WOW, from every perspective, a great ride weekend!! On the horse side, Sandman finished his first 30 miler in 12th place with all A’s and a pulse of 44 at the finish. These are great horse scores, and I can talk all day about the challenges he overcame, but more importantly for me, the people scores this weekend were even better with the camaraderie, selfless teamwork, and friendship that were on exhibit everywhere and front and center all weekend are so rewarding to be a part of and really what endurance riding is all about.
From a ride standpoint, I started with Sandman in last place, yes last riding out with Laura Waitt Wolker and Stewie and when we cleared the craziness a bit, we picked up our long trot and our speed and never looked back. Sandman and Stewie paced well together so we were able to seamlessly switch leadership roles and along the way we slowly began moving up..it was a great ride and a lot of fun and as the winds buffeted us literally out of our saddles and when being downwind of a horse peeing in that wind, takes on a whole new meaning, the discussions that ensued, kept us laughing and the miles flew by.
But for me, setting all that great ride stuff aside, the highlight of the weekend was camping with Mary Jane Fridley , Brad Person and Susie Kramer and then watching all three of them team up with Lancette Koerner and Andrea Maitland to help Hailey Zehring who is a real trooper and amazingly brave young rider, was really endurance at it’s best, all of them selflessly working together to help position Hailey for her back to back 50 miles finishes. These are good people and great friends who really embody the spirit of endurance…”to finish is to win” and moreover, they took it one step further, when you work together to finish together like I saw them do this weekend, its an even bigger and better win. 🙂 With their relentless attention to every detail and their “esprit de corps”, they made it happen on every level and at every turn…just amazing.
I want to congratulate Debi Sanger and Lauren S Reap who make a great ride mgmt team and who while working under very difficult weather conditions but with great Vets and the small in number but mighty in spirit volunteers who braved these 35 and sometimes 50 yes 50 mph winds, all worked seamlessly together with a smile on their faces and cinders in the hair to make this one of the best rides of the region. Great trails, great campsite, with great food, and comraderia on exhibit everywhere.
Just a very rewarding and all around great weekend. We really really enjoyed being a part of this ride, Mr. Sandman and Lucian 🙂