Rem the IC Hits 4K

[Oldwaggy@aol.com]

Our 13.3 hh Icelandic gelding Remington passed the 4,000 career mile mark for 
AERC sanctioned endurance rides of fifty miles or longer at the Silver State 
Point to Point Ride in Nevada last weekend.  This is his fourth year of 
endurance competition.  Based on my conversations with several veteran 
endurance riders and veterinarians,  I believe he is the first purebred horse 
of any gaited breed to complete this many endurance miles.  

From time to time, I read or hear comments about the limitations of small 
horses or non-Arab breeds in endurance.  There are also those in the 
Icelandic horse community who question the quality of my horse's breeding.  
Although I'm always glad to discuss any of these topics over a beer or a cup 
of coffee, I lack either the patience or typing skills to debate them over 
the internet.  For Remington, actions always speak louder than words.

He was the high point horse ridden by a middleweight in the PSW Region last 
year and was the regional mileage champion with 1,525 miles (fifth nationally)
.  Although he won't win anything this year, not many horses attempted as 
grueling a ride schedule as his.  After starting the season in late February 
with the Twenty Mule Team 100, he then completed the 5 day, 285 mile Renegade 
Ride in late March, the Lakeside 50 in April, the 3 day, 150 mile Mt. Carmel 
XP in early May, the Mt. Charleston 75 in late May and the Californios 100 in 
mid June.  After being pulled at the 58 mile mark at Tevis in late July, he 
completed the National Championship 100 in mid August and the 5 day, 250 mile 
Mt. Zion XP in early September.  Remington was pulled with a mild tendon 
injury at the Desert Pines 100 in late September.  He came back to complete 
the Sunland 50 in mid November and the 3 day, 150 mile Silver State Ride to 
end the season.  His only two single day fifty milers this year each had 
cumulative elevations gains in the 8,000+ foot range and are the two most 
difficult fifty milers in our region.

Aside from his sheer toughness,  Remington's most defining characteristic is 
his sheer orneriness or supreme confidence.  On both days one and two at 
Silver State, he tore through the last few miles at full blast in the dark.  
Both days we picked up and brought in other riders who professed to be lost.  
Although I couldn't see anything,  Remington knew the trail from prior years. 
 At the post ride completion exam on the second day, he performed his trot 
out without anyone leading him and even came back when head vet Barney 
Fleming and I called his name.

Over the long run, it doesn't matter whether an endurance horse came from the 
desert sands of the Mediterranean, the lava flows of the North Atlantic, or 
Mars.  The truth is that a good horse is as it does, no more and certainly no 
less.  One of my all time favorite advertisements was an Alaska Airlines ad 
on the back cover of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Magazine a few years 
ago displaying a full face photograph of a sled dog.   The caption underneath 
the photo read: "Not every athlete wears designer sweats and endorses a 
running shoe."  That's how I like to think of my partner.

John Parke
Solvang CA


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