President's Message - October 2001
Hi there!
Once again our members have distinguished themselves! I would say we are amongst the elite in endurance with Heather and Red winning and five of our team finishing the Pan Am Championship in Vermont. What a way to go!!! Was it true that Red was shipped via UPS? Didn't know they accepted cargo of that size.
We have just had a really great presentation by horsetrainer Ramona Koch for the September Quicksilver meeting which was held at Pat and Jay McKendry's ranch in Morgan Hill. Both Cathy Kauer and Kathy Mayeda brought inexperienced horses for Ramona to work with in regards to accepting the bit, lowering their head and being head shy. When it got a little too dark to continue (Have you noticed it's getting dark earlier AGAIN!) we adjourned to eat a nice dinner outdoors. Thanks, Cathy, you did a wonderful job of setting this up for us.
Well, it's official! We are planning a Spring Quicksilver Classic Endurance Ride on May 18, which is the old Castle Rock Ride date. This means we will be having both a spring and fall ride the way we used to a few years back. Our thoughts are to have one be a traditional ride, the other a bit different. An example of different would be our upcoming ride at Coe Park.
A huge change is taking
place in our club. Julie Suhr who has been doing our newsletter for
the last nine (9!!!) years has resigned her duties with this issue.
She has too many other interests and not enough time. Does
this sound familiar?
Julie has done such an absolutely outstanding job that it's going to require
several of our members in an attempt at taking her place. Wonderful
job, Julie! Thank you.
'til next time,
Diane
OCTOBER 2001
October 6
COMSTOCK ARABIAN ASSOC., 25/50
John Mayeroff 775-677-9775
October
6 DEL VALLE VULTURE VENTURE 25/50
Jane Cloud 209-668-4643
October
10
QUICKSILVER MEETING
Connell & Kay Allison's home -
Board 6:30 pm. General 7:30 pm.
October
13 LAKE SONOMA 50
Jennifer Niehaus 707-894-3369
OCTOBER
20 QUICKSILVER FALL CLASSIC 30/50
Steve Lenheim 408-997-0368 Nights
October
27 & 28 BROTHEL TO BROTHEL & I & II 60/30/50
Heidi Siegel 775-575-2358
Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting
BOARD MEETING:
August 31, 2001
TIME IN:
6:30 PM TIME OUT: 7:09 PM
CALL TO ORDER:
PRESENT: Diane
Enderle, Jan Jeffers, Jackie Davidson, Mike Maul, Cathy Kauer, Judith Ogus
and Steve Lenheim (meeting was held at Steve's house, prior to the
General Meeting, which was a Ride Planning Meeting).
MINUTES OF LAST
MEETING: None given.
SECRETARY'S
REPORT: None given.
PRESIDENT'S
REPORT: None given.
CORRESPONDENCE:
None to review.
TREASURER'S
REPORT: None given.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE: None given.
PROGRAM
COMMITTEE :
The September
program is a training clinic with Ramona Koch. The program will be
held at Pat McKendry's in Morgan Hill. Cathy and Judith will bring
horses for the clinic. They may ask Kathy Mayeda if she wants to bring
Drako. The program will begin at 6:30 PM to maximize the amount of
daylight we have. Dinner will be provided at the program, however if you
wish to bring drinks, dessert or other potluck items to share, you are
welcome to.
Mike Maul said
that Julie Suhr had suggested a phone tree to help inform QSER members
without e-mail of the September program.
GOODWILL COMMITTEE
: None given.
TRAILS COMMITTEE
:
There will be
a County Parks and Recreation Meeting all day on Saturday, 9/8/2001.
This meeting is meant to help the Steering Committee come up with a strategic
plan for parks and trails. Maryben is presenting for Quicksilver.
Maryben had to prepare a position paper from QSER. We helped her outline
several concerns, including trail access, trail safety (bikes, etc.), goodwill,
and community education.
RIDE COMMITTEE
:
Deferred to
the 7:30 PM Ride Planning Meeting. As a side note, we need volunteers
to work the ride, and riders to ride the ride!
AWARDS
COMMITTEE: None given.
NEWSLETTER
COMMITTEE: The last month that Julie Suhr will be able to do the
Quips is October, 2001. We are looking for volunteers to take on
the Quips. The board discussed trying to do the Quips as a committee.
Kay Allison also volunteered to participate. The board also thought
of asking members at the general meeting if they would be interested.
OLD BUSINESS:
We discussed taking the Castle Rock ride date in May of 2002 (3rd Saturday
in May). Trilby told Diane that she would be delighted to manage the ride.
Trilby wants us to consider using AERC ride insurance for next year's rides
rather than the one we have. She states that AERC is about $110/ride
compared to almost $1K for our present insurance. We will need lots of
volunteers to pull this off, so if any members are interested in volunteering,
please let a board member know!
We will still have
our Fall, 2002 ride as well, so we will be managing 2 rides next year.
A motion
to take the Castle
Rock date was made, seconded and passed.
NEW BUSINESS:
Connell and Kay Allison graciously offered their home for QSER meetings.
The October meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 10th at Connell
and Kay Allison's home, which is located at 6572 Camden Avenue, off Almaden
Road. The Board Meeting will be held at 6:30 and the General Meeting
will be held at 7:30.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
None given.
A motion to
adjourn was called and seconded. The Board meeting adjourned at
7:09 PM.
GENERAL
MEETING - August 31, 2001
TIME IN:
7:40 PM
Ride Planning
Meeting for October 20th Ride.
The General
Meeting was held at Steve Lenheim's home. We spent the meeting going
over the ride route, figuring out the volunteer jobs that will be needed,
and discussing how we can ensure that we have adequate vet coverage.
We have 3 vets
for the ride, however, we discussed the possibility of trying to get a
4th. The route is still being refined - it partially depends on the
availability of water and also on trail conditions. We will probably
have another Ride Planning Meeting in September to hammer out final details.
QSER's Fall
Endurance Ride is at Henry Coe Park on Saturday, October 20,2001.
We need lots of helping hands to pull this off! Steve will need volunteers
to:
* take water
out to water stops (if you have a 4x4 truck, Steve wants to talk with you!)
* drive an
ambulance trailer (again, got 4x4?)
* be vet secretaries
` * take P&R's
at the vet checks and finish lines
* fix and serve
food
* ...and many
other exciting jobs
Talk with Steve
to sign up for these volunteer opportunities and many others.
And don't forget
-- we also need riders to actually *ride* the ride, so get out there and
get ready for Coe Park on October 20th. There will be a 30, and a
"Lenheim 50" (we're still not quite sure what that means, but the route
Steve mapped out sure looks like fun!).
Respectfully
submitted,
Jackie Davidson,
Secretary
QUICKSILVER
ENDURANCE RIDERS
BANK ACCOUNT BALANCE
GENERAL
ACCOUNT $ 675.71
RIDE
ACCOUNT
2532.35
JUNIOR
ACCOUNT
763.71
TRAILS
844.54
Mike Sofens Report on the East Bay Benefit Ride
It's been a rocky year and a half since returning to California, with terrible work schedules, horse injuries, bad luck...not nearly enough time to train, let alone compete. We (my horse Nick and I) did get to do two 50's last year (Fireworks and Quicksilver), but nothing else.
This year, two freak injuries delayed our training start until April, so again, Fireworks was our first ride and we did it REALLY slow. Since then, health and schedules have cooperated and so we were fortunate to be able to train hard and ride competitively in the East Bay 50 on Sept. 8.
This is one fun ride! Apparently called Las Trampas and other names over the years, it was put on by Pacific South as a fund raiser. Located in the hills surrounding Lake Chabot, the ride had lots of hill climbs and descents plus a lot of flat to really boogey on. I rode the entire ride with Cheryl Davidson and her very fast horse Victory, which might explain my first ever top ten finish since returning to California early last year.
Incredible weather was a key factor, allowing Cheryl and me to ride quite quickly during the cool and foggy morning hours, averaging nearly 10 mph for the first two loops (about 30 miles). We then slowed down for the final two loops as the temperatures climbed to a very moderate 80 degrees with lots of shade on the trails, finishing only 15-20 minutes behind the first place finisher.
For ride results, I can barely remember what my rig looks like, so bear with me. I do know that in the 50, Barry won first and BC, Sally came in a very close second, Cheryl was forth, I was fifth, Coy was sixth. What? You were expecting last names? There were 28 starters in the 50 and 5 pulls. Two riders missed a turn and re-rode most of an entire loop, adding 10 miles to their ride, yet both completed. In the 25, there were about 25 riders and I believe all completed, which was great news.
Jamie Kerr was head vet, Melissa Ribley and another vet assisted. They used a "P&R Box" system, where once the rider felt their horse was at pulse (60 bpm for the 50's), they entered the box, got P&R'd and from there went directly to be vetted. Since your hold time didn't start until passing the P&R, and you then had to vet, it seemed to make the process more efficient, once the volunteers and riders got the hang of it. I like this way of doing vet checks and hope it will become more common, especially since it seems modeled after the FEI system.
There were spotters, number takers, volunteers, and water everywhere. Especially welcomed was a guy at a water stop about 35 miles into the ride with a giant tank of lemonade and he filled cups and handed them to us while we were saddled, all with a big smile and kind words.
This was a ride of concerns for me, and a confirmation of some adjustments in training and equipment. Concerns - would Nick handle riding with a fast horse ok or would he go into race mode and be uncontrollable (he's an off-track arab and still loves to "chase"); were his saddle fit problems behind him; how deep was his conditioning base, was he really ready for a fast 50; was his recovery complete from a colic three weeks prior. At the first hint of any trouble I was going to pull him, and the vet's were aware of this, but nothing showed up for the whole ride.
Adjustments - In an attempt to find a faster trot for Nick, I switched from an SR Enduro (which required a breast collar) to a Synergist (which I had discovered by accident - leaving it home - didn't). With the Synergist I also got to use an elastic woolback girth which Nick clearly preferred to non-elastic ones. I've switched to using plastic horse shoes - Hoof-Its - and I must say that Nick's legs and hoofs continue to improve. Better training? Better gear? This is one rat stuff, but clearly things are going in a positive direction.
The results speak for themselves. Nick worked extremely well all day, getting great vet scores, finally running out of gas about 2 miles from the finish where I let Cheryl go on and let Nick walk in. I decided to get judged for BC, to see really where he was at the end of the ride, and we actually got decent scores (total 600, BC got 670). Our total ride time was about six and a half hours, the winning time was about 6:10.
Great food, great people, great ride. I'm looking forward to this ride again.
Mike Sofen
THROUGH THE EYES OF BECKY GLASER
International rides are all different from one another in many important ways. They are always held in a new venue, so the logistics, patterns and rhythms vary substantially. For the majority of the attendees the scenery and the time zone are new and different. The commonalties that are observed at all of them are: a high level of tension ( No matter how many times we tell ourselves that this is just another hundred, the fact is that it just ain't.); horses and riders are yanked from the usual schedule of a hundred; there are multitudes of seemingly unnecessary meeting; and schedules and rules are continually arranged and rearranged. There are rules and more rules. There is hardly enough time to sleep and never enough time to ride. Everyone gets just a tad frazzled.
In spite of this, there are wonderful opportunities to make new friends and to see old ones. There are "famous" horses and riders that we know only from the Endurance News to be seen and experienced. The air is always electric with excitement and surprises that competition on this level brings. There is the pageantry of the opening and closing ceremonies.
Vermont is beautiful.
Green and forested with deciduous trees which are closer to the earth than
our redwoods, pines, and firs. Its mountains roll with serenity-- deliciously
different from the steep climbs, rocks, and jaggedness we are accustomed
to. Many roads are dirt, and the ride trail follows them through
the back country with occasional breaks of single track. We worried about
the heat and humidity. We were grateful that ride
day was unseasonably
cool and DRY. Folks from east of the Mississippi were concerned about the
effect on their horses of this unseasonable weather. I was puzzled.
In retrospect, perhaps they were worried that it leveled the playing field
for those from the arid West. Didn't it though.
We worried that there were too many vets checks. There were eight with
crew allowed at seven. The drives between checks took only fifteen
to twenty minutes, but the parking was usually far from the crew areas,
so packing and unpacking, loading and unloading usurped as much time as
the waiting for the rider.
Quicksilver was well and truly represented from beginning to end. We had both the first and the last riders. Heather Bergantz was of course first, and Brian Reeves and Valorie Weizer were last. All three rode for Pac South. Lori Oleson also rode for Pac South. Her horse, Flame, had tied up early in the week. Lori and her groom, Kirsten Berntsen, had slaved over him all week diligently following directions from Nancy Elliott, who was there as a ride vet. By Thursday he looked good to go; however, at the first vet check, though he looked fine, he peed dark and Lori pulled him.
Other members of the Pac South squad were Kathy Campbell and Dave Cootware. Both finished. Connie Creech was the chef d'equipe and Susan McCartney was the team vet. Steve and Michele Roush Shaw represented QSER on the Pac North team. Michele finished on Robin Hood. Ernie Elliott was a ride farrier. Skip Lightfoot crewed for Heather. Dom Freeman rode for the British. Legacy was off at one of the vet checks and was pulled. He was sound as a dollar the next day. Pretty frustrating.
The scene at the Green Mountain Horseman's Association grounds bustled with vendors, officials, riders, crews and sight seers. Before the ride festivities officially began, most of the teams were camped in an enormous pasture of lush green grass about a fifteen minute drive by dirt road from GMHA. The horses were in their portable corrals and could be turned out to graze in portable electric paddocks. After the opening ceremonies on Thursday the horses had to be kept in their assigned stalls at the GMHA--represented on the net as one of the USA's premier horse facilities. The three day courses and arenas were awesome, but the stalls measured only eight by ten. There were no turn outs available, so every one spent as much time as possible hand walking or grazing horses. Many riders stayed in their campers in the pasture, and Pac South had their own kitchen tent for group meals and meetings.
Wednesday evening after dinner, Teresa Cross and others festooned the mess tent (canopy really) with Christmas icicle lights run by the generator in T's motor home. Brian Reeve announced a team building exercise which consisted of silly questions (ex: to Kathy Campbell who never knew what day it was, "What day is today?"). The answers, right or wrong, were rewarded with a carrot. (Kathy still didn't know what day it was.) When it was Val Weizer's turn for a question, Brian dropped to one knee in the twinkling darkness and asked, "Will you marry me?" She was rewarded with a diamond ring. It was the next day before some of us, Val included, got that she had been rewarded with carats. Get it?
At the closing ceremonies, Heather was awarded BC, Brian got 2nd heavyweight, and Val got the tail end award. After all the teams left the arena, Heather took a victory lap. Red looked like he hadn't done a thing the day before, and Heather sat him beautifully. At that moment, misty eyed, I wished that Maryben were there.
Pan Am Results
The following are the
individual results of the Pan American Championship Ride
held in Vermont on
Saturday. Four Quicksilver members completed the difficult course. Our
congratulations to all of them. Heather Bergantz led the pack
with a stunning victory on Skip Lightfoot’s horse, Crystals Charm
(Red). Red added to his laurels by winning the Best Condition Award the
next day.
01 44 Crystals
Charm Heather Bergantz
Pac So (t) 10:39
02 59 Charbiel
Melissa Crain USA Cent
11:00
03 78 Just Cass
Rita Swift USA East
11:48
04 71 Jayel
Super Stagg Newman
USA East (t) 11:48
05 74 Smoke
Rise Finally Stephen Rojek USA
East 12:12
06 67 Shyrocco
Jazz Sue Greenall
USA East 12:12
07 77 Shyrocco
Troilus Meg Sleeper
USA East (t) 12:12
08 11 Flirt
With Ecstacy Wendy Benns
Can East (t) 12:14
09 53 Windswift
Pharrah Shelley Bridges USA Cent (t)
12:41
10 65 Karma
Phoenix Connie Caudill
USA East 12:41
51 Zalmara Din
Candy Barbo USA Cent
12:43
92 Loosey
Patti Crawford USA Cent
12:43
26 Tais
Christine Janzen Can West (t) 12:48
54 Sha-Win
Roberta Harms USA Cent (t) 13:06
68 GA Tyfa Mynte Becky
Harris USA East
13:16
66 Gen Jeb Stuart Karen Clark
USA East 13:16
16 JC Sunny Haze Ryan Rawski
Can East 13:35
15 JC Quick Quint Jim Rawski
Can East 13:35
43 Ravi Das
Jazon Wonders Pac No (t)
13:45
20 42 NYR Crown
Royal Karen Vilander
Pac No (t) 13:45
27 Kikuyu
Bianca Loseth Can West (t) 13:45
10 Traverston Cob Nancy Beacon
Can East 13:56
82 Pround Kyd
Carla Eigenauer USA Mtn (t) 14:13
40 Raymond Blur Dennis Summers
Pac No (t) 14:14
56 Flight Leader Tracy Webb-Hoskins
USA Cent (t) 14:14
63 Bells Snitzel Brenda
Baird USA East (t) 14:24
93 Bab Razzmatazz Connie Walker
USA East 14:31
87 Markoss+/
Bob Stellar USA Mtn
14:35
23 SCA Dartagan Myna
Cryderman Can West 14:40
30 83 Tu Desirous
Susan Horne USA Mtn (t)
14:47
33 DAF Bobbi Sox Jennifer Noblin
Gr Brit 15:08
5 Staten IA
Gregrio Diaz Brazil (t)
15:08
17 MX Tio Vivo Carol Steiner
Can East (t) 15:11
20 Galant Legacy Yvette Vinton
Can East 15:13
28 Zarafin Zakhubo Bettina Koehn
Germany 15:14
46 Talasmans Cruzer+/ Dave Cootware Pac So
(t) 15:15
22 Dakota's Ladyhawk Eve Comrie
Can West 15:17
61 Gypsy Spirit Margie
Burton USA Cent
15:20
19 Aaristocat
Deborah Strand Can East (t) 15:22
40 76 MAS Shanghaisbeau+
Katherine Shank USA East
15:23
70 Kaboot
Herlong Angie McGhee
USA East 15:23
3 Laredo Bey
Jane McLaughlin Australia 15:59
62 HK Contender Gail Zeck
USA Cent 16:00
36 Zahln Al-Din Marie Mallon
Pac No (t) 16:00
12 Shahir Ibn Waadal Kelly Corbyn
Can East 16:03
57 LM Mastermind Janice Worthington
USA Cent (t) 16:04
50
DJB Cassels
Marcus L Stoicescu Romania 16:57
38
ELD Triton
Cassandra Schuler Pac No
17:09
7 AM Mister Gipsy Tatiana Galassi
Brazil (t) 17:24
50
4 Shabazzy Flagstaf+/ Pedro Werneck
Brazil (t) 17:24
80
Sea Dancer
Marsha Barney USA Mtn
17:24
37
FF Classico
Dawn Sanchez, PHD Pac No
18:36
39 Robin
Hood
Michele Shaw Pac No
18:47
21
Flashman
Karen Badger Can West
18:50
45
WMA Renegade Kathy
Campbell Pac So (t) 18:50
18
Soaring Eagle Joan Storrey
Can East (t) 18:50
48 RB
Royale Brand Brian Reeves
Pac So 19:36
58 49 Copper
Valorie Weizer Pac So
19:36
================================================================
Pulls (29)
================================================================
2 LM Khemosabi
Paul Brown Australia
6 Idaho Thunder Renata
Farinelli Brazil
8 Maquina
Claudio Bagarolli Brazil (t)
9 CH Devonaire Earle Baxter
Can East (t)
13
Faust
Shirley Dennis Can East
14
Red Express
Teresa Finnerty Can East
24
AU Kari On
Trisha Dowling Can West (t)
25
Misty
Larry Handziuk Can West (t)
29
Tsea Sahruk
Karin Strothenke Germany
30
Gill Briar Go Gdan Alison Abrahams
Gr Brit
31
Proud Legacy Dominique
Freeman Gr Brit
32
Hol. Tarantella Cathy Mezenberg
Gr Brit
34
DJB Star
Elena Witt Mexico
35
Lionheart Flash Rhonda Guilford Pac
No
47
WRA Flaming Fire+/ Lori Oleson
Pac So (t)
52
AI Wyldfyre
K. Becan-McBride USA Cent
58
AM Gypsy Bridge Genie Wunderlich
USA Cent
60
DJB Oporto
Daroln Butler-Dial USA Cent
64
Ali Darkness
Kathy Brunjes USA East
69
Shiloh
Mary Kornwolf USA East
73
Phoenix
Dinah Rojek USA East (t)
75
Emphatic
Rebecca Russo USA East
79
Mr. Snickers Mary
Yager USA East
81
Zazaar
Karen DiCamillo USA Mtn (t)
84
Hai Obsession Carrie Miracle
USA Mtn (t)
85
Shaynes Treasure Suzanne Pindar
USA Mtn
86
Nova PR
Debi Sanger USA Mtn
89
SR Sabor
Rip Tate
USA Mtn
90
Albanet
Joaquin Avellan Venzuelia
The Pacific South
(of which we are a part for international riding)
did not fare so well
in the team placings.
USA East
38:14
Pacific South 44:44
USA Central
39:51 Brazil 49:56
Pacific North
40:44 USA Mountain
Canada East
42:47 Canada West
Heather was named Athlete of the Month for August, 2001, by USET
Mike Maul sends the
following:
I believe MB once
posted wondering about where the main part of our membership was. The figures
are as below, by region.
Central
9.3 %
Mountain
8.3
Midwest
8.2
Northeast
11.9
Northwest
12.8
Pacific South
8.6
Southwest
5.5
West
22.7
Unknown
0.5
West and Pacific South
is 31.3% or less than 1/3
Northeast & Southeast
is 24.2 % or about 1/4
How great to see a
picture of Quicksilver member Kathy Thompson and
the wonderful LS Zane Grey+// on the cover of Endurance News. Rumor
has it that he won 11 Best Condition Awards on the cross country XP Ride
this summer. Also in the September issue there was a nice article by Mike
Maul on the 5 Day Ft. Schellbourne XP ride. Mike and Quicksilver member
Jan Jeffers came in first and second on the last day and the pictures show
their horse looking pretty chipper and Mike and Jan, too!
Mike has a favor to ask. Here it is....
If you are a QSER member with an e-mail address and are not on our e-mail list - please send your e-mail address to Mike Maul at mmaul@flash.net This helps us get you last minute information about meetings, rides, and material about the Quicksilver club. The list is low volume mail and you can also get a digest form which bundles many messages into one.
Our club web page is also at www.homestead.com/qsendurance/files/ where you can get the current Quips as well as archived ones.
Dear Members of the Quicksilver Endurance Riders,
This October issue of Quicksilver Quips will complete my ninth years of editing and publishing our monthly Newsletter. I have had an absolutely wonderful time doing it and thank you for the privilege of being connected with such a great group of people. However, the time has come to end my journalistic odyssey with the Quicksilver gang. There seem to be more demands on my time recently and I have some other projects in which I want to become more deeply involved.
Kathy Mayeda, will be the new editor with the help of Mike Maul, Kay Allison and Steve Lenheim. I hope that you will lend them your active support by contributing to the Quips. They will want to know what rides you have attended, all about that new horse you just bought, or that old one you lost, a new foal. a trip, a trailer for sale, training tips, a funny cartoon, a news item...all the things that interest us as horseman. Don't make them beg for contributions. Kathy's e-mail address is: qser-quips@att.net and her phone number is 650-967-2050.
Help her all you can. We have many new members that I am sure have hidden talents of which we are unaware and it would be nice if they could become more active to enrich our club. Our October Fall Classic on October 20 should find us all pulling together...new comers and old timers mixing together to make us a stronger club.
Thank you for the indulgence of allowing me to do whatever I pleased with the Newsletter. I have loved every minute of it!
Julie
10
COMMANDMENTS OF ENDURANCE RIDING
In our sport of endurance
riding, there are certain rules to follow that
always hold true.
It is wise and prudent for us all to once again review my
"Ten Commandments"
of endurance riding. I'll bet that some experienced
veteran endurance
riders may find this article redundant or remedial. I want
to focus this article
on the "newcomers" and the "adult onset" endurance
riders who have repeatedly
asked me for some hints and guide lines to help
them begin the sport
of endurance. Of course, there are far more that Ten
Commandments. For
now, the basics!
1. Buy the best-conformed
horse you can afford. It will save you time,
money, and disappointment
in the long run. Be color and sex blind. And
remember the Golden
Rule of Endurance: no major conformation faults in the
front legs below the
knees!
3. Fat is good on an
endurance horse. It helps to make the distance. In any
ride over 30 miles,
the horse must tap into his fat storage for fuel and
energy. Without stored
fat, he will be "flat out of gas!" I am speaking, of
course, of fat on
a well-muscled, conditioned athlete. It is a statistical
fact that a horse
carrying extra weight at the start of the Tevis Cup ride
has a far better chance
of finishing than an equally conditioned horse that
is lean.
4. It takes three years
to make an endurance horse. Even though a horse can
occasionally achieve
metabolic and muscular condition in as little as six
months, it takes far
longer to build bone density and tendon and ligament
strength. So don't
hurry. Take your time and reap the rewards.
5. "Horses run on instinct,
not on intellect." My veterinarian, Dr. Jack
Abraham, likes to
use this phrase to reinforce the idea that we are
responsible for our
own horse's well being, not them. I could not agree
more. Too often I
hear, "my horse wanted to run, I didn't make him! Why was
he pulled for metabolic
reasons at the lunch stop?" There are a lot of
reasons horses run
at endurance races, not the least of which is, it feels
good! Reasons include
fear, panic, too much excitement too soon in the
horse's career, instinct
to run with the herd, and poor training. It is the
rider's responsibility
to ride the ride the same way the horse was ridden in
his conditioning,
and to the extent the horse is capable and safe. Horses
react differently
on race day. It is important to have a strategy to handle
this situation and
stick with it!
6. Endurance horses
pace; cows stampede. This is the logical extension of
"commandment #5."
In your conditioning training, teach your horse a fast
walk, medium trot,
and extended trot. The lope should be used very seldom.
The speed of your
horse should be exactly the same all the time, just as you
put your truck at
65 miles per hour to save gas. Slowing down and speeding
up uses energy and
that is counter-productive to long distance efficiency.
When your horse learns
an even pace, he will feel comfortable and confidant
when he uses it in
a ride and it will become automatic for him and easy for
you, too.
7. Horses have a limited
number of downhill miles. The front legs of a horse
take at least 75%
of the concussion on flat terrain. It is exponential on
down hill terrain
and even worse on downhill terrain with any rider,
especially a heavyweight!
Teach your horse a collected downhill trot. Use it
only on races when
it is necessary; i.e., the Tevis Cup is one ride that it
is almost impossible
not to trot downhill on. During conditioning, walk
downhill or get off
your horse and lead him at a trot.
8. Rest is as important
as conditioning miles. One of the least used tools
of endurance riders
can be rest. Once a horse is a veteran (approximately, a
three-year horse)
he should have three months off during the winter. All
horses should have
a week rest after a fast 50 and a month off after the
Tevis Cup. Conditioning
should be completed weeks before the rides, not
increased in the month
preceding the ride.
9. Horses don't lie.
Pay close attention to your horse's moods and appetite.
If they are suddenly
irritable, loose appetite, lethargic, bucks, or
anything other than
their normal self, try to figure out why! An endurance
horse that loses his
appetite and drops weight may be being ridden too hard.
In this case, you
back off on his conditioning until he again begins gaining
weight. Any other
changes can be due to foot pain, saddle fit, electrolyte
imbalance, body misalignment,
or a variety of reasons. If you cannot
pinpoint the problem
or it doesn't resolve in a short time, get a
professional to help
you!
10. The most important
ingredient in endurance riding or training is trust.
To have a safe and
long endurance career, your horse needs to have total
trust in you. You
must be his comforter, his leader, and his savior! In
moments of panic,
he must turn his back on his instincts and trust you to
save him. This is
a big responsibility for us as horse owners. But, in a
moment that can be
life or death for you and your horse, you will be glad if
you take the lead.
To build trust, you must be consistent, kind, fair, and
relaxed. Never let
him down and he'll do the same for you.
***
#2 is missing. The contest is to make up your own and send
it to
Diane Enderle at 17260
Debbie Rd, Los Gatos 95030. She will choose a
winning entry who
will receive a really great grand prize(worth $50)
How
many of you know ........
Bill and Sandie Parker? Ken Cook and Peggy?
Melissa Ribley, Craig Evans and Michele Shaw?
Ken and Judy
Etheridge?
Bing Voight?
Connell and Kay Allison, Maryben?
and why is it
important?
BECAuse they are the Good guys!!
They are the
people that are volunteering their time to put on our Quicksilver Fall
Classic on October 20th. That is, other than STeve Lenheim who is at Coe
State Park every weekend mapping out the trail and attending to a million
details as Ride Manager. BUT...he needs Drag Rider...vet secretaries...P
& R teams...water truck & driver...Sunday clean-up help.
Who'll offer to be one of the good guys like those
who have already
signed up for the following jobs?
Bill & Sandie..lunch vet check at 30 miles
Ken Cook and Peggy...Coit Lake Vet Check at 23 miles
Ken & Judy Etheridge...Wilson Camp Vet Check
Bing Voight, Connell and Kay Allison..start & finish and food
Melissa Ribley, head vet, with Craig Evans and Michelle Shaw
Maryben...ride secretary
So join the Quicksilver
Good Guys
Call Steve at
work at 831-377-0611 or at home 831-997-0368.
See your name here
next month as one of the Quicksilver Good Guys
Oh yes,
The Quicksilver
Good Guys need lots of riders in order to feel fully appreciated.
Published by the Quicksilver
Endurance Riders Inc.
P.O. Box 71, New Almaden,
CA 95042
Julie Suhr, Editor
TEL and FAX 831-335-5933
e-mail marinera@aol.com