Biltmore Challenge

Name: Kristen Howard
Horse: Quicksilver Destiny
Owner: Ruth Sturley (this is her alternate horse)

"Quicksilver Destiny" an 11 year old Egyptian Arabian. He is being ridden by a fellow Canadian Kristen Howard" She will be travelling down from Canada with her crew to compete at the Biltmore. This will be Kristens first competition outside of Canada.

Quicksilver completed his first 100 mile F.E.I course at the Fun in the Sun in Florida this March. He was sucessful in obtaining his C.O.C. with an hour to spare. He is an easy horse to work around & ride but really gets into his competitive mode when racing. Quicksilver and Sport (Ruth's horse) will be doing the course together. I hope to secure a place for Silver on the Canadian Team this year.

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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

Labels: biography rider

Name: Troy Ball

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Name: Ruth Sturley
Horse: RBF Super Sport
14 years old
Polish Arabian


The Biltmore was the first 100 mile competition I did back in 1999. Since then it has always been on the top of my list of favorite competitions.

The horse I will be competing on is RBF Super Sport purchased from Teddy Lancaster when he was 8 years old. He is a 14 year old Polish Arabian. This is the same horse I rode for the Canadian Team at the World Equestrian Games August 2006. He is a tough competitor and loves to run. He knows his job and does it well. Sport has a long list of 100 mile competitions to his credit as well as many 50 milers. We spend the winters in North Carolina and travel back to Canada to continue our training and compete in Ontario. Sport has been on the Canadian Team since 2003. We hope to use the Biltmore as a conditioning ride to prepare for "The Spirit of Excellence" 100 FEI/CEI *** being held on Ontario Canada mid July of this year.

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Name: Vickie Crance/ FW
Home: Irvine, Ky.
5 hrs. from Biltmore, will arrive Thurs. afternoon
Mostly black biothane with florescent on it. Big Horn endurance saddle.
Boots on all 4.

I have 2860 miles & have done 7 100's. Including winning the individual
bronze medal at the 2003 Pan Am.
Was really enjoying the 100 mile rides, then broke my leg real bad in 2004.
Just now trying to get back in full swing.

Horse: Naibara Grand/11 yrs. Gelding
Miles: 1055/ 22 rides/ 21 completions
This will be his second 100
Bought Grand as a 5 yr. old. Was out of racing bloodlines. Never broke. Out
to pasture until I bought him.
He was the wildest horse I have had. After a 2 month stay with a good ole
cowboy & a few years of wet saddle pads, he has turned out to be one of the
best. He has brought me back after my accident.
He wears size 1 shoe & 2 easyboot
I use perform & win for the most part, & endure max.
I feed southern states, Triple Crown 10/10. Plus beet pulp. On rides, what
ever I can get him to eat.

My goal is always to complete first & if possible top 10, but we all know
how that goes!!

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Name: Beverly Brock
Weight Division:LW
Home: Asheville, NC
How many hours away from Biltmore? 30 minutes When will you arrive? Taking Friday off of work to prepare

Help us identify you: Horse is a bay, no protective boots, english huntseat saddle, hunter green bridle

Background info: How many 100's have you done? this is my first 100 Total Mileage: 275

Why do the 100? Because Stagg Newman said I should, and when it comes to endurance riding, I do whatever he and Cheryl tell me to do ;)

Your background with horses: I started riding horses when I was 8 years old. I grew up riding hunter/jumpers. I also spent a year of my childhood riding with a group of crazy trail riders in a small town outside of Sacramento, CA. We moved to Salt Lake City, UT and I went back to hunter/jumpers and the show ring. My experience in Northern California in 1978, is what brought me to endurance 25 years later when my husband and I moved from Atlanta to Asheville.

Profession: Trust Administrator for Boys, Arnold Trust Company

Horse's name: Jayel Super
Owner:Stagg Newman
Age: 15
Breed: Arabian Bloodlines: Zambizy, Jayel Surpirze
Sex:Gelding
Height: 15 hands. He gets taller throughout the race. I can't explain it, I just know it is harder to get on him after 40 miles?
Weight: 925

Miles: Started competing when he was 4 (ctr), endurance at 5.Miles -- depends CTR or Endurance. Not sure about either. I do know he received his AERC 2000 this year. He has done many 3-day 100 CTRs, too. Composite miles is tracked by ECTRA, but doesn't apparently exist on line.
Years competing: 9
Type of saddle: huntseat
Pad: Sheepskin
Shoes: steel all around. May have front fill in pads. Will have clips on his rear, may on the front. He will be shod 2 May.Size 1.

When we left Atlanta 3 years ago, I had not been on a horse for over 10 years. Moving to a smaller community gave me the opportunity to explore riding again. I really didn't want to go back to the hunter/jumper world and I goggled endurance riding. AERC's website came up and I clicked on the mentor link. Stagg and Cheryl Newman were listed as mentors in the area, and I contacted them. The rest is history. My husband started a business in Asheville 4 years ago and we have 2 sons in elementary school. This doesn't leave much time for Mommy to buy her own horse. Stagg and Cheryl have been a huge blessing for me. I help them condition and ride their "kids" and they have given me the opportunity to ride again. In addition, my human kids have been bitten by the horse bug, and I plan to put them in riding lessons this summer to see if they are truly interested. I do hope to have my own horse in the next several years and I LOVE endurance. The community of horse people in endurance is such a wonderful contrast to the show world, and I can't imagine doing anything different.

As you know Super does not have any handicaps, however I have Multiple Sclerosis. I am fortunate to have a mild case of the disease and endurance riding has been a wonderful form of therapy and motivation for me. People, including my husband, ask why would you want to ride a horse for 50 or 100 miles? My answer is always, "Because I can." My disease is very unpredictable, and while my prognosis is good, I might not physically be able to do this one day. I was also blessed to have ridden Ramegwa Drubin in several of endurance rides, including his last ride at Sand Hill in Patrick, SC. I tell Stagg and Cheryl they are my mentors, but really Drubin and Super are ;) Drubin was such a special horse for so many reasons, and I will always treasure my time with him.

I don't have any lucky Cheetah panties like Lynne Kennely, but I my goal for the 100 is to complete with a sound happy horse, have fun and be able to at least hobble into the office Monday morning!

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Name: Susan LaBrush
Weight Div. MW
Home: Fayetteville, PA

This is my first time to the Biltmore, which is about an eight hour haul. It is only my third 100. I competed in two last year, but only finished one. My good friend Lisa Delp talked me into doing 100's. We did our first one together and plan on doing all the rest together. Our horses are crazy about each other and make a great team.

As a child I showed horses and foxhunted. I broke yearlings and galloped race horses for fifteen years. I started endurance in 2002 and have 2000 miles.

Horse's name: Skye's Kahlil
Age: 12 years
Height: 15.2
Sex: gelding.
Color: Flea Bitten gray
Breed: Arab
Miles 910

Bloodline: by Csardas Jemil out of IL Habiba.

I purchased sky in 2004. Sky and his previous owner didn't get on well, actually he bolted when spooking from a loose horse and fell and his owner had to be hilovacted from the ride. Nobody wanted him and I wasn't even sure I wanted him because he kept throwing me off. I ended up buying him and after many battles we are a team. Sky is really a good horse and takes good care of himself.

I ride him in a hackamore with a breastcollar and tie down. He wears rear ankle boots and steel shoes with clips.

I use a royal blue Zilco tack, a Synergist saddle, Skito pad and string girth.

When we do the Biltmore it will be for a completion.

He eats a ten-ten sweet feed, beet pulp, carrots, apples and peppermints.

I use Acculytes and I dose the night before, morning of the ride and at the holds.

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Name: Kara Thomas
Weight Division: FW
Home: Medford, NJ

Background info: I have been doing long distance riding since the age of eight and I will be turning nineteen in September. I have been riding since the age of two. I am very active in 4-H with community service as well as showing and doing club, county, state, and national projects. I will be attending Johnson and Wales University this coming August to obtain my bachlor’s degree in culinary arts.

How many 100's have you done? Seven one-day 100’s and seven three-day 100’s.
Total Mileage: 1200 endurance miles and about the same in competitive trail riding.

Horse's name: Teese
Owner: Yvette Vinton
Age: 7
Breed: Arabian

Sex: Gelding
Miles about 400
Years competing: 2
Type of saddle: Desoto
Type Pad: Cloud Nine
Type girth: Mohair

Will you be riding with a heart monitor? Yes

Background info: What is this horse like? Teese is a very easy horse to ride. He gets a little forward in the beginning but soon settles and is a pleasure to ride.

Goal for the ride. It is Teese’s first 100 and my first time riding him. I have ridden the Biltmore before and we are just going for a completion and his COC.

Labels: biography rider

Name: Adri Dinkelmann
Weight Division: Light weight
Home: HOTlanta. Atlanta, GA

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Name: Tom Gower
Weight Division: MW
Home: Madison, WI
How many hours away from Biltmore? When will you arrive? 16 hrs, Wed

Help us identify you: Biothane colors: purple,
protective boots: purple
Horse color: very light grey
markings: none, Describe what you wear,
(color of helmet: tricolor (black, dark grey & silver) L.A.S. helmet

Background info:
How many 100's have you done? 5
Total Mileage: 2500
Why do the 100? It is so challenging
Your background with horses.grew up on a horse farm in KY
Profession: forest ecology professor at UW-Madison

Horse's name: JG Bandy, barn name is Puppy, short for mudpuppy because he
always rolls in the mud

Owner: Cathy Gower (my daughter)
Age: 12
Breed: 1/2 Arab
Bloodlines: nothing special
Sex: Gelding
Height 15 h
Miles: 700
Years competing: 3

Will you be riding with a heart monitor? yes

Goal for the ride. Attempt to get C.O.C. (<>

Labels: biography rider

Name: Patti Stedman
Weight Division: MW
Home: East Otto, NY (about an hour south of Buffalo, where there is still a foot of snow in mid-April as I write this)

Background info: Embarrassed myself telling tales of urinating at the VT 100 a couple of seasons back in Endurance News. With my husband, Richard, I manage the Allegany Shut Up and Ride (NE). A total "finish is to win" sort of girl. I got into the sport by crewing for my husband and doing some ECTRA CTR, then was bitten by the bug. I am a worrier by nature and love the 100s because they give me almost a full 24 hours of ride time to worry myself into a puddle.

How many 100's have you done? Started 4, completed 3
Total Mileage: (Had to go look) ~1400
Your background with horses. Been riding since 6. Became a riding instructor/trainer after college but was broke and had no health insurance so they're now my passion rather than my livelihood. Former dressage queen and still torture all of my boys with lots of dressage.

Profession: Own a safety consulting business, and specialize in creative and FUN safety (OSHA compliance) training, and I consider this to be marketing, so contact me if you can give me some work.

Horse's name: Breezewood Nevarre (aka "Ned")
Owner: Me (bought him as a 4 y.o. with the famed "30 days" on him as a dressage prospect that could also use to go out on conditioning rides with my husband and his horse)
Age: 13
Breed: American Warmblood (Trakehner x Arabian)
Bloodlines: Out of an Egyptian halter-bred mare (eek!) and by a local Trakehner stallion named Kedar
Sex: Gelding
Height: 16+ hands
Weight: ~1120#

Type shoes: St. Croixs with clips, EquiPak pour in pads all around, Ned is a little unusual as he grows foot fairly slowly and very evenly, so he'll actually be at about 3 weeks by the ride date
Shoe or easyboot size: 2

Miles: ~ 1400 AERC plus ~200 ECTRA CTR miles Years competing: 7 in endurance; 8 if you include CTR
Type of saddle: Arabian Saddle Company Solstice and a BMSS
Type Pad: Mattes sheepskin for the Solstice; Skito for the BMSS
Bridle/bit/hackamore? Little S Hackamore, Running Bear halter bridle in fire engine red overlay (a psychic in New Orleans told me RED was my power color)
Crupper or breastcollar? Zilco breastcollar
Type girth: Mohair string
Will you be riding with a heart monitor? No, I can only handle one high tech gadget at a time and that will be my GPS. I've learned to read Ned pretty well over the years without a HRM.

Background info: What is this horse like? Ned looks like an Arabian crossed with a giraffe and it has taken a long time for him to come into his own mentally. He's become a very business-like horse with (now) rare moments of exuberant silliness. When he was six, he jumped OFF a trail and down a steep bank on a conditioning ride and I can recall seeking advice on Ridecamp, with many of the responses similar to this -- "Find another horse. This is not an endurance prospect. He clearly has no sense of self-preservation." Now people talk about how lucky I am to have such a quiet and steady horse and they cannot figure out why I giggle at that. He has nice big gaits, which is great when he can move out, but more challenging to collect and compress on more technical trail. He does not have a jog. Great uphill horse, but given the giraffe build, downhills are not his thing. I'm far more inclined to dismount and lead him DOWN than to need to tail him UP. Has a tendency toward scratches, so will be watching his pasterns like a hawk and Desitining him like mad -- his only 100 non-completion was from his first case of scratches. Very good eater, takes great care of himself, not a speed demon but his big gaits seem to eat up the miles even when he doesn't appear to be pushing. He is content alone and would rather be alone than be with a horse who is a mismatch. Ned is thermostatically challenged so if it is hot and humid, we'll be slowing down to keep his core temp down, and working hard with ice water at the holds. He spends 90% of his time in a vet check with his penis dangling, so that's how we can be picked out of a crowd. :-)(Yesyesyes, even while vetting IN and we've had him checked six ways to Sunday on this -- it is just one of the charming things that makes Ned, well, Ned). He is missing part of his left ear where one of his barnmates, higher on the pecking order, protested vehemently Ned's attempt to sneak some of his dinner. He's strong and typically cheerful, and gets stronger and stronger as the ride goes on, and at every hundred, his ears have still been up and his eyes bright as we head out at 80 and 90 miles, which is such a gratifying and comforting thing. He is the most extraordinary and complex horse I have ever come to know.

Goal for the ride. This will be our first 100 of the season, and the weather has not been cooperating with conditioning here in WNY, so we'll just ride our ride. My goal this season is to complete 100s a little faster than we have in the past, if all is going well.
Possible time frame? Have you completed this course before? Never been to Biltmore. Would like to be done well before dawn. Would like to not have to wake up a vet for final vetting. Would reallyreallyreally like to ride those last couple of dark loops with just my Ned, as I find that time to be absolutely magical and Ned is grand company. Those last miles make it all worthwhile. I'm in it for the magic.

If you want, explain your electrolyting proceedure...brand, frequency. Perform N Wins in his slushies. LyteNow on trail about every hour or so.

What do you feed? Beet pulp, 12% sweet feed, hay stretcher, wonderful orchard grass mix hay, dengie sometimes. We avoid alfalfa because that seems to bring on/aggravate the scratches.
What will you be feeding at the vet check? Above.

Labels: biography rider

Name: Paul Sidio
Weight Division: MW
Spokane, Missouri

I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles. I loved watching Roy Rogers, Zorro, The Lone Ranger and the other western stars. There was a guy there who brought his rental horse string down from the Sierras for the winter and kept them in a field about 1/2 mile from our house. That field is all 3 story apartment buildings now of course. He used to charge 50 cents per hour and 75 cents to ride on a weekday afternoon. I would mow lawns, clean garages etc to get money to go there after school and mess with the horses. Of course that was mostly just walking around a dusty 10 acre field. Then we went on vacation to Yosemite and took a trail ride outside the park. On the way back to the barn, the horses all started running to get home. My parents were terrified, but I thought it was the most fun thing that I had ever done ( obviously this was pre-puberty). This was like Roy and The Lone Ranger type riding. Years later after owning horses and doing lots of trail riding I was introduced to endurance.

As a fairly new rider, to this sport, I only have completed 310 miles of Endurance, and 320 miles of LD. All but 100 LD miles have been on my horse KMA Chazz Piper. He is a 10 year old , 14.2 tall failed hunter jumper show horse Arabian Gelding. He weighs about 825 pounds when full. Size 00 shoes in front and 000 in the back give him the nickname "Twinkle toes". Of his 825 pounds, probably 500 is heart, and 200 is brains. This doesn't leave much weight left for other parts, but he doesn't seem to need it. We do not race, but have completed very well in the rides we do with 4 BC's in 14 rides . We usually finish in the top 5 or 10 if the ride has technical trails. He goes pretty much at the same speed over rocky single track as he does wide open groomed trails. He is competitive, but quickly settles back down after a horse has passed us. The thing I really love about him is that he doesn't fight to go faster until he passes a horse, then immediately slow down. He just keeps a steady pace.

We have used a little S hackamore since we started, but now we start the ride with a little S hackamore for the first loop, and then usually switch to a regular nylon halter with reins clipped on for the rest of the day. He is the bravest horse I have ever had the pleasure to be on. He goes as boldly when alone as he does with a herd leading the way. (I can tell you about him leading the lead horses past Buford the Enraged Bison Bull at LBL last year if you want). He drinks very well on trail, and takes good care of himself on tough trail sections. I do get off him to tail up steep hils and jog alongside him down steep hills.

One special thing we do relates to me being a lazy person. I wanted to keep the trot outs at the vet checks as simple as possible. He didn't do great last year in this, as I would be pulling on his headgear to trot out, and he would pull back on the pressure to stop. So over the winter we worked on this ,and now he trots at liberty next to me. I don't have to hold his reins or anything.
I just clap my hands, snap my fingers and take off jogging to the trot out flag. He follows along (so far).

We used a Tucker saddle last year, but at the end of the season, as his body changed, I saw fitting issues. We bought a Specialized Saddle International model this winter, (off Endurance.net classifieds) and it has done very well so far this year. One of my goals from last year was to actually tack out as a middle weight at a ride, like my AERC card says I am. Last year I tacked out between 215 and 225. So by changing saddles,quitting soda pops, and exercising, At City Slicker, I tacked out at 197. The hope is to get that down to 190 by Biltmore.

This will be my first 100 mile ride. If it goes well, We are wanting to do the Old Dominion and Tevis this year too. By doing well, I mean that we are looking for a ride time of around 14-15 hours. So the odds of us winning this Derby are in the 1000-1 range. Odds of top tenning are slightly better, but with all the FEI hotshots that will be riding, our top 10 chances there still pretty darned slim. (100-1?). When I get there and see the terrain, I may alter my ride time estimate somewhat. But in any case, I will not push him. He rides at his own rythmn, and my job is to take care of him in that tempo and make sure he does not get caught up in the testosterone of racing.

Oh that leads to what we do for a living. Realtor/Investors, in South west Missouri (The Ozarks)trying to semi-retire this year. I am 57 years young. My wife is a wonderfull woman who thinks I am crazy to want to do this sport, but accepts it just fine. She does a little crewing for me when I need it. (I ususally go crewless)

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Name: Angie Creswell McGhee
Weight Division: LW
Home: Wildwood, GA just outside Chattanooga, TN

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Labels: biography rider

Labels: biography rider

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