Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Folks,
I've been getting lots of queries about the 100 Mile Armadillo Ride last
Saturday and thought I might as well write up a complete report.  
The day was a wonderful day... weather a little muggy to start (at 4:30 AM),
but some light rain later on helped relieve what could have been a hot day.
The trail was very well marked, Linda/Bo Parrish once again did a great job
of laying out the trail, & of course not only hats off to them, but a huge
crew of friends and neighbors that always pitch into help before, during and
after the ride.
The vetting was very good & ample (which is very, very good)... not much
waiting in lines, and with over 100 starters that was a thought on
everyone's mind.

Cypress Trails started 6 100 Mile horses... the largest group of 100 milers
we have started in a while.  And for sure the largest group of
"barefooters".  We've always been nervous about this trail since a good deal
of it had been run on gravel road in the past years.  This year there was
still about 40 miles of roads, but the rockiest ones were eliminated, so we
took a depth breath & let our ponies go 'roun.

My dear friend Joaquin Avellan (Venezuela) was riding DJB Tiffany, a nice
mare he had won a 50 on a few weeks back, little Ashley Koehler (13 yrs) was
doing she & her mount DJB Ginger's 2nd 100 (1st year rider),  Laura
Stoicescu (Romania) & Texas AM (LOL), riding DJB Setareh Banoo, Kanako
Hayashi (Japan) & DJB Wersus, Rana Joy Glickman (Californian) on DJB Fox
Fire and myself on DJB Argonne, (his first 100).  I'm giving you detail
names/countries/ages in part, due to the ongoing discussion on ridecamp
regarding experience, etc.

Re: Mentoring... I considered myself a mentor to each of these riders... at
least at some time in the past.... Laura S qualifies as a high mileage rider
now, and her mount has 1200 miles (several 100s).... Still we rode together
and morally supported each other throughout the day regarding speed, grazing
timeouts, and electrolytes stops.

This was Joaquin's third or fourth 100, but the first since 2001.  He was a
bit rusty, but none-the-less in superb physical and mental state and
absolutely ready to tackle the 100 miler.  Unfortunately, his mare developed
a susupensory issue & he pulled at 55.  Which brings me to Rana... Joaquin's
friend who had only been introduced to me on the Tuesday evening before when
she flew into Houston for 2 1/2 days of training before she did a 100 mile
race.  Rana was an experienced horsewoman, BUT... she had never heard of
Endurance until a week or so ago.

The rest of our band was made up of Kanako (who hopes to ride for Japan at
the World Championship) and did her 1st 100 exactly one year ago.  She's
definitely one of the graduates, and I didn't worry, when I saw her move off
at her on pace at about 60 miles into the race, while I stayed back with the
1st time riders and horses.  Unfortunately, Murphy's law struck when she
hooked up with recent Pan Am finisher Mark McBride/AJ Wildfyre & Jeanne
Wunderlich, and they all got about 30 minutes lost around 75 miles.  Ughhhh.

Even though Rana had had a pretty intense endurance clinic the 3 days
before, I would have to say her main learning curve happened right there at
the race.  Beside myself, Laura and even young Ashley (top Jr. Central
Region) took turns guideing and coaching Rana along.  Even Joaquin added a
colorful twist when he was working on the "mental" aspect with her, first on
trail, and later as he crewed us into the wee hours...

And of course, speaking of crew, hats off to not only our crew "Cowboy", but
the Russells, and all those other 100 mile "abused" crew folks that were
running the highways at 1 & 2 AM in the morning.

Now... we did have to creep occasional on a bad rocky area, (remember I live
in sand, so I can't condition much for the hard stuff), and we did have to
creep a couple of times for Rana... (can you imagine starting with a 100
miler as your first Endurance ride?) I told our little troupe on a 12:30 AM
crew stop... all things contributed to a perfect pace for our final group of
four.  The horses all felt good, energetic and were eating and drinking like
folks at a country picnic... as they did all day long.  

We finished 3,4,5,6,7.   Two hours behind the winner, and 1 hour behind 2nd
place... ride time around 16 hours.  The point I'm making, is with properly
conditioned horses, and properly coached people, you can make wonderful
things happen.  There's not a lot of "Rana's" in this world... but she would
die if she had to ride "x" amount of LD rides before she could really
compete.  & yet, there are people I have started, (and don't particularly
want to claim) that have been coached for 5 years and still don't have a
"clue" about how to really ride an Endurance Ride.  Now I haven't given up
on them... but I know I can't always be responsible for them either.

Yes, in case you are wondering, I do feel like I'm under the microscope
right now... & Yes, obviously I'm still riding and competing and taking my
usually healthy sized group along to the ride..  Besides the 100's we
finished 1 50, & 4 25 milers too... Oops, I think two of those were
overtime, but let's call them my "token"   "smell the roses" riders... <BG>
they did have a marvelous time.

Endurance, just like it is, is my love and my passion.  Yes we can always
improve the education of our riders and hope it sticks... but I think we
also need to know, that no matter what precaution and safety factors are
implemented... there will always be horse's deaths to a certain extent.
It's the nature of the beast.  

I know I'm risking a flame here... but I feel responsible to a degree that
ride camp/aerc forum is in the state it is in with all these heavy
discussions about how to "change" the sport... Folks, I watched the 1986
North American Championship on video last nite... WE HAVE CHANGED.... As I
watched what we considered the elite riders of the day (dressed really
funny) riding with their heels up, and unlevel stirrups... many with no
helmets, and all sorts of tack & clothing assortment, mounted many times, on
too skinny of a horse, with a marginal fitted saddle...  I realized that
...YES... we have changed, and it has been for the better.  

AERC is getting better, and more educated all the time.  Don't be
discouraged, and don't rush into radical decisions based on hysteria.
Realize that four horses (at least that we know of) have died as a result of
Endurance riding since Adios on Sept. 13.  All from a myriad of causes...
all being investigated to see if there is any kind of a common thread.  The
Welfare of the Horse Committee is at work, and working hard.  

Let them do their job and you guys take a breather and go have fun and ride
your horses... we're all stressing way too much with all of this.
Happy Trails
darolyn






Darolyn Butler-Dial & Mark Dial 
     CYPRESS TRAILS EQUESTRIAN CENTER & HORSEMAN VIDEO SHOWCASE
            Proven Endurance Horses for Sale or Lease.
Adventure Trail Rides * Boarding * Training*Lessons *Parties
Represents:   Sharon Saare Saddles, Professional Choice, Advanced Biological
Concepts,  & KM (Human Electrolytes)
ADVOCATE :THE WHOLE HORSE TRIM (Barefootin")     
21415 Cypresswood Dr.  Humble, Texas 77338  
       Ph:  281 446 7232    Fax 281 446 0113  Toll Free (800) 228 8768  
     e mail: darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx>
www.horseridingfun.com

<<attachment: winmail.dat>>