Vetcheck 2 - update:
The 100's are just leaving Hold#2 and the 75's are with them. The ride is quite spread out already probably due to the muddy footing. The early humidity and overcast skies broke way to a clear, bright 72 degree day, lovely. One horse out in the 100, one the the 75. Jo Steele will be keeping everyone posted as to rider progress once she gets back to base camp. We talked the local phone company into donating phone and internet service for us, gotta love Vermontel!

Preparations for the 21st Vermont 100 are in full gear. Very exciting is the number of foreign entries we have including two Mexican juniors who hope to qualify for the Young Riders Championship. We are pleased to have an FEI division to help our riders towards their goal of the WEC in Kentucky in 2010. We wish them all the best of luck. Thank you to all of our entrants as we have a record number of riders this year. Please keep checking our web-page www.vermontenduranceride.com for updates and information. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Excessive rain has the field wet in many spots and parking is going to be directed to keep trucks from getting stuck. If you do not have 4WD, park in the lower field! Please bring your water tanks full as getting to the pond might be very difficult. Water is available at the barn from a hose.

There will be little grass in the field as the hay just came off.

Yes, the trail is going to be wet and muddy in places although a lot of the trail dries out very quickly. In some places we have rerouted you onto the gravel road.

It has rained every day here for the past month, be prepared-!!

Crew directions and a map are printable from the web page if you want extra copies. We are not giving out a map, if you want one, print it before you arrive. Holds are NOT set up prior to the ride so do not be surprised if you drive out only to find an empty hay field.

Pre-riding of the trail is not permitted as most of our trail is on private property. The finish is open for riding but is going to be muddy in spots so we ask that you ride it only if you feel you need to. The dirt roads are open for riding if you feel you need to do some distance.

Reflective gear is required of all riders!

No dogs may be left in camp, please plan accordingly.

Blacksmiths are available for pre-ride shoeing, please make an appointment by calling Gardner Smith 802-484-5032 or Bruce Hickey 802-484-7291. Do not wait until Friday afternoon if you know you need a complete set of shoes!

RIDERS WITHOUT CREW - We will have a truck going to Hold #2 ONLY for any 100's or 75's without crew. A truck will go to Hold #4 & #5 for the 50 mile riders. Crew items are limited to the necessities. There will be food for riders at Hold#5 and there is plenty of grass for the horses at both holds.

We had to wait until last minute to set up holds until hay came off three fields. Wednesday night, after getting one hold set up, the truck with the full tanker was accidentally backed into the pond! Amazing how many pieces of equipment it takes to pull a full, 800 gallon tanker out! In the meantime, landowners offered to fill the water troughs from their wells and considering how wet it had been, it seemed like a good idea. Each hold had 800 to 1200 gallons of water to fill and those water pumps simply could not handle it without a break. No problem, we had a 1,000 gallon maple sap tank on a truck. The truck would not start despite considerable pleading and cussing With the original tanker out of the pond and back in action we knew we were behind but did our best to catch up but once the crew trucks started into the hold, the tanker could not get in without digging up the already soft ground of the landowners. No problem, the landowners got out their tractors, strapped a 100 gallon water tank to the bucket, filled it from a pond or the tanker and drove into the hold and dumped the water! I am not sure how we can thank those good folk enough for supporting this event like that! We are also blessed with many, many landowners who every year put out water tanks along the road for passing horses, and the occasional runner to stick his head in, as well as hoses to spray off horses. Even after 17 years of being involved with the Vermont 100 I am still overwhelmed with the community support for this event which is why I keep coming back as manager. There are some more stories, later, after we have gone over to camp and taken down some trail.

A story about sportsmanship
10 miles from the finish, Kathy Brunjes' good horse Theatric tripped while doing a quiet canter along a smooth road. Kim Orr was riding alongside and saw the horse and Kathy fly through the air. Kathy landed and Theatic did his best to avoid her but ended up rolling over her with the momentum. Kathy was stunned but felt OK to remount but a few miles later decided that walking was a better option. Insisting that Kim not give up her front placing position in the 75 mile (Kathy was riding the 100) Kim went on to place third. Heather Hoyns and several other riders had caught up at this point and took over the care of Kathy for the last mile before the finish. All of the 100 mile riders agreed to stop the race right there and walked in with Kathy, who was now on foot, to the finish and then helped her remount to cross the line per FEI rules. Kathy was then taken to Dartmouth Hospital where x-rays and ultra-sounds determined that nothing was broken and she was released early the next morning. Kathy was with me the day, five years ago, that my horse tripped and fell onto me with more serious results so I was frantic until I learned that she was OK. Kudos to those riders who supported her over those last miles. When the runners of the VT 100 learned of this story a great cheer for the comraderie of endurance riders went up. We should all be proud of our sport!