LEFT: Here we are on the fi rst day of the ride in the pouring rain! T is Outback oilskin rain poncho kept me, my tack and my horse warm and dry. Believe me when I tell you that when it rains in Kansas it REALLY rains! My husband said it rained so hard while he was driving to the fi nish camp aſt er lunch it was like somebody was pouring full buckets of water on the windshield. It was incredible to watch how quickly the sunny dry day turned into a heavy deluge, resulting in the roads fl owing water, and watching our trail literally disappear before us. BELOW: In addition to the cat le wanting to come and see us, so did the local horses! It was fun to hear their thundering hooves as they galloped toward us to check out what was probably one of the most exciting things they had seen in some time!
conditioner and rehydrating coat spray to keep their skin from “scurfi ng”—drying out and fl aking like dandruff . I also kept a close eye on the horse’s pasterns and used spray to prevent scratches at least twice a day.
A QUARTER OF THE WAY AND FACING UPCOMING CHALLENGES
Keeping up with the details was a lot of
work, but in the end it paid off . One of the most important lessons I’ve learned about distance riding is that it’s a lot easier to avoid a problem in the fi rst place than to have to fi x it once it has occurred. It has only been through the experience of dealing with various issues that I’ve been able to reach the point where I am able to circumvent problems. T e 2,000-mile XP ride was proving to be one of the greatest tests for me as far as horse management and horsemanship were concerned. We man- aged to get safely through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. Next up: Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Once we were fi nally out of “tornado al-
ley,” we encountered a new set of obstacles. We were now entering cat le country, which meant lots of fencing and wire “cowboy” gates. T e wet year had not been kind to the trail here either. Riders and crews alike had to negotiate washouts, treacherous water crossings, horse- swallowing mud bogs and on occasion a trail that was simply not passable. Next month I’ll talk more about some of these challenges as well as how we handled the horses’ hoof care needs, biting insects and feed and nutrition management during the event.
Karen Chaton lives in Gardnerville, Nevada and is a multiple award- winning endurance rider with more than 30,000 miles. Karen’s two horses,
Granite Chief and Pro Bono, have traveled the country with her and together they have experienced many great adventures. Both horses have won many regional and national AERC, AHA and XP awards and are a great team, having also been the only ones to complete the entire 2,040- mile Pony Express XP ride in 2011.
Coming January 2012: Part II
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