18/ JANUARY 2013 THE RIDER MANTRACKER HITS THE GANNY! (sort of) Submitted by Debbie Tinmouth
Well, not the REAL Mantracker, but it couldn’t have been a more enthusiastic group of pretenders. For the un-initi- ated, Mantracker (on horseback) buddies up with a local rider who knows the terrain well. Two runners or “prey” are set loose on foot, spending the day racing towards the finish line with Mantracker hot on their heels. Last Sunday, on a cold sunny fall day (first sun we’ve seen in a month) the first annual Mantracker party hit the Ganaraska Forest. The event is
and Kim Miller. Hunting prey runs in their Metis blood, Deb knows the forest like the back of her hand; Kim is a fearless, adrenalin junkie rider. Team 2: Zulylaw; Steve Tinmouth and Marci Zuly; she’s a strong fierce competitor; Steve is directional- ly challenged. Team 3: The Black Oak Bushwhackers; Laurel Gould and Monica Schjott. Laurel has quietly strategized her way around the whole event; Monica has her back all the way. Team 4: The Double D Ranch Hands; Diane and Dean Bosnell. Not so much the competitive type, they
point and decided to run for home and block them at the fin- ish line. So we galloped on, hooting and a ’hollering’ so enthusiastically, we almost missed their tracks bursting out of the woods and back onto the trail. I could feel the war paint oozing out of my pores. We were determined to bring ‘em in belly down over the saddle. After all, hunting men in the forest at our age is desperate work.
But what did we hear
behind us? A loud clear rebel yell and it was Marci and Steve, hot in pursuit - twice! The paint horse and the fancy friesen were barrelling up behind us - at the dainty dressage pace that the friesen crossbred travels, that is. I looked back and Marci was off her horse, circling the trail inter- section, kicking stones, down on her knees looking for prints, leaping onto her horse like a Canadian Cowgirl trick rider. Steve was desperately checking his Blackberry for sports updates ... and they were off again.
loosely based on the hit TV show. For many years, riding buddies have teased me about my tracking abilities in the for- est; how I use those abilities to mark and build new riding trails and when we ride I chatter on about horse prints, wolf versus dog prints, deer and moose poop, people prints and bear paws .... So a challenge was laid down. Could I track human “prey” through the forest? Well, maybe I thought, but let’s make this interesting. We’ll go all out and host a Mantracker party. The Prey would leave Central Forest and run cross country to Eastfork Farm on the west side of the forest. Four “Mantracker” teams would do their best to capture the prey before they could make the 12 miles to the safety of their intended destination. We’d throw in some check points and a timer and some lunch, and see how it goes. When I made the call to battle, I was over- whelmed with the enthusiastic response which resulted in the fabulous participants, volunteers and ground crew that made it all happen.
Prey 1. Jim “Indy” Miller - world traveller, map reader extraordinaire, wilderness guru, head of geography department; first half of the “Hawk and the Falcon” team
Prey 2: Jim Krone - Second half of the six time defending Outdoor Adventure Race cham- pions, Jim towers over competi- tors. A high school phys-ed teacher and coach of Senior Football team his high perfor- mance “take no prisoners” atti- tude inspires and intimidates his students.
Mantracker Team 1: The For- est Warriors; Debbie Tinmouth
packed a checkered tablecloth and tetra-pak wine to go with their canapés. The Cookhouse Team: Paul Schjott and Jenny King, The Help Line: Peter King/Bob Coleman, Trailer Jockey: Keith Worden/Bob Coleman. Official Starter for the Prey at the Forest Centre, Bob Coleman. Official Starter for the Mantrackers at the Equine Park- ing Lot, Craig Laird. Official Photographer and Checkpoint #2, John Vogels.
The morning dawned crisp
and clear. The trailers arrived at Central Forest and the hunters paired off. Many trucks wore maps spread across their hoods. Markers and pens traced routes, notes were made. whispers and strategies. To assess their fit- ness level, Marci conducted a behind-closed-door full cross- examination of the prey, which stopped just short of pinching. Horses hung their heads out of trailers curious about why we needed strategies? THEY knew the way back to Eastfork! As the moments approached for departure, Bob Coleman took the prey out of sight into the for- est .... and a few minutes later the walkie talkie crackled to life - The Hawk and the Falcon had flown the coop. Riders mount- ed. Let the games begin. Kim and I had been warming up our horses for a while; we were ready. We flew out of camp at a gallop and it soon became clear why nobody wants to ride with us - we lived up to our reputa- tion as Forest Warriors and tore it up.
I was sure at one point, the prey had changed shoes just to throw us off ... but Kim had studied the tread of their run- ners. Bright girl, that Kim. She also said Indy drags his right leg. We lost their trail at one
Next I heard, Steve and Marci were wildly galloping for home when they came across Laurel and Monica’s team also galloping for home ... in the other direction. (side note; This occurred a mere mile from Steve’s home.) Marci pleaded at the last check point to stick to the map but Steve insisted he knew a shortcut. Steve’s side of the story was that he had been sent out to look for Laurel and Monica ... Anyone visualizing a Keystone Cops movie? The teams and the prey had to pass through checkpoints to gather items and or complete a task so strategy was key to the plan. Do you divert and get extra points or do you stay hot on the trail and get to shoot one of your high-powered sponge balls at the target? Laurel and Monica thought they were doing just that; gathering points. They hit the flag at Eastfork with great big smiles on their faces, horses all prancing, knowing they didn’t have fastest time but sure of having completed all the checkpoints .... until they real- ized Monica had a hole in her backpack and their “points” had dropped like a trail of bread crumbs all over the forest. Dean and Diane had a leisurely stroll through the for- est for the day, sipping out of their flasks, totally enjoying their Southern Comfort Zone, phones turned off; oblivious to the motorized ground and air search being mounted at base camp - but they did make it back in time for dessert. When all had returned to a hot lunch at Eastfork, cheerfully cooked by Paul, they spent a couple of hilarious hours reliving the ride and the hunt. Craig Laird vol- unteered to be the convenor next year and threatened to “tighten things up a bit”. Bob Coleman will be our official T-shirt get- ter.
The successful prey were extraordinary athletes with a great sense of adventure but
were found to be a little pride- ful. So next year, they will be required to do 200 chin ups at each of the checkpoints. Many terrific suggestions were put forth for next year; water guns filled with red wine to shoot prey; the obvious advantage being prey who are willing to stand still and take a shot in the mouth. And lastly my personal favourite, that the whole event be moved to our place in Ten- nessee where we could use real guns. The team with the fastest time, Debbie and Kim, came in
a mere eight minutes behind the prey’s time riding Trillium Cherries Jubilee and UCM Abbigail - aka “The Morgan Team”. Mantracker Boot Camp Applications are at the printers now.
Post-adventure quotes from participants.
“What a fantastic day. Laurel and I had a blast together - and Paul was so impressed I was not the one who got lost!!! Can’t wait until next year. - Monica, Paul, and the wonder horse Rowna!”
“Doing event riding is what I enjoy the most. I love having a goal and an adventure all rolled into time with my best friend, my horse. Playing Mantracker was one such event with so many different skills all rolled into one. We included tracking, timing, task searching and performing, as well as working with a team mate test- ing our skills against the prey and other teams. Add a crisp sunny fall day in one of the nicest forests there is for a “per- fect 10”. The event planner Deb T did an excellent job, the vol- unteers were great and the lunch following filled with funny sto- ries and rehashing of the events of the day made for an unbeat- able time. Thanks! - Laurel” “Reflecting on the day....Holy **** was that FUN! So cool to scream through the forest hunting men. What an adrenalin rush... I loved it! Thanks for organizing, plan- ning, hosting and especially for riding side by side! This day, this ride, a tribute to man and beast. Magnificent are both. A toast in good cheer to sports- manship and camaraderie!” - Kim Miller
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