Well Tevis started out fun...  Jeremy and I rode out to the start with smiles on our faces, the weather was already T-shirt weather and it was really beautiful under the moon.  At the starting line I had happy Birthday sung to me by all of the competitors around, that was super fun.  The start was easy and our horses felt great.  We were riding with our friends, Lisa and Garrett Ford.  At mile 2 Cleo, Jeremy's mount, was leading and got spooked by some water/mud on the trail in the dark.  She jumped up a very steep bank and then was about to flip over backwards when she did a pirouette and launched back towards the trail.  When she landed she fell and rolled, Jeremy came off in the mud and then she scrambled and stepped on him a few times and then disappeared off the edge of the trail.  There was a lot of noise and then it was silent.  Very disturbing.  We yelled for Cleo and there was silence.  All the while the 200+ riders were at a halt on the single track waiting to see what would happen.  Jeremy ran around, ahead on the trail and found a way down to where Cleo was.  He had to push through the dense bushes.  When he got down there we could hear Cleo moving and I yelled to see if Jeremy needed help.  Cleo was stuck on her back in the brush on the hill side.  Jeremy was able to grab her head and flip her over and then walk her out.  After a brief inspection, in the dark, and a trot Jeremy got on and we were on our way again. 

Just after the highway crossing Garrett, who was riding behind Jeremy, spotted the blood on Cleo's leg.  We had to keep going on the single track so we wouldn't block everyone.  When we got to the bottom of Squaw, Jeremy got off to have a good look and it was clear that Cleo, although sound, needed medical attention.  His ride was over and he walked her down the mountain to get help.  It turns out there was a radio guy right at the bottom and a vet with medical supplies and a trailer, very simple.  Cleo got her knee stitched up and her heel flushed and went onto Antibiotics immediately. 

I continued onwards.  I rode most of the day with Garrett and Lisa Ford and Kevin Myers and Rusty Toth.  We had all been training the entire summer together in Durango, CO and Jeremy and I had been coaching everyone so that we could all have a great Tevis performance.  We had a super time riding together. 

Granite Chief was simple, it has really been simple ever since we started using the Glue On Easyboots.  I really feel like Spiderman now with those grippy boots on.  Very secure.

Just before Cougar Rock I told Christoph that I really had wanted to go over it on Stirgess on my birthday ride but that after Jeremy's mishap that I was going to skip it.  As we approached it I was in the lead of our group and I turned back to Christoph and told him how tempting it was looking, this is when he yelled in a cheerful voice, with a German accent, "JUST DO IT!!!".  Without another thought I went up and over.  I am so glad I did.

At Robinson Flat we all made it through.  It was a nice rest and Stirgess ate well.  This was a fun stop because I had some crew there that I hadn't seen in a while, my mom, dad, Brother in law Tim, his girlfriend Jody, Skip, Karl, Megan, Laura and Doug and a few more.  Very fun group.

The trail took the gravel road this year so we flew from Robinson to Dusty Corners.  Rachael Shackelford and Brett and a friend of theirs was there to help put some ice water on Stirgess, that was fun to see them there.

 I got off and ran down the first canyon.  The swinging bridge was rocking at the bottom.  I rode most of the way up into Devil's Thumb, although I did hike and tail some.  Garrett on the other hand was working it!  He was a climbing machine.

After many more miles we were at Michigan Bluff.  We cooled the horses off and headed up again, into Chicken Hawk.  My mom and dad were there.  That was cool, they are not horse people but they crewed like they were.

Garrett, Lisa and I rode into Forrest Hill and took another nice break.  Kevin and Rusty were right there a few minutes later.  Super fun to have all of the training buddies more or less together this deep into the race.

I ate a burger and took a shower, super nice.  At this check Jeremy's mom and aunt Leslie were there as well as my other dad, in addition to everyone else, party!

When it was time to leave Stirgess was out first but the plan was for Garrett, Lisa and I to ride together.  I cruised through town and they soon caught up and we rode through town together waving at the cheering spectators.

The California loop was pleasant.  After a few miles Kevin and Rusty came along and we were all having fun trotting down the trail.  This part of the ride was getting increasingly humid.  It was going to rain and it just got warmer and more humid the further we went.

At CAL 2 we all got water and then hit the trail again.  At this point Kevin and Rusty backed off a hair.  As we approached Francisco we stopped at a creek to cool out our horses.  When we went to leave again and started trotting Stirgess felt off for about 4 steps, I was really worried and then he was fine.

We trotted into the check and all 3 horses looked great.  After a few minutes we all headed to the vet and when I trotted Stirgess he was lame enough for me to stop and walk back to the vet!  Very sad and sudden.  Lisa and Garrett were both surprised and the vets were too as they had just seen him trot in.  At first it seemed like Stirgess had a muscle tightening in his shoulder so the vet said to go work on him.  After stretching and massaging he was worse so I pulled him and started the 3 mile hike up the mountain to the trailer.  This has become a frustrating part in the race for me as I have now made this hike 3 times while being in the top 3. 

As I hiked up I tried to imagine the joy for the Ford's and that helped a little.  Stirgess was now lame walking.  Part way up the hill a car pulled up and said that they would walk my horse and that I should get in the car.  I thought it was someone that had been rafting or something so I politely declined, then Mike Shackelford told me it was him and to get in the car, how could I say no??  Super!  He hiked for the rest of the hill even though we kept stopping the car and offering him a trade for a rest.  Super guy, so generous.

Anyhow, Tevis was disappointing for us but amazingly great for all the rest of the Durango herd.  Very awesome that they were 1st-4th with a Haggin Cup too.  Garrett won and Rusty won Haggin.  Way to go.

Our vet in CO came out to ultrasound Stirgess and see Cleo.  Stirgess had ruptured a blood vessel in his leg and Cleo's stitches are holding well and there is no infection in her heel so he casted that and she will heal up.

I think we got rid of any bad luck so London should really be awesome!  The horses fly out on Mon the 13th. 

Jeremy and I left Durango at 3:30 am on Monday morning and headed West.  We arrived in Carnelian Bay, CA around 8 pm.  Lake Tahoe looks as beautiful as ever!  We are staying at Rodger and Amy Ford's amazing place, literally just off the main road around the lake, about 1 block off the lake.

We have with us for Tevis, Stirgess who I will be riding (number 44) and Cleopatrah who Jeremy will be riding (number 32).  We also have Kutt and Marvel here, as shortly after Tevis we will be flying with them to London.  Kingley came too.  If anyone is interested in a wonderful horse that is FEI passported and has crazy fast recoveries, he is available.

Last night we went to dinner with Amy, Rodger, Duncan, Suzanne, Valerie, Christoph and his intern, Eric.  It was very fun.  Jeremy, Garrett, Kevin & Rusty have been at the fairgrounds for the last 2 days glueing boots on people's horses but they will be back this afternoon and we will have a big group dinner.

I am very much looking forward to Saturdays ride!
Heather

We found out last night that the USA Endurance Team has been announced:
The traveling squad alphabetically:
John Crandell/ Heraldic
Becky Hart/ No Repeat
Valerie Kanavy/ Reach For The Gold
Nicki Meuten/ Not Tonight
Heather Reynolds/ Riverwatch
Jeremy Reynolds/ A Kutt Above

Ranked Alternates:
7 Meg Sleeper/ Reveille
8 Melody Blittersdorf/ Synthetic
9 Kim Orr/ Dutch
10 Jan Worthington/ Golden Lightening
11 Ellen Olson/ SA Belshazzar
12 Cody Boyson/ Viktory Banner
13 Jennifer Stevens/ Syrocco Cadence
14 Kelsey Kimbler/ Cody Canuck

Horses will ship around Aug 13th.  We are very excited about this years team and its potential!!!
Heather

Jeremy and I loaded up 4 horses on Thursday morning at 4 am to head to Ft Howes to try our luck at another year of races in beautiful Montana.  We took Cleopatrah and Chanses for the 100/160 FEI race and Honor and Bailey for the 75/120  FEI race.  The drive from Durango is long but not compared to our drive we usually do from CA.  It was going to take 14 hours plus stops.  Actual time was 16 hours.

We had a very uneventful drive and drove through in one day.  I read the Hunger Games book out loud as we drove and although we have both seen the movie it was still entertaining.  We arrived at Ft Howes about 8 pm.  We set up camp and discovered that our inverter on our living quarters had died.  No power in the rig unless plugged into the generator.  Oh well.  Ron Donley was over helping while Jeremy Olson and Jeremy Reynolds were diagnosing.  Ron brought us over two lanterns and we decided to just go to sleep.

Friday morning we got up and went for two rides to get all 4 horses out.  They all felt good.  Then we set up crew stuff and checked in.  Skip and his two friends Karl and Brian showed up and looked over the crew area and made some tweaks to how they wanted it. 

On Friday night the race had an awesome steak BB-Q after the ride meeting.  Bill Stevens does an outrageous job grilling up steaks.  Mark Devotee was playing live music while we ate.  Very cool. Skip made a request for "Red Solo Cup" and Mark did his best to sing it although it was not one he knew well. It was funny, I had never heard the song before.

We headed back to our camp and we had about 12 people come over and all hang out.  We listened to music and chatted until 10 when it was lights/noise out for the camp.  We headed to sleep.

Saturday was the FEI 75.  Bailey and Honor warmed up and then we were off.  Bailey was having a rough loop.  He had a new bit in his mouth that we thought he would prefer as it was a milder bit than he normally wears.  Big mistake.  It was only upsetting him and he was being a real dork.  On loop one Jeremy's saddle broke as well!  The metal ring that the stirrups hang from on a Freeform snapped, what are the odds?  Jeremy had to ride the last 5 miles to vet check 1 very carefully.  He attached both stirrups to the one remaining ring but that meant that his stirrups were "floating" hanging over the saddle and if he put weight in one stirrup it would just slide all the way over to that side.  He had to ride in the center!  Bailey was not helping with the bit issue.  We had lost at least 20-25 mins on this loop.

The bit was changed at the first vet check and the saddle was fixed.  Our crew was awesome.  We had Skip, Karl, Brian, Erica and Mark Devotee and a few others at random times throughout the day.

Our next loop went fine and the race was progressing nicely.  The horses had started to settle in well.  Bailey was looking very strong.  On our second to last loop we decided to speed it up.  We had 27 miles to go and we were 30 mins off the lead group.  After this loop we had made up 22 mins and the leaders were just over 9 mins ahead with 10 miles to go. 

Honor vetted through but Bailey did not have a good CRI.  Jeremy was going to stop.  Although Bailey looked very fresh we think loop 1 had caught up with him.  Bummer. 

The last 10 miles had a big climb in it.  When it was my out time, I asked Honor to canter and he never looked back.  Ceci and Camey Kimbler were out shortly after me.  In a short time we were all 3 cantering after the leaders.  When we got to the big climb Honor did not slow up.  He was amazing.  On the descent I started to see dust.  Around a couple more turns and I had caught the leaders.  I passed them and Honor didn't slow up.  We galloped along to the next water and I asked them if they wanted to stop.  We were still 5 miles from the finish.  We all watered our horses and then Ceci and Camey were catching up.  This is when the two leaders decided to make a run for it.  Honor was keeping pace with ease and in a couple of mins I was alone galloping along with ease.  Honor ended up winning by a couple of minutes.  He averaged 16.5 mph or 26.5 km per hour on the last 10 mile loop with the hills!  He is so much fun and very much like his two brothers, Smitty and Stirgess.  This was his first 75/120.

After the race there was another BB-Q.  This time it was hamburgers and hotdogs.  We had a good dinner and this night Mark Devotee had learned all the words to "Red Solo Cup" and gave it another go!  Too funny.

Sunday we woke to another day of racing, only this time we were starting an hour earlier to do the 100.  Chanses and Cleopatrah warmed up and were going nicely on loop 1.  Loop 1 was uneventful this time which was nice.  Both horses vetted well.  We had breakfast sandwiches at this check provided by a volunteer, Stan.  Stan owns a sporting goods store in our home town of San Jose, CA.  The store is Mel Cotton's.  Small world.

Loop two was a long loop of 23 miles.  It was going really well.  Our crew meet us at the 10 mile point.  When we were about 7 miles from camp my metal stirrup bar on my Orthoflex snapped!!! What the heck??  The saddle Gods were not with us!  Jeremy rigged it so that my stirrup leather went around the panel and I had one jockey length stirrup and one really short stirrup to try to balance it out. I wasn't really sore from the 75 until I rode like this for 7 miles! 

At the next vet check I switched saddles and was very relieved to be with normal length stirrups again!  It was at this vet check, the 48 mile mark that it was decided that Cleo was to stop.  The vets couldn't put a finger on it but she was not moving right, a little warble to her gait.  She was the first to recover but not right.  When Jeremy took her back to the trailer she peed dark and he had blood run on her and she had had a mild tie up.  Damn.

Chanses was feeling great and went out with other riders.  He was a gentleman and paced how I asked all day.  He was very steady.  On the second to the last vet check 6 of us came in together and he was the first to recover.  At the last vet check there were 3 of us and he recovered first again. 

The last loop was a 15 mile loop.  I rode with Italian rider, Carmine and US rider Ceci.  We had a good time.  The weather was starting to change and there was strong wind and some drizzle coming down.  Up to this point both races had had perfect weather so I guess I can't complain. We cantered around this 15 miles together.  When we were 5 miles from the end we picked it up a little. 

Ceci and I were on the same team and in the last few miles we decided we would race off at the end.  When we were about 1/2 a mile out we floored it and Chanses flew!  He is all of 16 hands and off the track.  He won, then Ceci then Carmine.  It was a very fun day.  This was Chanses first 100 mile/ 160km ride.  He looked fantastic.

He trotted very well for Best Condition and was awarded Best Condition and High Vet score.  Very cool horse. We are excited by both Honor and Chanses for the future.

On Thursday Jeremy and I loaded up Kutt and Marvel to make the trip to Prescott, Arizona.  We would be being hosted by the Rashid Family at Kytiri Ranch.  The drive took 8 hours.  The first part of the drive was scenic, then it turned to desert and then rock and then in Flagstaff it was forrest and then back to desert.

Prescott is at about 5000+ elevation.  It was very hot out so we decided to leave Durango at 2 pm.  We arrived in Prescott around 10pm.  Terri was there with a smile on as well as her husband Rick.  After our horses were settled in a nice BIG paddock we were taken to our sleeping quarters.  We fell right asleep.

Friday morning we got up and went for a ride with Terri on the trail that we would be using as our evaluation trail.  (Terri was supposed to do the trial with us but disappointingly, at the last minute her horse came up sore and it was blocked to the foot so it was just really bad timing.)  It was a 3.1 mile out and then turn around and head back.  It was a right handed fish-hook out, midway you went by a windmill then continued to a bush, looped around the bush to the trail you were just on and go back to the windmill and hook left to the start point.  We were going to do this for 38 miles.  The trail had nice footing and we chased some gazelle which was fun.

When we were done with the ride it was already very warm.  Arizona has a really dry heat.  We loaded up the horses and went to the local deli to pick up sandwiches for Terri's family and ourselves. 

After we drove to the ranch we all had lunch and then Jeremy and I saddled up Marvel and Kutt to do the track that is on the property for a little stretch ride.  Terri joined us on her Zero, which is an electric motorcycle/dirtbike.  It was sooo quiet, the horses didn't mind at all.  Terri did have to go faster at times to make some wind so she could cool off with all of her gear on.

When we were done with the horses we changed and went for a swim and had an epic water fight. 

Around 6:30 the vets, Dr Hooten and Dr Seymour, the Chef, Emmett Ross and the selector Carol Giles arrived.  We headed to the horses immediately as we needed to see them before dark and more importantly before our dinner reservation!  After trotting, poking, prodding and flexing we headed off for dinner.

We had dinner at a place called Murphy's.  There were many of us, Terri had reserved a private room, good thinking.  There were 14 of us.  It was an enjoyable time for sure.  The Weary's were there as well as they had helped secure the location of the trail and coordinate being able to use it.

On Sat. we trailered over to the start for a 6:30 start.  Kutt and Marvel felt great.  We were instructed to go 18.7 Km and we headed off for 4 out and backs, about 24.8 miles.  After that we had a pulse with a vet check and a 30 min hold.  Both horses ate well and looked like they were doing an LD. 

After the hold we did two more out and backs a bit faster, then vetted out again.  It was a pleasant day and the horses did the work with ease.

We trailered back to the ranch and met with the staff to review how the ride went and some general travel details for any one who might make the team.  Then we headed back out and examined the beasts once more before the staff had to head to the airport.

The rest of us, The Rashid family, their trainer Robyn, Skip, Jeremy and I went to lunch at the golf resort near the ranch.  It was very relaxing to be done with the working part of the weekend. 

After we returned to the ranch Jeremy and I took a nap.  When we woke up we were new people!  We took the dogs down to the pond with the two Rashid boys to play around.  Roo was helping the Rashid's family dog, Kiri get in and enjoy herself with confidence.  It was warm enough that Merlin accidentally got in for a short swim as well. 

After dog time all the humans hit the pool.  It was really fun.  The pool fun was followed by hanging out and BB-Q'ing.  The masters, Rick and Skip made dinner.  It was a very good time.    I am very thankful for the awesome hospitality of the Rashid family. 

We drove home today, Sunday and we are now vegging in front of the TV, well I will be after I write this...  Our next adventure will be Ft Howes.  We hope to see you there!  Support FEI so we will have future events to attend.

Picture from Left to right: Elaine Lemeiux holding Riverwatch, Garrett Ford holding Bound For Honor, Jeremy Reynolds holding Stirgess, Heather Reynolds holding Kenlyn Irishman and Rachel Shackelford holding Cleopatrah.

This blog should have gone out several days ago but I am just now starting to feel human again as far as sleep deprivation goes!  On Wed May 2 we loaded up our 7 horses plus our friend Bob's horse to head to the Biltmore.  The eight horses got on the trailer around 8:30 pm.  Our plan was to drive thru the night to avoid the heat and humidity. 

The reason we had so many horses was because we would be continuing from the Biltmore to our summer training that would take place in Durango CO.  Ever tried packing for 5 horses and riders to do an FEI race and then also packing for the entire summer training with a trip abroad with potentially two horses flying???  A little bit of work. 

The drive was uneventful.  Rachel Shackelford had flown out to FL to help us drive to NC for the Biltmore.  She was also going to help us with the crazy drive from NC to CO!  What a hero!!  I love her!!

We arrived Thursday with the two trailers, 3 dogs, 3 people and 8 horses around 10 am.  We were in Zombie mode for sure!  When we arrived several friends jumped in to help us get water and feed for the horses.  This is when Bob's horse went with Bob.  We then headed to town to go to breakfast.  Melody and Chad went with and we had a great time.  After this we went back to camp to get things organized.  Jeremy booted a few horses while Rachel and I tried to stay awake. 

For dinner we went to a BB-Q at our friends Lynn and Mark Ashby's camp.  Very nice and fun catching up.  Lynn and Mark are who we got A Kutt Above, Merlin (the chihuahua), Cleopatrah and An Honest Crook from.  It was super fun because Merlin's mom, brother and niece were there!  The Chihuahua's had a blast.  We were party poopers and headed to bed super early, go figure!!.

Friday, Garrett Ford came to camp, he had landed at some unreal time in the wee hours of the am, I think Friday at 3:30 am or something!  Jeremy and he went for a run.  Rachel and I went to the Biltmore hotel and had breakfast with Elaine and Guy Lemeiux.  These are our friends that we bought our newest horse, Honor, from.  I think we had a lot more fun than the boys!  Barbara also arrived later in the afternoon on Friday.

The rest of Friday was spent getting things set up, vetting, then pre riding, followed by the ride meeting. Then another early bedtime.

Saturday Jeremy and Stirgess started their ride at 6 am, Rachel and I were 30 mins later, followed by Garrett and Barbara another 30 mins later.  The start of the race went very well for Rachel and I, both horses were traveling well and were relaxed.  Our goal was to get Riverwatch aka Marvel his final qualification for the London World Championship and get Cleo through her first 2*.

We arrived at vet check one as Jeremy and Stirgess were heading out.  Both of our horses ate really well.  Lynn told us a story about Jeremy catching a loose horse and helping the rider get back on, why does this always seem to be the thing Jeremy gets to do? 

After a while Barbara arrived but no Garrett, Uh oh.  We went to ask Barbara about it and she said that there had been a loose horse running straight to them and Garrett had jumped off to help catch it and right as he made the catch Honor pulled back so Garrett let the other horse go to hold onto Honor but then Honor pulled more and was loose.  Barbara said the last thing she saw was Honor running up over a hill top with Garrett in hot pursuit.  I was worried after hearing this but if I had to pick someone to be in charge of tracking Honor down it would be Garrett. 

Rachel and I rode around loop 2 and when we were almost back to camp I asked the ride manager who was at the number check point if Garrett had found the horse.  He told me that he had and that he was back on the trail.  That was a big relief.

At the second vet check we heard the story about how Jeremy had left vet check one and shortly after he passed us (when we were headed into vet check one), he came upon a loose grey horse.  The rider he was with said something like "not again!" and right about then Jeremy realized it was Honor!  He went after him and had to go a ways off trail.  Jeremy was near Honor and then Honor and Stirgess started to race each other and it was getting dangerous.  Jeremy realized that they were headed up the hill that had a number check and a horse rental string and many people at the top of it so he let Honor go to them and he turned around to get back on course.

Rachel and I had a nice ride for the rest of the day.  The scenery was beautiful and the weather was cooperating nicely, although we did get rained on for a bit.

On our last loop Rachel and I were making bets as to when Stirgess would blow by us.  It didn't happen but if we would have taken 13 mins longer it would have!  We were on our mile long walk back to camp when we heard the cheering.  Stirgess had lost the sprint off to a 16.1 hand Anglo!  Stirgess is barely 15 hands and does not have long legs.  He lost by 1/2 a length and the GPS read 34 MPH or 54.4 KPH!!!  He was flying.

An hour after the race we showed him for Best Condition.  He looked incredible.  He won Best Condition and High Vet score.  This was his second 100/160k.  He is super.  He had his dragon haircut, the same one he had at FITS.  It's his look.  I think he made his brother Sir Smith aka Smitty proud.

All 5 of our horses finished.  Honor looked great.  We guess he went around 68 miles, so he won the 68!  He didn't have a mark on him, no cuts, grass stains from falling nothing.  He was only missing his reins and even those were returned the next day.  Someone had found them at a road crossing.  They were totally fine, clips and all. Weird!  We had 5 FEI completions so I was happy.

Sunday we went to the awards and then went swimming in the river.  We decided that we would start our drive in the evening to rest the horses and avoid the heat.  After packing up and then swimming we took a nap.  We got on the road around 6 pm. 

We made an immediate stop at the Starbucks that is at the front gate of the Biltmore estate entrance.  We had a 1700 mile or 2720 km drive ahead of us!!

We drove until 1 pm on Tuesday and then stopped at a fellow endurance rider, Sandy Olson's farm.  She was incredibly generous and put our horses in a 12 acre grass pasture and offered us showers and beds.  It was so awesome and appreciated!

After showering we fell fast asleep.  We started driving again at 8:30pm.  About an hour into our drive I saw sparks coming out from under the trailer that Jeremy was driving so I had Rachel call him and we pulled over.  A trailer tire had de-treaded so we put the spare on and continued. 

By 4 am on Tuesday morning none of us could function.  We pulled into  a truck stop and took a 4 hour nap. We got going again around 8 am.  It was only 4 more hours to go.  As we got closer Jeremy decided he wanted to get the flat replaced so that we would have a spare.  There was a super convenient spot and we were fixed up in no time.  Another problem was spotted while we were there.  One of the rims had cracked so there was a slow leak because of it.  Everything was fixed. We hit up the coffee shop in the parking lot before heading onwards.

It was so great to pull into Garrett's driveway!!  Just knowing that we didn't have to drive away 4 hours later was the best feeling!!  After we visited for a bit we decided to go for a ride.  Most people would be appalled.  Riding in an endurance race, driving 40+ hours and then you WANT to go for a ride??? Diehard.  Any how we all thought it sounded good...Idiots!

In Nov Jeremy dropped off three of our horses at Garrett's so that is who we would ride.   Rachel would ride Envol, Jeremy would ride Nixon and I would be on my old friend Kingley once again.  Garrett rode Fury.

We headed out and the views were stunning and the valley is breathtaking.  We were about 2 miles into our ride when I called back to Rachel to watch for a broken, low branch.  A few seconds later Envol got goosed by the branch and Rachel came off.  Apparently Rachel had been videoing our ride when I called back to her and she was putting the camera away when things went down hill.  Luckily Rachel was fine and she quickly got up and hopped back on, as cheerful as ever.  She is awesome!!  Did I mention that Envol had not been ridden since Nov?

When we were headed back, Garrett saw the tail of a mountain lion disappearing around the bend of the trail!  It ran too fast to see anything more.  When we got back to Garrett's house there were at least 30 elk in his yard!  Crazy!

After the ride we cleaned up and had dinner with Lisa, Alex and Garrett.  Lisa had made a yummy dinner that hit the spot after all of the road food we had consumed.

After dinner we all fell asleep before we even hit the pillow!  Early the next day Garrett dropped Jeremy off at the Durango airport.  Poor Jeremy had to go to CA to take care of all of his shoeing/ trimming clients.  A little later that morning I took Rachel to the airport too.  We are like a traveling circus!!  In all, the trip went well and I am so greatful to Rachel for taking her time to help us with the drive.

I am in Durango with our 10 horses.  I rode A Kutt Above today for the first time since the time trial and he feels amazing. 

The next event will be the final evaluation for London.  Our evaluation will be June 2.  I will keep you posted.

The USA Time Trail was held last weekend, on the 31st of March, in Mt Pleasant Texas.  On Monday the 26th around 5 pm the caravan pulled out of Florida to head West to Texas.  Jeremy and Ellen Olson,  Melody and Jeff Blittersdorf and Jeremy and myself.  In our road circus we had 13 horses, a Great Dane, 4 Chihuahuas, 2 Pit bull mixes and Jeremy O's hunting dog which I forgot the breed of!

The circus was making great headway.  We had decided to keep each other company as well as keeping motivated to drive straight through the night to get to the camp as quickly as possible while the weather would be at its coolest. Around 2 am we got a phone call from the Olson's who were in the back of the caravan.  They had blown a trailer tire.  The Blittersdorf's and us pulled off at the next stop, which was almost 10 miles up the hwy.  As luck would have it the stop we made had a live tiger in a cage for exhibit!  It was the weirdest gas station hole in the wall place.  We waited for a long while.  Jeremy O was trying to get his wheel jack (plastic ramp thing for trailer tire changing) to work but it was slipping on the asphalt and when he tried pulling into the grass more, the trailer sat too low to get the tire off... you can imagine the frustration.  When the jack snapped into pieces it really topped it off!  It was early am and sleep deprived fun was in full action!

At this point we headed back to them so we could try to help out.  Mel and Jeff went ahead to find food.  We had another plastic wheel jack.  With a team effort we got the tire changed.  We were rolling again!  Hurray!  It took about an hour and a half. 

We caught up to Mel and Jeff and carried on.  I think we were all more energized than normal as we were headed to the race we had all been looking forward to the entire winter training session in Florida.

We were almost to the town of Mt Pleasant around 10:30 am.  Our GPS was reading 10 miles away when the poor Olson's lost their second tire!  Luckily it was light out this time and we were right outside of a gas station.  We all pulled in and it was quickly remedied by Jeff and the two Jeremy's pulling off the mangled flat and putting our spare tire onto their trailer.  This time we were rolling in under 30 mins.

We all had an extra horse on each of our trailers so we had to head to the off site boarding facility to drop the spares.  It was ruled that only horses entered in the Time Trial could be in camp.

After the short detour we were all off to camp.  Camp was in Mt Pleasant at the Preifert Factory yard.  (We pulled in just after noon on Tuesday.)  It was convenient to town and got the horses really broke to trains.  There was a train that ran through the back of camp.  It was literally less than 100 ft from our horses.

We set up camp and got the horses all set, then we relaxed for a bit before riding around the hay fields to loosen the horses up.  We were camped right next to our friend's the Donley's.  Becky Hart had carpooled from CA with them as well. 

Both of our horses looked like they had traveled really well.  Jeremy would be riding A Kutt Above and I would be riding Riverwatch aka Marvel. 

That night we went to dinner with the Donley's and Becky, Judith and Tracy.  It was nice to have a Chili's restaurant right there.  We had fun catching up with friends and even more fun getting to bed after not sleeping the night before. 

As soon as we were sound asleep the train came through.  It came through about 4 times each night!  Each night the train seemed to get louder and longer.  It was a VERY heavy, rumbling cargo train.

On Wednesday we rode and then walked to Walmart.  It was so hot out we wanted to get sun hats.  Jeremy got a super stylish straw hat that looked like something out of a Corona beer commercial.  I got a bonnet type hat, whatever, it kept the sun off our faces.

We rode again in the pm.  It was probably in the high 80's.  On Wed Terri Rashid and her trainer Robin pulled in.  Terri is a good friend and client of ours.  It was fun to see both her and Robin.  Terri's horse Keen would be doing her first fast effort on a 100.  They had driven all the way from AZ and had, had a blizzard just the week before!  Talk about contrast in weather!

There was a wine and cheese reception held by the Central riders which was fun.  After which we spent our dinner with Robin and Terri.  Chili's looked like the who's who hang out for the elite USA endurance riders.  A lot of the teams were eating there.  Pretty funny.

Late on Wed night Scott, Tim and Skip arrived.  Scott stayed in camp with us to help with Marvel and Tim and Skip headed to the hotel.

Thursday  morning we rode and then went to the crew points to see what we could see.  Jeremy was wanting to see the footing to make sure he was happy with what we had on our horses feet as far as traction goes.  We both had Easyboot glue ons.

That night we wanted to venture out from Chili's and find something else.  It actually took 4 tries to find a place we wanted to stop to eat!  We actually sat at a place and changed or minds!  We settled on a Mexican joint.  Terri, Robin, Scott, Tim, Skip, Jeremy and I were there.  About half way through the meal Lori Olson also joined us.  She came straight from the airport.  It was a lively meal.

Friday we rode again and got all of the crew stuff laid out and Skip got the ice situation coordinated with Jason Stasuik.  Garrett Ford arrived and jumped into our crew logistics and got briefed on the plan.  Mary and Ranger also joined our crew when Sue Hedgecock's horse didn't get to start.  While the crew went out to see the crew point and handle last minute details Jeremy and I took a nap.  We were all ready to rock and roll. 

There was a nice dinner at the camp in the Preifert hanger.  Emmett gave a ride briefing and went over what he was hoping to see during the event.  It was to be a display of your horse's abilities to perform at speed under pressure while still having a sound individual after the race so he would have a team of fast horses to pick from at the end of the day!

We headed to bed.  It was still very hot and muggy as it had been all week.  Around 1:30 am my sister Holly, her boyfriend Matt and another friend, Colin arrived.  They quietly snuck into the trailer to fall asleep.  They had driven 5 hours (from Austin) when they got off work, now that is dedication!!!  I don't think much sleep happened as the train came by a few times and the dogs had to go out a couple of times and Holly and the boys arrived and we were excited.

We got up and were ready to roll!  We got on our two guys 40 mins before the start and got to warming up.  Marvel was feeling frisky to say the least.  Jeremy and I warmed up separately as we did not plan on riding together.  Kutt was much more experienced.  It was Marvel's second 100, his first FEI 100.  His first 100 was winning Tevis.

I was wanting to be in the top 6 but I wasn't sure how it would play out as Marvel was an unknown. 

The first loop was the longest and it flew by.  After we crossed the bog for the first time we saw a very large hole in the trail.  Almost right after that we ran into Emmett, who was manning a creek crossing.  I told him about it and by the time we rode the lollipop loop back to that point the hole had been staked off with caution tape!  Talk about service and looking out for the well being of all!!  It was on this loop that Valerie's horse fell down and she came off.  We came upon Val and asked her where her horse had gone and she said it kept going.  I asked if she was ok and she said she thought so.  I rode on and after a while saw Jeremy out in a meadow grabbing the horse.  I told him she was a ways back.  He decided to go back to her.  I continued.  Jeremy went to Val, helped her on and then realized in having a conversation with her that she had stopped making sense and probably had a concussion.  Val's other riders caught up to her and he rode a ways with them to make sure Val would be safe.  (While Jeremy was catching Val's horse the horse had run up beside Jeremy and as he grabbed it the horse fell under Kutt and then got loose again and fell two more times.  Valerie later found out she had broken some ribs and had a concussion.)

Marvel was looking great.  He was overwhelmed at the first crew point by the crew coming at him with water.  He was similarly overwhelmed at the first vet check with the mass cooling.  He did recover quickly though.  Kutt was already there eating.  Both horses ate impressively.  We were the 4th ones out of the check.  It was a 30 min hold.

Loop two was another long loop.  Marvel was better with the crew.  He recovered and was 3rd out.  Jeremy and two other front runners were not there.  Apparently at one turn the sign to turn had been covered up and it had cost them some time and miles.  Marvel and Kutt again ate like champs and did so at every single vet check!  Amazing considering the heat and short checks.  It was another 30 min hold. 

Loop three was the first short loop.  It was roughly 12 miles.  Marvel was great with the crewing by this point.  Good thing, as it was in the high 80's and VERY high humidity as well.  We had a 40 min hold.  I think we were 5th to recover.

Loop 4 was long again.  It was really the hottest part of the day.  The trail through the day was a mix of slightly rolling trail with a lot of turf.  There was also a section on 4 of the loops where you had to cross a large boggy area on the way out and back, so 8 times through the bogs.  It was a very challenging course.  We rode with Monk on this loop.  Marvel came in and pulsed right down.  He was the 4th one out again!  Kutt was in the lead group.  This was our first and only long hold.  It was a 50 min hold with an exit exam.  Terri came in off this loop 12 mins before Jeremy was supposed to leave and her mare had pulled a shoe in the bog.  He quickly went to work as he still had an exit exam as well!  He did make it out on time but he I think it was the first time he put a shoe on while wearing a helmet!!

Loop 5 was about 16 miles.  It was very humid and hot still.  We ended up doing this loop with Deborah Reich's rider Amy, who was riding Juniper.  Marvel recovered again quickly.  We were once again in 4th place.  At least that was consistent:)

On the last loop Kutt went out just a hair ahead of the second place horse, Reach For The Gold aka Reggie (Valerie's other horse).  Becky was three minutes behind on No Repeat.  Valerie's rider and Becky both decided they would not race Kutt as Jeremy had helped Valerie with her fall and he had helped Becky earlier in the day as well.  Emmett really did not want the three riders taking extra risks either.  Jeremy and Wendy trotted along waiting for Becky so they could ride in together.

I left about 30 mins after them and did the last loop alone.  It was fun but there was head-on traffic that was headed back to camp so Marvel was a trooper heading out alone away from camp 90+ miles into a super hot, humid 100.

I finished 25 mins behind the lead group and Marvel was 4th.  I couldn't have asked for a better ride.  Jeremy was 1st, in a ride time of 8:16, Wendy 2nd and Becky 3rd.  

Out of the 49 that vetted in, 45 started and 19 finished.  It was a very challenging day.  Some people had a big smile at the end of the day and others were disappointed. 

Congratulations to all that made the long list, Terri Rashid included!  Emmett also gave out two of his three wild card spots (these were reserved for him to give to anyone he wanted that for some reason did not make the long list.  You had to start the Time Trial and one of your horses had to finish to be eligible for the long list).  The two spots he gave out were to John Crandell, who was pulled for lameness on Heraldic and Deborah Reich who was unable to compete due to a medical reason that she is recovering from (Deborah's horse, Juniper, however was just fine and did the event with Amy and ended up in 9th place.)  Valerie is on the long list as she was riding the event and her other horse, Reach For The Gold was 2nd.

Kutt also won Best Condition.  He looked super.  He is the funniest horse, he is such a laid-back, easy-going guy that he is always such a sleeper and he surprises us every time.

In all I really think we have a very talented pool of riders to choose from going into the WEC.  It should be great this year for team USA.  I am very excited to see how well our team will do. 

We are now back in Florida.  We will be out here until the Biltmore on May 5th and then we are going to keep driving from that race out to CO where we will start out summer training at the Ford's Ranch in Durango.  I hope we see many of you in North Carolina on May 5th.

Above is Stirgess the night before his first 100. He is sporting the dragon look.

We went to the FITS ride this weekend. It is really great as it is only 20  mins down the road and it is three days of super well marked FEI racing. 

On Wed night we headed over to the ride with the two horses that we would be riding on day one on Thursday.  Cleo was slated to do all three days so that on day 3 she would be qualified for her FEI 1*. Bailey was the horse that I would ride on day 1.

We vetted in and said hello to a few people.  Bailey and Cleo settled in at camp, they were obviously old campaigners by now, after all this was their 2nd ride!

It was SUPER hot and humid on Wed.  It would have been a dreadful day to be racing.  It was in the high 80's and was 91 percent humidity.

Thursday was foggy and warm.  It was another hot humid day.  Both horses did well and completed the ride, they ended up 13th and 14th.

After the ride the Donley's were in camp waiting for us.  We took care of the two horses then we drove home to feed all of our other horses and to pick up Marvel and Chanses for day 2.  They would be doing their first 2*. 

When we got back to the camp JJ Donley and Jeremy vetted in for the 2*.  We were all set for another great, hot day on day 2.

Day 2 was foggy again and hot and humid.  The Donley's, in what is becoming typical fashion, showed up with our custom Starbucks orders!!  Too cool.  I rode Cleo for her second day, she was great.  At vet check 1 we saw Jeremy and JJ and they were doing great too.

The day's trail on the 50 was identical to the first day so Cleo knew what was at hand and she didn't complain.  On the last loop, the pink loop, the footing was really deep and it was in the heat of the day.  Cleo cruised through this loop and took me in to the finish, she was 12th.  Nice mare.

A little side note:  our friend Deborah Reich's lovely mare Juniper won the 50 looking like a million bucks with Amy on board and also won high vet & BC on day 2.

As I vetted through for the day I also vetted in for Cleo's FEI 1* that would be on day 3.  I took care of Cleo and quickly rushed off to feed our guys at home, drop off Bailey and pick up Stirgess. 

When I put Bailey in our pasture Stirgess was quick to make himself available.  He was certain that he was over due to get in the trailer and go to the race!  I caught him and put him in our yard while I finished my chores and showered.  When I came out of our house he was literally waiting at the bottom step of our front porch.  He then followed me to the trailer and waited while I put on his fly mask and clipped his lead rope on.  I opened the trailer, he jumped in and we were off.

When we got to camp I vetted him in right away so I could join Ron and Karen Donley in the crewing effort.  By the time I was done checking in all that was left was to meet Jeremy and JJ at the finish line.  Cool!!  Our friends Jean and Seve were there as well (the people we bought Chanses from) to see Chanses finish his first 2*.

The two horses crossed the finish line and looked great, they were 6th & 7th.  Super great first 2*.  It was also JJ's first 2*.

We hung out for a while and then had to go to bed.  All of this riding and hustling around picking up and dropping off horses is so tiring!!

On day 3 it was again super hot and maybe the most humid it had been all weekend.  The trail was different.  We would ride down to the section of forest by our house (Tidewater), have a vet check and ride back to camp.  41+ miles round trip.  Cleo was game for yet another day.  Tough mare.  Jeremy and she hit the trail while I was on Stirgess.  Our rides both started at 6:30 as they had all three days.

The first 41 miles I rode with Jeremy Olson.  We had a blast.  When we got to the section of trail where our turn off to go to where our house is, Stirgess tried to turn away from our house!  He was really into this. 

We had a vet check at Tidewater then back at camp.  From here we had the pink loop, which is the one that has the super deep sand and some small rolling hills, it is a 13+mile loop.  It was really hot and Stirgess was leading the 100 and we were alone.  I asked him to walk through some of the deep sand and he actually took offense and kept on jogging through the sand and declined the walking offer.  What a workhorse!!

The next hold was in camp and it was so hot that the hold time was extended from a 40 min hold to a 1:10 hold!  When we left this hold we rode with Steve Rojek from here on out.  The yellow loop was 21 miles a long loop at this stage and with the heat to boot!

We made it around this loop.  After this loop we had a vet check in camp and then headed out on the white loop.  It was starting to get windy which gave us some relief but as soon as you stopped moving the heat was right here there to wrap around you.  The course was very difficult this year as it has not rained much at all in Florida and the sand has gotten awfully deep because of it. 

Jeremy and Cleo finished day 3 in 10th.  Cleo did all 3 days , did the pink loop everyday and got her 1*!  Then he hustled home, dropped off Chanses and Marvel, fed and picked up ice cream sandwiches for us.  He also got us burgers at Willard's and was back to crew for me.  Busy dude.

Side Note: Jeremy and Ellen Olson's horse Bandjo won the FEI 75 and got high vet and BC for day 3.

We had one last vet check and headed out on white again.  The wind was a little stronger.  Steve and I were trying to get our COC and we made it.  Both horses looked good, we tied for AERC and Strigess & I won the FEI ride.

An hour after the ride we stood for BC.  Stirgess looked great.  He ended up getting the high vet score as well as BC his CRI less than 10 mins after finishing was 52/44.  This was a great first 100!!  It was his first 100 and his first 3*.  Look for him in the future.

That night a huge storm came it.  The wind, rain and lightening was incredible.  At 3 am we jumped up and put Cleo and Stirgess in the trailer.

In all we had a great weekend, we had 7 starts with 7 completions at a ride that had a pull rate over 65%.

See you at the time trial on March 31st in Texas!

Heather

This last weekend we took 7 horses down to the Piney Pig FEI ride in Canal Point FL.  The lucky 7 were: (Day one) Kutt & our clients horse P doing the FEI 75, Bailey doing his first 50 & Chanses doing his second 1* to help get his rider, Rachel Shackelford, her qualification.  Day two Marvel would do his first 1*, Stirgess would do a 1* with a first time FEI young rider JJ Donley, Cleo doing her first 50 and Bailey and Chanses doing an LD.

We loaded up and drove down to the ride on Thursday morning.  It was a very hot day.  The drive took about 4:30 hours and was super simple.  When we got to camp we scouted out a shady spot.  P's owner, Barbara Hershberg was already there and had a spot in mind for us.

The camp at this ride is super awesome.  There are shade trees, stalls and large turnout pens.  There are also showers.  We were lucky enough to find a pen that was about an acre!  We put all of the geldings out in it as they always live together anyhow.  Cleo on the other hand was put on our hi tie.  No risking any mare gelding confrontations!

Camp was set up quickly as all we had to do was turn out our 5 geldings, hand P to Barbara and hi tie Cleo. 

It was probably 80 degrees and pretty humid.  Skip and his daughter Heather showed up in the afternoon.  They had come to crew.  After they got there we went out on a pre ride, well "we" minus myself.  We had more riders than horses so I stayed back.

We went to the ride meeting that evening and were told that there were some alligators in the pond right next to the vet check.  Heather Stevens actually got a few pictures of them!  I didn't see them, darn.

On Friday morning we were up to get tacked up for a 7 am start.  Jeremy on Kutt, Rachel on Chanses and myself on Bailey.  It was really cute, when Bailey got out to where all of the horses were warming up he froze and stared at all of the horses as if he were totally amazed, then he just took a deep breath and started warming up like a pro!

The 75's and 50's started together.  It was uneventful.  The day went by pretty slowly for Rachel and I as it was Bailey's first time out.  About 15 miles into the race Rachel and I were looking at the clouds.  Rachel said that she would love it if it rained.  No sooner than 5 minutes after she made this comment it got really dark and the sky opened up and torrential rain soaked us thoroughly!!  Watch what you wish for.

At the next vet check we found out that Jeremy was running in second place on the 75. 

Bailey and Chanses finished without a glitch and I think that Bailey learned a lot.

Jeremy ended up finishing in 2nd with a very wild story.  He was riding along when Kutt tripped on some uneven ground (which there was a lot of!)  Jeremy and Kutt parted ways and then Kutt looked back at Jeremy and took off.  Jeremy looked at his GPS to see how many extra miles he would end up doing and took off running after Kutt.  After a short while a Suburban drove up to Jeremy and said that he had tried to stop Kutt but couldn't.  Jeremy got into the car and they drove to catch up to Kutt.  Once they caught up, Kutt wanted to keep running.  Jeremy was trying to grab the reins from the car but he couldn't, Kutt was starting to speed up and in a split second decision Jeremy decided to jump out the car window and grab the reins!!  He succeeded but doesn't recommend ever doing this, he was pretty sore from it later!  They went 10 bonus miles during the whole car chase adventure, so 2nd place seemed just fine.

P was third and Barbara and he got their 2*.

On day two Bailey and Chanses did the LD with Skip and his daughter Heather.  They had a good time and finished easily.

Stirgess and JJ finished their 1*, it was JJ's first FEI ride and I think he will be around for a long while! They rode with Jeremy who was on Cleo.  Both horses looked great.  I rode Marvel on his first 1* and we finished in 5th place.

Rachel was able to borrow a horse from Darolyn Butler and get her 2* on day 2!  She finished in 2nd place. 

On Sat night after the second day of riding we all headed to the Donley's hotel where we enjoyed a dip in the hot tub, followed by showers and then to the Outback Steakhouse.  What a great weekend.

Our next race is in a couple of weeks at the Camp Osborne Boy Scout Pow Wow, then Fun In The Sun.  We will also be at the AERC convention.



 

We did our first Endurance ride since moving out here.  On Wednesday Jeremy booted all of our guys for the race, we were really excited as we were going to be testing out some new tread patterns. 

On Friday we loaded up Tiran, Chanses and Marvel to drive the 8 miles over to the Goethe Challenge Endurance Ride.  We got to camp around 10 am, I drove seperately as I had to take our dog Daisy to the vet for an acupuncture appointment.  I was only present for the picking of the parking spot, then I had to leave. 

I drove to Ocala and went to the vet appointment and then the grocery run and then back to the race.

When I got back to the ride Jeremy had set up camp and the crew area.  We went to the check in and did our paperwork and then went to vet in and get our passport inspections done. 

After all of the official business was taken care of we went for a pre ride.  Our friend Barbara Hershberger was riding her horse AnyDayNow aka "P" and our long time friend Sarah Schick (from back in our days of training in VA) were riding with us as well.  Sarah was on Barbara's other horse Storm.

Our pre ride was short and sweet.  All 5 of the horses looked great.
Barbara and I were entered in the 75 FEI 2*, Jeremy on Chanses, Sarah on Storm and Rachel Shackelford on Marvel were entered in the 50 mile 1*.

After the Pre ride we hung out a while and then went to the dinner and the ride meeting.  The cool thing about the East Coast rides is that the dinner is usually on Friday night. After dinner we headed to bed.

Saturday morning I started out at 7 on Tiran.  He warmed up really well and was nice and calm. Our start was uneventful.  The first loop went well, about 5 miles into it Barbara joined us on P.  He was looking nice and was moving well. 

We arrived at the first vet gate after the 20 mile loop and both P and Tiran recovered well.  Barbara and I went to the vet and unfortunately P was asked to trot again and was sore in the hind.  The sand had taken its toll.  It was truely disappointing.

Tiran and I headed off on the second loop which was a 15 mile loop.  Tiran was recovering really fast after each loop.  After the second loop he had caught the lead group by having fast recoveries. 

Loop three was 10 miles.  We rode with the lead group for the whole loop.  Tiran was the first to recover so I had a few minute lead.  It was about 75 degrees out and decently high humidity.  Tiran was doing great.  I didn't have crew to meet me for cooling so I would strip my saddle while the in timer wrote on my card, I would throw the saddle down and then run on foot with Tiran to our crew area and pour two buckets on Tiran and then he would be down.  A couple of times Jeremy and Rachel were in on their hold and were able to help me cool Tiran quickly.  Later Sarah helped as well.

On loop 4 Tiran and I did the whole 15 miles solo.  It was the hardest loop and was in the heat of the day. Tiran did his job well. 

On loop 5, the final loop, Tiran and I led for the first 4 miles and then Tiran started to hear the other horses.  I stopped at a water trough to cool Tiran and the next two horses came along.  We rode together for the next 6 miles and then I asked Tiran to speed up for the last 5 miles of the 15 mile loop.  Tiran happily accelerated.  We were also lapping the 50 mile horses at this point.

Tiran won by 3 mins and looked great.  He did the 75 in sand with heat and humidity in 6 hrs flat.  Pretty awesome.

Chanses came in 6th and Marvel was 5th but he was pulled from the FEI portion at the finish for a hind end but got his AERC finish.  Earlier in the day Storm had a hind end pull probably from the sand as well.

After an hour we showed Tiran for BC.  He looked great.

The new tread patterns on the Easyboot Glue on Boots really worked well, I was able to take fast turns on the grass without any slipping.

Later that evening we got clearance from the vets to take the horses back to our house instead of staying at the ride.  The next morning we would head back for the awards.

Sunday morning we went to the awards and bought some ride pictures.  It was announced that Tiran had won BC! 

A great weekend for the start of our Florida season!
Heather