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Eagle Canyon is Opener for 2021 Northwest Endurance Season in Idaho

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
April 5 2021

54 horse and rider teams turned out near Eagle, Idaho, for the first Endurance ride of the season in the Northwest region. With the Covid pandemic (maybe) in the rear view mirror, endurance riders were looking forward to the beginning of a more normal season this year.

Eagle Canyon, managed by Layne Lewis in the Eagle foothills, is no pansy ride however: those deceptively gentle rolling green hills are a valid challenge to horses and riders. The weather cooperated this year - no excessive heat and no hurricane to blow riders off their mounts.

Eagle is normally in late April, but Layne switched with Regina Rose's Tough Sucker, which is normally the first of April, so that Regina could put on an early season 100 miler in the desert. Eagle was a good solid prep for the ambitious 100-milers!

28 started the 25-miler, with 26 finishing. Carrie Loughry and Copper River won in a ride time of 3:57, with Maria Kilgo and Echo Barbanno winning Best Condition.

26 started the 50-miler, with 19 finishing. Dick Root aboard OFW Alivia tied with Roxi Welling aboard SLF Lil Bit Loco tied for first in 6:36. Roxi and Loco got Best Condition.

A jolly Easter Egg Hunt commenced the next morning, Easter Sunday, with one or two grown up big kids getting in on the festivities. It was reported that one or two gophers joined in the fun, making off with a few of the eggs down their badger holes.

You can expect mostly two-track roads and single-track trail, with modest elevation gains and some badger holes to dodge. ​Although the trails are mostly sandy, there are sections of rock. Hoof protection is recommended. GPS tracks will be posted as we finalize the route.

2019 Eagle Canyon - Merri Melde

Friday May 2 2019

Any one of these perks would be a good excuse to ride the Endurance News-cover-worthy Eagle Canyon endurance ride near Eagle, Idaho: great trails, perfect spring weather, no mosquitoes or gnats, entertaining potguts (gophers) in camp, catered teriyaki chicken and pork fried rice, and custom roasted hot coffee and cold nitro brew all day Saturday courtesy of Richard Mule of Café Mulé (and his human Matt) (and Guru Donuts!). At this year's renewal on April 27, you got all of that and more!

An added bonus was helping ride manager Layne Bownds to contribute over $1500 to the Women and Children's Alliance in honor of SueB. You can see the cross dedicated to SueB above the canyon riders pass; it's always good to give a thought to her and others who are victims of domestic violence. The hope of the WCA is to help other successful, smart, beautiful women like SueB leave these relationships before it’s too late.

All 17 riders finished the 25 miler, with Wade Mauhl and his golden Sundance finishing first in a ride time of 3:22. Second place Joan Zachary and her Paso Fino, Chico, got Best Condition. A couple of first time riders, Cory and M'Lisa, who both finished in the top 10, became instantly addicted to endurance riding and we expect to see them again!

14 started the 50 miler, with 12 finishing. The Cobbleys came from behind to win, Jessica on The Big Brass, and Mike on Taladega in 7:27 and 7:28. 6th place Trish Frahm and her cutest-ever appaloosa BPR Jasmine Blu got Best Condition.

For more information on Richard and his human Matt and their awesome craft coffees:
https://www.ironmulecoffee.com/

For more information on the Women & Children's Alliance:
http://www.wcaboise.org/

2018 Eagle Canyon: Third Time's the Charm - by Merri Melde

Year 1 for Layne Simmons, taking over as ride manager for the annual spring ride in Idaho's Eagle foothills, saw lots of cancellations because of the crappy weather (heavy Friday night rain = mud), even from riders who'd shown up planning to saddle up Saturday morning.

Year 2, Layne got the hurricane. More riders toughed that one out, but it sure turned out to be nice for:

Year 3, with the perfect weather and good attendance for the Eagle Canyon endurance ride.

A portion of this year's ride 25 and 50-mile rides would be donated to a good cause.

"I have decided to take to heart some of the discussions that are occurring in my region (PNER)," Layne posted, "and honor one of our fallen sisters from the proceeds of our ride. We will be giving 10% of all proceeds to the Women & Children's Alliance in Honor of SueB……"

Who is SueB?
 Susan Elaine Brubaker Newby died in 2008 during a mysterious horseback riding incident. After her death, family and friends realized that SueB – her nickname – was likely in an abusive marriage. SueB’s sister, Marjory Sente, and friends, Leslie Hampe and Teresa Andrew, turned to the WCA as a way to honor SueB’s life and increase awareness about domestic violence. Their hope: to help other successful, smart, beautiful women like SueB leave these relationships before it’s too late.

“Don’t wait until your sister, daughter or mother is a victim of domestic abuse or sexual assault,” Sente said. “Step forward now and make an investment in the WCA to raise awareness about domestic violence.”

A white cross perches on the canyon rim that we ride by. SueB would have been happy to see the riders out and thinking about her on this fine day.

23 riders started the 50 at 7:30 AM, with a number of them bucking on the way out. The one going out in the lead got my attention, Max Merlich on Xtreme Surprise: buck - "Hey!" - buck ' "Hey!" buck - "Hey!" These Oregon invaders, Max and "Rio", and Kristen Grace and her lovely well-behaved stallion HCC Elessar won the ride (Kristen getting the honor of walking over the finish line first) in 6:22, with Kristen's "Monster" getting Best Condition. Third place finisher Jeannie Simpson and SWA Ibn Daraah finished over an hour later.

Another bucking horse provided a little entertainment mid-day… and nobody was surprised that it was Taledega, only 10 minutes into his second loop, sans rider Mike Cobbley. "He started to go down to roll," Mike recounted later, "and when I stepped off I slipped and fell, and Dega jumped up, realized he was loose, and took off." Taledega came galloping down a steep hill into camp. The naughty horse was rounded up, Sally Tarbet led him back up the trail to meet Mike, who was hoofing it back down the trail to find his mount. Mike loves Dega, but I expect they had a heart to heart discussion about the state of things. Mike remounted and sent him trotting back up that sand draw at a stiff trot!

18 finished the ride, with the turtle award going to Trish Frahm aboard her cute Appaloosa, BPR Jamine Blu, in the mare's first 50 mile ride.

All 18 starters finished the LD, with MacKenzie Cronin and Misty getting first place in 3:14. Second place Joan Zachary aboard her Paso Fino Chico (3:21) got Best Condition.

Layne's plans for a coffee truck for the ride fell through, "but wait! We have Richard the Coffee Mule instead!!"

Richard (and his human, Matt) (www.CafeMule.com) served Matt's homemade nitrogen-infused coffee throughout the day. YUM!!!!!!! Extra treats were the gourmet donuts from Boise's Guru Donuts. "We had an awesome day serving coffee and delicious scratch donuts to the Eagle Canyon Endurance Ride participants," Matt posted afterwards. "Amazing to see these super athlete horses and highly capable riders complete the 25 and 50 mile courses.

"I’m sure many would attribute coffee and donuts to their success :-) Richard spectated and supervised, though we did a short ride at the end."

Layne concluded, "Aside from some small trail sabotage from cows and humans, all went well. The weather cooperated this year, which was a plus, and we had a nice camp fire to round it out."

And the ride raised $931.74 for the Women and Children's Alliance in SueB's honor. "You all are AMAZING!" Layne said. "Thank you all so very much for supporting this cause."

More info on the Women & Children's Alliance:
http://www.wcaboise.org/

Come to Eagle Canyon - Beautiful trails and the adorable (or: rugged and burly) Café Mulé, who will be bringing cold brew coffee for those at the ride!

Ride manager Layne Lewis is donating 10% of the proceeds to the Women and Children’s Alliance.

I have decided to take to heart some of the discussions that are occurring in my region (PNER) and honor one of our fallen sisters from the proceeds of our ride. We will be giving 10% of all proceeds to the Women & Children's Alliance in Honor of SueB.....

Who is SueB?


Susan Elaine Brubaker Newby died in 2008 during a mysterious horseback riding incident. After her death, family and friends realized that SueB – her nickname – was likely in an abusive marriage. SueB’s sister, Marjory Sente, and friends, Leslie Hampe and Teresa Andrew, turned to the WCA as a way to honor SueB’s life and increase awareness about domestic violence. Their hope: to help other successful, smart, beautiful women like SueB leave these relationships before it’s too late.

“Don’t wait until your sister, daughter or mother is a victim of domestic abuse or sexual assault,” Sente said. “Step forward now and make an investment in the WCA to raise awareness about domestic violence.”

1. Camp is open from Thursday on. We will be filling horse troughs around noon.

 2. There are no corrals available. The site has no amenities.
3. The site is about 7 miles from downtown Eagle, which has restaurants and stores.

4. All who enter a ride, any distance, will leave with something!! 

5. There will be a potluck Saturday night!

6. We are providing coffee Saturday morning, but are also accepting donations for each cup to give to the Women and Children's Alliance.

7. We have some fun, special awards to give to deserving recipients.....

More announcements as the week progresses.....

Hope to see you all soon!

Eagle Canyon Endurance Ride Team!