Cavalry Riding

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Kevin Baird kbaird@roanoke-cement.com
Even occasional lurkers leave posts once in a while.

I have completed the OD in the cavalry division and hit 88 miles
a couple of times in cavalry,<:(  Cavalry at the OD is the ultimate challenge.
The hustle and bustle of finding the pit crew, worring about if they
will be there, discovering they ate all your M&M's or what ever
pit crew story you have are all gone.  It is just you and your
horse, period.  So you had better take care of them.  It amazes
me to see how well the horse does.  As you stand off to the side
at the vet checks watching what can be a mad house of pit
crewing going on;  Magic potions being mixed and shoved down horses
necks the occaisional delusional rider hollaring at their pit crew.
Bran mashes, gruels, probiotics, ice boots, horse coolers, the
list goes on of the numerous amenities horses benefit from and often
just annoyed with.

Everyone should, at least once in their life, attempt a ride like
the OD 100 in the Cavalry divison.  Yes, you can do it. The
first time I completed I carried about 1000 lbs of stuff and junk.
When I finished I still had 999 lbs of stuff and junk. You find
that you and your horse need amazingly little to complete the
ride safely.
Try a pitcrew free ride sometime.  You might just find you like it.  You can always pull out of the cavalry division and other
pitcrew are always great about helping out riders in need.

My wife and I seldomly have pitcrew but the times we do have pitcrew
we really appreciate them being there. I am all for
self-sufficiency
but it is nice to see a friendly face at 4 in the morning.

At the OD the management only supplies water for horse and rider.
I do not believe they have ever supplied hay. As long as Virginia is not having a big drought there is usually grass at the vet checks except for two at about 35 miles (Roosevelt)
and 79 miles (Pickett Springs).
Those two can be thin of grass.  But there in those two checks
with little grass lies the challenge of finding what the horse
needs on the OD trail.

Happy Holidays!
Kevin Baird



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