The Grampians Riding and Harness Club again turned on a great ride. This was
their 11th annual endurance ride at Great Western, near Ararat in western
Victoria, Australia.
All up there were 66 in the long ride plus another 25 in training rides, so
was the best attended ride this year. Have just looked at the times (after
typing them up at midnight last night) and we didn't do too bad for just a
quiet trot around two weeks after Mt Cole Challenge!
A few words about my experience at the ride. This is the seventh year that I
have ridden the Grampians ride, as it is one of the best organised, best
marked and most pleasant rides on the calendar. I completed my first 50
miler in 1990 here on my standardbred mare, Sarah. I was not going to ride
this year as it was only two weeks after a 2-day 150 miler, but Nikita was
just about bursting last week with energy, so we went for a quiet jog
around. We are metric in Australia, but a 160 km ride is still a 100 miler
in Endurance-speak! We really mix our measures, so I will refer to
Kilometres now.
The ride started at 5 am on Sunday. It was cool and just getting light. I
held back 15 minutes to let the crowd pass and to get a clear track to start
(read, I had a late night Saturday, and was slow getting out of bed!). About
20 minutes down the track, we lost a rider in our group whose horse shied
badly. He hit the deck, but came up running, and the horse took off into the
gloom, fortunately following the correct track. Some riders ahead caught the
horse and after straightening things up we continued. By this stage Nikita
was well warmed up so we got moving and passed several riders. Leg 1 was 45
km but seemed longer. There was one good hill and several ups and downs. We
were moving along at a flying trot along dirt roads and finally we turned
into camp, crossing the line at 8:14 am. We still use the half-hour stop and
check at most of our rides, so vetted at 8:44 with 48 heart and good trot out.
Leg 2 was 40 km and very pleasant. About 10 km out we joined a group of
riders, two ladies on stallions and a few geldings. We travelled very well
along dirt roads, bush tracks and across paddocks. It has been a very good
spring and everything was lovely and green. There was one good hill, then it
was undulating all the way back into camp. The weather conditions were close
to perfect for a ride, cool, mostly overcast and a fresh breeze to keep the
horses (and riders) comfortable. Starting back in the field, I was surprised
to pass so many riders along the way. Nikita was travelling really well, and
showed no sign of the big effort she put in a few weeks ago. We walked in
over the line at 12:44 pm and vetted fine a half hour later with a 50 HR.
We are starting to see more rides run to Vet-Gate into hold now. The Mt Cole
Challenge uses this method, and I prefer it to the half-hour stop and check.
The next ride, and the last on the Victorian calendar will be at Toora,
about an hour S.E. of Melbourne. This will be 100 miles, with V-G into hold
checks.
Results
Heavyweight (10/17)
1 Garry Lewis 6:17
2 Keith Whitehead 6:33
3 Tony Torr 6:36
4 Sandy Little 6:40
5 Luke Steele 6:44 riding Nikita - 937 mi this year!
6 Ken Allan 7:17
7 Rina Edwards 7:36 visitor from South Australia
8 Ken Bradley 7:38 crashed but finished
9 Katrina Westerhoff 7:55
10 Ian Rooney 8:09 on Errol, 1000 mile Standardbred!
Middleweight (15/25)
=1 Marney Merritt 5:35 visitor from Queensland
=1 Alan Salter 5:35
3 Julie Green 5:49 BC (Mwt/Hwt)
4 Jim Maffett 5:58
5 Daryl Smith 6:17
6 Shannan Horvatek 6:46
7 Jill Ross 7:01
8 Dannielle O'Laughlin 7:01
9 Cathy Jones 7:04
10 Jan Scholes 7:23
11 Helen Middleton 7:38
12 Les MacLean 7:40
13 Brian Richardson
14 Beverley Johnson 9:24
15 Tracey Carroll 9:24
Lightweight (14/20)
1 Kathy Maffett 5:58
2 Debbie Perry 6:36
3 Oenone Hibberd 6:46
4 Karen Humphrey 7:23
5 Anne-Marie Conroy 7:24
6 Janet Hunter 7:25
7 Robyn Early 7:38
8 Barbara McNicol 7:52
9 Susan Bunney 7:56
10 Debra Vernon 7:56
11 Jan Cowell 8:02
12 Sheryl Herbert 8:05
13 Christine Schepisi 8:09
14 Jo Duncan 8:29
Junior (4/5)
1 Emily Rogers 5:35 BC (Lwt/Jnr)
2 Lara Peuker 7:25
3 Emily Drummond 7:53
4 Leigh Johnson 9:24
Hope you don't find the above too boring. I have found it interesting to
read of rides in North America. How about some reports from Europe and
South Africa?
Regards,
Luke Steele
luke.steele@fujitsu.com.au