance ride and chose the Otto , WY ride on may 24th
to be our first one as it is a small quiet ride , 10 days before the ride Ruff
ran into a pole that I keep across a gate to keep her out of a sheep
lean-to and out of the sheep's feed bruising her shoulder enough that I had to
put her on bute for a few days and forget about the Otto ride . The maddening
part was what the pole had been there Ruff's entire 6 years and she had never
attempted to get in the lean-to until now :-( So after a week off we again
started to ride this time setting our sites on the Fort Howes ride in Ashland MT
. Fort Howes is a great ride , beautiful country , well marked trails ,
excellent hosts and a huge staff of volunteers that make this ride run smoothly
. It is also a AHA championship ride and an FEI ride so quite alot of commotion
going on all the time . Ruff and I headed out Thursday afternoon and drove to
Gardiner MT , spending the night there and picking up my friend Ellen Snoeyenbos
who is riding Ruff's 1/2 brother CW Diamond Jim (Bo) for me while she is waiting
for her youngster to grow up . Friday morning we met another friend Louie Rod
with her horse Willow in Livingston and caravanned over to the ride site driving
in rain most of the way . We pulled into Fort Howes around 3:30 in the afternoon
, I had rented a set of powder river panels from the Stevens so I would not have
the headache of worrying about Ruff getting out of her corrals and also letting
me get a good nights sleep before the ride started . I was happy I
had because I saw 3 horses either escape from their riders or electric
corrals alone on Friday evening and go running thru camp. I was worried that
this ride might be too hectic for a new horse but Ruff seemed to take everything
in stride , checking everything out but staying calm and eating all her food and
drinking well . Ruff vetted thru the preride vet check with straight A's and a
resting pulse of 44 so not too bad for all the excitement going on around her .
We had vetted in between rain storms and had gotten camp set up as well as we
could trying to stay dry . Ruffy I believe was the only horse in camp not
wearing a blanket because that was something that I had neglected to teach
her before coming to this ride but living at over 6,500 ft in elevation has its
advantages as even with the wind and the rain it was warmer here at the ride
than at home in the mtns at night where we are still freezing at nights , so I
would just make sure to have her saddled and walking around at least an hour
before the ride started to warm her muscles up well . At the ride meeting Friday
night Jan announced that we would start ( 50 milers) at 8:00 a.m. because of the
weather conditions so it would be a nice relaxing morning with no rush . After
some visiting with friends that evening I got her 4:00 a.m. feeding
ready to give her and made sure her hay bag and water buckets were filled . Now
to try and get some sleep before the big day tomorrow .
