On December 8th, 2007, a small hardy band of
Endurance Riders braved near 70 degree temperatures and partly cloudy overcast
skies to ride the trails on the Oklahoma and Arkansas border. Not very
dramatic is it? Well, there was a forecast of bad weather (ice) coming to
the region that night and on Sunday, so unfortunately quite a few folks decided
not to come. This cut the number of riders quite a bit, but left more chili,
cake and other goodies for the rest of us.
Despite a deceptively challenging trail, all five
riders who entered the 50 and all ten riders who entered the 25 mile ride
completed. There were also a group of fun riders who did 10 miles. That is a
100% completion rate the way I do the math. To give you an idea of how tough the
trail really was, my completion time for 50 miles was 11 hours and 30 minutes.
This got me the middle of the pack award. An unusual statistic from the
ride showed that 40% of the horses that completed the 50 mile ride were non-Arab
gaited horses. (doesn't that sound more impressive than "two gaited horses
finished"?)
There were spectacular views, especially from
Lovers Leap. As it got dark the lights
twinkling in the valley below were very pretty to see, but we had trail to cover
so didn't stick around a long time to watch them as twilight turned to
darkness. At the top of the mountain in late afternoon there was a circling
flock of vultures. Whenever my horse would huff and puff and slow down while
going up the hill, I would just look up at the birds and say to my horse,
" Uh oh Blue, Looks like they are getting lower" He would then pick up the
pace and move on out. They were great motivators for him:)
The Ride Manager, Anneta Tinsman, did a great job
putting on the ride, which was a benefit fundraiser for the local therapeutic
riding group. There were plenty of volunteers who made us feel welcome. She may
be moving the rides date to late Spring for 2008. Try and come. It was worth the
trip.
Paul Sidio
True Blue, the Missouri Foxtrotter (Ok we did a 50
together. Now will you go ride Piper some more?)
