Another great year
of my favorite adventure ride, the XP. This year the Summer XP did not
take place at Schellborne but instead was held at Cold Springs Station,
Nevada between Austin and Fallon. Rushcreek Faroan and I finished all 5
days for an awesome ride!!!!! Pictures and story below:
The route followed
the Pony Express trail as well as places with catchy names like Candy Bar
trail, War Canyon, Death Canyon, Secret Canyon, Salad Dressing Rd, and
my personal favorites of Sucsalot Rd, and Beer Can Wash. :-) Each day offered
something old and something new, dirt, dust, sagebrush, rocks, trees, rattlesnakes,
mustangs, rock ruins of old houses, barns and pony stations along the Pony
Express trail and the area surrounding it. We had creeks, alpine meadows,
rock formations, and outrageous views.
At the pre-ride Sunday,
Dave Nicholson, aka The Duck, warned everyone "these are endurance rides
NOT endurance races." Riders were told that if they intended to race they
still had time to load up and go play on a different playground.
The first day started
90 horses and finished 88 with a winning time on a brutal trail of 5:46
by Do So La and Michelle Rausch. The hills were STEEP, I found out I had very little oxygen for tailing at that altitude! And how can I forget "the" gate at the top of the mountain. I opened the gate and just stared when the entire fence fell down. Fellow rider Cora said enough bad words for both of us. Took the Duck and company an hour to fix it. The heat was fierce and it was a quiet camp by 9 PM! I can just hear the Duck now, Annie we gotta sock it to ‘em the first day and weed out the snivelers. It worked. We started 55 the
second day with Michele and Do So stealing another win. The Duck had to
winch the horse trailer out of the vet check and a few rigs got stuck but
ya know that is XP tradition.
By Wednesday morning
our "call to the post" had become Robert Ribley’s whooping and hollering
"Horses were meant to RIIIIIIDE!!!!" Now I have said this for years but
NOT the way Robert does it! Especially when Melissa’s mule harmonizes!
Days 3 & 4 gave us some relief with an easier route to travel duckstyle.
This meant flat cruising country to make time BEFORE it got hot, one big
big climb over 8200 feet and then back in. Wednesday’s winner was Mike
Bernsten aboard Padrons Cruising. The trail was easier for the horses,
with the front-runners beating crews into lunch while the crews were busy
changing blowouts and building road. Dr. Duck in his Quackmobile (jeep)
made it in time to vet the first few horses in. Also by "humpday" everyone
had adjusted to the trails and weather and camp became Margaritaville.
Yet each day came complete with the promised XP cave and a bear within
which to wrestle.There was some gorgeous country but when it got ugly and/or
steep or whatever, ya just had to suck it up and meet the challenge head
on. And speaking of which, Dr. Duck had all week to dream up the
last day. Yep I am sure he said something like, "Barney, we gotta give
these riders their money’s worth. More bang for the buck!" So he got some
riders who thought they were taking the day off to go out and cut a brand
spankin’ new trail down through Cold Springs Canyon. Only a few miles of
downhill through rocks and creeks and trees and snakes. And after a couple
nice climbs up over 8400 feet and with only ten miles left in the day we
got to go down Cold Springs Canyon. Yup - made Death Canyon look like a
cakewalk. But you know what? We all finished on time. Although the Duck
says Jim Mitchell was amazed that we all made it down the way he’d marked
it.
What I think is interesting
is that if you add up all the starters for each day, there was around 300
starters total, with only 6 or 7 pulls total. And yes they all looked good.
Not one single horse needed to be treated for colic, exhaustion, or dehydration.
But go to a big FEI ride and only half the horses finish and plenty require
treatment. So someone tell me why FEI is so great and good for the sport.
Nope - this is true grass roots endurance riding. It’s all about knowing
your horse, riding smart and taking care of yourselves. It’s about
checking out of reality for a week and visiting the old west. Pushing yourself
beyond your personal limit of endurance, finishing and looking back feeling
as though you accomplished something with a great horse.
And adding to adventure,
this year the old west was invaded by F15’s buzzing up the canyons and
across the desert on maneuvers. But it didn’t bother this bunch of horses,
hooray for fighter pilots and all they do for us. I thought one was going
to fly right up my nose but directly in front of us he banked and turned
and only then could I hear the jet. I had a handful of mane but Faroan
just kept on trotting. Thank God for a reliable horse.
I think we had
17 5-day horse rider teams. With the winner being Michelle and Do So La
in 25 hrs and 47 min riding time for 250 miles. SMOKIN!!!!! I believe they
got overall 5-day BC also. Among these from the Northwest was myself riding
Rushcreek Faroan, and Canada’s own Shari MacFarlane and Rebel Just Because.
Riding 5 days on two horses was Larry Henslee and he also won the last
two days for which I do not have the times, sorry. Another Canadian, Danny
Grant, blistered through four of the five days riding the last day in Wranglers!!!
Well Mr. Duck and Company,
it was a great adventure. As usual, the Duck comes through, just give him
a check and go with the flow and the adventure unfolds. They had great
helpers, Annie was gracious and hardworking as always. Barney Fleming DVM
did a fine job and entertained us with jokes. We had great awards too and
we didn’t pump the well dry at Cold Springs Station either. But I just
know we’d all curl up and croak if it wasn’t for Lavonne’s fantastic lunches!!!!
A hot dog at 6500 feet after 30 miles of riding never tasted so good!!
Now use your imagination
and its Dave, the Duck, watching the horses and riders on the trail. :-)
