Thursday, September 11, 2008

Hot for trotting

Sacbee.com - Video and Full Article

Teams of three - two runners, one horse - compete for glory in the endurance sport called ride and tie
By Sam McManis - smcmanis@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 11, 2008

COOL – Lore has it that ride and tie, an obscure three-way equine-human endurance sport, has a lawless, unpredictable, Wild West ethos. Anything can happen, they tell us city slickers, when two runners and a horse traverse rough terrain for a near-marathon distance.

But, heck, last Saturday's The Coolest Run and Ride and Tie at Olmstead Trail in this baja-Auburn burg seems downright tame and civilized.

Until the start, that is.

Off the teams – one runner on foot, the other on horseback – go in a cloud of dust. The rules and objectives are simple. Two humans trade off running and riding, tying the horse to trees, fences, bushes, anything handy, so the partner can untie, mount and take off. First team to cross together wins.

But when that initial dust cloud clears, not even a half-mile down the path, the first incident in this wild and woolly, not to mention wildly entertaining, event comes to pass.

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