I cannot figure out why there were people opposed to
Dave's first XP ride which he put on in 1983. I had crewed for a man and
wife during the 1979 British Post Office-sponsored ride from St.
Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA. I was on duty only one week, but I could see
the merits of this type of riding. Granted, our team had 4 horses each,
from which they could choose and could alternate in at any point during a
day. One day, I remember, was 80 miles long.
When Dave first wanted to put on a 5-day 250-mile ride,
he called me and asked me to help support it. There was one board member
in particular who was fighting against Dave's idea, or perhaps against Dave
himself. I felt that the 5-day plan would work just fine, based on what I
had seen on the 1979 event. Since I was on the AERC board at the time Dave
wanted to sanction his 1983 event, I recommended the event be sanctioned.
The board voted in favor of sanctioning it and I was excited to be able to
attend. It was a fascinating event and I think I rode and completed at
least three of them...1983-84 and 1985. From this, and many succeeding
5-day rides, I learned that our horses kept improving performance through Day 3
(the peak day), then leveled out on Days 4 and 5. Ridden sensibly, the
horses loved the game and just got better and better as the days went
by.
We did not rely much on computer when the Duck
first put out the idea of riding a 5 day 250 mile ride. The outcry from AERC
members was great via phone and gossip. He was going to kill horses, the Pony
Express trail would be littered with the dead. I was at a Board meeting when
it was discussed with the Duck making his presentation and pretty much being
shot down. He finally got approval, but not before near fisticuffs were
exchanged. He proved it could be done with horses in better shape at the end
of the ride than when they started.
I have ridden the same
Mongolian pony for 11 straight days for 5 to 7 hours a day in Mongolia. He did
not have shoes, he foraged for food, he had a sweet personality and he was
tough as were all the other ponies ridden by the others in our group. They
will not let them out of the country or he would be in my yard now. The person
to talk to about Mongolian ponies is Linda Svendsen with Boojum (a Google
search will bring it up) in Montana. She has had almost 25 years of riding
these ponies as has her 200 plus pound husband. She understands the Mongolian
culture and how the horse fits into it. Her opinion would be critical to my
approval or disapproval of the upcoming Mongol Derby. Julie Suhr Julie
Suhr
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