[RC] Land of the Sun - awesome!! - Steph TeeterIt was a 'Perfect 10' weekend for us in Wickenburg. Ten people, 8 horses, 4 trucks, 3 horse trailers and one camper trailer loaded up and left Kevin and Rusty's Gotta Go Ranch (Land of the North Folk) for the Land of the Sun ride.I'll post photos and results (eventually) at http://www.endurance.net/ international/USA/2009LandOfTheSun/ This annual ride is a Wickenburg affair. Hundreds of people donate time and stuff to make this a most welcoming and wonderful ride. The local horse clubs and community clubs make a day of it - volunteers everywhere, to hold horses, sponge horses, feed horses (bran and carrot mashes, hay, and Horse 'd orderves (little bite size carrots stuffed with hay), and buffet food for riders - breakfast, lunch and snack. Plus a gala dinner and awards at the community center afterwards - with music and fantastic food. Robin Ollendick and Nancy Halsey (Wickenburg Horsemen’s Association) were the ride managers - and did a perfect job of managing 71 50-mile entries and 65 25-mile entries. Lots of people, lots of horses. It's a real local ride as well, people from every horse discipline, different breeds, lots of cowboy hats and western rigging. A fun event. And every one of us from Gotta Go Ranch had a great and satisfying ride! How rare is that!? :) Kevin and Rusty and Leslie (she and her mom flew over for the ride, Kevin bought his awesome horse 'Far' from Leslie and they have since become good friends) rode together all day, taking it easy through the sand washes, careful over the rocks, and then letting them fly on the last loop - the horses did great, and a fun fast finish put grins on their faces. Bill (keeps a horse at GGR) and Corrie (girlfriend who flew in from Pittsburg) rode Bill's horse Dude, and Rusty's horse Jack on the 25, along with Charlie (the friend and neighbor who rode Wyatt, who used to be Rusty's awesome 100 mile horse and now enjoys semi-retirement with the ever doting Charlie) and friend Paul (another Canadian who spends the winter in Arizona). They also had perfect fun rides. John and I rode together the first loop - at a pretty good pace, giving Mac his first taste of the competitive. We had the perfect start (actually on time at the start after actually tacking up on time and an actual warmup too!) and we had the perfect first loop (Mac stayed behind Rhett which kept Rhett from wanting to go tooooo fast and which kept Mac from dumping John into a cactus with one of his impressive spooks) . Both horses pulsed right down but then John stayed a little longer at the hold so he could back off and do a slower pace with Mac, and I could go on alone see what kind of ride Rhett was up for. We both had the perfect ride. John and Mac moved along at a fair pace all day, no spooks, Mac was mostly all business and breezed through the ride. And I had one of the best rides ever on Jaziret Bey Musc. We just kept a steady pace all morning - he was pulsing down fast with low heart rates, very forward and moving beautifully. We picked up the pace on the second half, he was so ON, it was a blast. It got hotter and we cruised through the sand washes and twisty trails (this ride has the most fun trails! - up, down, twisting, dodging cactus, rocky stretches and washes, you really have to concentrate and 'ride the trail' to go fast, but it is a blast on a horse that is willing and listening to the rider!) We came into the 3rd vetcheck pretty hot, in about 20th place, Rhett took almost ten minutes to pulse down (!!) but we still gained about seven places - all the horses came in hot and tired from the miles of uphill sand wash we had to go through. I left the last hold in 13th place, hmmm.... 13 miles into camp, just maybe I could catch some horses and we could top ten. We motored along, not too fast - but steady. Passed one, then another - then a whole bunch - and Rhett was really really on - fast and aggressive but not stupid - it was one of the most fun times I've had on him. We ended up finishing 7th, but almost blew it. I thought the finish line was on the road above camp where we called out our numbers and a bunch folks were sitting, as another rider and I came in at a nice easy trot having lost the group earlier. I got off and starting walking Rhett down to the vet area, only to see the 'Finish' sign at the entrance to the vet area down below and simultaneously hear a big commotion and thundering hooves behind us - as the pack was bearing down and about to pass us to the finish line! I discovered I still had a little sprint left in these old legs! We 'won' by a nose:) Another great weekend in Arizona (and - thank the stars, kiss the earth, pat the horses and hug the friends - another good day :) Steph =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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