THIS WEEK'S CURRENT NEWS

Jeff Stuart and DWA Malik Win Heavyweight Title at AERC National Championship 50

DWA Arabians, in Bellevue, Idaho, want to congratulate Jeff Stuart and DWA Malik, who finished 11th in the 50-mile AERC National Championship in Ashland, Montana at Fort Howes on June 13. They were first Heavyweight, finishing in a ride time of 5:10.

14-year-old DWA Malik (Monarch AH X DWA Croix Blanche by Ala Croixnoire) was bred by Robert "Archie" Bouttier’s DWA Arabians.

There are a number of Monarch AH offspring out in the endurance world. One well known endurance horse is Karen Donley's Royal Patron, a Monarch AH son, who won the Tevis in 2016 and finished in the Top Ten 4 other times. He has started and completed 7 100 mile rides.

Susan Summer's Mags Motivator is a Monarch AH son who won 15 rides and finished 11 100 mile rides, including the 2013 AERC National Championship where he won the BC and placed 3rd.

Archie bred four Monarch AH sons with frozen semen. DWA Malik (2007) was the first, DWA Papillon (2011) was the second, DWA Amir (2012) was the third, and DWA Superman (2013) was the fourth.

DWA Malik has compiled 24 of 31 rides, most carrying Heavyweight Jeff Stuart.

DWA Papillon has been a stallion and he has sired 12 offspring so far. Look for them in the near future in endurance rides.

DWA Amir's owner lives in California and he is learning to be a mounted archery horse.

DWA Superman was purchased by Robert and Melissa Ribley when he was three years old and is just beginning his endurance career with them.

Malik's dam, DWA Croix Blanche, is by Ala Croixnoire and was one of Archie's best racehorses. French Open, who won Tevis in 2014, also has a dam who was sired by Ala Croixnoire.

top photo: Jeff Stuart and DWA Malik at City of Rocks, photo by Merri Melde

Tevis Cup: Enter by July 5 and Save!

ENTRIES ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED to the 2021 Tevis Ride

. . . it's not too late to go for a buckle!

Entries arriving in the office after July 5, will be subject to a late entry fee of $100.

That date will be here sooner than we can imagine, so enter now!

Click here:
http://teviscup.org/2021-Tevis-Entry?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=Enter_the_Ride_by_July_5_and_save!&utm_medium=email

Two Weeks: Two Endurance Championships for the Reynolds, Abroad and At Home

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
June 22 2021

The World Endurance Championship in Pisa, Italy, on May 22, was a total bust: the USA Team withdrew before the ride when one of the Team horses came down with a fever. 

Heather and Jeremy Reynolds were crushed, because they knew their Arabian mare Treasured Moments (DA Adios X Hidden Treasure, by RD Five Star) had a big performance in her. But bad luck turned into good luck, as Jeremy and Treasure (along with his teammates Holly Corcoran and Poete, and Cheryl Van Deusen and Hoover the Mover) were invited to participate in the May 29th 160-km Isola della Scala, the Italian Championship, and pre-ride for the 2022 World Endurance Championship.

And though they couldn’t technically be crowned the Italian Champions, since they are from the USA, Jeremy and Treasure, an 11-year-old mare bred by CreRun Farm, stormed home the winners. Jeremy was understandably quite emotional after the win, particularly after missing the previous weekend’s World Championship. 

“This horse is something special. It’s just that her easy way of going is just so fast and so effortless,” Jeremy says. “She’s in a rope halter from the start, she doesn’t stress about anything. She’s just a dream to be around. She’s just so special to me.”

Not one to rest on their laurels, 3 days after arriving home in Florida, unpacking, repacking, and Jeremy shoeing their 24 horses, the Reynolds were in their horse van with a load of 6 horses, 3 dogs and a cat (“the traveling circus” Heather calls it) headed for the AERC National Championships at Fort Howes in Montana...

Read the rest at:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2021AERCNC/

Alex Shampoe and Fine Cut Gold Win AERC Young Riders Championship

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
June 19 2021

The finale of the AERC National Championships at Fort Howes near Ashland, Montana, showcased the AERC Young Riders in a 75-mile National Championship on June 14.

Of the 13 starters, 19-year-old Alex Shampoe, of Colorado Springs, and Fine Cut Gold (aka “Cut”) crossed the finish line first in 9 hours, an hour ahead of second place Kimberly Loutzenheiser and Shahqeem. Fine Cut Gold also got Best Condition and High Vet Score. The 10-year-old is a purebred Arabian mare with French lines who probably raced on the track, by Thoroughbred X Cashmeire, by Calin de Louve.

The win wouldn’t be a surprise to anybody who’s spent any time around Alex. Besides her excellent horsemanship and her self-effacing manner, most impressive is her AERC endurance record. In her 7 seasons and close to 3000 miles of AERC endurance, while she’s only owned 1 endurance horse (“He’s been retired, because he likes to hurt himself”), she’s ridden 52 different endurance horses for many different owners. One would have to be a good rider to be able to successfully handle so many different horses.  

Fine Cut Gold, owned by Valerie Kanavy, and Alex have been getting acquainted the last 8 months at Kanavy’s farms in Florida and Virginia, and Alex now works for Valerie. “I do a lot of FEI,” Alex said, “and last winter I asked Val if I could come ride some of her horses, because she’s got really nice horses!

“So I rode for her for a couple months, then in January we decided that I would try for the USA Young Rider World Championships in the Netherlands in September.

“We were thinking about our options as far as our horses go, and Cut was one of those options. So I rode her in January on a 75 [at Broxton Bridge, 2nd place], and then in February on a 75 [at FITS, 1st place], and then in May on a 75 [at Let’s Have Fun, 1st place], then this Championship 75.”

Read more at
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2021AERCNC/

2021 AERC National Championship ride photos in Montana by Becky Pearman

Fifty Miles at Hesperia? An Academic Experience (on an Icelandic!)

by Christine Stewart Marks

Well, we’re back. I know you’ve been wanting to hear about the ride in Michigan, so I’ll give you the result and then a rather long recap in which I wax philosophical.

(That way, you can skip the long recap if you want to, y’know?)

“Ahem!”

Only three riders started the 50 mile. Only two completed. The third one was me. OK, now you can skip the recap.

Recap:

--It is a long drive up there. We took nine hours from our 4am start at home to arriving in Hesperia. The good news is that we got there in time to rest and had gotten far enough north to avoid the dismal tropical weather plaguing Indiana before the real heat of the day. The bad news is that we were both tired, and never seemed to get caught up. I had not slept at all the night before (unsurprising), so I started in a bit of an energy hole. Naturally, I didn’t sleep that night, either. Too much going on.

--Thokkadis vetted in fine, and it was cooler up there than it had been, but the humidity was still hanging around. By the time I got up to feed her at 4am it was foggy (sigh). I noted at the time that she had not consumed as much water overnight as I had hoped, especially since she had been pre-loaded with electrolytes. I knew there was water available on the course, so, undaunted, we started at 6am. The two other riders were both determined to set speed records, at least to begin with, and bounced away on their tall, leggy Arabs, rarely to be glimpsed again. So Thokkadis was basically doing the ride by herself, which makes it a bit hard to stay motivated. At least, that was what I thought. So we tore through the first 2/3 of the first loop, slowing down for the deep sand, which was deeper than I remembered it. Of course, they have been having a drought in Hesperia, and dry sand gets deep fast. So we averaged a comfy 6mph for much of the first loop. Then she started to lose her motivation. She did not drink at any water stop, and I have learned that if she is thirsty, she will drink. If not, you can stand around and encourage her until you get thirsty yourself, to no avail.

Hmmmph. We came in at about 5.5mph, which is still ok. But then I messed around trying to take care of her. I cooled her down, walked her in to an immediate pulse down, but her guts were really quiet. This is not like Thokkadis, and I worried. “Take her back and feed her,” said Maureen (the friendly vet). I did. Gave her another wet mash and plenty of grass to graze. Apples. Electrolytes. Stuff. Did she drink? Nope. Her attitude was “Okay” but not as good as usual. I returned to the vet and asked for evaluation. Gut sounds were better, but still a B-minus. “Go on back out—it’s early yet” was the vet’s advice. So, resolving to slow down and let her gut catch up with the rest of her, I left 15 minutes late, having hung around in hopes that she would drink more. She trotted out of there like she meant business, so I knew she wasn’t in trouble. I meant to keep it that way…

More at:
http://stories.endurance.net/2021/06/fifty-miles-at-hesperia-academic.html

US Equestrian Announces Dates and Location for the 2021 North American Endurance Championships and USEF Endurance National Championships

by US Equestrian Communications Department | Jun 16, 2021, 2:30 PM EST

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce plans for the 2021 North American Endurance Championships (NAEC) and USEF Endurance National Championships. Both events will take place at the Broxton Bridge CEI in Ehrhardt, S.C., November 10-14.

Athletes in the USEF Endurance National Championships will compete for four titles:

• 2021 USEF Young Rider CEIYJ1* Endurance National Championship
• 2021 USEF Young Rider CEIYJ2* Endurance National Championship
• 2021 USEF Senior CEI1* Endurance National Championship
• 2021 USEF Senior CEI2* Endurance National Championship

The National Championships will run concurrently with the NAEC. The NAEC is a team competition that will be open to teams from USEF Zones, Canada, Mexico, and other nations in FEI Regional Group IV.

More at:
http://tracks.endurance.net/2021/06/us-equestrian-announces-dates-and.html

Meet My Endurance Horse: Sizedoesntmatter

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Sizedoesntmatter, aka “Dakar”
15-year-old Arabian gelding
owned by Gwen Hall

• 2605 AERC miles • 3 Top Ten Tevis finishes (4th in 2014, 2nd in 2015, and 8th in 2019)
• 2017 AERC National Championship 100 in Colorado

• USA team starters for the 2018 World Equestrian Games Endurance Championship in Tryon North Carolina
• AERC Decade Team.
• 2021 AERC National Championship 100 in Montana

Some 11 years ago Gwen Hall was looking for a horse to buy for endurance, though she hadn’t sat on a horse in 20 years. “I was that typical middle-aged female-getting-back-into-horses kind of thing,” Gwen says. “I was a former ultra-marathoner, and I’ve been through 2 knee arthroscopies, and various other things, so I knew my time with that was probably done. And I’d heard about Tevis, because of the Western States Run, and thought that looked really cool.”

Joanne Pavlis helped Gwen get back into riding, and then took her to Arapahoe racetrack in Colorado to look at Arabians. Gwen walked into the stall of the gray 4-year-old Sizedoesntmatter, and that was pretty much that. “He was just so calm and we just clicked. So I brought him home, and we haven’t looked back….”

Read more here:
https://meetmyendurancehorse.blogspot.com/2021/06/meet-my-endurance-horse-sizedoesntmatter.html

Virtual Tevis 2020 Unites the Endurance World

The COVID-19 pandemic stalled many 2020 equine events, include the 100-mile Tevis Cup endurance ride. However, riders around the world supported the Tevis trail foundation and created a new tradition by completing the inaugural Virtual Tevis.

Posted by Marsha Hayes | Jun 17, 2021

In April 2020—early during the COVID-19 pandemic—the Western States Trail Foundation Board of Governors (BOG) met via Zoom to decide the fate of its Tevis 100-mile endurance event across the Sierra Nevada Mountains from near Lake Tahoe to Auburn, California. “Things were just too up in the air with COVID,” explained board member Abigail Madden. With riders from across the country and the world making plans, the board voted to cancel the ride.

Maintaining the trail has always been a financial struggle, so fellow board member Crysta Turnage suggested hosting a “Virtual Tevis” to raise trail funds. In honor of Tevis, participants would log 100 miles of movement over several months (initially 100 miles in 100 days, but unprecedented forest fires in the West caused the committee to extend the deadline). When the virtual dust settled, 1,639 participants signed up, including 1,373 riders and 266 who chose to walk, bike, swim, or otherwise move themselves 100 miles in 100 days. Seventy-seven percent completed the 100 miles. The event raised more than $80,000 and united people from around the world...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/1100905/virtual-tevis-2020-unites-the-endurance-world/

2021 Wild West Pioneer Endurance ride photos in California by Alicia Berardi

2021 Old Dominion Endurance ride photos in Virginia by Jessica Jones

Gwen Hall and Sizedoesntmatter are Victors in One Tough AERC National Championship 100

"This was the hardest 100 I have ever ridden."

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
June 17 2021

Gwen Hall, of Woodland Park, Colorado, and the 15-year-old Arabian gelding Sizedoesntmatter (“Dakar”) already had an impressive resume before tackling this year’s AERC National Championship 100-mile ride outside of Ashland, Montana at Fort Howes on June 7: three Top Ten finishes in the Tevis Cup (4th in 2014, 2nd in 2015, and 8th in 2019); a first place in the 2017 AERC National Championship 100 in Colorado; USA team starters for the 2018 World Equestrian Games Endurance Championship in Tryon North Carolina; AERC Decade Team.

They’d won the Fort Howes 75-miler in 2017, and finished 2nd on the 100 in 2019, so they were familiar with the usual course; but this year things were different. Ride manager Jan Stevens had to change some of the regular loops, and, the weather was hot.

The 50-mile Championship, run on Thursday, June 11, was pleasant, but a heat wave hit for Saturday’s ride. Described by several riders as ”HOT" and "a brutal heat wave" and “absolutely brutal” and "incredibly hot" and "extreme heat," the weather conditions were a big contribution to the high pull rate (of 44 starters in the Championship 100, only 13 finished).

While the heat did have some effect on Dakar, Gwen and her gelding still won by almost 1 1/4 hours, in a total ride time of 13:14. Coincidentally, Hannah Johnson and Kourageus Hope (“Stuart”) finished second, just as they did to Gwen and Dakar in the 2017 Colorado Championship.

“It was a tough ride, not the flat and fast course that I think a lot of us had done in that race before,” Gwen said. “There was a lot of technicality to it.”

While 7 of the 13 finishers were from the Southeast and were used to heat and humidity, living at 8500 feet in Colorado was likely a bonus for Dakar, even though Gwen was concerned for him. They’d had no heat acclimation/training - they had frost on the ground at home as recently as 10 days before the race.

Read the rest at
http://tracks.endurance.net/2021/06/gwen-hall-and-sizedoesntmatter-are.html

Enter the AHA Distance Nationals in September in Tennessee

The Distance Horse National Championships is the overhead titled event, hosted by AHA, which includes partnered Breed National Championships along with Big South Fork Open Rides. Our partnered breeds are the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC), Paso Fino Horse Association (PFHA), Performance Shagya-Arabian Registry (PShR), American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA), Akhal-Teke Association of America (ATAA) and the American Saddlebred Registry.

Along with the Breed National Championships we also offer an Open Big South Fork AHA recognized Competitive Trail Ride (CTR) and three Open Big South Fork Limited Distance (LD) & 50 Mile Rides and an 100 Mile Ride. This year all endurance Open Big South Fork Rides will be sanctioned by the Arabian Horse Association (AHA), the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) and Southeast Endurance Riders Association (SERA). The Distance Horse National Championships also offer an LD Challenge which is for the same horse/rider combination entered in all three Open LD Rides; rules and points schedule can be found under the Rider Information tab. All Big South Fork Rides are open to all equine and have not qualification or membership requirements!">

For more information and to enter, see:
https://www.arabianhorses.org/competition/national-events/distance-nationals/exhibitor/

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