The Mythical Tevis Cup 2013: Part 2

The Mythical Tevis Cup 2013: Part I is here

Saturday August 20 2013

"The heat changed EVERYTHING," Kevin Myers said Sunday morning, after tired riders and crews congregated at the Tevis Cup awards. Myers finished 5th on Auli Farwa (their 4th straight Tevis finish), at 10:58 PM. "It was hellishly hot and humid."

Hopes and strategies were affected by the extreme heat on this year's Tevis trail, particularly the deep canyons that were rumored to be as hot as 118°F. "There was this layer of humid mist that just sat on the canyons," Myers said.


Winners Rusty Toth and 8-year-old Take a Break (Quake) were judged fit to continue at their final vet check at the finish line at the Auburn Fairgrounds at 10:12 PM Saturday night. The pair never owned the lead till 5 miles from the finish line. "The game plan was to try to get to the front sooner than that," Toth said afterwards, "but today the heat and humidity slowed me down quite a bit. I'm from Durango, and we have no humidity. This was very challenging weather-wise for us."

Of the 160 starters, 75 completed. 27 horses were pulled for metabolics, and there were a number of rider options, some of them related to the heat. Clydea Hastie, a tough-as-nails 10,800+ AERC mileage rider and 6-time Tevis finisher from hot Arizona, was one of those. "My horse was fine, I wasn't!" Hastie said afterwards. "I had to get off my horse and sit for a while at the bottom of the second canyon. My legs were complete rubber!" EMTs monitored her condition for half an hour. Once Clydea made it to the top of the canyon and to Michigan Bluff, she pulled herself. A friend rode her horse on into Foresthill, where transport out was much easier for the horse.

"The ride was HARD!" said Melissa Ribley of Grass Valley, California, riding 14-year-old Sakajawea. She would know, being a 19,000+ AERC mileage rider, and going for her 10th Tevis completion. After the heat of the canyons, she told her husband and riding partner Robert (32,500+ AERC miles and (now) 13 Tevis finishes) riding the 8-year-old Appaloosa gelding Crow Pony, "We're never doing this ride again!" She was kidding of course, and was beaming when she received her 1000-mile buckle from Robert at Sunday's awards, after they finished in 53rd and 54th place at 4:32 AM. Melissa is the 71st rider to receive a 1000-mile buckle.

By the first hour hold at Robinson Flat at 36 miles - sometimes referred to as 'the Pressure Cooker' for the intensity of the crewing situation - 21 horses had already been pulled, including a horse who suffered a severe fall, and had to be euthanized. 10 more riders were pulled at Robinson. Temperature at Robinson Flat was still mild, in the low 80's.


First riders into Robinson were mother and son team Karen and (Junior) John Donley, of Palm Desert, California. John just squeaked out his first Tevis finish in 2012 with 10 minutes of time left on the clock, after having changed sponsors when his mom was pulled earlier. He was again riding his 10-year-old mare My Mamselle, with his mom riding 11-year-old Royal Patron. The duo led by 5 minutes out of Robinson, and still held the lead by minutes coming into Deadwood at 55 miles, where Jenni Smith and Jennifer Waitte took over the lead by 5 minutes. Those 4 traded the lead until Foresthill at 68 miles, where Jennifer Waitte left first by 2 minutes.


The "Two Jennies" (also humorously referred to by Rusty Toft as "the poor Jennies") rode Jennifer Waitte's homebred mares, 9-year-old M Dash Czoe (Waitte) and M Dash Stellar (Smith). They had the Tevis ride in mind all year, having previously completed three 65 or 75-mile rides to prepare for it, where they finished first or 2nd in the last two rides. Both horses looked great leaving Foresthill, cantering through town on their way to the California loop trail, Waitte in first place, and Smith in 4th, 5 minutes behind her.

Andre Ruggeri, riding 10-year-old Falcon JE, and going for his first Tevis completion, arrived at Robinson in third place, followed by Willemina DeBoer riding 8-year-old Frisia Mameluk (DeBoer finished 7th in the Tevis in 2012 riding SMR Filouette), followed by the 'Two Jennies', followed by Kevin Myers and Rusty Toth, then Jeremy Reynolds riding 8-year-old RR Chances. Chances is a half-brother to the 2012 World Endurance Championship USA team horse A Kutt Above. 9 minutes separated these first 9 riders.


Utah rider Suzanne Hedgecock, riding LZP Julioslastchance, arrived in 15th place, and Utah's Beverly Gray, riding Jolly Sickle, was in 17th place. Hal Hall, going for his 30th Tevis buckle, was in 22nd place, 31 minutes behind the leaders, while perennial Tevis favorite Barbara White, riding Djubilee came in 77th place, arriving 2 hours behind the leaders.

Positions of the top riders stayed much the same at Last Chance checkpoint at 50 miles, with the Donleys still in first by 2 minutes over the Two Jennies, followed closely by Willemina DeBoer, Myers, Reynolds, and Toft.

The heat of the canyons caused many horses to become inverted - their respiration was equal to or higher than their pulse - and caused many riders to slow down. 21 more horses were pulled at Deadwood at 55 miles after the first canyon, 6 of them metabolics, 7 of them rider options. Watching the rider board at Foresthill was something you did and didn't want to do, for the disappointment of seeing another one of your favorite riders on the pull list. Groans could be heard when someone saw a friend's name: "Awww!"

10 more riders were pulled at the second hour hold, at Foresthill, including Barbara White, (Awww!) who herself was recovering from a horse fall the previous Monday. The accident "left me with a pretty useless left knee and bruised ribs. I thought I could gut it out, but it took its toll on Djubilee's back which became very sore," White said later. While disappointed in not finishing, she was proud of her mare, and she was looking forward to presenting some of the awards at the next day's ceremony.


Arriving at Foresthill after 68 hard, rocky, and dusty miles of trail, is an oasis on the Tevis trail, a half-mile long walk under shade trees lined by dozens of waiting crew members and Tevis groupies, cheering the riders and horses in to the vet check. Volunteers jump in to hose off horses and hand out carrots to the hungry horses. It picks up the spirits of tired riders, and the horses know they're at a rest stop. The horses and riders have an hour hold to eat and rest up for the last third of the Tevis trail. All would be riding at least part of the 32 miles in the dark, much of it along cliffs high above the American River.


Leaders out of Foresthill were: Jennifer Waitte and M Dash Czoe, followed 2 minutes later by Kevin Myers and Auli Farwa, and Rusty Toth and Take a Break; followed 3 minutes later by Jenni Smith and M Dash Stellar; followed 3 minutes later by the Donleys.


Leaving Foresthill in 7th place 14 minutes after the Donleys was Utah's Christoph Schork (24,000+ AERC miles), riding GE Starlit Way, a 10-year-old Arabian gelding, owned and trained by his partner, Dian Woodward. Starlit Way's last 2 rides were two 1st-place finishes and a Best Condition award in a 50 and an 80-mile ride, both in May with Dian. Christoph had been steadily moving up since the 5:15 AM start at Robie Park: 19th at Red Star (28.5 miles), 17th at Robinson (36 miles), 16th at Last Chance (50 miles), 10th at Deadwood (55 miles), 8th at Chicken Hawk (64 miles), and 7th at Foresthill (68 miles).

Schork and Woodward's Global Endurance Training Center crew was quite busy, with 4 horses in the ride. Foreigners Australian Rose Ross rode GE Stars Aflame - 2011 AERC 100-mile National Champion (15th leaving Foresthill), and Britain Sally Toye rode GE Honky Tonk Hector (23rd leaving Foresthill), and Nathalie Weemaels of Ecuador rode Pico (SBD) (27th leaving Foresthill).


Sue Hedgecock and LZP Julioslastchance left Foresthill in 11th, 49 minutes behind the leader; with Beverly Gray and Jolly Sickle 8 minutes behind her.

35 minutes separated the same top 7 riders leaving Francisco's vet check at 85 miles, with Waitte still maintaining a lead of 12 minutes, with 15 miles to go.


The final vet check is at the Lower Quarry, at 94 miles. The Donleys were the first into the Quarry, followed 2 minutes later by Toth and Waitte and Smith, and 7 minutes later by Myers and Schork, with Jeremy Reynolds arriving 3 minutes later. Reynolds' horse RR Chances was pulled here for lameness. John Donley's mare was having trouble pulsing down, and she was slightly lame behind; the vets held him longer to see if the mare would improve. His mom (and sponsor) stayed with him, giving up her lead.

From here on, with 6 miles to the finish, the web-watching audience was left suspended, as the webcast did not update! It wasn't until Toth and Take a Break suddenly and surprisingly came bombing into the stadium at Auburn that the fans at the finish knew who was in front.


The Two Jennies actually left the Lower Quarry in the lead by 2 minutes over Toth, and at the awards next day, Waitte described what happened next:

"My riding partner and I, Jenny Smith, who finished 3rd… We were heading home, in first and second place on the road coming up to Highway 49, and something BLEW BY. And we went 'What was THAT!?' It was like it split hairs!

"I asked Jenny, 'Did you see anything?' We just felt this breeze up the back of our necks. It was Rusty!"

Toth added his own version: "…I didn't get the lead till 5 miles from the finish line. The last 2 riders left about 2 minutes before me...

"This horse is off the track, and he's got the most amazing canter, ever. And I knew we could catch them, and we went for it. I just dropped the reins, and let him go…

"I caught the '4 Jennifers' after the Lower Quarry."


Toth and Take a Break finished 17 minutes ahead of Waitte and Smith, followed by Schork, 17 minutes later. Myers and Auli Farwa were 5th, followed by a solo Karen Donley, whose son's mare had finally been pulled at the Lower Quarry. Mark Schuerman and French Open finished 7th, followed by Sue Hedgecock and LZP Julioslastchance in 8th, Beverly Gray and Jolly Sickle in 9th, and Ann Marie Barnett and Ravvens Allune, a 12-year-old Arabian mare, in 10th, at 12:45 AM.

The Global Endurance team completed with all their horses: Australian Rose Ross and Stars Aflame finished 11th, Britain Sally Toye and GE Honky Tonk Hector finished 10th, and Ecuadorian Nathalie Weemaels and Pico (SBD) finished 21st, at 2:34 AM. Ross said at the awards, after receiving her first Tevis buckle: "Crikey! You Americans are so lucky having a trail like this! Keep it going!"

Every horse and rider who finished this hot Tevis ride was notable, but particularly exceptional finishers were Hal Hall and PR Comet, in 34th place at 3:32 AM for Hall's 3000-mile Tevis buckle; Joyce Sousa and 20-year-old, 8000+ mile LV Integrity, in 35th place at 3:35 AM for their 4th Tevis buckle together; 3 of the 4 Blakeleys in 42nd to 44th place at 3:55 AM, with junior Sanoma Blakely finishing her first Tevis on Taii Myr (brother Barrak was unfortunately pulled at Francisco's at 85 miles); Japan's Hiromi Kitaike finishing on Patrick's Fire in 51st place at 4:27 AM for her 3rd Tevis completion in a row; and the tail enders Ed Seider riding Il Remirame, and Michaela Costello riding Nubira, finishing at 4:58 AM.


The next morning's Haggin Cup judging was a whirl of emotions for the 9 riders who showed, and for Dr Greg Fellers, who presents the Haggin Cup. His voice always breaks with emotion when he speaks of these extraordinary horses that participate in this very demanding ride. "These horses today that we looked at, they are more than machines, they are athletes," he said. "They represent power, stamina, grace, heart, will, and they are our teammates. These 10 athletes that we looked at today represent the crème de la crème, the best, the most elite; out of that group we were asked to pick 1 that survived the challenge of the last 24 hours, the one who was in the best condition.

"It is my great honor to announce the 2013 Haggin Award goes to: Julioslastchance ridden by Suzanne Hedgecock."

Hedgecock has over 10,800 AERC miles. Julio is a 12-year-old Polish-bred (on the dam's side) Arabian off the racetrack with over 2000 AERC miles, and a record of 39 completions in 43 starts, including 5 of 6 100-mile finishes, with 6 Best Condition Awards over 7 seasons.


It's been a difficult ride for Hedgecock the last few years with health problems in her family; though she has 2 previous Tevis buckles, this year's Tevis experience was very emotional for her. "Just to be out there showing for the Haggin Cup with all those famous people - it was overwhelming.

"I love my horse. I'm lucky to be here. I loved this opportunity."

*For a previous profile on Sue Hedgecock and Julio, go here:
http://merritravels.endurance.net/2010/07/looking-down-trail.html*

*Complete Tevis results can be seen here:
http://merritravels.endurance.net/2013/07/the-mythical-tevis-cup-2013-part-2.html

The Mythical Tevis Cup 2013: Part I

July 19 2013

"It's Mythical!" said Nathalie Weemaels, of Ecuador, when asked why she'd come to ride in her first Tevis Cup. She'd be aboard Christoph Shork and Dian Woodward's Pico (SBD), a 9-year-old Arabian gelding. "I want to learn about this kind of endurance riding, so I can show my fellow Ecuadorian riders there is a choice between the flat racing endurance and this kind of endurance riding."

The Tevis Cup has been a mythical institution since Wendell Robie and a handful of friends first proved a horse could do this 100-mile ride in one day from near Truckee, California, to Auburn, California in 1955.


Even if you're not a first timer, the legendary lure of Tevis probably has drawn you back into its web. When you look across the Sierra Nevadas on the drive down that forest road into Robie Park, and know you'll be riding 100 miles over those mountains into Auburn, it can't help but stir your emotions, no matter how many times you've ridden the trail.


And the smitten came again, this year only 161 of them signed up to ride. (Around 200 are usually entered.) "Tevis Gremlins," said Dave Rabe, referring to the low number of entries. Dave came to crew for friends Kerry Redente and Bill Taylor, going for their first Tevis finishes. Dave just recently returned to the endurance trails after a bad accident in December where he fell off his horse and hit his helmet-less head. He wasn't ready to tackle Tevis again though: "I've been having trouble with the heat."

The heat: Mother Nature always plays her part with the Tevis trail and participants, but this year was going to be a particularly hot one. Temperature predicted for Auburn on Saturday was 102° F, which meant those canyons that the horses and riders would be traversing would be even hotter. "The heat is going to make it a ride, not a race," said Kathy Perry, who would be riding her friend Becky Spencer's horse Home Run Derby, a 10-year-old Arabian gelding, in quest of Perry's 22nd Tevis buckle.

Some people prepared for the expected heat, training themselves and their horses during the hottest parts of the days, and putting blankets on their horses while training. Two returning Tevis riders in particular did not have heat training on their side. Kevin Myers and Rusty Toth of Durango, Colorado, only have the mountains and altitude to train in. That is probably a good alternative, as Myers (riding Auli Farwa) and Toth (riding Farraba) finished 3rd and 4th respectively last year, with Toth and Farraba winning the Haggin Cup (Best Condition judging the day after).


This year Toth would be riding 8-year-old Take a Break, with a 13 for 13 record, including 2 100-mile finishes. Myers would be again riding Auli Farwa, a 13-year-old Arabian who has over 3000 miles, and a 50 for 50 record, including 10 100-mile finishes and 3 Tevis buckles. That is after a freak ankle injury almost ended his career before it started at age 5.

"That wasn't the plan," Myers said. "I was going to ride Stoner (Farraba), but he got a girth gall. All the hard training, massages, and supplements went into Stoner, but we pulled Far (Auli Farwa) out of the 'back 40' for this ride." Myers was somewhat exaggerating, as Far's last 2 rides in April and May were two 2nd place finishes and 2 Best Condition awards in two 55-mile rides.


Hal Hall would be going for his 3000-mile Tevis buckle, his 38th attempt at Tevis, riding Fred Emigh's 16-year-old half-Arabian half-Standardbred gelding PR Comet, a horse with a 27 for 27 record, and a 10th place finish in the 2009 Tevis Cup under Mark Engemann.


Barbara White, 65, calls this an annual pilgrimage, and a "spiritual experience." This would be her 43rd Tevis ride, and she'd be going for a record 33 Tevis buckles. (Barbara herself is Mythical to some of us : ). She'd be riding Djubilee, a 12-year-old Arabian mare. With a 37 for 38 record, it would be Djubilee's first Tevis, and first 100-mile ride.


Another pair of endurance legends would be hitting the Tevis trail together. Joyce Sousa - 22,000 AERC miles - and 20-year-old LV Integrity ("Ritzy") - 8000 endurance miles, and 33 100-mile completions - would be going for their 4th Tevis buckle together. The pair most recently won the 100-mile Owyhee Fandango in May, and completed two back-to-back 50-mile rides in June.


Dayna Weary had unfinished business with her horse, 15-year-old The Reverling TGE (Crickett) on this year's Tevis trail. She'd gotten him at 7 and had him for 8 years, but had never ridden the Tevis on him. Some years she had other horses to ride, and 2 of those years were special circumstances. "In 2007 and 2009, Barbara White had needed a horse to ride, so I gave her Crickett to ride. She finished both years, which was fortunate, as those were her 28th and 29th Tevis finishes. That allowed her to get her 30th buckle the next year, which her dad (Bob Suhr) was able to see before he died. That was very special!" There had to be some good Tevis Karma in that. So this year Dayna and Crickett would team up together for the first time to tackle the Tevis trail together. Unfinished Business was the name of her team.


Clara Berner, a 15-year-old Junior from Washington, was back for her 2nd attempt at Tevis on her adorable blue-eyed 12-year-old Arab/Welsh/Paint pony Benjamin. Last year she and her mom Mary Kraus were overtime; this year Clara would ride with her mom, and had Kathy Sherman lined up as a back-up sponsor, in case her mom got pulled. Clara was a not-quite-addicted endurance rider when I first met her at the Owyhee Canyonlands in September of 2009 when she did her first Limited Distance ride, but showing up for Tevis the second time proves that has changed. She and Benjamin have been working hard at the Tevis goal the last 2 years. Benny looked outstanding - buff and fit, one of the fabulous-looking Tevis horses that belonged on this trail. Clara was one of the 10 Junior riders whose entries were sponsored by EasyCare and Echo Valley Ranch.

What stood out to many people at the Vet In at Robie park was the outstanding condition of the horses. I heard it from many people I talked to. "I've never seen so many fabulous-looking horses than here at the Tevis," said Jeff Stuart, an endurance rider there to crew for Andy Bown, going for his 3rd Tevis completion on Tucker, a 14-year-old Arabian gelding. "Unlike some of the FEI competitions," he added.


It is true that 99.9% of this year's Tevis horses looked like outstanding athletes, not too overweight and not too thin (unlike many FEI competitions around the world), and all exceedingly fit. Likely every one of the Tevis riders know exactly what they're getting into and exactly how challenging this course is: 100 miles of rock and dust; cumulative 19,000 feet of ascent and 22,000 feet of descent. "It's a hard ride and it's not for wimps or horses that aren't trained for it," said vet scribe Diana Hiiesalu-Bain, who has seen every aspect of the Tevis Cup, having scribed, crewed, and ridden and completed it. (See her blog entry on Scribing for this year's Tevis.)


The stories go on and on: Utah's Bev Gray and her outstanding Jolly Sickle (37 for 37 rides, 5 of 5 100's and 13 Best Conditions, 11 wins, 1 Tevis buckle), who was ready to "bust out of his skin"; Utah's Sue Hedgecock and LZP Julioslastchance (38 of 42 completions, 4 100-mile completions, 5 Best Conditions) - "I'm just here," Sue said; Stephané Chazel from France returning to attempt his second Tevis completion, riding Potato Richardson's SMR Filouette, who finished in 7th place in last year's Tevis with Willemina DeBoer; Japan's Hiromi Kitaike riding Patrick's Fire, going for her 3rd Tevis buckle in a row; the Blakeley family of 4 from Oregon - father Wasch going for his first Tevis buckle, mother Gabriela going for her 3rd buckle, junior son Barrak going for his 2nd buckle (he was pulled last year, at The Quarry at 96 miles), and junior daughter Sanoma riding in her first Tevis…


The stories would continue on ride day and afterwards, starting at 5:15 AM July 20th, in the 58th running of this mythical Tevis Cup.

**image of Hal Hall and Fred Emigh by Krista Turnage and the Tevis Cup folks!**
see pre-vetting photos of all the competitors at
http://www.teviscup.org/webcast/webcast.html# and click on the riders' names.

He Scares the Hell Out Of Me! - Lee Pearce and Fire Mt Malabar

Thursday June 27 2013

The horse sounded like a good prospect for her new-to-endurance-riding husband Lee Pearce: 5-year-old Arabian gelding, sound, winner on the racetrack, a $2500 price tag; and Naomi Preston knew the owner and trainer Jim Bumgardner. The horse was by Sierra Fadwah +/ : the first stallion to reach 7000 endurance miles, the Jim Jones Award winner in 1983, Reserve National Middleweight Champion in 1988, and 1992 AERC Hall of Fame. What could be wrong with this endurance candidate?

Naomi and Lee loaded up their trailer and drove non-stop from Idaho to the Bay Area in California, to have a look at this Fire Mt Malabar. "It takes FOREVER to get to California," Lee emphasized.

Expecting to see a big strong Arabian ready to start on the endurance trail, since he'd been racing and winning on the racetrack, Lee and Naomi both were in for a surprise when they laid eyes on Malabar and his pasture cohort, full brother Fire Mt Legacy. "Oh my God," they both thought, "what have we gotten ourselves into!"

Lee was a heavyweight rider, looking for a burly horse to carry his weight over thousands of miles of trail, but neither horse looked like the typical "heavyweight horse".

In slight consternation, Naomi said, "Uh - we really need to see him move!" The exercise rider got on Malabar first and warmed him up. The horse definitely looked better moving around under saddle. Lee asked to climb aboard and ride him.

And that was it. "As soon as I got on Malabar, I knew I wanted him. He was really powerful, and smooth… I'd never felt anything so powerful before." Lee had been riding many miles on a favorite brawny mustang named Terminator, "but that horse had nothing of the power and elegance of Malabar. I knew this one had stamina and power."

Lee wanted Malabar, despite the fact that the horse took off running with him, aiming for an irrigation ditch, fighting with Lee who was desperately to wrestle him down to a whoa before he flew over the ditch. "Typical Malabar!" Lee laughed.

Lee and Naomi loaded up both Malabar and Legacy, and brought them home to the northwest.


That was 2004, but Lee and Naomi were in no rush to get Malabar on the endurance trails. "We built him up for 2 years, even though he was off the track and in shape, because he'd be carrying a heavyweight rider, and he needed to strengthen his muscles and tendons," Lee said.

Lee and Malabar's first endurance ride in March of 2006, was at Home on the Range, in Washington state, with pasture-mate Karlady, also starting her first endurance ride. In those days, Home on the Range was a big ride, with over 160 riders in all distances. "We finished about 80th," Lee said, "although the first half of the ride we were in the top 25! Malabar thought he was in a big horse race. He was just an idiot!"

Eagle Extreme in Idaho in April was Malabar's next 50 mile ride. One might have thought the horse would have settled down a bit. Nope. "He wasn't much better. He was wanting to go fast, and instead of fighting him, I thought I'd let him go a little bit - WRONG! He got sore on those hills (Eagle Extreme is a very hilly ride) and was pulled for lameness." That was Malabar's last ride of the season; and instead, Lee concentrated on legging him up more.


It paid off during the 2007 endurance season, where Lee rode a rested and toughened Malabar 775 miles. They completed 14 of 15 rides, including Malabar's first 100 mile rides, (at Sunriver in Oregon and the AERC National Championship in Idaho), with 4 Top Ten finishes.

In 2008, Lee started riding JAC Mr Turner as his primary endurance horse. He rode Malabar as his backup endurance horse to 'only' 8 starts and finishes (and one 100-mile ride), but this was the season the duo picked up the first two of their Best Condition awards.

Turner was slightly injured by a pasture-mate at the end of 2008, so Malabar became Lee's primary mount again in 2009. An outstanding record of 15 starts/completions and 8 Best Condition awards launched Lee and Malabar to 3rd place in the 2009 national Best Condition standings.

And Malabar has just gotten better with age: 2010 (11 years old) - 11 completions in 12 starts, 6 more Best Condition awards, and 3rd place National Best Condition; and 2011 - 16 completions, 12 more BC awards, and 1st place National Best Condition.

One might expect that with all those miles under his girth, Malabar might be an easy ride. Not so! says Naomi.

In 2011, at the 2-day Bandit Springs ride in Oregon, Lee planned to ride the first day on Malabar, but opted out because of a bad knee. Naomi thought she'd ride Malabar on the second day of the ride. "I should have ridden him on the 80, but I weenied out and did the 50. The Blakeleys (a northwest endurance riding family) took off fast at the start, and Malabar is like 'I'm going with them!' and I'm trying to hold him back - and he goes WACKO when you try to fight with him!" Naomi demonstrates a battle with imaginary reins attached to an imaginary wacko horse. "He wouldn't buddy up with anybody, he was having NONE of it.


"And after a couple of miles, I just got off, and led him back to Ridecamp. I could not control him - he was so - OH MY GOD!"

Lee confirmed, "Yea, he was a nutcase."

"I was done!" Naomi exclaimed. "I didn't want to die that day!"

And it's not that Lee and Naomi are inexperienced riders who can't handle a rogue horse. Lee's a strong heavyweight rider, and Naomi has over 10,000 endurance miles, and rode international competitor, National Champion, and AERC Hall of Fame horse Mustang Lady.

The couple took Malabar and Karlady to a Peggy Cummings clinic one weekend. Cummings is a "consummate master horsewoman" who teaches Connected Riding.

"I thought I'd bring Malabar," Lee said, "because I thought he could use some help.

"In the clinic, Malabar's going around with his head up in the air, and Peggy's telling me all this stuff, and it's not working, so I said, somewhat exasperated, 'Peggy, why don't you hop on this horse, and just tell me what you think of him.'

"Peggy couldn't do a damn thing with him!" Lee laughs, with obvious fondness for his obstinate horse. "She said 'This is the most difficult horse I've ever been on!'"

One might also expect that with all those heavyweight miles and all those awards in the saddle together, that Malabar would be Lee's favorite horse. "Yes... Well... unwillingly! As far as riding, he's a rough-riding horse, he's hard-headed, strong, opinionated. He has no manners, and he scares the hell out of me!" How? "By going too fast!"

Asked if Malabar spooks: "Oh yea, ALL the time! I should've come off him many times, but it wasn't till 2011 he finally got me off the first time."


Lee is grudgingly willing to admit Malabar is his favorite horse, and to forgive him for his feistiness because of his consistently outstanding performances. The 14-year-old gelding currently owns 31 Best Condition awards (8th on the all-time Best Condition list, one of only 2 actively competing endurance horses). With 5 50-mile completions and 3 Best Condition awards so far this year, Fire Mt Malabar is 50 miles short of 4000 career endurance miles.

If age, experience, and the last few years are any indication, Lee and Fire Mt Malabar have many more miles and Best Condition awards, ahead of them.

A Northwest Endurance TTeam

Saturday June 15 2013

Endurance riders in the Northwest region might be familiar with the sight of husband and wife team Naomi Preston and Lee Pearce trotting the trails, or they might be familiar with Lee Pearce getting up at the awards dinner to receive yet another Best Condition award.

You might recognize their names from the AERC Bob & Julie Suhr Husband & Wife Team Award (5th in 2011, 4th in 2010, 2nd in 2009, 5th in 2008), or Lee's National Best Condition Awards (1st in 2011, 3rd in 2010 and 2009, 5th in 2008).

But the couple also combine their diverse talents in a unique clinic offered at their Elkhorn Mountain Ranch outside of Baker City, Oregon.

Naomi has been a TTEAM practitioner since 1990. Known as the Tellington-Ttouch Method, TTEAM is a specialized approach to the care and training of horses (and other animals), using heart and hands to develop trust and create a harmonious relationship that changes unwanted behavior and improves body awareness and coordination. The Tellington Method involves gentle body work using fingers and hands with varied methods of pressure in circular, sliding and lifting movements.

Along with body wrapping - which maintains a constant connection with the horse's entire body, increasing sensory awareness and providing a constant, calming effect - TTEAM is used to improve a horse's self-carriage and help engage its hindquarters, lower the head and lift the back, increase range of motion and stride length, improve coordination and balance, lateral flexion and confidence, discover sore or sensitive areas, help speed recovery from injuries, and overcome fear or resistance.

Naomi discovered the effectiveness of this method when she used it - or tried to use it - on her AERC Hall of Fame mare, Mustang Lady. They'd completed one day at a multi day ride near Las Vegas in February of 1989, when Lady became sore afterwards because of all the deep sand on the trail that she wasn't used to.

"I'd recently been to a conference where Linda Tellington-Jones was speaking, and I remembered some of the things she talked about and demonstrated," Naomi related. "I didn't know what I was doing on Lady, but I tried to copy what I'd seen Linda doing."

It worked - Mustang Lady was sound enough to start and complete the next day's 50 mile ride. From then on, Naomi was a believer, and she started attending TTEAM clinics. She became a certified TTEAM practitioner in 1990, and has since incorporated it into her endurance riding and conditioning.

Naomi's husband Lee, a Certified Natural Balance Farrier, has also found the TTEAM techniques useful in his shoeing and trimming practice. Sometimes he'll apply a body wrap to the horses he works on, and he'll use TTouch methods to calm them down; and he'll use leg exercises to encourage the horses to pick and hold up their feet with little resistance. You can see the effect of Lee's calm energy and hands-on touches when horses put their heads in his chest and start to close their eyes.


Naomi and Lee use the TTEAM exercises as part of their pre-endurance ride warm ups, to get their horses more relaxed and supple. During the vet checks, they often use TTEAM techniques to help relax their horses, stimulate their appetites, and increase blood circulation.

After rides, they use TTEAM to find sore spots from the rides, and to initiate the horses' recuperation from the rides.

In addition to practicing TTEAMwork on their own performance horses, Naomi holds private TTEAM clinics, like the recent one in June hosted at their Elkhorn Mountain Ranch near Baker City, Idaho, in June. Student devotees from Chile, Netherlands, Scotland, Wyoming, Oregon, and Idaho attended.


Liz came to continue to learn "to have a better relationship and rapport with my horses that is no-stress," she said. "TTouch is a great way to communicate with my horse because it's based on giving the horse credit for having a brain, and thinking, rather than imposing some kind of agenda, and I find it really effective."

Naomi first demonstrated, then coached students on various horses in such TTouch techniques. Body wraps were applied to each horse, while different areas were practiced on: body work, ear work (used either to stimulate, or calm a horse), tail work (bending and stretching), mouth work, and leg exercises (range of motion).


Leading methods were demonstrated and practiced in a roomy arena with a number of obstacles to negotiate. Driving methods were also practiced.


The clinic also included her husband Lee's presentations of Natural Balance principles and balanced hoof trims, explaining the anatomy and balanced trim of the hoof.


Neighbor Cheyleen Davis's enthusiastic mini-lecture and instruction on parasitology was fascinating - students each eagerly collected and prepped samples of horse poo for examination under microscopes (only one single parasite egg was found in 6 horse samples!).


The clinic concluded with a day of mounted work featuring Connected riding with correct posture and seat.

"It's all about having a happy, healthy horse," Naomi said.

The value of the clinic wasn't just the knowledge gained by the participants, but the camaraderie between the students and teachers during the clinics and in the evenings. Fast friendships can form with a group of dedicated horse people who believe in the same principles of having better relationships with their equine partners.

Naomi is such a capable, encouraging instructor whose earnestness is contagious to her pupils. it's no wonder people traveled halfway around the world to continue learning more from her about this gentle method of working with horses.

2013 Owyhee Fandango

Monday May 27 2013

If you came to the 3-day Owyhee Fandango in southwestern Idaho May 24-26, you were lucky to witness two icons of the sport of Endurance Riding reach an amazing milestone.

In winning the 100-mile ride on day 3, Joyce Sousa's awesome mount LV Integrity finished his 33rd 100-mile ride, and he crested 8000 AERC miles. He also received the Best Condition award. It was the pair's 5th visit to the annual Owyhee Fandango.

Over 15 seasons of riding, 20-year-old "Ritzy" has completed 127 of 132 starts, with 16 wins, 66 Top Ten finishes (including a 6th in Tevis), and 3 Tevis buckles. Joyce Sousa has over 22,000 miles. The pair were the 2003 Lightweight National Champions, and the 2002 and 2009 National 100 Mile Champions.

Joyce and Ritzy completed the 100 miles in 12:43. Second and third were Tara Rothwell and Roz Cusak riding Tara's horses Legendary Impression and Laser Wynd. On the third loop, Laser Wynd tripped and threw Roz to the ground, knocking the wind out of her and banging up her shoulder. Roz re-mounted (with effort), and the 4 of them continued on, finishing the ride together in 13:24. It was Legendary Impression's first 100-mile ride. Both horses are Tevis-bound, if all things continue smoothly along that trail.

Robert and Melissa Ribley finished 4th and 5th in 15:55, on Mi Esmet and Regret.

Cynthia Peticolas sponsored Junior Anya Levermann on Anya's first 100-mile ride; they finished 6th and 7th, on BBA Fareed and Bishop, in 19:05 when the near-full moon was up over the Owyhee desert.

Christoph Schork of Global Endurance Training Center was the only pull in the 100 when his horse Sand's Bad Debt hit a gopher hole which left him lame at the 3rd vet check.

Dian Woodward, also of Global Endurance Training Center, won the 80 mile ride and Best Condition on Starlit Way, in 9:17. Lee Pearce was 2nd on Fire Mt Malabar in 9:57. Junior Tori Church finished 3rd in 13:02.


The Owyhee trails covered the desert and scenic Sinker and Hart Creek canyons, and followed the Snake River and the historic Oregon Trail, and took a tour around 10,000-year-old Native American Indian petroglyphs on Snake River boulders.

3 horse-and-rider teams completed all 3 days of the LD. 5 horse-and-rider teams completed all 3 days/160 miles.


This corner of the AERC Northwest region has a strong Junior contingent. They're the future of our sport! Over the 3 Fandango days, 11 Juniors completed 21 various ride distances and spent all their spare time horsing around, riding extra horses bareback and playing together. 10-year-old Sarah Holloway not only rode her first 50 mile ride, she rode her first 160 miles. Junior Anya Levermann completed her first 100-mile ride. Canadian Junior Karalee Anderson (riding horses owned by Gail Jewell and Elroy Karius) finished all 3 days/160 miles to complete her qualifications for this year's Tevis Cup.

Twenty years from now, several of these juniors will probably be riding 8000-mile horses, and brandishing a slew of 100-mile rides under their Tevis-buckle belts.

The Amazing Sinker Canyon

Saturday May 18 2013

It's Sinker Canyon like you've never seen it before. Lush, red (canyon walls), green (trees and grass), ripply (water), old mines, and one cow.


It'll be day 1 of the May 24-26 Owyhee Fandango.

[video here]


or link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD6o6Carws8&feature=youtu.be

The Mystery Road

Monday May 6 2012

Red rhyolite cliffs rose high above us like impenetrable crenellated castle walls,

and guarded the verdant Castle Creek alongside which we rode.


The canyon walls squeezed together in places, providing excellent lounging/hunting hangouts for cougars (we didn't see or smell any), and widened in others to provide open meadows where homesteaders long ago eked out a living. Remnants of their orchards still survive in this canyon with year-round running water. The homesteaders left behind plows and harrows,

collapsed corrals,

a well-preserved (and elegantly constructed) dugout stone house,

and an old car, its innards rusting into the desert.


Beaver ponds

and meadows of rich grass made it easy to see why pioneers preferred this out-of-the-way canyon.


Just before the road dead ended far up the canyon, we saw another mysterious, enticing, and clearly-once-used two-track road that beat a path up and out of Castle Creek canyon, heading up a draw and aiming for the flats, toward the Owyhee Mountains.

Where did it go? Would it connect up with Alder Creek and the road to the Crazy Woman Mine? Most importantly: Could we make a new scenic loop for the next endurance ride?

Working for ride managers, you get that same compelling urge they have to explore, to discover new trails, and incorporate them into endurance rides, to share the beauty of new country with riders.

We marked the road for future exploration, and took up the research back home, on maps and google earth. That road doesn't show up on a topo map, and it's only a faint track on google earth for a ways.

But it must be a road that connects up somewhere. Surely the early pioneers didn't create a two-track road just up out of the canyon to make their cell phone calls? Cattle, at least, must have continued beating the track into a well-used trail on up toward the mountains, because that's what cows do.

It's a road that clearly must be explored another day.