Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 Though I had ridden Arabs for most of the 25 years I have been doing 
endurance riding, about six years ago, I became
curious about gaited horses and began experimenting with them. I have 
had several in that time, and had some success, especially
with a Foxtrotter mare, named Sugar. She and I failed at Tevis in 2007, 
and shortly thereafter I moved her on to a nice lady
who trail rides, and began looking for my next candidate. I found a 
horse broker, Fred Mau, in New Mexico, and flew over to look at his herd.
I sifted through several horses, and decided to take John Henry, an 
eight year old TWH, on a test ride. We went about 15 miles, and I 
noticed how sure-footed and
good-minded he was, as well as smooth gaited. At one point we tied the 
horses to a tree so we could hike a short distance to see a unique 
waterfall.
When we returned, Fred and I noticed that John Henry had come untied, 
but was standing stock still exactly where I had left him. "Oh yeah, he 
ground ties, too,"
Fred said. A few minutes after we got back, I caught his pulse at 32. He 
impressed me enough to bring him home.
I spoke to JH's original owner, who raised and trained him. He had been 
a working horse all his life, having done everything from
carrying ten year old children to serving as a pack horse in the 
mountains on elk hunting trips, so he was used to hauling weight
up and down hills. Being reasonably fit already, I took him on his first 
50 miler two weeks later, which he finished easily, and nearly top 
tenned amongst some eighty horses.
  Well............that got the wheels turning. The more Dayna and I 
watched this horse, the more we were fascinated with him. He is the most 
"human"
horse either of us has ever owned or been around. He "talks" (nickers) 
to any person he sees, and if you go away for 30 seconds and come
back, he will greet you again as if you'd been away for a week. He is 
demanding at feeding time, and will stand three legged, with one foot
carefully placed in his hanging feeder until we arrive with his ration, 
then gently remove it and begin dining. He has an unrivaled appetite, 
drinks well,
trailers and camps like a pro, and will even lie down when tied to the 
trailer and never disturb his surroundings. All well and good, but then that
question to my wife popped out of my mouth, in a moment of weakness and 
fantasy, "Do you think he could finish Tevis?" God bless Dayna, she
usually lets me roll with my wild ideas until I either succeed or it's 
clear I'm going down in flames. "You're going to need some help," she said.
"Call Michele Roush and see if you can get her to coach you," she 
added. Knowing there would be groveling involved,  I wrote Michele, who 
took pity on me, and
agreed to offer her services in our quest for Tevis gold. She had 
already been coaching Dayna with her horse, Crickett, and has a supreme 
record both as a rider
and a vet, so I know she was sticking her neck out a bit to work with 
an unproven gaited horse, and a rider who had stepped up to the plate 
and struck out
six times previously at Tevis.
After John Henry had done a half a dozen 50's Michele had us reduce our 
ride schedule, and be more selective in the type and difficulty of the
rides we attended. We did more specific conditioning at home, and I 
think the turning point for John Henry took place at Mt Carmel. We 
decided to try
to do all three days, and see if he stood up to the task. Barbara White 
rode with us on  Dayna's horse,Crickett, those three days, as she was 
preparing to ride him at Tevis herself.
Now, Barbara has been around a bit, and ridden and known some pretty 
good horses, so I felt she was a good sounding board, and could
offer objective opinion about JH, if she rode along side him for three 
days. Needless to say, we were both astonished at what he accomplished that
weekend. He not only kept up with Crickett, who is no slouch, but he got 
stronger and faster each day, and more amazingly, recovered at the same time
Crickett did all weekend.  We never had to wait on him.Of the 20 horses 
that did all three days, Crickett and John Henry finished 5th and 6th.
 Okay,  so now I'm getting a rash. The kind you get when you know you 
might just get to show up at Robie park with a horse that has a chance.
Michele designed a workout program to peak JH in the weeks prior to 
Tevis, and we also took him along with Crickett to the Tevis Educational 
ride, to show
him the trail and see if he could handle carrying me out of those 
challenging canyons between Last Chance and Foresthill. Not only did he, 
but he
led our group much of the way. He became the mascot, as several of the 
riders wanted to ride near or behind him due to his calm nature. They knew
he wouldn't kick, fidget, or endanger the other horses when frequent 
stops on the trail were necessary.  Both horses handled the trail 
easily, and after that, Julie Suhr wrote and said,
"Now put them both in bubble wrap, stick them in the freezer, and don't 
let them out until Tevis."
 Which we promptly did. I was always taught to respect my elders.
Finally, it came time for Dayna to take the horses and head to Robie 
Park. I stayed home to work and flew up a couple of days later, and 
arrived to see two well rested, well fed
horses, waiting to venture off into the Sierras.


  More later. I need to go watch a movie with my daughter.       Bruce
 



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=