Riding in Canyon De Chelly

November 9 2014

There’s only one thing endurance riders want to do in the brief off-season - they want to RIDE!

Without a specific ride date on the ride calendar, and with the necessity of organizing guides to escort us, it was a little harder to orchestrate for a group; but in the end, there were six of us endurance riders who ventured down to Chinle, Arizona, to ride for a weekend in Canyon De Chelly National Monument, the heart of the Navajo Nation.

Christoph and Dian, Howard and Kathy, and Sue and I hauled down from Utah for this unique adventure some of us had been talking about for a long time. Sue graciously loaned me her 2012 Haggin Cup winner, LZP Julioslastchance, to ride on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!


Canyon De Chelly, on the Colorado plateau in eastern Arizona, has been occupied on and off for 5000 years. Archaic peoples from 2500 BC were followed by Ancestral Puebloans (the Anasazi), then the Navajo. The Navajo were driven out in the mid-1800’s during the nation-wide Indian purge, but four years later, they were allowed to return home.


Canyon De Chelly became a National Monument within the Navajo Nation lands in 1931, to protect the ancient history of the canyons. The Navajo still live and farm in Canyon De Chelly. The Park Service manages the archaeological ruins (the Navajo don’t want anything to do with the Anasazi ruins and spirits); the Navajo manage the natural resources.

We’d arranged to park our rigs at Justin’s Horse Rental. Our guides Justin Tso, and his granddaughter Kristy, escorted us on our 2 days in the canyon. The first day we rode up the northeast branch of Canyon Del Muerto in two different groups; on the second day we ventured far up the southeast branch of Canyon De Chelly, 18 miles to Spider Rock and back. Spider Woman, who taught the Navajo people how to weave, is said to live on top of Spider Rock, and watch over and protect her people.


The 800 foot spire of Spider Rock stands at another canyon junction of Canyon De Chelly and Monument Canyon, where thousand-foot sandstone walls line the way to more Navajo farms, then merge into the Defiance Plateau at 8000 feet, and eventually meet the Chuska Mountains.

After a lunch beneath the mythic spire, we turned around and rode back out Canyon De Chelly. It was just like an endurance ride - miles and miles through spectacular scenic country, fast and fun, with old friends and new, on the backs of our willing steeds.

slide show:


or link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102194576498719760691/CanyonDeChellyAZNov2014

2014 Owyhee Hallowed Weenies - No Weenies Here!

Saturday November 1 2014

You'd be forgiven if, because of the weather, you mistook it for a spring Owyhee Tough Sucker ride. With some Saturday weather forecasts more dire than others (like, 90% chance of rain all day and 45*, or, just 40% chance of rain starting in the evening), co-ride manager Steph Teeter challenged, "The Owyhee Hallowed Weenies is on, we're going with the Channel 5 weather forecast (forget the others…) - high of 53 (that's not too bad) and 40% chance of showers - that means 60% chance of no rain! So if you're still debating, don't be a Weenie...just get Tough and come on out."

People came from as far away as Washington state, and Ely, Nevada, either undaunted by the weather forecast, or, already on their way so that it was too late to turn back. A small but decent number of Owyhee Tough Hallowed Weenies Suckers (25 of them) did turn out (plus a number of volunteers who showed up just to help) and saddled up in the chilly morning under heavy darkening skies, and set out on 25 miles and 50 miles, Halloween costumes covered up under raincoats. (The Raven dressed up too, but he was stuffed way down in his Raven bag on Dudley's saddle!)


The Raven had one of the best costumes. Can you tell he's a cardinal?

The rain started around 10 AM, and continued steadily until the last rider came in near what would have been sunset, if said sunset could be seen through the still-heavy and dark rainclouds. The temperature dropped to the mid-40's and the wind picked up during the day, but, once you were out there on a horse, it really wasn't unpleasant, particularly if you had enough layers on, and, if you were a horse, you had a heavy winter coat already, which many horses did!


It really wasn't so daunting, once you were already out riding!

Winner of the 50 was 8-year-old mare OFW Alivia (aka "Ali, as in Ali McGraw") ridden by veterinarian and endurance rider and ride n' tier Dick Root. Dick and Ali came thundering in one second ahead of Errol Fife and OMR Pristine. Ali also got Best Condition and a perfect vet score! "I think she's going to be a good one," Dick said. This was only Dick's second ride this year (the first was an LD on Ali in June), since he's been vetting rides instead of riding in them.

Errol's brother Kent rode 20-year-old Charlie to 3rd place on their first endurance ride ever, finishing 41 minutes behind the first two. If he hadn't taken a wrong turn on the last loop and ridden an extra 5 miles, he'd have been even closer!


If you timed your ride right, you saw only your riding partners Carol and August on the entire 50-mile trail!

Ten of twelve completed the 50 miler, including 10th place Carla Richardson and SS Kharady Khid. The ride put Carla at 11,000 AERC miles (Khid has 150 more miles to go for the same plateau).

All thirteen riders completed the 25-mile ride, including Steph Teeter, who slipped out on her 24-year-old former international FEI half Orlov-trotter gelding Nature's Khruschev (aka Krusty), coming in 7th in 3:21, and stealing Best Condition. "40-40 CRI!" she said of the big, old, black, heavy-winter-coated gentle giant. Carrie Johnson and Montana's Echo won the ride in 2:59.


If you timed your ride right, this is what the vet checks at base camp looked like!

Ride manager Regina Rose's famous potato-cheese soup warmed up riders for the awards dinner, where finishers and non-finishers alike took home little Halloween spider plants overgrown by Steph's green thumb. Veterinarian Matt Dredge and his daughter/assistant Ashley drove 4 1/2 hours to vet the ride, intrepidly taking on the weather with the rest of the Owyhee Halloween tough suckers. It was, all in all, a good end to the ride season!


The Raven got a spider plant in a Raven planter for his finish on Dudley!

More photos, and results, at:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2014OwyheeHallowedWeenies/

Summer: Enough Already Part II

Thursday September 4 2014

You saw Summer: Enough Already Part I, where the flies are bad and torturing the horses.

In this episode, you'll relate to how hot the horses get in the sweltering Owyhee summer.

Summer: Enough Already Part I

Friday August 22 2014

There are so many reasons why winter is better than summer. It's not just me (and you know how much I love winter!), but the entire Owyhee herd who is ready for summer to run along already, get out of the way for the coming of winter.

Part I:
In winter, there are no biting, itchy-scratchy bugs to torment the horses.

Kelsey Russell: The "Gonna Go Someplace Kid"

July 17 2014
by Merri Melde

Kelsey Russell, a Young Rider, is one of the USA Endurance Team riders for the 2014 World Equestrian Games Endurance Race in France

"She's as cool and calculating as any of the senior riders," says USA Chef d'Equipe Emmett Ross of Kelsey Russell, the first Young Rider to ever make the senior World Championship USA Endurance Team. "And of course she's a chip off the old block, because she rides for Valerie Kanavy, and Valerie has been coaching her ever since she's been a kid."

Kanavy hardly needs any introduction in endurance circles, being a 2-time former World Endurance Champion in 1994 in The Netherlands, and 1998 in the United Arab Emirates. Being only 18, Russell isn't as well known yet, but that's not because she's been hiding in the stables.

"I've been on horses pretty much my whole life," Russell says. "With my aunt I do barrel racing and western riding." It wasn't till about 5 years ago that Russell boarded her horses in Kanavy's stable across the street and discovered endurance. "I started riding endurance with her the following winter, and I have been ever since."

It was obvious to Kanavy that Russell was a horsewoman from the beginning. "She was like a little monkey that hung on, no matter what. Sometimes the horses would do things, and we'd be going, 'Oh no!', but she didn't come off," Kanavy laughs.

Russell, from Williston, Florida, did her first endurance ride in January of 2010 on one of Kanavy's horses, Layla Z Gold. Since then, Russell has racked up over 1800 AERC miles, a first place finish in the 2011 North American Young Riders FEI Championships aboard Kanavy's My Wild Irish Gold, a 6th place finish aboard Kanavy's Gold Raven in the 2011 FEI Young Rider Junior World Endurance Championship in Abu Dhabi, and a 5th place finish with My Wild Irish Gold in the 2013 Young Rider Junior World Endurance Championship in Tarbes, France.

Russell will be riding My Wild Irish Gold on the USA Team in the 2014 World Equestrian Games Endurance Race in Normandy, France on August 28, 2014. "Irish" is a 10 coming 11-year-old bay Anglo-Arabian mare, owned and bred by Kanavy's Gold Medal Farms. She is Russell's favorite horse in the stable to ride. "She's comfortable; she likes to go, but she has a brain. She doesn't get stupid, and she doesn't waste her energy," Russell says.

Russell's first endurance ride on Irish was a 2nd place finish in the Goethe Challenge 75-miler in December of 2010. Since then, they've completed 10 endurance races in the USA together (including 4 wins and a Best Condition), and the 2 overseas races. Their best ride, Russell says, was the Young Rider Junior Championship in France last year where the mare covered the 120-km course in 6 1/2 hours.

Russell is not daunted at all by riding alongside experienced senior riders in such a prestigious Championship race in France. "I ride with quite a few of them and I hang out with them at the rides so I know them pretty well. It'll be different than the Young Riders, but I think it'll be fun and it'll be a really good experience," she says matter-of-factly.

Kanavy knows Russell can handle the pressure, and is delighted with her accomplishments. "I'm pretty proud of her all the way around. I'm proud of her for what she does in school and all her other activities too; it's not just about riding. She's an all-around 'Gonna Go Someplace Kid.' She has great family support, and I think where she is, and what she's accomplished, is because she's determined, and she is a dynamite worker. I'm more proud of the way she's conducted her whole life; and her good will and determination to go somewhere and be somebody, and be the best you can be - she takes that to another level."

Russell will be riding at the top level in France next month, aboard a top level mare, with a top level team, coach, family, and mentor rooting her on, and it's likely she will take it all in stride.

Correction:
Kelsey Russell is the second junior to ride as a senior team member.
Joe Mattingly rode as a 16-year-old as a US Team Member at the 1988 World Championship in Front Royal, Virginia and placed 7th overall. In 1990, at the age of 18, he was a US Team Member at the 1990 World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden at the first ever World Equestrian Games (his horse retired at 75 miles).

Fourteen-Year-Old on $550 Horse Wins 2014 Old Dominion

Paul Stevenson photo

June 20 2014

Leave it to a 14-year-old junior rider to set some new endurance riding standards in one of the country's oldest and most prestigious 100-mile rides. Not only was the 40th anniversary of the Old Dominion 100 Bryna Stevenson's first endurance ride by herself, but she also set the record aboard Whisperstreams Atropine (Maddy) as the youngest winner; she and Maddy won the Best Condition award; and she and Maddy won the Old Dominion trophy (day-after Best Condition)* the next morning.

While the trail through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge mountains is known as "The Beast of the East," for its "rocks, heat, rocks, humidity, and rocks," according to 4-time finisher Dawn Hilliard, and is "wicked tough," according to Daryl Downs, previous youngest winner of the 100-mile ride in 2005 at age 18, it was Bryna's and Maddy's kind of trail. "Maddy really likes hilly trails and she does really well with them," Bryna said. Owned by Jen Stevenson, Bryna's mom, it was only the second time Bryna and Maddy had partnered up in an endurance ride. Their first and only ride together was in November of 2010 in the 30-mile Mustang Memorial, Maddy's first endurance ride. Since then, Bryna has accumulated over 2500 endurance miles throughout her junior career.

The now-10-year-old mare had been languishing in a Western Pleasure barn before the Stevensons got her. "That was not working out for her; she would take off with the owner, and bolt," said Jen. "We observed her out in this field for about 6 months, and I thought, 'Wow, she's really nice.' The barn closed in the summer and they were dispersing all their horses, and a friend of mine said they had this Arab that they couldn't get rid of that I should go take a look at." It turned out to be that same mare, and they wanted $550 for her. "Bryn tried her first and said to get her, and I went the next day and tried her myself, and she was a lunatic, but… we bought her." Dubbed "Whisperstreams Atropine," or Maddy for short, (Whisperstream is the Stevenson barn name), Maddy didn't come with papers, but is rumored to be 3/4 Arabian and 1/4 American Saddlebred.

Jen took up with Maddy in endurance after Bryna started her, riding her to 33 of 35 completions and 1690 miles over the next 4 seasons. One can easily deduce the mare much preferred the endurance trails to a life of Western Pleasure.

Maddy already had 2 100-mile completions to her name, and Bryna had 3, and both had ridden over the 50-mile Old Dominion course, though neither had ever tried the Old Dominion 100. After Jen and Maddy finished the 50 at Old Dominion last year, Jen and friend Lisa Delp got to talking about how Bryn could probably do a nice job with Maddy at this year's OD 100. "From that point on, we really wanted to have Maddy prepared aptly for this hard ride."

Bryna hadn't started out the ride thinking she'd win, however; she had just wanted a completion. "I started my ride and I got probably 2 miles down the trail, and Maddy kept going. She kept catching up with the leaders, and I just rode her on a loose rein all day, and that's just where she stayed, up front. She felt really good."

Bryna rode the first 3 loops with Virginia riders Tom and Gina Hagis, experienced OD riders. Gina complimented Bryna afterwards, "She is a excellent rider, nice and soft. She is easy to ride with, quiet, and can put her horse in the back or pick a good pace in front."

The fourth vet check was where the ride turned solo for Bryna and Maddy. "We came into 'Big 92' [at 57 miles]," Bryna recalled, "and Maddy vetted in all A's. There was a hill leaving Big 92, and Maddy stopped while going up the hill, turned around and saw them coming up the hill behind us, and she just took off, as fast as she could. I didn't ask her to do anything the entire loop. The rest of the ride I was all alone."

Bryna had ridden Maddy on training rides before, and she'd ridden in the dark before, but she had never ridden Maddy in the dark before, so she after the sun went down, she took it easy. "I asked her to walk a lot because I wasn't sure what she would do." Maddy can be a spooky horse, but "the last loop went really well."

That's an understatement, as the pair finished 1 hour and 8 minutes ahead of the next finishers who tied for second, Nicky Meuten and Cashin In, and Heather Hoyns and Zainal, with a winning time of 13:43.18. Several observers at the finish line commented that Maddy looked fabulous, like she'd hardly done anything. That judgment was confirmed as Maddy won both Best Condition, and next day's Old Dominion trophy.*

Jen Stevenson had started in the day's OD Limited Distance ride, but pulled Rider Option when her horse threw a couple of shoes. She spent the rest of the day waiting for news on her daughter, since all vet checks are out of camp. She was waiting at the finish line, overwhelmed as the glowsticks from Maddy's breastcollar showed up on the road nearing the finish line. "I was trying to fight back the tears of happiness," Jen said. "I was just so proud of my daughter and my little horse."

Bryna was very tired, but elated. "I was a little out of it. I'd just had a cup of coffee at the last hold but it hadn't totally kicked in yet. I remember when I was coming across the finish line everyone was patting me on the back, it felt really amazing."

Bryna is quick to credit the Hagises for their help during the ride, and both Bryna and Jen praise fellow Northeast endurance mother-daughter duo Lisa and Meghan Delp with the help they've given the Stevensons over the years. "They've been our mentors over the past 2 years and they've really contributed to our being able to finish rides. We had some trouble in the beginning, and they really selflessly offered us so much guidance. They sponsored Bryna on so many rides when I got pulled, and they really taught us how to complete a ride with the horse looking good," Jen said.

"And my husband Paul is a huge part of this," she added. "He was Bryn's crew and also drives us to every single endurance ride we go to, and every horse event - when we're not endurance riding, we're usually going to an event or a show or a pony race."

Bryna first climbed on a horse when she was 4 years old, riding English and doing some lead line showing. By the time she was 4 1/2, she was walk/trot/cantering and jumping cross rails on a really placid registered Quarter horse. She has done barrel racing, gymkhana, hunters and jumpers, and CTRs. Last year she started eventing. "I just want to be clear: Bryn usually chaperones ME at rides," Jen laughed, "because she's a much better rider than I'll ever be. "

With her experienced and varied riding background, Bryna is striving to share this wonderful sport of endurance riding with other potential junior riders. Regina Welsh is a friend who got Bryn into steeplechasing, and she's also the founder of US Pony Racing, developed for "for the purpose of developing and promoting racing opportunities for young riders." Bryn thought that endurance rides would be good conditioning for the steeplechase horses who are expected to go long distances, and for the young riders. She created a video to help get more eventers and steeplechasers interested and involved in endurance.

Jen added, "It would be a great opportunity to get kids out of the riding ring. A lot of kids in New Jersey just ride in arenas, and they really don't have the opportunity to go out on the trails because they've never been exposed to it."

Despite this huge accomplishment of winning one of the toughest endurance rides in the country as a Junior rider, Bryna took the whole adventure in stride throughout the ride weekend.

Veteran endurance rider Angie McGhee, who finished the OD 100 for the first time in the middle of the pack, said, "I'll admit, I have been leery of some of the teens with minimal endurance background that have been jumping in with both feet, full speed in our international scene. [Bryna] was NOTHING like that. Very sweet, unassuming, grateful, and knew her own horse very well and gave it a super ride. One of those people you could feel happy for and good about the sport." Daryl Downs added, "If my record of youngest winner of the OD was taken by anyone - I would want it to be Bryna. She is very talented and we share a lot of good times!"

Fortunately for endurance riding, Bryna Stevenson has many miles of trail ahead of her as junior and senior rider, many more goals to accomplish and share, and many more records to set.

Bryna's video "A Year's Progress"

(or link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDSKnIFVvos)

*The Old Dominion Trophy is the premier 100 mile division award presenting the to the horse/rider team which has demonstrated optimum performance based on its post-ride recovery and condition at the Old Dominion 25/50/100 mile ride. The formula for determining a winner is based on a veterinary score, total elapsed time and weight carried. Equine leg protective devices are prohibited during the ride. Horses are judged the morning following the close of the 100 mile ride.

100 Miles Is 100 Miles Is 100 Miles

Wednesday June 11 2014

What is a 100-mile endurance ride? It's one long day (and often night) in the saddle: a challenge of partnership, endurance, perseverance, and focus. It's overcoming fatigue, keeping your horse's enthusiasm up when his energy flags, and perking up your own attitude when you'd rather be dozing off as your awesome horse pulls you along. It's paying close attention to your horse all day (and often night), listening to his body and feeling his motion and attitude.

It's managing his water and food intake all day (and often night), and monitoring his recoveries. It's judging pace and strength all day (and often night), judging the climate and terrain and fitting that to your partner's needs, rationing out the gas to last all day (and night). It's finishing a ride with a sound horse after 12, 18, or up to 24 hours in the saddle, with only the vet checks for rest. It's the ultimate distance challenge in endurance riding.

Just as a 50 mile ride is different from a limited distance ride and requires more awareness, concentration, and management of your equine partner than a limited distance ride, so too is a 100 mile ride different from a 50 mile ride, and requires more awareness, concentration and management of your equine partner than a 50.

I recently started noticing the "2-day 100" mile rides.They've been around a while; I only just started noticing and thinking about them. If I'm correct in this, a horse and rider who completes a 2-day 100 gets credit for a 100-mile ride on their record, i.e. if you finish the two 50-mile rides both days, you have completed a 100-mile ride. (If you pull on the second day, you don't get any mileage completion).

Say I have an endurance horse that only does 50's - I am thinking of one particular horse I have ridden. He could do a couple of 50-mile rides in a row at a multi-day, but I knew he was not the 100-mile type. He wasn't built or bred for it; 'things' started to add up after a couple days in a row (leg fillings, longer time to recover at vet checks, fatigue) and it wasn't in his best interest to ride any more or any further. I've ridden enough different horses to know he was just not a 100-mile horse. He was not made for it; and why would I try to force one out of him to prove a point?

So, say I took this horse to several 2-day 100-mile rides, and we completed them. I would then have a 50-mile-only horse who showed 3 100-mile completions on his record. Deceiving, isn't it? I know it wouldn't be technically correct, because I knew I wouldn't compete on this horse in a 1-day 100 mile ride. If I did complete a 1-day 100-mile ride on this horse, I would sure want that accomplishment acknowledged on his record among the 2-day 100s.

I don't think that showing a 2-day 100 as a "100-mile completion" on the mileage records is fair to horses and riders who do complete a 'real' 100. Two 50's in a row do not equal a 100-mile ride. The riding and pace is different. The skills of managing the horse is different. The rest and recovery time between miles 50 and 51 are completely different. The two events are not comparable.

You don't get credit for 50 miles in a 1-day 100 if you only make it that far, and you don't get credit for 75 miles if you elevate to a 100 but don't complete the 100. In a 2-day 100, if you don't complete day 2's 50 miles, you don't get credit for day 1's 50. That's fair, but it still doesn't mean you rode a '100-mile ride'.  If completing a 2-day 100 is equal to completing a 1-day 100, then every multi-day ride could be offered as a 100 mile ride (or two, in the case of 4 days!)

I'm curious: what is the rationale behind a 2-day 100 equalling a 1-day 100 on mileage records? Perhaps its purpose is to encourage riders to start thinking with the mindset of trying a 1-day 100. Or perhaps it's a benefit for ride managers to offer this option. Maybe it's a different kind of challenge, along the lines of the 5-day Shahzada in Australia where you must finish all 5 days to get a completion. Maybe it has something to do with points. Maybe it's not important anyway in which column the miles show up.

But is a 2-day 100 equal to a 1-day 100?

In My Opinion, it isn't. Not at all.

Tough Sucker II: Mules Rule!

Saturday April 26 2014

"It was a bit windy…", photographer Steve Bradley commented. "OK, a lot of wind," he appended his statement - probably as he was chasing down his "Photo Ahead" sign as it tumbled across the sagebrush flats between endurance riders.

"The wind was horrendous, felt like it was going to blow me right off my horse a couple times!" Karen Bumgarner posted in her blog about her ride on Thunder in the 50.



The good part about the chilly windy day was that it wasn't blowing hard before the start. It's much easier to saddle up when it's calm, then get blasted with wind when you're already out on the trail and going, than it is to try to get motivated to saddle up in a gale.

It was so windy out on the trail, even when we were trotting and cantering in the same direction as the wind, the dust kicked up from the following horse's hooves blew past the lead horse.



The hurricane didn't slow down the Mules! Six mules started the Limited Distance ride and they finished first through sixth, the winner Jill Hedt riding John Henry in a smoking time of 2:52. John Henry also won Best Condition. Three of the mule riders were Juniors. A total of 21 riders started the LD with 20 finishing, and the only pull being a Rider Option.



Twenty riders started the 50-mile ride with 19 finishing, with that only pull also being a Rider Option. Dean Hoalst riding Pay Attention, and Layne Simmons riding Beauty's Harley smoked through the 50, with Dean just edging Layne at the finish in a time of 4:41. Pay Attention won Best Condition. Third was another Mule - Calvin Gordon riding Restless Hanna, who won the Tough Sucker I 50 mile ride on April 5. Finishing 15th was Nance Worman on Big Sky Quinn, who reached his 4000 mile plateau.



The Owyhee Desert was particularly green(ish) this spring, with abundant(ish) desert grass for snacking on throughout the two loops. A good rain on Friday left the scenic trails - particularly the Hallulujah Rim Trail and the Snake River Trail around Wild Horse Butte - dust-free. When the hurricane did kick up dust, it blew away so fast you hardly noticed it. We were slammed by one gusting whirlwind (distinguishable from the other 25 mph wind by the wall of brown flying at us at 35 mph) that passed through us before we could react.



The Tough Sucker I and II rides, both managed by Regina Rose, were a good (brisk!) start to the 2014 Northwest endurance ride season in Idaho.

"Trail's Open!"

Ride photos and results and stories are at:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2014ToughSucker/

Destination Virginia City 100: Gina Hall and Fire Mt. Destiny

Wednesday April 9 2014

He still unloads her once or twice a year. He'll bolt. He can "spook like no other." He can trip and fall when he doesn't pay attention, because "it's not real important for him to stay up on all four feet." You could say Fire Mt. Destiny has "a few quirks," admits owner and rider Gina Hall, of Carson City, Nevada. Even now at 17 years old, Gina always respects Destiny, because she doesn't put anything past him. But the 15.3-hand chestnut gelding has more than made up for his quirks with his extraordinary accomplishments on the endurance trails.

Gina's friend Wanda Myers told her about Fire Mt. Destiny when he was for sale as a two-year-old. Bred by Jackie Bumgardner of Ridgecrest, California, Destiny is by Sierra Fadwah +/ (1992 AERC Hall of Fame horse, 7280 AERC miles, 87 for 87 record) out of a L.a.s. Talasman+/ mare.

Wanda had owned L.a.s.Talasman+/, an extraordinary endurance horse with a 4850-mile, 86 for 86 record, who traces back to the Bezaleel line (sire of Bezatal, 1987 AERC Hall of Fame horse).

"I had been riding a Talasman daughter," Gina related, "and Talasman and Sierra Fadwah were half brothers (both out of Judhi by Bezaleel), so I went and looked at him with Wanda."

He was a rather unlikely looking super horse then. "When I saw him, I thought - really? He was so gangly, at that awkward two-year-old stage - big pot belly, ewe neck. Wanda kept saying, 'Yep! Yep! You're buying him for his bone and his bloodlines' - so that's why I got him!"

Destiny had been introduced to saddle and rider just a few times; but Gina took him home and turned him out and left him alone until he was 5, other than just trimming his feet and hand-walking him on hikes in the hills.

He was good-tempered and charmingly mischievous those years. "He started this thing that he still does to this day," Gina recalls. "When I'm leading him down the trail, he fiddles with my coat, or my hair. He used to grab at the hood on my coat. He kind of nuzzles me as we go down the trail."

When Destiny turned 5 and it was time to start the breaking and riding in earnest, Gina started him. "Well, I tried riding him. The first time, I took him over to Connie Creech's place. We worked him in the round pen a little bit, and I got on him. She was leading him around, and for whatever reason, he freaked out." Gina had to bail off. "I tried riding him a couple of other times in a friend's round pen, and he dumped me, HARD. I said - 'Oh, you are going to the trainer!'"

Destiny still kind of had Gina's number when he got back from the trainer, so her daughter Carolyn Meier rode him for a while. "What helped the most with him was putting a running martingale on him, because his trick was getting his nose up in the air, and he'd bolt with me and buck. And as soon as he couldn't do that (get his head up) - and the trainer put a pretty good mouth on him - I didn't have that problem anymore." Gina still doesn't let her guard down on him though, because he can still randomly test her with his shenanigans.


Destiny's first endurance ride was a Limited Distance ride at age 5 in June of 2002 in Nevada. Gina recollects the conditions were less than ideal. "The wind was blowing a thousand miles an hour, and I had a scoop on my saddle, and I had a crupper on. He tried to buck me off. I took the crupper off, and gave Connie my scoop; and after that, he was fine for the rest of the day, although we had a bunch of motorcycles to deal with too that day."

His first 50 miler was a month later at Red Rocks, also in Nevada. "It was a tough, long ride - we took a long time to do it. And it was super hot that year, 105 degrees - they ended up starting the ride an hour earlier because it was just too hot. But he did good."

The duo only did 3 50-mile rides that year, and Destiny only got better and better. "And I'd gotten more and more comfortable on him. My friends were all very helpful and supportive, helping take care of me while I got brave on him."

After starting and completing 8 50-mile rides the next season at age 6, Gina felt ready to try a 100-mile ride on him at age 7. It wasn't an easy 100 she picked, either. It was the the Virginia City 100 in and around historic Virginia City, Nevada.

The Virginia City 100 is known for its rocky, challenging terrain, heat, historic wagon trails, its 5 AM start in front of the Delta Saloon and the Bucket of Blood Saloon in downtown Virginia City, its unrelenting elevations between 5000 and 7800 feet, its SOB's (Sons of B*tches hills you hit during the heat of the day), and for some rather legendary horses and riders who have graced its trails over the (now) 47 years of its running.

Destiny handled the trails with ease the first time. "We did it in a little over 19 hours. He was just solid. He was a trooper." And he's only gotten better and better over the years on 100-mile rides. He's gone on to start and complete a total of 19 100-mile rides, including the Virginia City a total of 9 times.

In 2012, Gina and Destiny completed 3 100-milers: the Twenty Mule Team in February; the Tevis Cup in August; and Virginia City in September. That year, their eighth VC completion was one of Gina's best rides ever on Destiny. "I rode with Ann Hall on HCC Zara RR (no relation) the last 50 miles, and I never thought I would have that kind of horse on a 100-mile ride. I don't know if it was Ann or Zara or what, but our horses did unbelievably well on that last loop. I think we rode it faster than the winning rider did. And it was just awesome to finish (in 9th place, in 16:06) with a horse that felt so strong and good," Gina recalls.

Gina does have to carefully manage her horse. He has tied up with her before (muscle cramps), so she has to carefully monitor his feeding and training between endurance rides. "I really work on keeping him hydrated during rides, and between rides, I have to be super careful with his diet and exercise. He doesn't get to sit around very often; he has to get regular exercise. My daughter says I micromanage him, and that's okay! It works, and I've been real conservative with him."


Gina has carefully planned Destiny's 2014 ride season, with the Virginia City 100 in September as the centerpiece. Destiny is poised to become only the fifth horse to earn a 1000-mile VC Buckle (the last one was Beansprout in 1987). That puts Destiny up there on the same page with Donna Fitzgerald's legendary Witezarif, 1000-mile Buckle winner in 1978.

"It's going to be exciting!" Gina said. "I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we finish. Destiny knows VC 100 - he just knows it. He knows where I want him to go, or where he knows it's okay to go - and he's just awesome. When he's 'On' for that ride, he's a ball.

"He's so awesome; I'm so blessed! I'll probably never have another horse like him. It's been a journey for sure, getting him to where he is, but he just seems to get better and better and better. I'm sad that he's going to be 17, but I think he's still got quite a bit of miles left in him, and time. And he loves it. He really likes the work."

You just might want to mark September 20th on your calendar, the day of the 47th annual Virginia City 100 ride, where a 17-year-old endurance horse with a record of almost 6500 miles, and a 108 for 109 start/finish record, an AERC Decade Team Award, and 19 100-mile completions, stands to make a little endurance history.

Merri Melde photos

2013 AERC National Best Condition: Lori Windows and Ella N Fires Jane Doe

Sunday March 30 2014

Lori Windows of Wyanet, Illinois, and her 13-year-old mare Ella N Fires Jane Doe were the recipients of the 2013 AERC National Best Condition award. "Ella" and Windows finished the 2013 season with 12 completions in 13 starts, 7 first places, and 10 Best Conditions.

Highlight of their season was winning Best Condition at the 2013 AHA Distance Nationals, held in October near Chandlerville, Illinois. The ride almost didn't happen for the pair. Originally entered in the 100-mile AHA National ride, Windows woke up that morning to find her horse gone. She'd escaped from Ridecamp, and was found later in the day in someone's front yard twenty miles away, with her lead rope still on.

Ella didn't have a scratch on her, and officials allowed Windows to switch to the 50-mile ride the next day. Not only did the pair win the Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Division, but they won Best Condition - the 10th BC of Ella's season (and 22nd of her career), contributing to her National Award.

Ella N Fires Jane Doe is a 3/4 Arabian, 1/4 Saddlebred mare, by the Arabian stallion ChariotsoffireNVF, out of Bay Ella-Gance.

Windows got Ella from a girl who was going to college, and she didn't have time for the then-5-year-old mare. "She was broke," said Windows, "but she was a handful, and the girl was afraid that somebody would get her and not be able to handle her."

Ella did one year carrying one of Windows' friends in novice (CTR) rides, and then the next year Ella and Windows started doing endurance.

Now, with four seasons of endurance and over 2600 miles under her girth, Ella is an experienced endurance horse, but she's still a horse for an experienced rider. "Some horses love to run but they don't know when it's time to slow down, or when it's time to stop. This horse loves to run, but fortunately she's smart enough that she never hurts herself." And she takes good care of herself in the vet checks and on trail, eating and drinking, which Windows feels is why she does so well at Best Condition.

"She just takes care of herself. I feel I am just a passenger on this incredible horse!"

American Endurance Riders Set the Gold Standards

Friday February 14 2014
by Merri Melde

This is why I'm proud to be an endurance rider in America:

In light of the FEI endurance racing scandals over the last year, which center over the Group VII (Middle East) countries and their shocking rates of alleged rule infractions, dopings, and fractures on the flat-course 50-mile, 75-mile, and 100-mile races, endurance riders and horses from the country where the sport of endurance riding originated - here in America - shine and carry on the original tradition of the sport.

Honoring horsemanship and longevity, and embracing the motto, "To Finish is To Win," the AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference), rewards riders and horses who reach impressive milestones throughout their long-lasting careers.

Riders receive patches for their benchmarks of 250 miles, 500 miles, 750 miles, 1000 miles, and every thousand miles after that.


Limited Distance horses (35 miles and under) receive certificates and medallions every 500 miles. Endurance horses (50 to 100 miles) receive certificates and medallions every 1000 miles, a blanket at 5000 miles, and a plaque for 6000 miles and further 1000-mile increments. The Decade Team award is given to the horse and rider pairs that complete at least one 50-mile ride every year for ten years.

American endurance riding encompasses all levels of riders and competitions, from beginners to old-timers, from the Limited Distance rides to 1-day and multi-day endurance rides (of 50 miles each day), from the international rider who rides to win, to the national rider who wants to finish mid- or back-of-the-pack and rack up miles with their horse over the decades. AERC includes them all.

The longevity is the primary facet that sets American endurance riding far above the rest of the countries around the world. Without question, longevity takes skill: skill in riding, and in managing a horse day-to-day and year-to-year-to-decade.

Seven hundred seventy-five endurance riders have reached the 5000-mile threshold. Thirteen of them have over 30,000 miles (to give you a rough idea, if you rode around the United States, from Miami to New York to Seattle to Los Angeles to Miami, that would be about 8,000 miles). Trilby Pederson, who did her last ride in 2004, is at the top of the list with 60,500 miles. Behind her in second, and still riding, is Dave Rabe, with 58,192 miles. Dave's career is all the more impressive when you take into account the serious head injury he sustained just a year ago. Of the forty 20,000-mile endurance riders, five of them are international riders, showing that they, too, excel in their riding competence and in managing their horses while competing at the top levels.


While it's impressive for an endurance rider to last many decades in the saddle - even through life and family and career changes, with different horses and opportunities - it's the high career mileages of the American endurance horses that exhibit the true epitome of this American sport of endurance riding over all kinds of challenging and technical terrain, from sand to mud to rocks, through canyons and rivers, over hills and mountains.

Nine hundred sixty-five horses have reached 3000 miles (to give you perspective, New York to Seattle is about 2900 miles; at a high average of 500 miles per year, an average endurance horse would take roughly 6 years to reach 3000 miles). One hundred twenty-four horses have reached 6000 miles. Twenty horses have reached 10,000 miles. At 22,280 miles, Les Carr's Tulip is at the top, lasting a 20-year career. It's almost incomprehensible. Additionally, at least 232 horse-and-rider pairs have achieved Decade Team status.

There are horses in this sport that do win, often, and still continue on to long endurance careers. They set the standards for winning, finishing, and durability. Two of them are legends: Witezarif and RO Grand Sultan+//.

In the 1970's, the incomparable Witezarif and Donna Fitzgerald won the 100-mile Tevis Cup six times. The pair won the Virginia City 100 five times (Witezarif won it again with another rider). Witezarif's mileage record stands at 5044. He started on the endurance trails at age 5 and retired at age 20 - 16 years of endurance.

In the 1980's and 90's, Becky Hart and RO Grand Sultan +// won the Tevis Cup twice. They dominated the world: they won the World Endurance Championships three times (1988 - USA, 1990 - Sweden, 1992 - Spain). "Rio"'s
record stands at 10,005 miles, and his career spanned 17 years, from age 5 to 21.


Part of AERC's mission is "to attract and reward members who act to insure the highest priority for their horses' immediate and long-term physical and emotional health and well-being."

All of these high-mileage horses (3000 miles and up) and high-mileage riders (5000 miles and up) represent exactly the success of this mission. Their accomplishments - the quintessence of our endurance riding sport in America - exhibit the extraordinary horsemanship and teamwork needed between horse and rider to accomplish such high mileage over long-term careers.

Jaziret Bey Musc, 1991 - 2013

January 24 2013

The endurance trails are short one mighty endurance horse. Jaziret Bey Musc was put down Friday after a bout with cancer.

Owned by Steph Teeter, Rhett was sound and snorty and fit to the end, with his final endurance ride being over his Idaho home trails, in November's Owhyee Chills No Frills ride, where Steph earned her 15,000 miles on him.


By Scooter Bey Musc out of Justy Karliya, by Witez, the 23-year-old gelding takes with him a record of 6520 AERC endurance miles. Always pulling on the reins and always carrying his tail like a flag in the air, Rhett conquered the old Outlaw Trail, the Pony Express Trail, and earned a Tevis buckle (at age 19), and a cover shot on the Endurance News magazine. He takes with him the admiration of those rode him and the hearts of those who knew him.


Story on Rhett:
Jaziret Bey Musc: Too Much Horse

Videos on Rhett getting his 6000 miles with Steph in Idaho:
6000 Miles for Rhett, Part I

6000 Miles for Rhett, Part II