ABOVE: We made it into lunch on the fi rst day just before it started raining. I was able to get a rainsheet on Chief, while Nannet e got one on her horse Wiz- ard before the skies opened up. T e horses ate well in spite of the weather conditions. We riders sought shelter in the back of the horse trailer!
With all the land-use issues throughout
the US, having the opportunity to ride 2,000 miles of the Pony Express trail would be a privilege and a challenge I couldn’t pass up. It helped that I had two really strong, ex- perienced endurance horses and a husband willing to go along to crew and drive for me. It is easy to be drawn to the trail for me, as I love the history of the Pony Express. In 2001 I rode a similar ride and missed only 75 miles of it. My goals this time were simple: 1) Ride those missing 75 miles to “complete” the entire trail and 2) See this magnifi cent country of ours in the best way possible—from the back of a horse!
CHALLENGES AND PREPARATION
One of the biggest challenges going into a 2,000-mile endurance race would be keeping
the horses from getting saddle and tack rubs or sores. I’m going to share some of the management techniques I used
to keep my horses healthy and free of sores or rubs for the entire trip.
Months went into preparations. I had to
get the horses in prime condition plus make sure all their tack fi t well. T e truck and trailer had to be maintained and everything put into working order. We had to be totally prepared for any kind of weather. My goal was to have my horses the best
prepared they could be, without being already tired or brewing an injury from over-use early in the ride season. I stopped competing in en- durance rides two months prior to the start of
the XP. Given that Chief and Bo already had a solid base of several years and thousands of miles of competition going into this event I knew they would fare bet er than some less experienced horses. I made a conscious deci- sion months in advance to ride both horses more conservatively than ever. If you go too slowly on an endurance ride you may fi nish over time and not earn a completion. If you go too fast, you may cause an injury that takes you out for the rest of the season. For a year prior to this event, every decision I made with regard to how the horses were ridden and man- aged was based upon this long XP ride.
GETTING TO THE START
The day we were to
leave for St. Joseph, Mis- souri, from our home in Nevada, I had to call my veterinarian back out to update my horses’ health certificates yet again. T e EHV-1 out- break was reaching the height of its scare and Wyoming in par-
70 | December 2011 •
WWW.TRAILBLAZERMAGAZINE.US
BELOW: Fellow riders Nannet e Young and Dave Rabe slosh through mud during a break in
the storm. Dave borrowed my husband’s Outback rain poncho and Nannet e borrowed another raincoat. Fortunately, my husband and I were prepared with enough raingear to keep us all protected!
RIGHT: Chief is wearing his com- plete Kensington “bug suit“ camped next to the North Plat e River. Wa- ter + warmer weather = BUGS! T e horses were ever so grateful for their bug suits, and we received many compliments relating to Chief and Bo’s fashion sense. I have to admit, it was nice to have stylin’ horses that were also protected from biting insects! My horses are not used to bugs like we were experiencing and these fl y sheets were a real life saver for them.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100