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On September 20, 2008, my riders put their training and trail riding skills to the test.
Over the summer, they had been conditioning and training their own horses along with several wild Corollas, and even a pair
of Shacklefords. Up to that time, we had rarely ridden over 15 miles at a time. On September 20, we set out for
the Big Ride.
We mapped a 23 mile trek that kept us within 10 miles of the Little House in the event of an emergency. We
set out before the sun came up and rode the first hour in the dark. After sunrise, we arrived at my house
for a great breakfast and then quickly hit the trail again. After we had ridden 23 miles, we stopped for
lunch. Most of the ride after the sun came up was done at a slow jog. None of the horses seemed to be fazed by the first
23 miles. I had trotted Croatoan 20 miles two weeks earlier, so I knew what these horses could do.
After lunch, we
repeated the 23 mile course. We came in just as night began to fall. We had ridden through the woods and swamps
of Tidewater Virginia for over 12 hours. We made the ride with a group of formerly wild Corollas and Shacklefords, a
BLM mustang, a Chincoteague, a Spanish Mustang, and several "Chincostangs", (mustang/Chincoteague crosses that
we had raised and trained). Ann, one of our adult guests, rode her big trail horse Sampson. Except
for him, only one horse on the ride, Medicine Dog, a BLM mustang, reached 14.2 hands. The rest of my riders, kids
and adults, rode a collection of tough little Indian Horses.
The stallions took the lead for the entire ride and
the mares were at the end of the column. We were in the middle of an intense drought and it was only at the conclusion
of the ride that I realized just how much dust the riders of the mares had eaten.
Every rider had a lot to be
proud of and a story to tell. Brenna, Christian, and Riley had made the ride on their Chincostangs they had trained
to saddle under my direction. Terry found out just how tough her little horse, Quien Es? could be. Lydia rode
Persa, a rather skittish Shackleford mare, all day without incident. At the end of the day, Danielle could see that
Wind in His Hair looked as fresh and lively as he did when the sun rose. Theresa, who was new to riding, learned that
she was up to the challenge. Jae K., a long-time runner and tennis player, said that it was the most intense
physical challenge she had ever faced. Amanda came through great on Secotan, her wild Corolla mare that
she had begun to train only a few months before the ride. Her mother Liz rode Swimmer, a big Corolla mare
that was captured less than two months before the ride. Rebecca, a hard riding adult, spent the day on
Manteo, my 12.2 hand Corolla stallion. At day's end, he was still prancing. Lea's years of dancing and gymnastics
gave her the balance to effortlessly ride all day. Ashley rode Wanchese, a Shackleford stallion, for all but the last
12 miles of the ride when she switched over to her favorite little mare, Touch the Clouds. Chance learned not only that
he could handle 46 miles, but also that Trade Wind, the beautiful Corolla stallion who had been foundered to the point of
crippling, was, after months of Pete Ramey-style trimming, up to the challenge. Jacob took Porter, a young
Corolla, through every inch of the trail.
It was quite an accomplishment—one never to be repeated by
my riders. I mean, why would one want to do only 46 miles after having met that challenge?
The following year we did a fifty-mile
ride on Saturday and then rode the same horses for another twenty five miles on Sunday. In March of 2010, three of us
did sixty seven miles in one day. Perhaps in the spring of 2011 some of us will make our first 100 mile ride in 24 hours.
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