I rode the Sand Hills Stampede 100 on
Saturday. It was a great ride, well marked, good water, great
vets....thanks Tim and Patsy.
I had no idea if Equal Terms was fit enough after
her winter off, if she would melt in her winter furries when the temp was 30-40
degrees higher than home, and if I was fit enough after my winter off.
Welllllll, she is, she didn't and I am!!!!
We came over the line in third place,
having walked the first four miles and being dead last at the start. BUT
despite having one of the best rides of our career, and feeling like I had more
horse than I had ever had at a 100, she trotted out at the finish with a cramp
in a hind leg and we were pulled. Do I feel cheated, upset, bummed out???
NO NO NO. She proved to me that at 15 with a winter off she can come back
stronger than ever, I felt physically better than after most 50s
I have done, and we had a great day. She was perfectly sound and jigging
and tossing her head 12 hours after being pulled at the finish (which by the
way, I had never experienced, so I was due!)
Really, though I did not get a t shirt and the
miles on my AERC record, I got a fabulous ride on an incredible partner, and we
are onto the Big Horn and then Tevis, and I am confident that the old girl can
do it. The t shirt would fade and I would spill something on it anyway,
but I will always have the memory of my crazy wild mare trotting through the
darkness at mile 92 with her ears up and her head high. I can close my
eyes and see our shadow in the moonlight, and feel how soft her coat felt when I
reached down to pet her. I will always be able to laugh at the memory
of her stopping and turning her head for a carrot because she heard the zipper
on my pocket open, and how her ears swivel when I sang to her.
We don't need no stinkin' awards---we have each
other!!
Laura Hayes Vine Cliff Farms Brocton,
NY AERC# 2741
