Endurance Riding

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Robert Burns, in 1785, said, “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.”

By the time I had made it to the Pacific Crest Endurance Ride near Ashland, Oregon on the evening of June 16^th, I think I was on Plan Q. Everything had changed – from who was watching the baby while I rode, to the horses I was bringing, to the riders who were riding those horses, to the distances we were all riding. I really had no idea how the weekend was going to pan out.

About a week before this ride, when my backup plan to my backup plan which had been the backup plan to that plan failed, I sent a FaceBook message to a gal I had recently become friends with after meeting at an endurance ride earlier in the season. I had been racking my brain about who to ask to catch ride for me. While I have myself been a catch rider, I have never had a catch rider ride one of my horses. I have had students under my instruction ride with me, but I haven’t ever needed to utilize a catch rider… but now I was in the unique position of having my Tevis plans shift gear at the last minute and needing multiple horses ridden. Since there was no way I could ride two horses at the same time while sponsoring a junior and nursing a baby throughout the weekend (imagine that!), I reached out to Ali. At the time I messaged her, a part of me was worried about asking her — Do I really know her riding ability? Has she had enough experience on different horses before? Has she ever ridden a gaited horse? All these thoughts which could have quickly sabotaged my asking her, but I went with my gut instead, even though I couldn’t explain the intuition.

Ali was immediately excited — she didn’t currently have an endurance horse to compete on as she was working out some metabolic issues with her gelding — and she had been wanting to do an Oregon ride. And, as it turns out, she didn’t have plans for the weekend and was able to get the time off work. One thing led to another (due to yet another plan change), and we decided she should ride both Friday and Saturday, not just Saturday. Friday she would ride with me so I could get her and Cali totally dialed in before they rode the 55 on Saturday by themselves.  

On Friday morning, we learned that the only distance – the 25 mile ride – wouldn’t start until 2 pm. Ride management was down a vet due to an illness and the other vet couldn’t get into camp until later in the day. I took advantage of our freed up morning to nap with the baby who hadn’t slept as well as I’d hoped the night before.

At 2 pm, we found ourselves at the starting line – me on my friend Karen’s horse, Zee, Ali on my horse Cali, and my 13 year old riding student, Lia, on Sham. This was Lia’s first endurance experience, and you could tell she was pretty jazzed about the ride. Her grandma watched my baby, Avani, and Lia’s younger brother, Devin, naturally became our head crew with all his initiative and hard work.

The first loop was 20 miles long. The horses settled into a good pace, with me leading, Ali behind me, and Lia and Sham in the back. Most of the trail was single track with absolutely gorgeous scenery decorating both sides of it. It rained on us off and on and while we were pretty wet and cold coming into the 30 minute hold, we didn’t care. Other than Zee bolting up a quick steep hill and me knocking my knee on a tree while I tried to stop him, the ride had been nothing but enjoyable and beautiful. The section of the Pacific Crest trail we traversed held special pause for me – holding all its stories and secrets of its through hikers and Ali and I talked about hiking its paths one day.

The last 5 mile loop was muddy and caused us to slow down, but it gave us the opportunity to take more photos and soak in the scenery. Just shy of the finish line, we were worried we wouldn’t make time, but we carefully picked up the pace, guiding the horses through the mud with care, and we made it in at 8 pm on the dot, with all the horses pulsing down immediately.

After our finish, we immediately jumped into gear for the next day. I nursed the baby and got her to bed while Ali, Lia, and Devin took care of the horses. Then, Lia headed back to the hotel with her grandma, leaving Devin with me for the night since he decided he wanted to camp and crew. We got Ali and Cali ready for the next day’s 55 before heading to bed.

At 5:30 am, after nursing the baby, I tacked up Cali and saw her and Ali off at the start. It was about 36 degrees and very wet out. It had rained all night long and was still drizzling. I was happy to crawl back into my sleeping bag after the 6 am start, but I didn’t get a chance to fall back asleep before Avani had Devin and I both up for the day. Devin and I bundled up as much as we could (we were slightly ill prepared for Oregon weather in June), ate some warm oatmeal, and then set out to walk Avani. Devin wheeled her around in the stroller and then we went for a second walk with the geldings (Zee and Sham) before putting Avani down for a morning nap.

While Avani slept in the tack room covered in 4 blankets and a bath towel, Devin and I found ourselves sitting in the back of the horse trailer huddled by my little propane heater, trying to dry out his wet socks. It was so chilly we could see our own breath. Had I been by myself, I would have been pretty miserable, but instead of complaining, Devin found beauty in this otherwise uncomfortable moment. We sat there and watched the fog roll in. We talked about how the fog was getting so thick we couldn’t even see the nearest bush or the trees which dotted the meadow. We watched as that fog moved towards us, overtook us, and then kept on going. That moment — the stillness of slowly watching this fog float through the sky — made me appreciate the times in life when we are forced to slow down and pay attention to the beauty that surrounds us.

Shortly after the fog rolled by us, Lia and her grandma, Christine, showed up with hot food for us — an omelet, hash browns, toast, and French toast with butter and syrup. And a hot cocoa for Devin. As the two of them handed us our food, they couldn’t get over the ridiculous site of us huddled in the back of the horse trailer trying to dry out wet socks in front of the tiniest propane heater. We all had a good laugh about how crazy the weather was and how unprepared we were for it. Luckily, Christine was able to dig out a pair of dry shoes from her car’s trunk for Devin to wear and I found an extra pair of riding socks for him.

Despite the cold, wet weather, Lia decided she wanted to ride again, so I got us signed up for the 10-mile fun ride while we waited for Ali to arrive with Cali for their midday vet check. After we got the two of them vetted through, Lia and I departed on our 10-mile loop, an enchanting mix of forest roads and winding single track. We saw a doe with her newborn who was still struggling to walk, trees dripping with black lichen and moss, towering redwoods, and stunning views of the Western Cascades. It felt almost as if we’d ridden out of a wardrobe and onto the pages of a C.S. Lewis fantasy. And when we took one wrong turn, we got just a little bit of extra beauty and I had the opportunity to teach my student to properly read ribbons (which I had not done).

Just as we were starting to break down camp in preparation for the next day’s departure, we heard Ali’s voice and Lia and I went running to greet her and Cali at the finish line of their 55 mile ride. Cali looked incredible at the final vet out. She was perky and forward and appeared to float during her trot out for the veterinarian. As the vet congratulated Ali on a ride well ridden, I remember looking at her with tears in my eyes. I was filled with so much gratitude at how well she had cared for my horse throughout the 80 miles they shared together and knew I couldn’t have asked for a better catch rider for my mare. Ali had conquered a lot of firsts over the weekend — the first time she had catch rode, the first time she had ridden two back to back rides — and she ended Saturday evening that much closer to herself qualifying for the 100 Mile Tevis Cup Ride. Looking at my horse, this strong, substantial, forward Bay Tobiano mare with just enough attitude to keep our rides from being anything but boring, I knew I was Tevis bound with her this year, and I was filled with excitement.

That night, Christine insisted we all go back to the cabin she had rented on the nearby lake and Ali, Lia, and I blissfully soaked our sore muscles in the hot tub while we reminisced about the weekend. We binged on sweet potato fries, grilled cheese, and homemade ice cream and we deemed our weekend Magical.

Sunday morning, the sun came out and warmed us all. I breastfed Avani while overlooking the lush green meadow in front of us. Over the last few days, I had watched a young man overcome his fear of horses and discover how fun camping can be, I saw a young talented equestrian gain maturity and care for her horse before she took care of herself, I witnessed a grandmother make lasting memories with her grandchildren and take pride in their growth, and I made a new lifelong friend in a fellow endurance rider who inspired me.

When we stopped in Weed on our way home, we posed for a photo with the majestic Mt Shasta in the background. The smiles on the kids’ faces say it all and I couldn’t help but think, this weekend, which hadn’t worked out according to plan, happened just the way it was supposed to.  And this is how our children are supposed to be raised – in nature, with adventure. There is a saying that goes something like, Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. And, just like Kris Kristofferson’s character in the movie Dreamer, “Horse stories are all I got.”

Tags: 50 miler, endurance, fun ride, limited distance, multi-day ride, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail

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