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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Hollie’s Ride & Tie

 

As the administrator of the Distance Derby, I read all of the comments to find your ride stats.  The bonus to doing this is getting to read what you were doing when you earned those miles.  For instance, Cheryl #13, just rode with Buck Brannaman who was featured in the movie, Buck that so many of us enjoyed this past year. 

Although Hollie forgot her GPS and had to borrow a horse, she participated in a Ride and Tie competition.  A short description from the Ride & Tie website: 


Ride & Tie - Two People, A Horse and an Exhilarating Race

Although the sport of Ride & Tie has been in existence since 1971, it is a relatively unknown sport that combines trail running, endurance riding, and most of all, strategy. The object is to get all three team members (two humans and one horse) across a 20-100 mile cross-country course by alternating riding and running. Sounds simple enough. One team member starts out running, the other starts on the horse and rides down the trail as far as they think their partner can run (or walk) and still keep up a decent pace. At that strategic point the rider stops, dismounts, ties the horse to a tree or fence post, and continues down the trail on foot. The team member who started on foot gets to the horse, unties it, mounts, and rides to catch their partner up ahead. When they get to their running team member they can either stop and exchange, or ride further up the trail and tie the horse and then continue running. When, where, and how a team exchanges is up to them, and this is where the strategy lies.  (Read more at the link shown above).

Hollie shared the following comments with the Distance Derby: 

“My Ride and Tie event that I have been mentally and physically preparing me and Gus for was Saturday, September 1st. Unfortunately (or fortunately) poor Gus has come up lame so he was unable to run. We made a last minute switch and rode a borrowed horse, so in all of the chaos of switching horses I failed to remember my Garmin. So unfortunately, I missed out on tracking some miles. But we did come in 2nd place on the little half-Arab named Lexus. She was a very good horse and actually she and her owners were awarded Best Conditioned Horse. If we would have ridden Gus we could have finished, but would not have been competitive at all. So this was a treat to enter this event for my first time ever on a thrown-together team (my partner I just met the night before) and take 2nd! The race we ran was 20 miles, and I probably ran roughly 12 or so and my partner ran the other portion. The horse, of course, runs it all, but gets a break now and then when tied up waiting for the other runner to come along. I had a lot of fun and hope to do it again next year! Too bad there is only one of these races in Iowa/the Midwest.” 

Congrats, Hollie.  Wow!  Running 12 miles!  And this event is a Distance Derby first!  (I think I would “pull a Gus” and come up lame!)

 

Notable Mile Markers

  • Juanita #41 passed 1,400
  • Cheryl #13 moved past the 1/2 century mark with over 500 miles
  • Griffin #8 is now over 400 miles 
  • FoxTrotter #72 is now over 100 miles. 

 

Volunteering Efforts Pay Off in Miles!

Jenny #26, Shari #55, Robin #56, Sue #73, Annette#8, Kathy #50 and yours truly #1 have all been working with various organizations which require us to clear and mark trail.  Most can be done on horseback and you can really rack up the miles.  If I forgot to mention anyone, call it out.  I am very proud of those who help keep our trails clean whether it for everyday use or competition.  Its hard work but very rewarding to see such clean and clear trails and to help support trail and distance riding events. 

Our Nebraska Horse Trails Committee Trail Challenge is this coming Saturday.  Entries are full in that event.  Shari is the Ride Manager for the NE-Kota Turkey Trot CTR coming up at Turkey Creek at the end of the month.  Ride spots still available.  For information, visit: http://nectra.info/uploads/Turkey_Creek_CTR.pdf

 

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