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[RC] Owyhee Rides - Steph Teeter

First - thanks to all the folks that volunteered at our past rides (Arabian
Nights and Owyhee High Country). We couldn't do these rides without the help
of the endurance community and greatly appreciate it!! Also thanks to all
the riders that came to ride the Owyhee trails.

Arabian Nights.  We had over 80 entries at Arabian Nights (at least twice
what I was expecting) and despite the heat (it was really really hot)
everybody was gracious and I think had a good time. We try really hard to
make these events fun for everybody. The FEI stuff at Arabian Nights was a
lot of work, and seemed to add a significant level of stress and overhead
this year, I can't honestly say that it was pure pleasure for ride
management... But if the US is to compete at the International level, then
we need to have the FEI rides in the US for riders to qualify and learn the
ropes. Arabian Nights was very competitive, very fast, and very close to a
championship ride in that respect. We had good vets, tight veterinary
control, and plenty of officials making sure folks didn't forget that this
was FEI. Good learning experience for new FEI participants in that respect.
And I do want to thank the Officials that came and worked the rides. We pay
their travel and housing expenses, but most of the FEI official still do
this as volunteer work, it takes time and commitment, and just like the
rides - we need the officials and vets willing to raise the bar and work a
little harder to keep FEI alive in the US. The FEI stuff was maybe a little
tedious for the plaine ol' AERC entries, but I hope not too much so. The
AERC completion rate was far greater than the FEI completion rate. And
several first time 100 milers did an awesome job of getting through a
challenging 100 mile course, with horses that looked great at the finish.

Owyhee 100. Next year we'll be having our FEI ride on May 20. It should be
gorgeous here in spring, footing will be softer, and it's actually green
here that time of year. We'll have the 60 mile loop down to the Snake River
by the petroglyphs, and the dust and rocks will be minimal. Wildflowers,
grass, water in the creeks - it should be nice.

Owyhee High Country. And a week later the Owyhee High Country ride was a
reminder to us of how much fun this sport can be. Relaxed and pleasant.
Still a competitive few (congratulations to Tani Bates and Chaos for Fastest
Overall time, and Overall Best Conditioned horse!) but generally a
stressless atmosphere and happy folks. We had 30+ riders complete all 3
days, and these horses looked great. Actually all of the horses looked good,
hardly any pulls despite the heat and rocky trails.

We won't be re-sanctioning these two rides next summer - I want to spend the
summer riding instead of ride managing!

Owyhee Rangelands. But - we are doing a new ride next year - Owyhee
Rangeland - Memorial Day weekend (hopefully a 3-day ride) May 27,28,29.
We'll use some proven trails (Snake River petroglyphs) and a few new trails
that I've scoped out - it will be green and we usually have wonderful
wildflowers in late May. Hopefully I can get riders up into the lupine
fields in the foothills, the fragrance will knock you off your horses!

Owyhee Canyonlands. And coming up is our 5-day ride - a little earlier this
year (Oct 4-8) to avoid the cattle drives down off the mountains. The trails
will be pretty much the same as years past - 5 different directions out of
basecamp, some gorgeous canyons to ride through, and plenty of desert
scenery. Our head vet is going to be a Canuck - Michael Peterson, DVM. He's
good, and a lot of fun and I think all of the riders will appreciate his
Canadian humor, eh? This ride has always been fun for us, and fun for the
riders. Hot showers, happy hour and dinners, good trails and good friends.
And we WILL have the Halloween Costume contest on the last day. I can't
imagine the ride without it. This year I'm going to find some great costume
contest awards. We will have a jury doing the judging, identified by orange
scarves. And as always - Juniors 1/2 price, and Canadians at par.

Again - thanks to all the riders and volunteers and vets and everybody that
makes this sport so strong.

Steph & John


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