Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

As Deb Ambrose mentioned in her story, it was a
scortcher in Augusta, GA for the Liberty Run 3 day
Pioneer.  Lara, Dody Sutton, and myself arrived about
noon on Saturday.  Due to work and money we only
planned on riding the 55 on Sunday.  We were worried
about getting a spot to camp since this is a huge
ride.  Luckily quite a few people rode on friday and
left on saturday, so we had no problem finding a spot.
My horse, owned by Jen Smith, arrived shortly after
we did.  I was to ride KLS Kristal Bey...aka...Pschyo
Pony....a rather goofy tall 18y/o flea-bitten gelding.
I usually do not ride the day before, but I thought
it would be good to get a feel for Kristal.  He's a
bits spooky and lacks confidence, but I knew he'd be
alright.

At 6am Lara and I started the 55 at a reasonable pace
and kept a trot for pretty much the whole first loop
of 15 miles.  Even at 6am it was quite warm and humid.
I'd heard many stories from people who rode the days
before about how tough the heat and humidity had been.
This loop was primarily on wide sandy roads and some
wood trails.  Both horses vetted through great after
the first loop.

Second loop was another 15miles.  This trail was on
more narrow trails than the others and mostly in the
shade of the woods.  It also had some deeper sand. 
Lara got some bad runner type cramps so we had to walk
a bit so she could work them out.  This was only the
start of my wife's rough day.  We finished this 15
mile loop a tad slower than the prior loop and vetted
through again in great shape.

Starting the third loop, another 15miles, my wife Lara
was looking and feeling worse.  A couple miles out she
lived up to the slogan "Ride 'til ya puke" and boy did
she ever.  She decided to head back before she got too
deep into the loop.  Since my horse was not very
confident, all I could do was walk for a while and
hope for a group to come along.  A group did come
along and Kristal happily trotted with them.  This
awesome group consisted of Roxanne Ciccone, Holly
Rogers, Brenda (can't remember the last name), and a
guy doing his first 50 on Roxanne's 19y/o arab. 
Roxanne and Holly were on their third day of riding on
the same horse and I believe Brenda on her second day
with the same horse.  I really enjoyed riding and
talking with them.  We took our time and made sure our
horses were taken care of.  This loop did not have
much shade and it was the hottest part of the day.  A
VERY miserable loop.  We made it and I vetted through
with my 18y/o a minute or two ahead of the others.  My
wife looked better when I got back.  She pretty much
got rid of what caused her to get sick......Gatorade.

Since I was out before the others on the last 10mile
loop I decided to walk Kristal in hand to keep him and
myself moving despite a blister on my foot.  I knew
the others would soon come along and they did by the
time I was a couple miles out.  Roxanne's 19y/o horse
was not with them since he ended up a little off and
pulled.  So it was just me and the 3 wimmin;)  We
trotted as much as we could, especially through the
sun to the next shady part.  In the last mile or so
the 3 set a good trot back to the finish and got ahead
of me a bit.  This put me last and rounded out the
ride as the turtle!!!  Kristal vetted through great
one last time with a ride time of 10h8min and got me
my first patch of 250miles!!!

I would like to thank Jen Smith for bringing Kristal
for me to ride.  Jen tied for first with Yvette
Vinton.  So her horses got first and last!!  Also a
big thanks to Roxanne, Holly, Brenda, and their horses
for giving Kristal the confidence to carry on.

Considering the extreme heat and humidity all weekend,
no horse had to be jugged.  Riders took the utmost
care for their ponies, some to the point of forgetting
to take care of themselves.  And a HUGE congrats to
Claude Brewer who passed the 9000 mile mark with his
completion on Sunday.

Next stop.....Pyramid Challenge at Kentucky Horse Park
where I'll be back on Knight of Morocco.  Though I
really wish I were going to OD.

Tim
North Carolina

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In my experience (22 year worth) most endurance riders are great people who
will go out their way to help and be friendly.
~  Laura Hayes

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