Old Dominion

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <fineprint@erols.com>]

>>>  Come on guys, the OD is a BIG ONE.  SOMEBODY was supposed to be keeping us up to speed.>>>

Okay, I'll grab the bit here....
I was on the ground this year after completing the 100 the last two. In
fact, lots of buckle-wearers were viewing the ride from ground
level...including Matthew Mackay-Smith, who was ushering Doyle Patrick
around the course. Doyle, who completed the Tevis Cup last year, is
already making plans to return to ride the OD next year. So c’mon
Westerners, print out your Yahoo maps and join him!

<<< I will say that I heard Melissa Crain won the 50 (you go girl!)>>
Indeed she did, riding a 15-year-old mare named Topaz Ku. Debi Gordon
and Redman were second and lucky to finish at all after getting hung up
in fence wire at one point and then slipping and falling on a concrete
bridge. Debi told me she took the brunt of the fall. Even with scrapes
and bruises, they went on and were leading near the last climb when Debi
turned right instead of left, going off trail just long enough for
Melissa to shoot by.

The weather was about the best ever for Old Dominion --- temps in the
seventies, maybe tickling the low eighties, low humidity and even some
nice clouds and breezes in the afternoon. But it was still the Old
Dominion, and the course would claim its share of competitors. As
always, the hottest part of the day coincided with the loop from Hickory
Lane (at 50 miles) to Pitlick-Bernstein (70 miles) and pushing too hard
here often means an early trip back to base camp. As one rider said
later at the awards, "Don't try to make your move here or you'll pay for
it later.” 

Twenty-six riders started the 100....Stagg Newman and a nicely made bay
Arab gelding named Jayel Super broke from the pack and took command
after the second vet check (Roosevelt). As Stagg tells it, there was a
lemonade stand along the trail and he offered to buy the group of women
he was riding with a round...in hopes they'd all have to take a “women
break” soon after. When Stagg came into Hickory Lane about 20 minutes
ahead of Danielle Kanavy, Patti Pizzo, etc., there was much
buzzing..."He's going too fast!" "He'll flame out!" But the horse looked
good, recovered quickly, and just kept going and going... 

Danielle withdrew her Brown Ranch Timmy at Hickory Lane (50 miles) while
mom Valerie was moving along smartly on Shammy, but she would withdraw
at Pickett Springs (70 miles). Kim Orr and USA Top Star also called it a
day here. That left Patti Pizzo, Betty Baker and Nancy Senn to hold up
the second tier. But Stagg continued to enhance his lead until he was
nearly 40 minutes ahead before the climb over Sherman's Gap at 87 miles. 

Memorable Moment: Matthew watching the intense sponging/crewing activity
of the three at Pickett Springs and announcing: “Attention, ladies.
Stagg is 40 minutes ahead of you. You are at least an hour ahead of the
next horse. So relax and have fun the rest of the way. Unless Stagg’s
horse steps in a drain pipe, you will finish second, third, and fourth.”
The tension washed away, as everyone just let go and took a deep breath.

Stagg maintained his lead all the way to the finish. He got in about 10
p.m. with a total riding time of 13:50:45. Patti and Sam were second in
14:48:39 and Betty K Baker and Corkey third in 14:48:46. Nancy Senn was
fourth, followed by Brenda Baird, Tom Hutchinson and Keven Baird, then
Jeannie Waldron riding Cavalry on her up-and-coming mare Nonesuch Amira.
Then came Hoosier Jerry Fruth on the stallion Jabask Knight, Duane
Barnett, Stephanie Muncy, Rosie Rollins, Julie Bullock (who was head vet
at OD last year and begged “Please, next year let me vet!”), Debbie
Bullis and Nancy Adams. This trio had the most inventive team name:
“Blameless, Shameless and (Hopefully) Lame-less!”

Best condition judging was tough with so many horses looking good. Two
horses tied for high vet score: Brenda Baird's Shabazzy Flagstaff and
Betty Baker's Corkey. But Corkey caused champagne bottles to pop when he
was announced as both AERC Best Condition AND winner of the coveted Old
Dominion trophy based on morning-after condition. Betty, who completed
her first Old Dominion on her second try, was in shock and tears as she
explained that she'd hoped only to get around, and instead had the
perfect ride we all dream of. It wasn’t hard to imagine a perfect ride
on her 15.3 hand steel-gray ex-racehorse who just took 12,000 feet of up
and down in stride all day. Betty and her husband Steve (who was
crewing) are from Pennsylvania and said for a while they didn't think
Corkey was serious endurance material because he was so laid back ---
scratch that idea!

Stagg, sitting under his first-to-finish loot, said he had planned to
start slow, be sensible and finish strongly. But he sensed that on this
day, the pace was not unreasonable....so he went for the lead early. His
strategy paid off. The weather enabled at least half the riders to make
it to the top of Sherman's before darkness fell...one benchmark of
success on this ride.

Tevis veterinarian Jamie Kerr was head vet. He loved the ride and
promised to “go back and get the word out.” Both Jamie and Doyle
declared they’d like to come back next year and give it a go. 

Jeff Crandell, who was BC on the fifty with a superb gray gelding called
Iron Mike, was a double winner when his name was drawn in the OD horse
raffle. He took home a 3-year-old chestnut gelding named Logistic, by
*Statistic out of a Tamerlane daughter. The horse’s breeders, Dr. Tom
and Holly Sayvetz, who have a herd of 60 horses at his Asgard Arabians
in Sinks Grove, WV, are rapidly getting hooked on our sport. They could
probably close their eyes and pick a prospect from their herd. A Cloud
Nine saddlepad was won by Chuck Cunningham, a newcomer to the Old
Dominion organization who is just getting back into the saddle after
some years away. 

I didn’t get to see much of the fifty since the trail looped back toward
camp at 25 miles, but here’s the top ten:

1 Melissa Crain, Topaz Ku, 6:09:28
2 Debi Gordon, CBS Redman, 6:17:06
3 Becky Russo, Mosjon, 6:17:51
4 Lynn Goleman, Wickery’s Legacy, 6:19:29
5 Odette Parker, GM Roman Rust, 6:19:36
6 Jeffrey Crandell, HHF Pugnacious, 6:22:33
7 Nancy Muller, Fixed Tempo,6:32:36
8 Wendy Mattingly, Dunn, 6:52:15
9 Sheri Derouassoux, EZ Season Ticket, 6:55:48
10 Ellen Tully, Ramegwa Bahrain, 6:55:49

In all, 48 riders out of 66 starters completed the 50 for a 72.7%
completion rate.

Quentin Llop completed the ride on his 10-year-old Thoroughbred
stallion, Tingle Tern, the first time in memory a TB stallion has
finished the Old Dominion. His wife Libby and sons Peter and Jesse also
completed. Their first endurance ride was the Fort Valley 25 last fall
and now they’re hooked.

To anyone contemplating being a part of this wonderful event, start
planning for next year now. Check the web site at--

http://www.olddominionrides.org/index.html

for updates and results. See you in the Shenandoah!
Bobbie Lieberman
Fine Print and Perle


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