Biltmore Challenge

Name: Alison Bailey
Weight Division: MW
Home: Waxhaw, NC

How many hours away from Biltmore? We are only 3 hours from Biltmore and will arrive by noon on Friday after dropping my son off at school. He gets to ride up with his grandparents Friday evening.

Help us identify you: K-Zar has bright blue biothane tack. He is a flea bitten grey Arab around 15.1 hands. His mane is long except for a few inches of shorter mane behind the bridle path. That section of mane is with my husband Mike forever.
I will probably wear blue and black and have a blue helmet. If I need inspiration, I may change into a yucky grey t-shirt that has the Apollo 13 logo and the saying “Failure is not an option” on it. My husband and I have worn those old shirts on many a ride when we thought that we needed a reminder that finishing is the goal.

Background info:
How many 100's have you done? This is my first. This is also the horse’s first. He has done 75 carrying Mike.
Total Mileage: 680 with almost that many LD miles
Why do the 100? I am riding this one for my husband Mike. Mike passed away in November just after winning the national HW 50 mile championship. He was in peak health and died very suddenly. He knew that K-Zar was ready to do 100, and was planning to do this ride with him. I am going to try to do it for him.

Your background with horses. I have been riding since I was 10. My parent’s are British and all of the kids in my family learned how to ride early on. My sister and I both ended up getting our own horses and I have not been without one since I was 15. My first endurance attempts were some LD rides back in the mid-1990’s on my mare Breezy. I have had her since she was born and she just turned 27 in March. She and I did a couple of rides, but I didn’t have my own trailer and then I had a kid, so I didn’t show up at a ride again until Mike started riding with me in 2002. He had no riding experience at all when we bought K-Zar for him, but he was extremely determined, fearless and just a little bit competitive!! After he got hooked we got all the stuff- nice truck, big trailer, etc. Funny how that works!

Profession: CPA, Mom, farm manager, animal caretaker, etc.

Horse's name: K-Zar Emmanuel
Owner: me now, but really Mike
Age: 13
Breed: Arabian
Bloodlines: I am not familiar with the breeding, but he had a half sister that was very successful in endurance. Her name was Corona and her second endurance ride ever was Tevis. She came in 22nd with Claude Brewer riding.
Sex: Gelding
Height 15.1
Weight 980
Type shoes: K-Zar will be shod with pads on the 3rd. My farrier, who is the person that we bought the horse from is coming to crew for us. He had promised Mike the day that we bought K-Zar that when he got ready to do his first 100, he would be there. I asked Carl if that applied to me and he said that he had already scheduled the time off.
Shoe or easyboot size: 1
Miles 1325
Years competing: This is his 5th.
Type of saddle: Passier dressage
Type Pad Toklat Woolback
Bridle/bit/hackamore? snaffle
Crupper or breastcollar? breastcollar
Protective boots? none
Type girth: Wintec dressage
Will you be riding with a heart monitor? You bet

Background info: What is this horse like? I have had to work at slowing K-Zar down. He loves to race and puts his heart into it. He will give his all for 50 miles, but he has had to learn a slower pace to prepare for this 100. The first ride that I rode him at was Carolina last fall and we were first. After that, our next ride was Far Out Forest in Florida and we proudly got the turtle. We have now inched our way back up to respectable finishes without some of the race mentality. He seems to be over being mad at me, so I think we have come to an understanding.
I think if there is one thing that people should know about K-Zar it’s that he has the biggest heart that I have ever known. He seems to live for being out on the trail for miles and miles. I have horses that run and hide when they see the trailer being hooked up. Not K-Zar. He comes running. That is what makes this horse so special.

Goal for the ride. K-Zar and I have each ridden the 50 at Biltmore multiple times, just not together. My goal is to complete.

Explain your electrolyting proceedure: I dose before the ride with Perform N Win in the feed and am now using Lyte Now during the ride. It is convenient and seems to be more palatable for my horses. I get much less resistance during dosing from any of my three horses.
What do you feed? Ultium plus beet pulp and a variety of hay (timothy, fescue and alfalfa)
What will you be feeding at the vet check? All of the above, plus carrots and Purina Race Ready

photo credit Genie Stewart Spears