Well Amanda it seems no one else online has commented on this
so far so i'll take a shot. The ROC was THE premier Ride before FEI.
Anyone who had hopes and dreams could aspire to go to a ride that had all the
amenities you could only imagine, especially the glass of champagne at the
finish. I still have my glass emblazed w/ the ROC logo that i toast every
so often. There were horse trailers given to the winner and BC got big
stuff. I wore the Patagonia Jacket for years and that went to the Top 20.
Susan Gibson was the organizer/brainchild and had a magazine called Trail Blazer
that she could advertize and get sponsors (Because, its expensive to put on a
premier ride). The entry fee was high in regards to a normal ride but i
feel as if it was some of my best money spent. The horse and rider had to
qualify on a certain amount of miles in the 100 and some had to be in the Top
Ten. It was not out of reach because as you see now there are some 100's
that only have a TT finishing. The ROC always had the best Vets and
the best competitors and Susan was one of the first to offer Team Awards, plus
the course always changed and what i find most interesting about Endurance is
the opportunity to see new and varied terrain from horseback, which is a
way to see the world most people can only imagine and dream. There can
always only be one winner, so the rest of us have to figure out a way to
win...mine was seeing new space and meeting new people. Rides like the ROC
take a toll and until you become a RM you do not know what goes on behind the
scenes and how to keep all those balls you are juggling from coming tumbling
down. Susan probably made some enemys along the way. But they were
not the riders and i think it unimportant to get into that. She took a
sabbatical and wanted to redo to ROC last year in the spring and got
sanctioning, but for some reason she wanted to do it in the fall and that
conflicted with other rides and she was denied sanctioning by the AERC
Board. Because it needed that for people interested in FEI, points,
etc...she cancelled it. Where it is now i do not know. If Susan
would pick a date in advance and keep her accepted AERC Sanctioning it would be
well attended and since nobody gets rich in this enterprise she would be doing a
service to those that enjoy 100's and aspire towards them and it would help in
developing a National Team. I look at it this way. It was a Great
Ride and those memories will live with me forever. Thank you Susan, tom
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