Dudley's Honeymoon Adventure (by Dudley)

Monday July 12 2010

The following are Dudley's best memories of yesterday's (failed) trailblazing attempt to reach the green mountain meadow of Burnam Flat from the base of the Owyhee mountains:

It was all uphill! (until we turned around).

It was hot for a fat horse.

Juniper trees are nice until they turn into a dark jungle, and start closing in on a great big claustrophobic horse.

"Oof! Ouch! Argh! Ack!" - my rider's noises and stunt riding, throwing herself flat on my neck, almost hanging off my sides, as I bulled my way through many overgrown trees on a very old, faint, fading, gone, trail.

The Honeymoon Cabin!


Lots and lots of horse edibles: green grass, brown grass, flowers, weeds, junipers, willows, etc. I sampled everything I could get my mouth on.

The box canyon and nowhere to go after all that climbing!


My rider hugging a juniper tree.


After all that effort and no green mountain meadow to picnic on, do my dimples look any smaller??


(See the slideshow of the day's ride here:)

A Blessing in Mule's Feet

Golden Lightning and Jan Worthington win the 2009 75 miler at Fort Howes

This is one of a series of profiles of horses and riders on track for competing for 5 spots on the US Team for the World Endurance Championship, part of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, to be held on September 26th, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sunday July 11 2010

2010 WEG: Golden Lightning and Rider Jan Worthington - A Blessing in Mule's Feet

This is what happens when you aren't fast enough to be a racehorse:

You finish 23 of 24 endurance rides. You win 4 times, you win 2 Best Condition awards. You get a round trip all-expense paid air ticket to Malaysia. You survive a lightning strike. You get a round trip all expense paid air ticket to the UAE.

Namely, you end up in the barn of Jan Worthington in Scales Mound, Illinois.

And to think she almost sent him back.

"I bought him just by looking at his pictures - which was a big risk, because you don't know what their minds or soundness will be like - but when he arrived here, his feet were not the same as the pictures I was sent!" The former owner Leon had sent pictures of some big solid round horse feet. 'Leon' the horse had little mule feet.

Which turned out to be an asset. "With feet like this," Jan's farrier told her, "He'll stay sound forever." And so far he has. (Except for the time with the lightning bolt...)

That was 4 years ago, when Leon - Golden Lightning, a son of *Wiking (the imported Polish arabian, who became the all-time leading sire of Arabian racehorses), was 6. Since then, Leon and Jan have travelled the world together, and formed a strong bond while sharing some rather hair-raising adventures.

Horses weren't always in the picture for Jan, though. "I wanted to ride since I was born - I can't remember not wanting a horse." But her parents didn't have a lot of money, so there wasn't much she could do except dream, like a lot of little horse-crazy girls. She saved her money from babysitting, ("back in those days, we got 50 cents an hour"), and in 8th grade she had finally saved enough to buy her first horse. "That horse ran away with me all the time, it was a wonder I wasn't killed."

Her family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, when she was 14 or 15, and - lucky Jan - a horse came with the house. "It was the start of my quasi-endurance riding. I rode with the hunt, and since we couldn't afford a truck and trailer, I'd ride my horse to the hunt along the roads, do the hunt, and then ride her back on the roads. It was a wonder I wasn't killed then too!"

Jan's horse life stopped temporarily, as it tends to do sometimes, when she got married and had kids. When the kids were out of the house, she bought a horse again. A friend of her farrier did endurance and competitive trail riding, and so Jan did her first endurance ride.

She was instantly hooked. It wasn't long before she bought her son Guy an endurance horse too, and after his first ride, he was hooked on endurance too. Now, over 27,000 AERC miles and 38 years later (which includes a Team Gold Medal at the 1988 WEC in Front Royal, Virginia, and a Team Bronze Medal at the 1999 Pan American Championships in Winnipeg, Canada), Jan still is hooked on endurance, and Guy still occasionally does endurance rides with his mom.

Meanwhile, along came Leon-with-the-mule-feet four years ago. Jan started riding the horse, and decided to keep him when he turned out to be okay, and he just got better. "He's wonderful to ride, he's rate-able, he doesn't panic at anything. He's nothing unusual - he just does his job, he goes fast if I ask him to go fast, he slows down if I ask him to slow down."

Jan is pretty fond of him, and Leon of her - he'll nicker to her when he sees her out working around the farm. "We like each other, he trusts me," she says, which is good relationship to have when you almost get struck by lightning on a ride.


It was the World Endurance Championship in Malaysia, 2008. Jan sums up the ride as "a disaster." Jan and Leon were riding with Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Reveille in a monsoon thunderstorm at midnight, cantering through 6 inches of water on the ground when it happened. A bolt of lightning struck very close to them. "It must have gone from his steel shoes up into his body - he jumped once and hit a tree and I ended up in front of his saddle; he jumped again and I came off. He dragged me a long way - I was hanging onto the reins - long enough to think I better not let go now, and long enought to think I couldn't hold on any longer. He finally came to a stop, with me underneath him looking up at his belly. But he didn't move; he just stood there. I'd lost my glasses (and hurt her ankle), it was dark and pouring, and I think Meg had come off too.

"Eventually we got back on our horses and rode on..." Jan and Leon went on to finish the ride - but Leon was pulled at the finish for lameness. Needless to say, it was wrenching, after what all they'd been through. The chef d'equipe, Becky Hart, had thought Leon was pulled for metabolics. The lameness was so subtle, nobody on the US team could see it.

Human emotions aside, Leon came out of the race just fine, and spent his winter in Florida, where he and Jan won and BC'd a 55 mile ride in January. She had the vets go over him with a fine tooth comb, because they'd been invited to the President's Cup in the UAE. The vets couldn't find a hair out of place on Leon, and so he hopped on a plane to Abu Dhabi in February where, along with John Crandell and LR Jasuur Melika, they finished the 160-km sand ride in under 9 1/2 hours, making it look like a walk in the park.

While Malaysia was the most disastrous ride Jan and Leon have had, last year's Kentucky Cup in Lexington - the pre-ride for this year's WEC - was the hardest and most miserable. That was the ride where it unseasonably poured before, during, and after the ride, and the course became treacherously slick, and horses were traveling through inches-deep mud over much of the trails. It was considered so hazardous by officials that by noon, the hundred mile ride was shortened to 75 miles. "During one of those loops, I noticed Leon was lathering up - which was not right, because it was cold and raining, and he's never done that - and that's when I realized how hard he was working in that mud," Jan said. "So I asked him to slow down. Even with going slower, we ended up passing about 6 horses on that last loop." Jan and Leon finished 3rd, a terrific accomplishment for the conditions.


Monsoons, lightning strikes, treacherous mud - why do it?

"Endurance is such a challenge. You get to see if you pitched your training and knowledge well enough to conquer the course, or if you can ride well enough to do well. It's easier now, going faster. We used to take 23 hours to do a hundred; now we think a 10-hour hundred is slow. The agony doesn't last as long on a fast 100, but the fun does!

"I enjoy the competition. Maybe you win one ride, maybe you wait in the weeds and you win next time. It's fun or I wouldn't do it. It's hard work - you have to do your homework. And when you have a farm, it's stressful." When Jan and her partner Grace Ramsey aren't caring for and riding and training their 46-some horses, and herding the 27 cows, and baling hay, and doing everything else that comes with their JG Ranch, they continue to spend time in the UAE training horses, which they started doing in 1992 for young Shaikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi.

"It takes a family to support a person like me, and I truly appreciate them. Everybody helps - someone farm-sits when we are gone to rides and to the UAE; they shoe our horses; they crew for me; Guy still rides some of my horses if they're green and need a few rides first."

It's the challenge, it's family, and it's a nice horse with little mule feet that keep her enjoying this sport of endurance, as they aim for a slot on the US Team for the World Endurance Championship.

"I'm so blessed!"

Gentle Giant

Saturday July 10 2010

He's been across the ocean (twice). He's completed a World Championship. He's done over 3000 AERC miles. Some wins. Best Conditions. Tevis. The historic Outlaw Trail.

He's a big brute. Maybe intimidating to some.

But he's a gentle soul. He's a Healing soul.

He taught Bruce's young daughter Belle to ride, and not be afraid of a horse. He took Pati on her second ride, ever.

He was the Healer for Joni - he was the first horse she got on after her own horse almost killed her with a kick to the stomach. He's the Healer for Linda - Linda who's been almost desperate to ride, but always ended up with horses that were too scary - he's the first horse she's been comfortable and at ease on in a long time. Linda said after riding him the first time, "It's a miracle!"


He helps the horses too - Tex is just learning to negotiate the trails in the big outdoors. Krusty teaches the kid that there's nothing to it out here.


He's 20, retired now from competition, but he continues to enchant and soothe the souls - human and horse - that come to Owyhee.

The Memo

Friday July 9 2010

The horses didn't get the memo that they should show up this morning at 9 AM for a ride.

We had to go out on the ATV to fetch them. They were waaaaaaaaay up the canyon.

The only way to get them in from up there is with a bucket of grain. If Finneas is out with the herd, you can BET he will lead the herd in.


With his face breathing down your neck, trying to reach for that bucket of grain.




Even if it means crawling in your lap.



Here they come! (With Finneas still scheming to get the bucket of grain.)

A Lofty Goal

Monk and Lindsay Graham win the 2009 AERC National Championship 100

This is the beginning of a series of profiles of horses and riders on track for competing for 5 spots on the US Team for the World Endurance Championship, part of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, to be held on September 26th, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Thursday July 8 2010

2010 WEG: Monk and Rider Lindsay Graham - A Lofty Goal

Some people like to travel when they retire. Some take up hobbies - golf, classic cars, painting. Chris Martin became obsessed with something else, something with legs and a slim figure. "Imagine being old like me and having some young horse consuming your every thought.. kinda like 'crazy'..." Who else would have the name of his horse tattooed on his arm? Chris' wife Nancy isn't seen sporting a tattoo of Monk anywhere, but she chuckles at Chris' obsession, and she can be seen at Monk's rides, helping to crew, and enjoying herself as much as Chris.


Four years ago, Monk was an unbroke 4-year-old Arabian gelding of CMK breeding in Chris's pasture, a 'Plan B' for a riding horse. He'd had him since he was a yearling. But when the Shagya stallion Chris had bought to to be his 2010 WEG horse bucked him off, Chris put that horse in his pen and never rode him again ("Life is too short"). Monk became Plan A.

At first Monk was stand-offish, but once Chris got a halter on him, Monk started following him around like a puppy dog. When Chris decided to break him, it took all of about one day. "I just led him to the trailer and tied him up and put the saddle on him, and ponied him around a bit. Next day I had a friend lead us around with me on his back, and after that there really wasn't much to it." Chris rode and built a foundation under his horse for two years, forging a nice bond with him; and though early on Monk loved to run fast when Chris let him, it was far too early to tell what kind of horse he might be.

Monk started his endurance career in his 6-year-old year. Carolyn Meier rode him on his first 50; Chris rode him on his next three. Monk wasn't anything special then - though he showed he had some speed, he didn't eat or drink well and his mind wasn't particularly on the trail.

But on his 5th ride, the Comstock ride outside of Reno, Nevada, in October, Chris got an inkling of exactly what kind of horse Monk might become. Chris and Monk rode much of the ride with Michelle Roush and her FEI horse PR Tallymark, finishing third and running a sub-5 hour 50 miles, and looking very good afterwards. "It all came together at the Comstock ride. It was a turning point for him. He drank well, ate like a pig; at his post-ride check he had all A's and a 44 CRI at the finish. We finished only 14 minutes behind the FEI horse that was going to the Malaysia WEC."

Monk finished 4 more 50's in 2008, and Lindsay Graham was aboard for the last two. Carolyn was unable to commit to a possible FEI campaign, and Lindsay was recommended. "I only rode him on a brief 1-hour training ride before our first ride," Lindsay recalled, "just to get to know him. We just trotted, probably didn't even canter - I could see he was safe, which was a change from what I was used to!"

"Used to" was her mom Susan's endurance horse Phoenix Affair. Lindsay had been riding horses since her mom first sat her on a horse before she was a year old. She got a pony for her 5th birthday; when she turned 13 she got an Off-The-Track Thoroughbred and did Hunter-Jumper shows with him until 2001. She rode for the UC Davis Equestrian Team (where she attended vet school); and then one day Lindsay's mom talked her into riding her endurance horse Phoenix Affair when she hurt her back, in 2004. "I got suckered into it," Lindsay says wryly. "I agreed to do it for just one year." That one year turned into 3 years on Phoenix, and included 2 Tevis completions. In 2006 when they finished 7th, Phoenix was the oldest horse, at 19 years old, ever to top 10 Tevis. Together, in Lindsay's first international competition, they also completed the 100-mile North American Endurance Championship in Maryland in 2004; Phoenix was the oldest horse (18) and Lindsay was the youngest rider (24).

Phoenix was a handful of a horse to ride - "a big 16+ hand horse with ATTITUDE, and great confidence. He was like a freight train. I always felt like a had a lear jet beneath me ready to take off, I could feel his power."

Monk, on the other hand, didn't seem to be anything particularly remarkable in those first two rides, not compared to Phoenix. "I just noticed he wasn't a lear jet, like Phoenix Affair. Monk just went out and did what I asked him to do, stayed on pace, did his job."

It was their next ride together, the 100 miler at the 2009 20 Mule Team, where she noticed Monk might be a little different. Team Monk just wanted Monk to have an easy ride for his first 100, and they wanted to finish with a happy horse. Monk ended up finishing 4th, and it was a successful, surprisingly easy ride for him. "I was pretty proud of him then," Lindsay said.

So was Chris. That's when they really started laying the groundwork plans for the WEG, 1 1/2 years down the road. The September AERC National Championship ride - also an FEI ride - would be where Monk could try for his international COC - Certificate of Capability, 100 miles in 12 hours 20 minutes - although the course in Greenville was a tough mountainous one, and not particularly conducive to fast times; and it would be Monk's first real hill ride. Chris and Lindsay decided they wouldn't let Monk overdo it - if it didn't look like he'd easily make his COC time, they'd just try to finish the ride, and go for their COC at the next 100-mile ride, over a flatter, easier course in the desert.

What Monk did blew them away. He won the ride - and won easily (in 9 hours, 58 minutes), well within COC time. And he got Best Condition. Lindsay was overwhelmed by his performance. "It was a spectacular ride. I knew he was good, above average, but the AERC National Championship was a cakewalk for him - seeing how easy it was, he was so far ahead without trying, and he always wanted to go faster."

Team Monk - Eric, Lindsay's parents Susan and Steve, Chris and Nancy Martin, Lindsay - cooling Monk down at a vet check at the AERCNC

Since then, Monk's program has consisted of 2 more well-planned rides (a 50 miler - 3rd place and Best Condition in November, and a a 100 miler - 2nd place and Best Condition in January 2010) and strategic training designed to increase his fitness, and slowly bring him along to be ready for the first Selection Trials in Oregon in June, then the final selection in Illinois in August, then hopefully Kentucky in September.

Team Monk crewing at the West Selection Trials

Chris's training of Monk consists of some riding, lots of ponying off an ATV (sometimes with side reins), lots of rest, and a killer hill, that Monk loves to gallop up. "His heartrate gets up to 200 at times, but he recovers quickly and he always asks to keep going."

Monk is a lean horse that is hard to put weight on (and sometimes he's a finicky eater - hence the name 'Monk'), and Chris weighs him every day, and bases his training schedule on Monk's weight and resting heartrate. He must be doing something right, because Chris says it's hard to stress Monk. "I've never ever seen him tired, never ever seen that dull look in his eyes. He's always bright, always has his ears forward. He's been out of breath yes, but tired or reluctant to go - never ever. And we've never let him go in a race, so we don't know how fast he really is." It's been quite tempting to let him go... but Chris and Lindsay are erring on the side of conservative, always keeping their eyes on the ultimate goal of the WEG in Kentucky.

Chris credits Monk's barefoot program with a lot of his success. He puts on gloves for Monk's training and glue-on boots for the rides. "Monk would never be able to do the hard training he does without the boots that soak up the concussion and protect his soles. They play an integral part in keeping him sound."

The June West Selection Trails were a great success for Monk. They'd trained as best they could but the weather didn't always cooperate, so Lindsay wasn't sure how fit Monk would be. "We certainly hadn't cantered 80 miles before - but he handled the trial so well, and now I know he could have easily done another 20 miles. He stayed with Smitty (Sir Smith, ridden by Jeremy Reynolds) - a hellion, a freight train, who does not tire - they went stride for stride, went very well together."

Sir Smith and Jeremy Reynolds, Ssamiam and Heather Reynolds, Monk and Lindsay Graham at the West Selection Trials

Lindsay credits Monk's success to his natural ability, and his mind. "He's athletic, fast, and has a great mind. That sets him apart: his mind. Sometimes you have a really good mind but the horse is slower or doesn't have that great drive. Or sometimes you have the drive and the speed but the horse is crazy. Monk is the best of both worlds."

Chris adds: "He's laid back, and easy to handle. He's not a hot horse; he's easy to rate, always wants to go, but he's not stupid about it."

If you watch Monk at a ride, you'll see what they mean about his mind. When Lindsay gets on him, he's all business, ears pricked and ready to get on the trail. Arriving at the vet checks, his heartrate drops like a rock, and he just follows behind his groom, head down, ears to side, looking almost - bored. Certainly not stressed. And definitely not worn out. "At first when he'd do that, I thought - is he tired? Is it too much for him?" Lindsay said. "But as soon as I'd get on him, he was always ready to go again."

Monk yawning after winning the AERC National Championship

How experienced does an endurance rider need to be to make the Team for the World Endurance Championship? Lindsay knows she she's limited on international competition, but she knows about team riding from her UC Davis equestrian team participation, and she does know the endurance horses she has ridden - Phoenix Affair and Monk - intimately. "I'm a good rider; an excellent horsewoman; I have good intuition; I'm serious and I stay focused; and I care about Monk. A lot. For me, it's safety first, for both of us. I think it's possible to ride fast and smart at the same time. No matter where I finish, if the horse looks good at the end of a ride, I know I've done well, and I feel good at the end of the day.

"And it's time for new blood on the US Team! But no matter what, through it all, it's been tons of fun."

Chris echoes the confidence that Lindsay has. "I have every confidence that we will make it to the final selection, where we will see if Monk is as good as we think he is. We just want a fair shot; and let the cards fall where they may. We want a good team for the US, and we're hoping we're on it. Proof is in the pudding and if he is not chosen we will go home with our heads held high, and we'll be rooting for the US team."

Maybe it's not so crazy Chris and Team Monk are so obsessed with their horse, and maybe the WEG is an unobtainable goal.

"He's a gift - he's a once in a lifetime horse."

Part of happy Team Monk

Follow Monk's blog (by Chris) at http://feiredhorse.blogspot.com/

Follow coverage of the World Endurance Championship on Endurance.net at http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2010WEC/

Castle Creek Loop

Tuesday July 6 2010

Just when you think you've seen the most dramatic canyon in the Owyhees, you are knocked for a loop once again.

We did it - we found a loop to take riders along a piece of the rim above spectacular Castle Creek canyon on one of the days of the September 5-day Owyhee Canyonlands ride. These pictures don't make you gasp out loud like we were doing. (I'm going back there with my good camera.)

If you come to the ride and do the 50 miles on the Castle Creek day, we guarantee you'll be gasping for breath at the view.

The Quarry

Sunday July 4 2010

Sure, I'd heard about The Quarry. You could get some cool rocks there. It was pointed out to me in the distance when I first visited here 5 years ago when Steph and John took me on a ride. I recall seeing white 'badlands' bluffs, and figuring it was a place where people went and fetched themselves white crumbly rock off bluffs. I knew there were BLM roads that took you there, but who needed to see more white rock? We have that in our canyon.

Oh, no no, that was not The Quarry.

This is The Quarry - a chasmic canyon of maroon, vermillion, red, and burgundy, cliffs, pillars and hoodoo-like columns on Castle Creek.





Holy moly!



Yet another shocker of an Owyhee canyon. Steph's figuring out how to include it in the 5-day Owyhee Canyonlands endurance ride at the end September.

Even Jose was quite impressed.


(I'll soon be making a return visit!)