Mustang Classic 50

[Katja Halfmeyer <halfmeyer@cc.ucsf.edu>]

Hi group,

first of all I want to thank Steph for running this list, it has been a
great, great source of info for me since I started endurance riding <one
year ago now>. Until Steph sent out Issue #270, explaining what it takes to
run such a forum I had no idea, so from now on I'll be even more careful
not to clutter the list and appreciate even more the job she is doing,
please keep running this forum, Steph!!!!

Now I have to get to the point quickly.....

One more thing: Congratulations to Karen Chaton and Weaver for the win  at
the "Neversweats ride"!! That is terrific, Karen!!! I'm glad we had not to
compete against you <GG>!

The thing I wanted to share with the list is a little story about the
Mustang Classic 50 and how to get hooked if you are still resistant to
endurance:

Last Saturday has been great riding conditions, not too hot or humid for
the non-clipped horses, the trails have mostly been in good condition and
there was plenty of water along the way.....a nice set-up all together and
from my little experience I would say that this ride should make a nice
"first 50" ride. It is not too tough, but has enough hills for those, who
otherwise will have to fight for speed-control on the first 20 miles.

The start <6.ooam> was very relaxed, very nice, without runaways or rodeo,
we all started out at a nice trot.
As expected Jazon Wonders <who's horses I'm riding in all my free-time>
riding Rabidas placed himself third or fourth on the first few miles and I
was just following him, sort of "head on tail", riding Brahm Gyani, one of
his 100 mile horses. This guy is the most amazing and most inspiring horse
I have ridden in 16 years of experience. His spirit is beyond words and I
admire this horse every time I take him out on the trail......or shall I
better say "every time he takes me out on the trails"......

Back to the topic, 
for the first 15- 20 miles Jazon and I had managed to be the front runners,
which was not too hard considering the fact that it is early in the season
and most people were taking it easy, considering the ride as part of their
conditioning-program.
Some time before lunch-break, which happened to be back in camp, Lari Shea,
riding together with her daughter, passed us and managed to get a three
minutes lead by the time we arrived at base-camp.
I admit that the first 25 mile loop <it is also the second 25 mile loop,
because you get to ride the same trail twice> we had done at quite a fast
pace, we got back to camp shortly before 9am. 
It is funny to consider this a "lunch" break, isn't it?! But both horses
were doing fine, they are in great shape due to some regular riding between
storm-breaks <greetings to El Nino> and as I said, the "Mustang Classic"
trails have been in good condition with softer footing last weekend.

After "lunch" Lari and daughter <I forgot her name, sorry!! Can somebody
please post the ride-results so I could look up some info on names and
other stuff?> must have kept the faster pace, because by the time we
arrived at the third vet-check they had a 13 minutes lead on us!!
Lateron I learned that Lari's daughter's <gee, I wish I knew the name>
horse Sungari had had slight problems recovering as fast as Lari's Avante
<great horse BTW>, therefore Lari had stayed back with her daughter to take
it easy on the hill right after passing the vet-check. 
At this point Jazon and I had made time, our horses had recovered within
less than five minutes, Gyani was at 56 while criteria was set at 68 <got
to express how proud I was at this point <GG> >.

On the second hill after the third vet-check, around mile 40, we passed
Lari and daughter and at this point I want to say that Lari sure would have
won the ride if she had not stayed with her daughter and Sungari. Avante
looked great and we would have never raced her if she had kept the 13
minutes lead, never!!!

Allright, so we pass her, some smiles and nice words exchanged <great
attitude, I really enjoyed those people's spirit all day> and continued to
ride down the trail. Knowing Lari and her experience, Jazon picks up the
pace.......off we go, boy, had I to hold on to the reins!! Gyani sensed his
chance to show each and everybody what a terrific horse he is........he
pulled on me as if we had just started, actually worse than at the start!!
The last five miles or so drop all the way down to the finish-line, that
became the worst time in my entire riding career.....<soreness-wise that is>

I had flown in from Germany on Thursday, two days before the ride, not
having trained for LD for more than two weeks, having ridden 50 miles last
time in October....well, I was so sore at this point that I was not able to
tell which muscle-groups <!> were going to be the worst!
And Gyani kept trotting down the trail, no one could have stopped him,
little Rabidas just one length in front of us <sort of an unspoken agreement>.
For quite a while down the hill we could not see Lari anymore, but I'm sure
people out there know.......she is a racer, got to be careful with her on
your tail!!

Last switch-back, around the corner with the finish-line almost in sight,
THERE SHE WAS, appearing out of no where, just a few lengths behind us........
Jazon was shouting something at me that I could not understand and I was so
tired, so sore, I would have given the win to her if Gyani would have let
me! Honestly, I was ready to give up!

To get to the finish-line you have to cross a paved road, that was the
point when Lari had pulled back and had let us go, there is no way at this
ride that you can actually race all the way to the finish---not that I had
wanted to either!

So Jazon trotted in first on Rabidas, I followed second and Lari crossed
the line less than a minute later, quite a finish for my understanding.
And here comes an experience that was brandnew for me: once you make it all
the way and you still have so much horse left, people applaude for
you-----hey, THEN all the pain is gone!!

At the awards dinner, which was terrific, my head was still riding while my
sore body had to hang on to the bench, but the spirit was great!
Congratulations to Steve Shaw for the Virl Norton award, Congratulations to
Bob Spoors <sp?> for getting the highest vet-scores showing for BC,
fortunately for Jazon the time-factor of Bob was too high <45 minutes> so
Rabidas / Jazon won the BC award. Your horse looked great Bob, nice showing!
Congratulations to Lari, you have been great to ride with and compete
against!!     

All in all it has been a great day, thank you, Dan <lastname?> and all
volunteers, for putting on this ride, I know it must have been hard work
managing 25 miles ride&tie, 25 miles and 50 miles endurance at the same time!
 
And at last here is a question to the forum: The AERC handbook states the
LW devision up to 165 pounds if I remember it correctly. How come some
entry-forms that I have seen state LW up to 185 pounds, starting MW at 186
pounds?? I might ride in the wrong devision at a total weight of 180 pounds
including every piece of tack?!
Sorry if this might be a piece of FAQ, afterall I'm just a newbie......

Hope to see some of you at the Derby Ditch, in the meantime......happy
trails!!!

Katja <totally hooked>
& Gyani <..."how come we hang out at camp for so long, gotta go, girl..">