Cave Country Canter – 2009

Posted on November 11, 2009 by Keith Kibler

Cave Country Canter 2009

If you live in the Midwest, you need to come to southern Indiana in November and do the Cave Country Canter. It has some of the best scenery of any ride I have ever competed in, and Steve Cummins and his gracious crew just does the best job. This year the course was not only rocky and challenging but very muddy. From my years of triathlons, I learned to avoid any course of almost any type that was described as “challenging”. However, in this case, you should leg up your horse for some climbing and bring an extra sleeping bag, as there is no electricity.

Kate, my 5 year old grey TWH mare had won Best of Condition at her last 30 mile LD, and the vet said to mover her up to the 50 mile distance. Sandy wanted to do her first 50 mile ride and use my horse Blues. We have my horses, her horses and our horses. Niki, my 5 year old black and white, Pusher bred TWH mare was about ready for her 2nd Ld with the thought that if she did well, I would move her up to the 50 mile distance 2 weeks later at the last ride of the season in the Midwest.

A careful reading of the ride information sheet revealed that the 50 miler was 55 miles. Gulp. Should I tell Sandy or let her find that little fact out as a surprise? Too late, she found out herself. However, the fact that she had just gotten our first trailer with a full live-a-board and a bathroom seemed to take her mind off the fact that she was getting ready to race 25 miles farther than she had ever raced before.

A friend of ours from Indiana named Beth Steward blessed us by telling us she wanted to crew for us and show up all three days. What a wonderful thing. I have done these rides solo and with a crew. Riding two days without a crew is a lot more difficult so I was very grateful for Beth.

The 55 mile Saturday ride was a field of 24, and naturally, Blues and Kate were the only gaited horses. I have always tried to impress on Sandy that she needed to start the race near where she wanted to ride. The beginning will bog you down if you want to ride in the front eventually and you start in the rear. If you are going for the turtle award and start in the front, you may end up with a stressed horse due to all the horses passing you as they ride faster than you are riding. She took my advice to heart and was off with the first ten horses. I settled in with Kate mid pack and off we went at a rack. Did I mention how much I love this mare? She is by no means my best horse. At best, she might be my 3rd best mare. However, she is my sweet heart and she is not one that will be sold. I have long term plans for this girl. I see 100’s and Tevis in her future. Yes, I know that those are lofty goals. But as the Bible says, “my people perish for a lack of vision”.

We missed two turns on the trail and one of the missed turns cost me 3 miles and probably 25 minutes after I fretted over the right way to go. We pulled into the first vet check at mile 19 in 12th place. All scores were “A’s” and Kate did the trot out perfectly. Well, actually she did a “pace out”. Sandy was finishing her trot out on Blues as I was coming in. She had been in about 5th place and I was confused as to why she was still at the vet check. She admitted she had gotten lost and then thought she had missed a password on the first loop. So, she had shut Blues down and walked him back to camp.

She should have listened closer at the pre ride, as only lap 2 and lap 3 had passwords. She had given back serious time. O’well, endurance racing has a lot to learn for us and is an adventure in dealing with adversity in ever changing situations. It is much like the sport of triathlons in that regard.

Kate and I took off looking for riders to catch. She settled into her rack and her heart rate stayed about 120 at about 9 mph on the flats. She is a trooper on up hills and down hills and through bad terrain. In fact, most of our gaited horses are like that, although some of them are certainly faster than others. I caught the two riders in front of us and was going on just fine when suddenly Kate threw a front left shoe. I heard it and saw it air born so I found the shoe. We were passed as I was putting on a boot. After a couple of miles we caught the riders who passed us and then Kate lost the boot in the mud. The mud was so bad that I could not get the boot even though I knew where it was.

Now Kate had a missing shoe in a hard course and I worried about her hoof. I checked it and was alright, but I still worried. I made the decision to let her pace, as I figured that it would be easier for her to land on two feet at a time instead of one. If you have never tried to ride a pacing horse, well, don’t. It is like a drunken sailor on a swaying ship. I made the decision to post, to save my rear end and Kate’s back.

We got to the mile 38 vet check and passed even though Kate’s shoe count was down one. A ferrier put the shoe back on. Sandy was ahead of me by 6 minutes. I figured she needed to just miss one more turn and we had a chance to catch her. If a few people missed turns we had an outside chance of top ten. Kate and I caught Sandy and Blues with about 12 miles to go to the finish. She was standing on the ground letting him pick some grass. She said his energy level was a little down but that he was not showing any lameness. When he saw sweet Kate, he seemed perky to me and she saddled up and off we went as a team. Sandy and I are certainly wired differently. I am watching the heart rate monitor, asking her for Blues to stay with us, watching my gps, the trail, and listening for the horses I know are ahead. Sandy is enjoying the day, asking if we can stop and take a picture and worrying about the horses. Well, life in married land is a dog and cat thing isn’t it.

Just then Guy Worthington comes up from behind on his Arabian. Guy is a prince of a guy and I enjoy riding with him and visiting with him. We had not seen him for many miles, but he was back. We came to a gravel road in a line of three horses and Kate and I where the caboose. We rounded a corner and I heard “ting!” and I saw the right front shoe go sailing off. I yelled for Sandy to stop and she did. Guy went bounding down the road in a posting trot. Kate and I were in danger. This was the second time of the day that the right front had gone missing. The boot was gone. There was no way to quit. I decided to proceed at a reduced speed and let her go to her favorite gait. She loves to pace. I hate her to pace, but I decided it would be easier for her to strike two hoofs on each side than one hoof in a four beat rack. I also decided that I would walk the rest of the ride if she favored the hoof in anyway. Gulp, I also decided I had to post her pace for both our comfort.

Blues finds a very small water hole.

Just then Guy appeared from the direction that he had gone and said he missed the turn. I saw the turn and told Sandy to “go” with Blues. Guy tucked in behind Blues and Kate and I snugged into the rear of the train. After about three miles of this, Guy went to a walk. Blues and Kate kept on, but I knew Guy would be back. The forest at the ride is very remote and I kept losing GPS signal. I knew the finish was less than 7 miles ahead, but how far exactly? I also knew there were two riders ahead of us that we might catch. I kept a very keen eye on Kate and she was not favoring the right front in anyway.

Kate poses in her first 55 Miler.

Along the way, we found pleasure riders and hikers on the trail. I always asked them if how long it had been since the last riders had come through where they were. At first it was 20 minutes, then 15, then 5, then 2. I could sense we were less than 2 miles from the finish and Sandy was less than 40 yards behind me. I turned and looked at her and Blues and saw Guy edging up on her. I came around a corner on a long downhill gravel road covered with heavy leaves and saw the two riders we were all chasing. They were walking on 2 Arabians. I posted right on by them and spoke as we passed. Sandy did the same. The finish line was about 400 yards away. Kate was 7th and Blues was 8th. The final vet check was fine for both horses.

Beth Stewart, who had been helping us rode Blues the next day and said he seemed less than perky at first but that he had then racked just fine. I had checked on him throughout the night and taken him for a walk. Anyway, I had the vet check on him the next day and he found a small abscess. He said that it was 3 days old which corresponded with the last training ride he had had pre-race. The Vet scraped it and it drained. He told us Blues had to be incredibly strong to not favor it during any of the trot outs. Blues is and was fine and will get time off to rest and heal up. I love that horse.

Niki Takes On a Challenging 30 Mile LD

Niki is beautiful. She is an extremely athletic black and white Pusher bred TWH. She has a multi-colored tail. She has a rack to die for. Niki is very smooth and very fast. Her rack is capable of 15 mph. She is 5 years old and I have been training her for 3 years. We did one Ld as a four year old and I had been trying to get the turtle award with her. With ten miles to go in the race last year, she was still asking to go and I let her have her head. She went from near last to mid-pack.

I thought she was ready to show what she could do as she came into this event with over 500 miles of training in the last two years. My main challenge was going to be keeping her calm as she had sometimes gotten excited during training at being left behind. Not bucking kind of excited, but nervous kind of excited. The start was controlled during the 1.5 mile climb out of camp. The control rider pulled off and said “the trail is open”. At that point many of the Arabians went bonkers. Some took off in a gallop, some in an excited extended trot and the Arabian right in front of Niki just went sideways.

Niki stopped at my command and sort of pogo hopped up and down as the Arabian rider jumped off and tried to pull her horse off the trail. Just then, we were passed by a galloping Arabian and Niki thought that might be a good gait for her. We stayed with the Arabian but I pulled Niki back to the rack. The leaders came back to us a few hundred yards later when they went to a slow walk to negotiate some mud. Our horses have an advantage as we go down the trail; they always have one foot on the ground. I found a place to pass and went to the lead. Within a ½ mile, we had gotten some separation and I had the thought that we just might win this race. Within another ½ mile the silliness of my idle daydream became apparent as I was galloped past again. I made the decision to pull Niki back in order to keep her calm. Then I would let her rack between 10 and 13 mph and we would catch the two leading horses. Then we would drop back again and repeat this process.

Niki accepted this and it was much fun working on her brain. We hit the first 17 mile vet check and after we were in 3rd place by 6 minutes. Niki was still straight “A”s on her vet card. I knew that we had a shot at doing well if everything went well. The last lap was the best lap of any of the endurance rides I have done. Niki was just super. I did not carry a crop and don’t recall touching her with the spur. She just responded to any cue like a pro. We finished third and came back for BC. Sandy and I have really worked on “trotting out” and even trotting out in circles. She took BC.

3 gaited horses, 3 top ten finishes and a BC. What a wonderful weekend. We are very thankful to Beth Stewart for all her kind help and to Steve Cummings and his crew for one of my favorite rides. We will come back and try to bring others with us .

Niki goes out for her second lap.

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Lincoln Trail – Sept 2009

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Keith Kibler

Lincoln Trail – 2009

The Lincoln Trail ride is supposed to be in the central Ill area. Well, it seems that the State of IL does not have funds to make use of the parks in a full manner. So, the endurance race/ride was moved to Salem IL. Sandy wanted to take Blues, my “best horse” to a horse camp for a lady’s trip the next week so Blues was out as far as a competitive 50 was concerned . I wanted to try Rebel in the 100 mile event, which neither of us had ever down before, but he was sold to a new owner in Arizona.

So, that left me with some interesting choices. I offered my friend Jeff Anderson, who had never attended a ride, the chance to ride Blues in a medium paced 30 Ld as a buddy to Jazz. Jazz is a spirited 4 year old registered TWH that we have owned and trained since she was a weanling. Unlike every other horse I have ever trained, Jazz was not “broken” or “gentled”. She and I reached a kind of truce. I planned to ride her at about 7-7.5 mph and Blues would have to ride down to her heart rate. We would of course also monitor Blue’s heart rate during the event. I also took Kate, my favorite little 5 year old TWH mare.

Both horses are petite and neither top 14.3. Jazz is jet black with a blaze and Kate is a grey with silver main and tail. Jazz has a completely square 4 beat gait and starts to get rough over 9 mph. Kate tops out about 11.5 mph. She is my lap dog. She has had over 400 miles of training this year and this would be here 4rth LD. Jazz is an alpha female and Kate is at the bottom of the mare heard. It is probably one of the reasons that Kate has bonded so much with me.

All three horses passed vet in with straight A’s, and even got A’s for the “trot out”. I put them all in the electric pen and went to bed. At 1:30 a neighbor in the camp woke me up with words we all dread to hear: “Keith, your horses are out!” Jazz had run Kate through the electric tape. We caught the horses and put the pen back up. At three a.m., It happened again. This time I tied Kate to the trailer.

The warm up is always interesting at these events. The Arabians are often keyed up and the excitement of the early start shows in both the riders and the horses. With all the trotting and posting going on, our gaited horses sometimes don’t really know what to think. Of course Blues, Lady and Rebel understand as they are experienced. I realized during the warm up that Jazz had never been around any trotting horses, let alone several of them. This was going to be interesting.

The race director said, “the trail is open” and off we went. We settled in around mid pack and I had Jeff set the tempo at about 7 mph. This is barely moving for Blues as his 50 mile pace is 10-12 mph. I wanted a smooth, calm buddy for Jazz. We were less than a mile into the start and two arabians came up behind us moving quickly. It startled Jazz and she jumped to the left with all four feet, hit the ground, popped up on her rear legs and then bounced again to the left. I was glad I had not ridden my english saddle. I calmed her down, let the arabians go on past and off we went.

We settled in with Joslyn Seedeldt who was riding a lovely Paso Fino. The horse fit in well with our pace and I was glad to make a new friend. We held a steady 7 -7.5 mile average for the first 15 mile loop with out mishap. All the horses in our immediate group drank well and we took a small munching break for some tasty grass a few miles from the vet check to help with gut sounds. Having a gps watch, as well as knowing the course is invaluable. I stopped about 500 yards from the vet check and got off and walked. We dropped our saddles at our rig and walked into the vet check. Blues and Jazz both went through the vet check without issues and went back to the trailer for hay, carrots, apples and my mixed electrolyte and apple sauce mix.

The second 15 mile lap was a mirror image of the first. The exception was that Jazz did not see the need for any side ways shennagins. Blues kept asking to go but Jeff held him back per my instructions. We finished in a pack of 4 horses in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th positions. To my surprise, Jazz’s heart rate dropped almost immediately and she finished 5th and Blues was 7th.

Jeff Anderson chose not to put up his tent and instead sleep on a cart near the electric pen. He woke up once Saturday night with Jazz sniffing him. She had gone through the pen. This thing was just not working correctly. I woke up Sunday morning pre dawn to get Kate ready for her 30 miler. Kate was tied to the trauker, Blues was in the pen looking out in the distance and Jazz was no where to be seen. One section of the fence was leaning out a bit. Jazz had jumped the fence. Blues is “proud cut” and thinks he is a stud. Yes, he does try to “service” the mares. He also tries to always watch out from them. He makes a great baby sitter horse to boot. He was standing rock still and staring out into the darkness in the direction of a field with very high weeds. I followed his gaze into the field and thought I saw a dark shape in the distance. I called her name and the shape moved and came across the field towards me. I opened the corral and she walked in. There was no telling how long she had been out in that field.

I warmed up Kate and Jeff agreed to dismantle the electric pen and try to fix it. The trail was opened and Kate and the lead arabian went to the front. Paula Kaigh is one of the top endurance riders in the midwest. She won the 50 mile event on her other horse the day before. We had been in the lead together at the Sedalia MO the year before in the 50. This woman knew how to compete and had good horses. Kate was going to have her hands full.

We rode together for the next 15 miles and had a lovely time together. Kate’s heart rate was running about 125 most of the time. We averaged around 9 mph. Did I mention that I love this little horse. Her personality makes her my sweetheart horse. She wants to be with me and she wants to please me. Her “motor” is like a fine tuned honda. It won’t out pull a corvette in a drag race but will keep its rpms low and be very dependable. We pulled into the camp on foot, I dropped my saddle at our rig and walked to the vet check barely in first place. The arabian dropped immediately to 6o. Kate stayed up around 70 for two minutes. It was hot and humid. I have found that Kate’s heart rate will drop if you move her a few steps. I moved her about 10 feet into some shade and she dropped into the 50’s.

Paula had a three minute head start on me and said she would be looking for me as she left the start line. The next three minutes seemed like 10 minutes. I collected Kate up and told her to “come up!”. That is the phrase I taught her to mean, “it’s time to rack on”. She did just that. I caught sight of the leading arabian and used me running watch to figure out how far behind we were. We made up 45 seconds in the first 2 miles by my figuring. Then, the leader disappeared. Kate was moving as fast I dared rack her without raising her heart rate higher higher than I wanted. We were racking along at 11.5 mph. I wondered if there was a chance the leader had gotten off trail. Maybe she needed to find a convenient tree. Should I slow down and trust that she had pulled off the course? Was Kate in the lead? My imagination went into overdrive. I decided that she was still in front of me and I would keep Kate in her ground covering little rack and keep my eye on Kate’s heart rate monitor.

We ran them down around 4.5 miles into the lap. Paula did not seem overjoyed to see us so soon. I pulled our pace back just a bit for about 800 meters and then pulled Kate into the lead and bumped up her rack. Paula and Dhelall picked us their pace right along with us. We continued for a few miles like this until the next creek. Both horses drank and then we were off again. Kate pulled into the lead and Dhelall snugged up behind us. I backed the pace down a little and tried to think of a strategy. One of the advantages that our gaited horses have is that they are extremely stable in bad footing and on down hills. Under 7 mph they are in the running walk and have three feet on the ground while they are moving. Over 7 mph and they still have one foot on the ground. Kate was faster down hill than the trotting arabian. We had down hills coming up.

On four different occasions Kate pulled ahead with her sweet little rack on a down hill only to have the arabian’s gallop pull us back. I decided we simply could not out rack the arabian’s gallop. We would have to take our chance at the finish line. Jeff met me at our rig. I dropped the saddle, threw an electrolyte down Kate and walked towards the vet check. Jeff sponged while we walked. We hit the vet check timer first but only by about 10 feet. The arabians heart rate his 60 almost immediately. It took Kate another 3 minutes in the heat and humidity. We had an hour until B.C.

I had brought show sheen and other products to try and slick Kate up for a potential B.C. try. I tried to put her proverbial “best foot forward” and Jeff left for home. Kate did well at the B.C. vet check. Then I got ready for the dreaded “trot out”.

Suddenly, the vet asked me to trot Kate out in a circle and then reverse the circle and trot her out on a loose lead on a reverse circle. I gulped. I had not practiced this with Kate.

I used my authoritative voice and said “Kate, come up!” and started off in a circular jog. Kate paced right along a step behind. I dared not to look at her. We reversed the circle and barked again. Kate never hesitated. She won B.C. by over a 100 points with a total of 737 out of a possible point total of 800.

It was a wonderful ending to a great weekend. Jazz had done fantastic at her first event. Kate won B.C. and the vet said she was about ready for a 50. Blues had calmly added to his mileage and my friend Jeff Anderson had finished his first ride. Life is good!

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Pyramid Challenge- June 2009

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Keith Kibler

Pyramid Egyptian Arabian Festival
Kentucky Horse Park
June 2009

The Kentucky Horse Park is a horse man’s paradise. It makes me just want to stand and breath in the air when I am there. I was searching rides that were within a days drive a couple of years ago and found this ride in Lexington. It is basically the world festival for blue papered Eyptian Arabians. I contacted the race director and he said that all breeds would be welcome as the event was AERC sanctioned. We had fun in 2008, learned a lot, and it turned into Sandy’s favorite event.

Her enthusiasm for this event spilled over to some of our friends. Our dear friends from Kentucky, Chuck Bearden and his granddaughter Treska agreed to give the event a try for their first Limited Distance ride. They took their two twhs, Stormy and Tech. My close friend Kelly Powell from Crab Orchard, IL. took his twh/mft cross Buddy for his second ride and his first attempt at a 50 miler.

Sandy took her trusty and LD experianced MFT Lady. Our “surrogate daughter” Michelle Lazorchak went to try her first 50 miler with Rebel’s Master. Rebel is our 16.1 grey TWH who has shown so much promise and ability at the 25 and 30 mile LD distances. I am still figuring out what works and doesn’t work with these gaited horses at the 50 mile distance. I have been asked many times how many training miles it takes to do a 50 miler on a gaited horse. My working conclusion to date is that you need around 300 miles of training in the proceeding 5 months pre race.

Rebel had 165 miles pre ride. I had reservations, but he is strong as an ox. His last several LDs had netted no less than 3rd place. He had one B.C. and he had barely missed two other B.C. awards. Michelle is a born endurance rider and the course was flat. He would have my seasoned MFT Blues as a buddy and they were corral mates. I decided to let Michelle try him.

Blues was going for his 6th 50 mile completion. Three hundred miles at endurance between the rider and the horse, not including LD mileage get you and your horse’s ticket punched for the National Endurance Championships for life.

I was riding this ride for completion and not for placing.

Because of the economic conditions in the this country, participation is down at all kinds of events. One of the workers at the Ky Horse Park told me that some of their events were down 70%. Perhaps to combat this, the Horse Park had really scheduled different things for the weekend. Here is a high light of just the things I know about.

1. 50 mile and 25 Ld races.
2. World Egyptian Arabian Festival
3.  3 day eventing practice.
4.  Show jumping competition.
5.  Saluki dog show and competition.
6.  Sheep herding dog competitions.

    All of these things were going on while our gaited horses were exposed to approximately 50 trotting Arabian horses in a stressful race situation after a 7 hour trailer ride the day before. The start of the race features about 3 miles beside Interstate 75. The course itself is wonderful to me but the horses get a bit confused by jumps that look like car sized ducks and the other man made jumps used for the Rolex 3 day events. To me, you really need a
    GPS and a wireless heart rate monitor to manage your horse effectively at this ride.

    I suggested we use the start of the course for our pre ride warm up for the horses. Sandy declined and stayed at the ride camp. During the warm up, Kellys’ horse Buddy acted up and Kelly held him back. That is Kellys’ way, and I know to leave him with his horse as Kelly has trained that horse in his own way’ and Buddy is the best ground trained gaited horse I have ever been around. What I didn’t know is that Buddy did a major freak out and reared, then started backing up on two legs. Kelly is a superb rider and had no problem but it showed the stress level Buddy was feeling. The rest of us finished our 5 mile warm up with no issues.

    We put the horses to bed and got up pre-dawn. Being in swirling pack of Arabians at the start is always a tense moment. Everyone seems so serious at many of these events. The ride started and off we went. Unlike last year, when the rider in front of me was tossed on her head at the start, this year presented no such excitement. The first two riders galloped off like they were in the Kentucky Derby. The next 10 riders or so bunched together and the remaining 14 were spread out. Blues led the way of our group of 3 gaited horses and settled in at his easy rack of 10 mph. His heart rate was up for the first few miles, but I knew that was normal for the start of a race and took into account Interstate 75 next to us.

    Blues was very smooth and we took a canter break at about 9 miles to mix up his muscle use. Buddy was pulling hard on Kelly,
    wanting to go. I did not feel good about that. By mile 10, Blues was in 4rth place. I had a race plan, and was determined to stick to it. I simply was not going to go into the 15 mile vet check with a hot horse. At mile 12, I pulled Blues aside and let the lead pack go on. We brought our little gaited group down to about 8 miles per hour and then started walking at 1200 yards to the vet check. With 600 yards to go we got off and hand walked them in. This worked well and we all three came down to heart rate quickly. The vet check was not a problem.

    After a 40 minute hold, we were off again. This time we were alone and I used my GPS and heart rate monitor to keep our speed at about 9-10 miles per hour with a low heart rate. We stopped at mile 23 and let them eat grass to help their stomach sounds. We did the same walking in trick as the first lap. Blues and Rebel had no problems at the 25 mile vet check, but Buddy was off metabolically. Something was wrong. He pawed and seemed uncomfortable. Kelly and I talked to the vet and all agreed he should be pulled. Kelly is very responsible towards his horse and immediately agreed with the vet. He took Buddy back to the vet at the end of the hold and plans were set up for IV for fluids.

    Michelle and I missed our start out times, but were more concerned with Buddy than time, by now. We rode conservatively, took breaks to let them eat, and of course, took advantage of every drinking stop. Blues heart rate was low and I watched Rebel for signs of stress. They were both solid and I was thankful.

    The 40 mile vet stop was no problem and we just had to finish an easy 10 miles to be done. Buddy was getting his IV and the vet told me that Buddy would be fine. We missed our start out time again, but I just was not concerned with time or placement at this point. Our trailers were about 600 yards from the vet check and Buddy was getting his IV at the vet check, so we went back and forth.

    Sandy was in with Lady in the LD. She had had a great ride and finished 8th and had been asked to stand for B.C. Chuck and his granddaughter Treska finished mid pack and had a great time. Their first ride was a very successful one.

    As we slowly but steadily cruised around the last 10 miles, Michelle said that the Ky Horse Park was her favorite place on earth and she wanted to stay there. She said she would volunteer to be an intern for the vet service and live in the tent we had let her use. I told her Blues was experienced but that as this was Rebel’s first 50, he did not know we were almost done. Her “little slice of Heaven on earth” might be Hell to Rebel.

    We came into camp slowly in a tie for 20th position and hand walked to the vet check. Everything seemed fine with the horses. Blues and Rebel had both been hitting heart rate within a few minutes all day and been getting close to straight “A”s on their score cards. For this last vet check we only had to get to 64 heart rate and we had 60 minutes to do so. Rebel came down in just a few minutes. Blues was over 70. Then he came down to 69, then 72. We sponged, wiped and sponged some more.

    Blues came down to 68 then back up to 71. The vets said Blues was fine and not in any kind of distress. They said he was almost asleep. I walked him around. I raised his head, I lowered his head. His heart rate came down to 66 then would go back to 70. We needed 64. One of our crew went back to our trailer for another electrolyte tube. The temperatures were now in the 80’s. Blues had drank well and we had used electrolytes pre-ride and during the ride. He had eaten his wet beet pulp at the 3 stops.

    The vet said that Blues might have had a bit of a cold pre-ride and that could explain his heart rate hanging in the upper 60’s yet his having no sign of any distress. He did not otherwise appear to be off to the vets or to me. I prayed. I prayed some more. Our 60 minutes were almost up. The whole volunteer group and our group were all pulling for Blues. With a few minutes to go he hit 65 then went back to 66. With about a minute to go we rested his chin on Michelle’s shoulder. She is very tall. He came down instantly and we did our trot out. All of his vitals were fine, considering we had just finished a 50 in 80 degree heat.

    The vet suggested that my next level of training with Blues might be to have blood work done on him to find out if he needed to have electrolytes mixed especially for his system. This made sense to me as many elite runners do the same thing.

    We went back to our trailers and the wonderful vet staff at the Ky Horse Park were still checking on Buddy. I asked them if they could take a blood sample from Blues while they were there to analyze him. They agreed and had the results back to me in 40 minutes. They said he was just mildly dehydrated from the heat and I could do an IV if I wanted to, but it was not necessary. Wanting to do anything I could for Blues, I chose to use an IV. The whole thing only cost $ 85.
    Rebel was fine and we spent hours tending our horses with a lot of brushing and treats.

    Blues got his 6th 50 mile completion which qualified him for the National Championships. Rebel got his first 50 completion. The vet said something funny. He said, “I first thought he was too big, but he is just big boned”. He went on to complement me on the training of Rebel, and Michelle on her handling of him during the ride. He then said, “He is a Rock Star!”. I almost fell over. He was talking about Rebel. Rebel is, or so I thought, no better than my third best horse.
    I am still scratching my head as no one thought Rebel could make an endurance horse. We were all wrong. We were so wrong that I am now thinking very seriously thinking of riding him in a 100 mile event in September if he does not sell first.

    What did we learn from the ride? We learned the Ky Horse Park is the most wonderful horse venue we know of and the vets there are wonderful. We learned there is always something to learn with horses. We learned that trailering a horse for 8 hours, that has not been trailered much can stress him. This course seems to stress horses that train in difficult terrain. That is what the vets said and I believe it. I don’t completely understand it yet, but I do believe it.

    The race director had backed out 2 weeks before the event and the Pyramid Society had stepped up and pulled off the event with great success. We sure hope they have it again next year as we plan to go back.
    Here is a picture of Michelle on Rebel and myself and Blues crossing the finish line together at the end of the 50. We all had a very good day.
    Keith

    Michelle and Keith

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    Dead Dog Creak 2009

    Posted on June 8, 2009 by Keith Kibler

    Dead Dog Creak 2009

    We had extreme weather in May 09 at Shawnee Sunrise Farm. Actually, we had what was called an inland hurricane. We had winds like Katrina but without the water. The winds clocked in at 106 mph and the damage was everywhere. Thankfully, none of us nor the horses were injured. We all just needed a break from bad weather. So, we checked on the Dead Dog Creek in Salem IL and found that is was just a little “wet”.

    Sandy took her big and beautiful MFT mare Lady. We took our 16 year old “surrogate daughter” Michelle Lazarchak and our 16.1 TWH gelding Rebels Master. I took my favorite horse, a 5 year old twh, named “Kate” and my best horse, a MFT rocket named “Blues”. The trails were very wet and muddy and the creeks were high. Then, at about 8 pm, the race director came and told us that a very heavy storm with hail was on the way. We battened down the hatches, loaded the horses into trailers and got inside the liveaboard. It rained, it hailed and it rained some more. It made for a very interesting night. About midnight it quit raining and we turned the horses out into our portable electric pin. That thing is a God send.

    It was so wet the next morning that anything other than work boots or waders meant your feet were wet.

    Michelle and I started the 30 mile event together and found ourselves in the lead after about 5 miles. We both watched our gps watches and our heart rate monitors closely. The conditions were the worst I had ever ridden in, let alone raced in. Some of the creeks were belly deep to little 14.3 sweet Kate. She is really a “mudder”. She is so little that she just seems to skip over bad trail conditions. Rebel is like a panzer tank, he just rolls through anything in that easy amble gait of his. Aaron Mowers was riding with us on his fine Arabian and half way through the first lap, he disappeared in a gallop. I declined to go with him.

    Michelle and I kept a steady pace in the mud and slop. Kate is such a little sweet heart. Sometimes I think she is part golden retriever. She usually comes to me from the mare heard when I call her name. By mile 3, an Arabian mount with the co race director had caught up to us. For the next 2 miles we traded the lead between the 3 of us. At about the 5 mile spot, the Arabian took off in a relatively dry area in a gallop. I told Michelle to let him go. It was going to be a long day and if I have learned one thing from this, it is that you ride according to your game plan, not some one else’s game plan. We used our tools and went down to a walk with 1200 meters to the first vet check and then got off and walked the last 400 meters. We both dropped to 64 heart rate within a very short time and went back to the trailer for a bit of rest.

    We learned that we were still 2nd and 3rd as we left for the 2nd 15 mile loop and that we were around 10 minutes off the leader. Apparently, galloping had earned him ten minutes. To me, it was not an acceptable risk to my horses. We rode carefully on heart rate for the second 15 mile loop. It is difficult to keep two eyes on the trail in front and a third eye on the trail behind for on coming Arabians but we did our best. We finished with all shoes still attached and pulsed down fine. Big Rebel pulsed down 1 minute faster than little Kate so we were 2nd and 3rd. The surprising thing is we were only 3 minutes off the leader at the end of the 30 miles. It seems the galloping Arabian had found a mud bog and gone into it. The only thing not covered with mud between the horse and rider was the top of the riders helmet. We had had a wonderful day. Rebel just keeps getting better and better with less training than both Kate and my main horse Blue’s. I, and everyone that knows the horse, is very pleasantly surprised.

    Day Two

    Sunday was a sloppy day, but thankfully, it brought no more rain. My darling wife, Sandy. saddled up her big mare MFT Lady for the 30 mile LD. Lady is our most beautiful horse and we have her look alike daughter at home in the pasture. Someone will fall in love with the daughter whose name is Savannah. I got up on my “best horse” Blues for the 50 ride. People had bailed from the 50 like rats from a ship after the horrible trail conditions of the day before. Now, the mud was churned to say the least. Only Blues and one other horse answered the call to the start for the 50. From my perspective, you can only ride against those who step up and I never apologize for a small field of opponents. Since I have now done the course numerous times over 4 years, the race director asked me to keep the other young woman with me through the first 5 miles. She was a wonderful rider on a warm blood. After the first 5miles I sped up and she let us go.

    After another mile of rolling along in an easy rack in the mud, I came across some of the LD riders who had started their event after the 50 started. After the first 5 miles, we were on the same course. As I passed three Ld riders, I asked if any of them wanted to go with me and told them what pace we were going. It helps a horse enormously in this to have a buddy. The effect is
    most noticeable after 30 miles when there is a drop in energy. One of riders asked me if she could hop on behind us and I assured her that I would not have asked if I had not meant it.

    Her horse was a quick Arabian and she matched our pace perfectly. We rolled into the first vet check and Blues was in the lead in the 50 and she was in 3rd place in the 30 mile LD. When I went to the trailer I learned that Sandy and Lady were in 2nd place in the Ld as they were still at the trailer. I told Sandy I was coming after her so that we could ride together. She was only 6 minutes ahead on her start time and I knew Blues could easily make that up. As I waited at the start line, it occurred to me that if I ran Sandy and Lady down I would be taking Sandy’s competition to her. I decided quietly to myself that it was time to be a team player and pull my pace back to no faster than what I could figure Sandy and Lady’s pace to be. That worked perfectly. I brought Blues in easy to the 2nd vet check and the Arabian rider was thrilled with her finish and her 3rd place award. Sandy chided me at my last hold for not catching her and Lady as I had promised. When I said, “did you want me to bring your competition to you?”, her eyes got big and she thanked me.

    Meanwhile Blues was still in the lead of the 50 and we had one more 15 mile mud lap to go. I searched with straining eyes to pick out the mud bogs and find ways to cut around the deepest spots in the creak crossings. Blues was still game and could sense we were closing in on the finish. We took two breaks to munch some grass and Blues liked that very much. With one mile to go The grass eating really seems to help with the gut sounds during the vet check. With one mile to go, Blues had a bobble in his gait on his front end. I immediately pulled him over and jumped down. He had thrown a shoe in the mud. With one mile to go and in the lead, our race was now in jeopardy. I had bought new boots for Blues just in case, and of course, had one with me. I scraped mud off his hoof and got it on. Some trail riders came up and watched me and offered to help. I knew that Blues flat feet could have been bruised by anything in the mud when the shoe came off and knew we were now walking a fine line. I needed to get him in over the last mile very gingerly and get him to the finish line immediately before he had time to develop any soreness in case he had bruised his heal. Any signs of soreness would disqualify him and that would be heart wrenching. On the other hand I definitely want to hurry in any way over the last mile and risk bruising him further or having another shoe pulled off. I only had the one boot with me.

    We finished still in the lead by about 30 minutes and he passed the “trot out”. We went back to the trailer and waited the hour for the BC trot out. Blue’s scores were excellent all day and with the time lead and the fact that I was heavier than the second place rider, I knew we should take BC unless Blues favored the hoof with the thrown shoe.
    We did the trot out with the boot and Blues favored the boot a slight bit. I took the boot off and he favored the shoeless front hoof. I congratulated the second place rider for her BC and meant it.
    It was something to manage a horse for 50 miles in these conditions. Blues had finished first in gotten his 5th 50 mile completion. He only needed one more to qualify for the National Endurance Championships as the qualifications are that the horse and rider need 300 miles of non LD completions together. His time was good enough that he would have won the 50 race on either day of the ride.

    It was a very, very good day.

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    Cave Country Canter – Nov 2008

    Posted on November 29, 2008 by Keith Kibler

    Cave Country Canter
    Nov 2008

    One more chance to get the last ride of the season in before the weather really turned. Southern Indiana didn’t seem to far away. Wait a minute, the ride was on a Friday and Saturday instead of a weekend. Time to scramble with my work schedule and get 2 cases continued.

    Sandy agreed to go which is great but on reading the application carefully, I noticed the phrase “primitive camping”. I wonder what that means? Should I tell her or feign surprise?

    I told her and she bailed on the trip.

    Which horses to take? Blues can always use the work but I do not think he is ready for a very rocky 55 miler. I do not want to risk him being pulled, maybe the 30 mile ride would be a change of pace for him and provide some endurance work at the same time. The new mare Cheyenne is not ready yet, still working on Niki’s brain in high stress groups so I don’t want to take her. Rebel could absolutely blast the course and his record at this distance has been perfect and no less than 4rth place. But he does not really need the work and with some work he is ready to step up to 50 miles. Since he has been perfect, I hate to risk his streak without a good reason.

    I could take either of Sandy’s mares. Wait a minute, if she does not want to go why would I take her mares for three days? That leaves my sweet heart 4 ½ year old twh mare Kate. I love that horse. She has the personality of a golden retriever. She comes when I call her and will follow me around with out a lead rope. She has had one race and she finished 2nd at the same 30 mile distance. However, Sandy had pulled her rear shoes 2 weeks ago to save a dollar and she was rough as a cob and I feared that 2 years of gait training had evaporated over saving $25. I had rear shoes put on her and worked her three days in a row. Her gait seemed to come back.

    RideCamp

    Too bad I have to work a day job, but unfortunately, this horse business does not pay the bills.

    That means it is another race where I get to the ridecamp after dark and by myself except for the horses. By the time I find a campsite, get the rig set up, unpack the gear and the horses and set up the electric coral I am looking at just a few hours sleep before the alarm goes off for pre race feeding. It also means I have to vet in pre dawn and right before the race. I never look forward to vetting in our horses. It is not that they are a problem. It is just that they do not “trot out” for the “trot out”.

    As I walked Kate over for the pre race vet check in the pre dawn, I see that it is a vet that has not been what I thought was encouraging of the fact that we are campaigning gaited horses in this sport. I felt my blood pressure raising. He recognized me. Not a good sign I thought. He was grim during the Kate’s vet check. I tried to make small talk. He was having none of it. Now comes the dreaded non trotting “trot out”. On a fairly loose lead rope off we went. Kate shuffled along in a running walk. As we came back to the vet, I heard the other vet, who was the head vet say loudly, “that is a perfect gait!” It seems the head vet was from Tenn and owned a walking horse! “A’s” on the trot out. O happy days!

    The Trail is Open

    Why do they use that phrase? Is there something wrong with “Go?” Off we went for a rocky and hilly 30 miles. I went to last place, as the last thing I wanted was to be pulled on my little Kate. The woman in front of me was named Beth Ann and she was on a beautiful black roan Arab/Andalusion cross. I complemented her on her horse and she told me she thought the horse was less than a beauty. I told her three times how good looking the boy was but we did not seem to agree on the subject. The two leaders rode off like wild Indians. I quickly lost all sight of them from the back of the pack. Our group of 6 riders were all woman riders on Arabians except for little Kate and yours truly. Would she find her gait, or was I for 30 miles of pacing. I hate pacing.

    My gaited training buddy Rick had told me to pull her if she started pacing.

    No pacing yet and the little 8-9 mph rack was just right. However the lady Arabian riders didn’t seem to stay at that speed. They would slow up hill and through rocks, slow down hill and then speed up on the flats. I watched Kate’s heart rate on my wrist monitor and she was barely at operating speed. I soon figured out that most of these riders did not live or train on this kind of terrain nor on these kind of hills. Kate trains in the Shawnee. It was time to go.

    We got an opening and I whispered to Beth Ann, “Come with me, let’s go!” She whirled her black roan behind us and I asked Kate for her rack. She ablidged in that perfect 4 beat way of a gaited horse when all cylinders are firing.

    Beth admitted it was her first race. Now I had a reason for being there and we quickly became friends. We spent the first 15 mile loop discussing heart rate , strategy and life. We brought the horses in the last 600 yards before camp in a walk and then dismounted and walked the last 250 yards beside them. Kate made the 64 heart rate in under a minute. Beth Ann and I were in 3rd and 4rth place.

    Another vet check with the vet that is not what I would call “my greatest encourager”. He thinks he saw a problem with the rear end of Kate as she is not trotting during my trot out. Why couldn’t I have had the vet with the walking horse at home? He gives Kate a “C” for her “trot”.

    I think, “go to my happy place”, and put food and electrolytes down my little Kate’s pie hole.

    The hold was 50 minutes and I look up and see Beth Ann with her pretty black roan several minutes early. It seems he had grown attached to Kate already and wanted to be with her. Hey, everybody loves sweet Kate. Well, everybody but the one vet and my wife. It seems Sandy still holds a bit of a grudge about a little incident concerning Kate knocking Sandy to the ground during a shoeing incident. Why can’t we all just get along?

    Our “trail is open” again. Boy, that phrase sure makes me feel funny. Somehow, it makes me feel out of place when I hear that.

    Having a GPS wrist unit and a wireless heart rate monitor is so handy. I can watch the horse, the course and my speed. I just have to remember to watch the trail, other horses and limbs. As we wind along and I realize that we have 3rd and 4rth places sowed up as long as we don’t have a disaster, I sense Beth Ann start to get nervous. She is having the time of life but then she looses an easy boot. She is riding with easy boots on the front and no shoes on the back. She is also doing one heck of a lot of posting. The trot is smooth but it is still a trot. She decides to tie the easy boot to her saddle and finish with one front boot on and bare on three hoofs. This concerns me but all I can do is slow down a little and try and help her watch her horse. Her horse has not wanted to lead much on this loop and Kate is perky and ready so little Kate is pulling this train into finish line. I ride with one eye behind us looking for the pack of Arabians on our tails and one eye on my monitors. All systems are go and we walk in again as per the first loop. Kate comes down to 60 heart rate just behind the black roan and we are 4rth. I have the tenn vet for the finish line vet check and get all “A’s”. He did not even notice what ever the first vet thought was a problem with Kate’s way of going in the rear end during the previous vet check.

    Beth Ann gets 3rd at her first event and has a permanent smile to show for it. She has a life changing kind of experience and the AERC gets a great member. I get a new friend and a hug. Life is good!

    The Trail Is Open Again

    The next day is Blues turn for a 30 mile event. It is his first Limited Distance ride as he has only done 50’s. Ten of us hear that the “trail is open” and off we go. I give Blues his head, watch his heart rate and the speed and go to the lead pack. No reason to stay towards the back with the Blues man. The trail is covered with leaves and rocky. I do not know the course. The steward has done a good job of marking turns with ribbons but some had been mischievously taken down from part of the course the day before. I slip in behind the lead horse which is a sorrel Arabian with a huge motor and ridden by a young man of about 30. He is flying at 13-14 mph . Blues and I can handle the speed but I became concerned for the way we are flying through some of the rocky sections. I decide that the risk to my beloved Blues is not worth the risk of hoof problems. We slow down and let the sorrel go.

    I am unsure of the course and wait for the next rider. She is a lovely woman who is in her 18th year of AERC events by the name of Becky. We quickly become friends. Blues likes to lead and can do it at whatever speed I ask him for. Beck admits that she is now engaged in the fastest ride of her life. We cruise into camp 25 minutes ahead of our nearest competitors and Blues is below 64 as we hit the vet check. Did I mention how much I love this horse? We spent most of that hilly and rocky course averaging about 10 mph and he hits the line below 64 heart rate!

    I know we just have to continue what we are doing. Becky is in hog heaven. She is singing. She is riding with no hands and holding her arms out as though she is flying. In fact, she is flying. She asks me not to go over 12 mph as it requires her Arabian to “hand gallop”. I said “sure but the heck is a hand gallop.” She says it is another word for canter.

    Learn something new all the time at this sport.

    With one eye behind for the riders behind us, I watch Blues for signs of trouble. He has none. This horse is magnificent. We walk into the finish line and his heart rate is 54 as we come though the line. Becky and I tie for 2nd and I am thrilled for it. She gives me a big hug and tells me it was the fastest and one of the best rides of her career. Way to go Blues!

    Time to pack them up, give them treats and start planning for next season. Along the way, I will be extremely grateful for our blessings and this season.

    The 2008 season was 14 starts for our horses, 12 completions, 9 top ten finishes and the sponsorship of a jr and a grandma. Rebel actually took a BC. Bu,t the best thing is all the new friends we made . Dare to dream and take someone with you!

    Keith
    Shawnee Sunrise Farm
    Gaited Endurance and adventuring!

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