BHPioneer.com - Full Article
April 21, 2016 11:30 am
By Jason Gross Black Hills Pioneer
SPEARFISH — “Horse racing” conjures up images of a flat, oval track where the sprinting action ends in about 2 minutes. Spearfish physician Kerry Greear specializes in 25- to 250-mile horse races across all types of terrain; times are measured in hours, and the pace is considerably slower.
Greear sought a challenge in 2003 because she was going to turn 50, and her youngest child was set to graduate from high school two years later.
While in Steamboat Springs, Colo., she saw a book called “The Tevis Cup.” One of the photos in this book about a 100-mile horse race featured a horse-bound woman going practically straight up a rock.
This intrigued Greear, who read the entire book. “This is what I’m going to challenge myself to do,” she recalled.
Greear entered her first event in June 2004 in Montana. She placed eighth in the 50-mile ride...
Read more here:
http://www.bhpioneer.com/local_sports/article_71b0fae6-07d5-11e6-92a5-f3f37bb2e8e4.html
Friday, April 22, 2016
The 2016 Houston Flood Story - Darolyn Butler
April 19 2016 FLOOD STORY
Endurance Friends & Family, (written by Russell Betts as told to him on the phone)
As many of you have heard there was a catastrophic flood in the Houston area. After 42 years of living on Cypress Creek, one feels you sort of know it. The weather had predicted 4 to possibly 9 inches per day, possibly for 3 days. Darolyn always watches the weather carefully as our rainy weather hampers the daily trail ride business. She was aware that Monday and Tuesday could be wet She knows when to initially prepare, tying lawn furniture down, picking up loose buckets, water troughs, etc. Get all vehicles off property and up on higher frontage road. Next get halters on horses, next move horses to high South side of the property. If the water keeps coming up, they even know when they have about 30 min. to get the last vehicle out, before the low spot in the road prevents going out. 45 Trillion gallons of water fell from the sky that nite. Almost all of it 10, to 40 miles west of us on the Cypress Creek Watershed. We only had 10 inches here, which we could normally handle, but couple that with the 15-17 inches back west, and the Flood gates being conservatively open on downstream rivers…. What happened is the fastest rising flood water that Harris County has ever experienced. Thus the 8 human deaths and probably more when all the water goes down. They are still boating in to CT after 4 days. Below is a fairly succinct outline of April 18.
Cypress Trails does have plans for the evacuation of horses. In 2015 there were 2 evacuations which took place, which in the end were not required after all. Evac is discussed with staff on a regular basis.
Mon 18th April.
12 am to 2am - Darolyn had been regularly checking the internet flood gauges and rainfall sites from midnight onwards. Up until 2am everything was still ok with the levels the river was at about 55'. 12 ft. Over normal.
3am - 4" of rain fell here, the river incredibly rose to about 62' at this point, I had to make a quick decision if I was going to move horses or vehicles. I chose horses
3:30 AM The horses were moved out of the Arena Paddock to stalls in the House/Barn, & North pasture closest to the creek, to House/Barn (higher ground). Horses had just been through this terrific storm, and skittish. So Darolyn saddled up and rode into N. pasture to collect the horses. They followed her into the barn like lambs, but when they were being collected with halters, the horses spooked and broke out of the barn. Running into the flood water on the south side, the strong current scattered the herd. Several horses ran into the Arena, got tangled in the cable fencing as the current pushed them into it.
Realize we had walked easily around this arena about 20 min. before catching the horses that lived there. Now it was a struggle to walk in it. These are some of the horses later seen on the TV. Darolyn and an employee, Hoku, swam to the Arena to rescue horses, but they were only just able to swim there. Hoku, sitting on a fence, held the horse, Amber's head above water until the water got a foot higher and she was able to disentangle herself from the fencing she had gotten in. She is fine. Neither of us could buck the current to get back to the Barn/House. They had on T-shirts and gym shorts… 2.5 hours sitting in cold flood water that, as it grew higher was trying to tug our cloths off. Talk about DijaVu. This was almost exactly the same place Darolyn was back in 2001 when she swam in to save a couple of horses left at the house when they were at the TETRA convention.
5 am – to the west, upon the Cypress Creek watershed, 13 to 17"s had fallen. Another 4"s fell , the river now at 65' (nearly 2' above the river bank). My house which is on pilings, was ok, but water was rising in the stalls and tack rooms. The law enforcement arrived with rescue boats, their priority was to rescue people and not horses. Darolyn and Hoku were rescued from the Arena about 8 am, where they had been stuck after swimming there 2.5 hours earlier. The TV pictures of horses stuck in the floods now came from around this time. No horses were tied to any fences or poles but some horses were entangled in cable fences now underwater. (All but one got out.) There was no barbwire as stated in some account.
7 AM There were no horses in the single story barn which can be seen with just its roof above the water in the news coverage. All these horses had evacuated themselves early on. Confusion on this occurred because there is what is call a "barn" under Darolyn's house,
11am - the river now 6' above its banks, volunteers now start to help rescue horses from the south pastures (which was the high ground) of the flooded Cypress Trails. Justin Nelzen, Devan Horn, Mark Jensen and many others contributed to heroic rescues throughout the day as they snagged horses out of the currents and got them to safety. Still a fairly large herd on the edge of the South pasture. Fairly restless, and testing the current they moved around quite a bit.
2: PM Kelly, Matt, and Cody in chest deep water, and Darolyn in a boat, pushed the horses to the west off the property, where Corrie Patrick, Tracy Taylor, and Krista Mohn picked up the 20 plus horses and pushed them through nearby woods to the neighbors. Unfortunately a groupe of 6 or 7 horses broke away from being almost contained at the neighbors ranch and returned to the farm. When they reached their home trails and made their way to the house/barn, two split off for the evacuation area on the frontage road and were caught, two headed toward the barn, and two ended up getting swept into the creek. Almost to safety, Jolly Roger, one of the barn direction horses failed to go in the barn and, he too, was swept in the creek when he got too near the edge. Devan Horn ended up seeing him caught in bank brush and went in the creek and guided him to safety. The other two are two of the missing ones. Btw air boats are barely strong enough to negotiate the worst current. The motor boast had to stay well clear of the current between the arena and the house.
4 PM Later in the day the final 12-14 horses in the house/barn were swum to safety with the aid of a power boat and rider for guiding. All horses were guided to the South pasture edge where the water was shallow enough for them to walk, and then to the access road and a waiting trailer.
The massive amounts of rain in the west water shed (12"-17") contributed to the rapid rise in the river level, as well as water released from the Conroe dam prior to this event, There have only been 2 horses lost to flooding at Cypress Trails back in 2001, 15 yrs ago. No horses were tied up and left in the flood water to drown. This reporting was probably due to the sight of horses tangled in fencing and unable to move.
As of posting there is 1 27 yr old mare that is known to have died, having got trapped in the cable fencing, and 4 other horses are currently being actively searched for. The remainder of the horses were moved to evacuation pastures near the George Bush Airport on Tuesday, and onto friend’s ranches after a brief respite at my neighbor’s ranch.
The dramatic videos of horses lurching in the water was them hitting fence lines that an observer could not see. Brave people were bucking law enforcement to make these rescues. Darolyn was threatened with arrest at least 20 times for any participation in the water. Everything would have gone much smoother, and quicker if the sheriffs had just backed off a bit.
6 PM Apr 18 The river level is still at about 5’ above the banks and access to the ranch house is by boat only. AND there are two ponies on the upper deck of Darolyn's house being fed regularly, along with 5 dogs of Darolyn’s and 3 of friends.
All horses are in safe and comfortable facilities. Any horses requiring doctoring or meds are either at the vets, or in a facility next door to the vet for observation. One horse was hospitalized due to a pastern puncture.
April 20 5 AM The creek went back up another foot and hopefully this will be the end to the crest as at this time, we had only lost one small employee car, and one old farm truck, But no… at around 1 PM the Creek went up to 70 feet, and all the vehicles and 5 trailers drown including the L.Q.
Darolyn wishes to thank everyone for all their help and support, if you watch any of the videos you will understand why. There was a huge crowd of friends and strangers.
Russell Betts for Cypress Trails.
Btw... Will avoid another long story here, but there are really nasty people that are spreading incredible lies and exaggerations... Like “Darolyn was eating doughnuts while her horses drown”, in actuality, she had one as she came off the boat from being rescued from the 2.5 hour sit in the water. That was her meal for the day. They are launching a petition to take her down, based on many falsehoods of the day. If you care too, read the nice stuff on her FB… oh but wait, the “Haters” have even commandeered the FB. They have created 3-4 other FBs in my Cypress Trails name and are plastering the negative stuff. So not even sure you can get up on the right one. Hopefully you have as much information as you need. Call or e me other questions if you like. Thanks in advance for your support, and thanks to everyone that helped on the rescue operation.
Darolyn Butler
Endurance Friends & Family, (written by Russell Betts as told to him on the phone)
As many of you have heard there was a catastrophic flood in the Houston area. After 42 years of living on Cypress Creek, one feels you sort of know it. The weather had predicted 4 to possibly 9 inches per day, possibly for 3 days. Darolyn always watches the weather carefully as our rainy weather hampers the daily trail ride business. She was aware that Monday and Tuesday could be wet She knows when to initially prepare, tying lawn furniture down, picking up loose buckets, water troughs, etc. Get all vehicles off property and up on higher frontage road. Next get halters on horses, next move horses to high South side of the property. If the water keeps coming up, they even know when they have about 30 min. to get the last vehicle out, before the low spot in the road prevents going out. 45 Trillion gallons of water fell from the sky that nite. Almost all of it 10, to 40 miles west of us on the Cypress Creek Watershed. We only had 10 inches here, which we could normally handle, but couple that with the 15-17 inches back west, and the Flood gates being conservatively open on downstream rivers…. What happened is the fastest rising flood water that Harris County has ever experienced. Thus the 8 human deaths and probably more when all the water goes down. They are still boating in to CT after 4 days. Below is a fairly succinct outline of April 18.
Cypress Trails does have plans for the evacuation of horses. In 2015 there were 2 evacuations which took place, which in the end were not required after all. Evac is discussed with staff on a regular basis.
Mon 18th April.
12 am to 2am - Darolyn had been regularly checking the internet flood gauges and rainfall sites from midnight onwards. Up until 2am everything was still ok with the levels the river was at about 55'. 12 ft. Over normal.
3am - 4" of rain fell here, the river incredibly rose to about 62' at this point, I had to make a quick decision if I was going to move horses or vehicles. I chose horses
3:30 AM The horses were moved out of the Arena Paddock to stalls in the House/Barn, & North pasture closest to the creek, to House/Barn (higher ground). Horses had just been through this terrific storm, and skittish. So Darolyn saddled up and rode into N. pasture to collect the horses. They followed her into the barn like lambs, but when they were being collected with halters, the horses spooked and broke out of the barn. Running into the flood water on the south side, the strong current scattered the herd. Several horses ran into the Arena, got tangled in the cable fencing as the current pushed them into it.
Realize we had walked easily around this arena about 20 min. before catching the horses that lived there. Now it was a struggle to walk in it. These are some of the horses later seen on the TV. Darolyn and an employee, Hoku, swam to the Arena to rescue horses, but they were only just able to swim there. Hoku, sitting on a fence, held the horse, Amber's head above water until the water got a foot higher and she was able to disentangle herself from the fencing she had gotten in. She is fine. Neither of us could buck the current to get back to the Barn/House. They had on T-shirts and gym shorts… 2.5 hours sitting in cold flood water that, as it grew higher was trying to tug our cloths off. Talk about DijaVu. This was almost exactly the same place Darolyn was back in 2001 when she swam in to save a couple of horses left at the house when they were at the TETRA convention.
5 am – to the west, upon the Cypress Creek watershed, 13 to 17"s had fallen. Another 4"s fell , the river now at 65' (nearly 2' above the river bank). My house which is on pilings, was ok, but water was rising in the stalls and tack rooms. The law enforcement arrived with rescue boats, their priority was to rescue people and not horses. Darolyn and Hoku were rescued from the Arena about 8 am, where they had been stuck after swimming there 2.5 hours earlier. The TV pictures of horses stuck in the floods now came from around this time. No horses were tied to any fences or poles but some horses were entangled in cable fences now underwater. (All but one got out.) There was no barbwire as stated in some account.
7 AM There were no horses in the single story barn which can be seen with just its roof above the water in the news coverage. All these horses had evacuated themselves early on. Confusion on this occurred because there is what is call a "barn" under Darolyn's house,
11am - the river now 6' above its banks, volunteers now start to help rescue horses from the south pastures (which was the high ground) of the flooded Cypress Trails. Justin Nelzen, Devan Horn, Mark Jensen and many others contributed to heroic rescues throughout the day as they snagged horses out of the currents and got them to safety. Still a fairly large herd on the edge of the South pasture. Fairly restless, and testing the current they moved around quite a bit.
2: PM Kelly, Matt, and Cody in chest deep water, and Darolyn in a boat, pushed the horses to the west off the property, where Corrie Patrick, Tracy Taylor, and Krista Mohn picked up the 20 plus horses and pushed them through nearby woods to the neighbors. Unfortunately a groupe of 6 or 7 horses broke away from being almost contained at the neighbors ranch and returned to the farm. When they reached their home trails and made their way to the house/barn, two split off for the evacuation area on the frontage road and were caught, two headed toward the barn, and two ended up getting swept into the creek. Almost to safety, Jolly Roger, one of the barn direction horses failed to go in the barn and, he too, was swept in the creek when he got too near the edge. Devan Horn ended up seeing him caught in bank brush and went in the creek and guided him to safety. The other two are two of the missing ones. Btw air boats are barely strong enough to negotiate the worst current. The motor boast had to stay well clear of the current between the arena and the house.
4 PM Later in the day the final 12-14 horses in the house/barn were swum to safety with the aid of a power boat and rider for guiding. All horses were guided to the South pasture edge where the water was shallow enough for them to walk, and then to the access road and a waiting trailer.
The massive amounts of rain in the west water shed (12"-17") contributed to the rapid rise in the river level, as well as water released from the Conroe dam prior to this event, There have only been 2 horses lost to flooding at Cypress Trails back in 2001, 15 yrs ago. No horses were tied up and left in the flood water to drown. This reporting was probably due to the sight of horses tangled in fencing and unable to move.
As of posting there is 1 27 yr old mare that is known to have died, having got trapped in the cable fencing, and 4 other horses are currently being actively searched for. The remainder of the horses were moved to evacuation pastures near the George Bush Airport on Tuesday, and onto friend’s ranches after a brief respite at my neighbor’s ranch.
The dramatic videos of horses lurching in the water was them hitting fence lines that an observer could not see. Brave people were bucking law enforcement to make these rescues. Darolyn was threatened with arrest at least 20 times for any participation in the water. Everything would have gone much smoother, and quicker if the sheriffs had just backed off a bit.
6 PM Apr 18 The river level is still at about 5’ above the banks and access to the ranch house is by boat only. AND there are two ponies on the upper deck of Darolyn's house being fed regularly, along with 5 dogs of Darolyn’s and 3 of friends.
All horses are in safe and comfortable facilities. Any horses requiring doctoring or meds are either at the vets, or in a facility next door to the vet for observation. One horse was hospitalized due to a pastern puncture.
April 20 5 AM The creek went back up another foot and hopefully this will be the end to the crest as at this time, we had only lost one small employee car, and one old farm truck, But no… at around 1 PM the Creek went up to 70 feet, and all the vehicles and 5 trailers drown including the L.Q.
Darolyn wishes to thank everyone for all their help and support, if you watch any of the videos you will understand why. There was a huge crowd of friends and strangers.
Russell Betts for Cypress Trails.
Btw... Will avoid another long story here, but there are really nasty people that are spreading incredible lies and exaggerations... Like “Darolyn was eating doughnuts while her horses drown”, in actuality, she had one as she came off the boat from being rescued from the 2.5 hour sit in the water. That was her meal for the day. They are launching a petition to take her down, based on many falsehoods of the day. If you care too, read the nice stuff on her FB… oh but wait, the “Haters” have even commandeered the FB. They have created 3-4 other FBs in my Cypress Trails name and are plastering the negative stuff. So not even sure you can get up on the right one. Hopefully you have as much information as you need. Call or e me other questions if you like. Thanks in advance for your support, and thanks to everyone that helped on the rescue operation.
Darolyn Butler
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
More Than 100 Horses Rescued from Houston Floods
Thehorse.com - Full Article
By Pat Raia
Apr 20, 2016
More than 100 horses were rescued from rising water and another five remain missing after flash floods swept through Harris County Texas.
On April 18, heavy rain began falling causing flash flooding in Harris County, including in Houston. The following day, another 12 inches of rain fell causing evacuations throughout the area. In all 20 inches of rain fell leaving five people dead and 101 horses in need of rescue, including 75 endurance horses from the Cypress Trails Equestrian Center in Humble.
Owner Darolyn Butler said the animals were located around the farm when flooding began. Before long a nearby creek rose 30-feet, she said.
“I actually have a two-page flood plan, but we thought we were going to be okay, so I didn't evacuate the horses,” Butler said. “But the water rose so fast we didn't have time to get the horses out.”
Butler said some of the horses located in the barn beneath her home were standing in belly-deep water when the waters rose. A barn located elsewhere on the same property was empty, but horses caught outdoors when the flooding began had to be rescued by Butler's friends, students, and employees after they became tangled in cable fencing around the arena. Others were swept into the river nearby or into the flooded woods...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37451/more-than-100-horses-rescued-from-houston-floods
By Pat Raia
Apr 20, 2016
More than 100 horses were rescued from rising water and another five remain missing after flash floods swept through Harris County Texas.
On April 18, heavy rain began falling causing flash flooding in Harris County, including in Houston. The following day, another 12 inches of rain fell causing evacuations throughout the area. In all 20 inches of rain fell leaving five people dead and 101 horses in need of rescue, including 75 endurance horses from the Cypress Trails Equestrian Center in Humble.
Owner Darolyn Butler said the animals were located around the farm when flooding began. Before long a nearby creek rose 30-feet, she said.
“I actually have a two-page flood plan, but we thought we were going to be okay, so I didn't evacuate the horses,” Butler said. “But the water rose so fast we didn't have time to get the horses out.”
Butler said some of the horses located in the barn beneath her home were standing in belly-deep water when the waters rose. A barn located elsewhere on the same property was empty, but horses caught outdoors when the flooding began had to be rescued by Butler's friends, students, and employees after they became tangled in cable fencing around the arena. Others were swept into the river nearby or into the flooded woods...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37451/more-than-100-horses-rescued-from-houston-floods
DREW - Love At First Ride
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
April 19 2016
He's already special in that he's one in a thousand equines who have crossed the 3000 mile AERC threshold in their endurance careers.
But for most of those who know him, he's one in a million. For many, it's been love at first ride on Drew, the little gray Arabian endurance horse who has touched so many lives.
Owned by Lisa and Shel Schneider of Agoura, California, Drew has been part of the Schneider clan for 14 years. They bought him from David and Tracy Kaden in Texas in 2002 when he was 10 years old. In his previous life, he had been a Western pleasure show horse.
"We went to see the Kadens and tried 4 or 5 horses," Lisa recalled. "We had trailered out to the desert to ride, and there was this huge train that went by. We had just switched horses, and the one I was now on bolted, and the one Shel was on - which was Drew - just stood there doing nothing.
"He was a little guy, just a sweetheart, took care of himself. He was busy drinking at the water trough when this big loud train went by. So we bought him. They delivered him to us at the Twenty Mule Team [ride in southern California], and Shel rode the 35 on him the next day with our 12-year-old daughter Amy. It was love at first ride."
"I was pretty much a beginning rider then," Shel added. "Lisa had so much confidence in him, that I got on him at 20 Mule Team, and I not only rode him without knowing him really, but Amy and I came in second and third. We didn't ride very slow."
Lisa said, "We knew immediately he was safe enough for Shel to ride. Then we put Amy on him, and she took him to 4H. He did all the English classes, hunter hack, Western pleasure, gymkhana, and trail classes. And she won everything! She was high point pretty much every year she rode him in 4H."
Drew, Amy, and Poni the dog, Andi Smith photo
When Amy turned 16 and could ride by herself without a sponsor, she sometimes rode Drew alone. "We never worried about her," Lisa said, "because, first of all, she had a lot of miles. But we also knew Drew would take care of her. That's such a freeing feeling that he gives you because you don't have to worry about him doing something stupid. You don't have to care about him getting race brain. He doesn't care if other horses pass him. He doesn't care about being left. He just does his own thing, and it's just so easy and so fun. And he can really move out sometimes.
"He just understands who's on his back. If I get on him and we're going out for a longer ride, and I let him get going, he'll crow hop, saying yippee, and haul ass towards home."
Lisa recalled the 25-mile ride that endurance ride photographer Lynne Glazer did on him in the 2014 Cuyama Oaks in California. "Lynne goes flying by us on him. I said 'Lynne, slow down!' and she says 'I'm not in charge!' She was having fun.
"He's always good. He just gets it. He knows his job."
"He's perfect on the trail," Shel confirmed.
The one thing Drew does not like is water. He's a real desert horse. When I talked with Lisa and Shel, Lisa had just come back from a ride on Drew where it hailed. "This never happens in SoCal, and he was NOT happy. He doesn't like water. He'll cross water, but he doesn't like being wet. He acts like a little drowned rat when he gets wet in the rain."
It was muddy water that took Drew down, literally, at Tevis. After a 6-way bypass heart surgery in 2001, Shel decided he wanted to ride Tevis in 2002. He was scheduled to ride another of the Schneiders' horses, but that one came up injured, and Drew was the alternate. Lisa rode with them aboard Barnard De Soi.
Everybody has heard of the infamous bogs in the Granite Chief wilderness. Drew met the bogs and did not like them. And there's no avoiding them. Lisa said, "We had to go into this hock-high bog. So I went first, and Drew took one look at that and leaped up on a rock. He couldn't balance for very long, and he leaped off the side. This was down a very steep hill, and it got very scary. Shel came off him at the top, and landed on a bush, which cushioned him perfectly; he was fine. But Drew kept going down; he was just freaked out.
"He got stuck in a big bush, and Shel had to go downhill to find him. This is at 10,000 feet mind you, in Granite Chief at the high point. I'm freaking out because I'm up on the trail and I can't see either of them; all I can see are these bush tops waving around wildly. And I'm thinking of them falling down the cliff, and Shel just had this bypass surgery a year prior. And I'm thinking, how are we going to get a helicopter in here for one or both of them!"
Shel finally got to Drew and started leading him back up to the trail. "I'm yelling at Shel, and he's now able to talk, but he's trying to walk uphill with a very shaken up Drew, and we're at altitude."
They did make it back on trail, got Drew settled down and Shel back on, and they rode onward. When they got to Deadwood at 56 miles, Drew passed the vet check, but Shel opted to pull. "We're done for the day," he told the vet. Lisa went on to finish Tevis for the second time.
That was Drew's only attempt at a 100-mile ride, but he went on to a stellar record of (currently) 112 starts in 119 finishes, with 3080 endurance miles and 1445 Limited Distance miles.
Susan Garlinghouse on Drew at the 2009 Shine and Shine 25-mile ride near San Jose, California
Along the way, he's given confidence and riding bliss to numerous endurance riders, probably none more so than Susan Garlinghouse, DVM. It's an occurrence that most all of us can relate to.
Lisa recalls, "Susan had had a couple of accidents on another horse involving broken bones. She lost a little confidence, so we said, come ride Drew. She drove 75 miles out here, each way, every weekend for several months, and she'd stay with us or just ride and go home.
"They just clicked. So we switched with her, took her mare, and she rode Drew for about a year. After some Limited Distance rides, she moved up to 50's on him. Now she's finished Tevis 3 times."
Drew has carried a number of "green bean" (new) endurance riders to happy finishes, and at an Endurance 101 clinic he hooked a woman and her little girl. "This woman hadn't done a ride at all," Lisa said. "Her little girl is just hanging out absorbing everything, but she doesn't have a horse. So Shel puts her on Drew. And she's riding around the arena, and this kid is just absolutely hooked.
"So now they're getting her a horse, and her mom's competing, and she's finished her first 50. We attribute it all to Drew!"
Shel chimed in, "He's such a good ambassador. After that, the mom got rid of the mare they had, because she wasn't very nice. She wanted to get something her kid could ride, like Drew."
You don't have to be an endurance rider to fall in love with Drew. The Schneiders live next to a state park where they often encounter inner city kids, or foreign visitors, some of whom - it's hard to believe - have never seen a horse in person.
"Drew is the ambassador," Lisa said. "We've put tons of kids on him. We put a Japanese tourist on him, and oh my God, I thought she was going to faint from happiness. All of her friends took pictures, and she was the only one brave enough to get on him. She'll never forget that.
"Drew gives such a great first impression [of a horse]! And he just stands there batting his long eyelashes looking adorable."
The local church group was having a fundraiser one weekend, and they asked if the Schneiders could bring Drew over for pictures with the kids. Amy rode him over there, and polaroid after polaroid was taken with each of the kids. Lisa said, "There are a lot of refrigerators in the neighborhood with pictures of Drew. Some of the kids didn't want to get off him. He loved it."
The little gray gelding has also carried developmentally disabled children. Lisa recalled one particular one. "This girl was probably 8 or 9 and was so disabled, she didn't speak, had some balance issues, had some pretty severe brain damage. So we put her on Drew. He stood stock still. He knew who was on his back. And she smiled for the first time in her life on Drew. Her mother was just in tears."
Shel has tried to put together a list of how many people have ridden Drew. "I stopped at about 70. And I don't know how many I missed. We started adding it up; it's amazing. Both of Lisa's brothers rode him in the arena, and their kids. Somebody comes over, you put him on Drew. Or at an endurance ride, if we're going to do a pre-ride, Drew's an extra horse for somebody."
That's me on Drew!
That somebody one time was me, at the 2009 AERC National Championship ride in California. I was present to report on the ride for Endurance.net, and I stopped to say hi to the Schneiders. "Want to come with us on a ride?" Lisa asked me. She handed me a helmet (which I still have) and I climbed aboard this perfect little gray horse and went on a pre-ride spin with Lisa and Shel. I don't just automatically enjoy every horse I get on for the first time, but I had a delightful short ride on Drew. I could tell he was a special one. Lisa told me to keep the helmet - and every time I wear it, I'm reminded of Drew.
Drew's the smallest horse in the 5-horse Schneider herd ("14.2, with his shoes on"); he's the oldest, at 24 (on April 21); and he's the King.
Lisa said, "I was once asked, if I could clone any of the horses I've ever had, which horse I would want to clone. And it would be DREW. He has the perfect disposition, and perfect conformation. My only regret is that we got him when he was 10. We wish we would have had him when he was younger."
The Schneiders will be throwing a real birthday party for Drew on April 30, with guests and a cake made with carrots and oats and some apples thrown in. If you're lucky enough to be invited to celebrate this fabulous little horse's life, give him a hug. He'll deserve it because he's one in a million - and he'll love it.
Drew mowing the front lawn, because every older horse should get to do this!
Top photo: Lisa on Drew, Shel on Barnard De Soi in the 2009 AERC National Championship 50 in Greenville, California
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Endurance Canada Announces Three New Awards
Endurance-canada.com - Full Article
April 18, 2016
by: Equine Canada
Endurance Canada is pleased to announce the creation of three new awards, acknowledging the special horses that are the very heart and life of our sport.
The ELITE Award recognizes and honours horses that have demonstrated an outstanding competition record including high distance totals of at least 4,800 km (3000 mi), and completion of several 160 km (100 mi) rides. The award is open to both past and current competitive horses that have met these requirements...
Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/endurance-canada-announces-three-new-awards/?utm_source=Enews+April+18%2C+2016&utm_campaign=EnewsApr182016&utm_medium=email
April 18, 2016
by: Equine Canada
Endurance Canada is pleased to announce the creation of three new awards, acknowledging the special horses that are the very heart and life of our sport.
The ELITE Award recognizes and honours horses that have demonstrated an outstanding competition record including high distance totals of at least 4,800 km (3000 mi), and completion of several 160 km (100 mi) rides. The award is open to both past and current competitive horses that have met these requirements...
Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/horse-news/endurance-canada-announces-three-new-awards/?utm_source=Enews+April+18%2C+2016&utm_campaign=EnewsApr182016&utm_medium=email
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Janet Tipton and Lady Jasmine are AERC’s First 5,000 Mile Limited Distance Pair
AUBURN, California – April 12, 2016 – Janet Tipton and her longtime Mustang partner, Lady Jasmine (“Ladybug”), were recognized at the 2016 AERC Annual Convention for reaching 5,000 Limited Distance (LD) miles together, in addition to achieving the National LD Mileage Championship title.
To earn the first-ever 5,000 mile LD award—an embroidered blanket—the pair competed in rides of 25-35 miles in one day. While most of AERC’s high mileage horses are those that compete in 50 mile competitions and up, Janet and Ladybug had to go to double the number of rides of most endurance riders to reach this milestone. In fact, the AERC has recognized 265 5,000-mile endurance horses and now, just one LD 5,000 mile horse, Lady Jasmine.
Theirs is an incredible accomplishment in distance riding and a testament to the hundreds of rides they have successfully completed together, particularly as the next highest LD horse mileage recorded by the AERC is 3,930. But perhaps equally as important as their mileage is the fact that Janet and Lady Jasmine have completed 209 out of 211 rides entered, and Lady Jasmine has never been pulled from a ride.
Don’t let her diminutive size (13.2 hands) and the delicate name, Lady Jasmine or “Ladybug” as she is fondly called, fool you—according to Janet this mare is tough, strong-willed and capable of digging deep. During their almost two decades together Janet and Ladybug have earned titles in many different competitions including winning the title of Open Champion in the Extreme Horseman’s Challenge (a series of six extreme cowboy races). Ladybug has also received the Spirit of the Mustang award once and the Super Horse award twice at the Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival along with Reserve Grand Champion Overall Youth in the Tri-State Mustang Series.
About the AERC award, Janet says, “I am so thrilled to receive this award. It means so much to me. We have been a team through so many miles and trails. We have met some of the most wonderful people that we will never forget. We have seen some of the most breathtaking sights in our travels and we have done it all together.”
Ladybug was gathered from the Antelope Head Management Area near Ely, Nevada, on December 3, 1998. The following April, Janet and her husband ventured to Logan, Utah, with the goal of adopting a Mustang. Although Janet had her heart set on a Buckskin colt, there was something about the way that this small, very pregnant, 3-year-old roan mare looked at her that changed her mind. So Ladybug came home with Janet and two weeks later presented her with a charming stud colt. Just a few short weeks later, Ladybug was saddled and being ridden.
Janet and Ladybug did their first LD ride together in April of 2004 at Color Country. They went to this ride not knowing anyone, but came away after riding day 1 and day 3 with a whole new family and a love of the trail. They were both hooked on distance riding and they have never looked back.
After almost two decades together, Janet is still as enthusiastic about her mare as the day she brought her home. “Ladybug has continued to amaze and delight us and prove to us and the world that there isn’t anything this little horse can’t do,” says Janet. “Ladybug is a very versatile horse. She rides western and English, she drives, she does reining, mounted drill team, parades, pony rides at adoptions and BLM events, she excels at endurance and has even obtained her mounted Search and Rescue certification—all this from a little 13.2 hand mare!”
When asked what is next for she and Ladybug, Janet explains, “Our plan is to slow down, at least the number of miles we do for a year. Last year Ladybug did 965 miles of LD and a 50 totaling 1,015 miles, as a 19-year-old. We set out the year to get our 5,000 milestone and decided it would be fun to get the National LD Mileage Championship in the same year to really make it memorable. We completed rides in Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Utah and Idaho.
“Our next goal is to make the AERC Decade Team, we have five more years to go, which will put Ladybug at age 25,” said Janet. The Decade Team award is for riders and horses who have done endurance distance rides (50 or more miles) for at least 10 years.
“I hope to keep her going down the trail so that she can help my granddaughter develop the love for the sport that I have with her,” said Janet.
Happy Trails to Janet and Ladybug as they continue their journey together!
About AERC
In addition to promoting the sport of endurance riding, AERC encourages the use, protection, and development of equestrian trails, especially those with historic significance. Many events, particularly multi-day rides, take place on historic trails, and promote awareness of the importance of trail preservation for future generations as well as fostering an appreciation of our American heritage. AERC’s founding ride, the Western States Trail Ride, or Tevis Cup, covers 100 miles of the famous Western States and Emigrant trails over the Sierra Nevada.
Established in 1972, the American Endurance Ride Conference is headquartered in Auburn, California, “The Endurance Capital of the World.” For more information please visit us at www.aerc.org or call 866-271-AERC.
Contact:
Candace FitzGerald
Dobbin Group LLC
603-738-2788
To earn the first-ever 5,000 mile LD award—an embroidered blanket—the pair competed in rides of 25-35 miles in one day. While most of AERC’s high mileage horses are those that compete in 50 mile competitions and up, Janet and Ladybug had to go to double the number of rides of most endurance riders to reach this milestone. In fact, the AERC has recognized 265 5,000-mile endurance horses and now, just one LD 5,000 mile horse, Lady Jasmine.
Theirs is an incredible accomplishment in distance riding and a testament to the hundreds of rides they have successfully completed together, particularly as the next highest LD horse mileage recorded by the AERC is 3,930. But perhaps equally as important as their mileage is the fact that Janet and Lady Jasmine have completed 209 out of 211 rides entered, and Lady Jasmine has never been pulled from a ride.
Don’t let her diminutive size (13.2 hands) and the delicate name, Lady Jasmine or “Ladybug” as she is fondly called, fool you—according to Janet this mare is tough, strong-willed and capable of digging deep. During their almost two decades together Janet and Ladybug have earned titles in many different competitions including winning the title of Open Champion in the Extreme Horseman’s Challenge (a series of six extreme cowboy races). Ladybug has also received the Spirit of the Mustang award once and the Super Horse award twice at the Utah Wild Horse & Burro Festival along with Reserve Grand Champion Overall Youth in the Tri-State Mustang Series.
About the AERC award, Janet says, “I am so thrilled to receive this award. It means so much to me. We have been a team through so many miles and trails. We have met some of the most wonderful people that we will never forget. We have seen some of the most breathtaking sights in our travels and we have done it all together.”
Ladybug was gathered from the Antelope Head Management Area near Ely, Nevada, on December 3, 1998. The following April, Janet and her husband ventured to Logan, Utah, with the goal of adopting a Mustang. Although Janet had her heart set on a Buckskin colt, there was something about the way that this small, very pregnant, 3-year-old roan mare looked at her that changed her mind. So Ladybug came home with Janet and two weeks later presented her with a charming stud colt. Just a few short weeks later, Ladybug was saddled and being ridden.
Janet and Ladybug did their first LD ride together in April of 2004 at Color Country. They went to this ride not knowing anyone, but came away after riding day 1 and day 3 with a whole new family and a love of the trail. They were both hooked on distance riding and they have never looked back.
After almost two decades together, Janet is still as enthusiastic about her mare as the day she brought her home. “Ladybug has continued to amaze and delight us and prove to us and the world that there isn’t anything this little horse can’t do,” says Janet. “Ladybug is a very versatile horse. She rides western and English, she drives, she does reining, mounted drill team, parades, pony rides at adoptions and BLM events, she excels at endurance and has even obtained her mounted Search and Rescue certification—all this from a little 13.2 hand mare!”
When asked what is next for she and Ladybug, Janet explains, “Our plan is to slow down, at least the number of miles we do for a year. Last year Ladybug did 965 miles of LD and a 50 totaling 1,015 miles, as a 19-year-old. We set out the year to get our 5,000 milestone and decided it would be fun to get the National LD Mileage Championship in the same year to really make it memorable. We completed rides in Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Utah and Idaho.
“Our next goal is to make the AERC Decade Team, we have five more years to go, which will put Ladybug at age 25,” said Janet. The Decade Team award is for riders and horses who have done endurance distance rides (50 or more miles) for at least 10 years.
“I hope to keep her going down the trail so that she can help my granddaughter develop the love for the sport that I have with her,” said Janet.
Happy Trails to Janet and Ladybug as they continue their journey together!
About AERC
In addition to promoting the sport of endurance riding, AERC encourages the use, protection, and development of equestrian trails, especially those with historic significance. Many events, particularly multi-day rides, take place on historic trails, and promote awareness of the importance of trail preservation for future generations as well as fostering an appreciation of our American heritage. AERC’s founding ride, the Western States Trail Ride, or Tevis Cup, covers 100 miles of the famous Western States and Emigrant trails over the Sierra Nevada.
Established in 1972, the American Endurance Ride Conference is headquartered in Auburn, California, “The Endurance Capital of the World.” For more information please visit us at www.aerc.org or call 866-271-AERC.
Contact:
Candace FitzGerald
Dobbin Group LLC
603-738-2788
Sunday, April 10, 2016
St. Jude Patient Gets His Dream Ride from Retired Arabian Horse
KStoddardphoto.com - Full Article & photosApril 8 2016
Kaitlyn Stoddard
It was just a couple weeks ago when Lizz Hoard, owner of Elizabeth Hoard Photography and my own wedding photographer, called me about 3 year old St. Jude Patient, K'meil. What started out as a business talk between his mom, Leyah, and Lizz turned into a story of her son's current battle with cancer. Essentially, she wanted photos of her child like any other mom, but long story short, "It's not good," Lizz told me.
K'meil has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma a rare cancerous tumor that seems to always affect children based on research at St. Jude. He has just finished his second round of chemo therapy and currently wears a port in his chest. The cancer has metastasized and spread to his bones, and he will soon be going through a bone marrow transplant as well.
K'meil's dream was to have his picture taken with a horse and maybe even ride one. That's when my phone rang. Lizz photographed me back in November in my wedding gown with my horse as a gift for my husband. She asked me if I thought we could use one of the horses, and even if he couldn't ride, the horse could be in the background. At that moment, I was sitting in the passenger seat of a dodge pickup truck pulling a gooseneck trailer with two horses in it headed to Alabama for an endurance race. I looked over at my cousin, Jennifer Whittaker, who owns Mystic Rose Arabians, teaches riding lessons and whose life is literally horses, kids, and more horses and told Lizz, "I think if he wants to ride a horse then he will ride a horse. He could probably have his pick of colors from Jennifer's lesson horses if he wants." And just like that, K'meil's dream of riding a horse was coming true. We scheduled their family shoot/horseback riding around his chemo treatment's at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and set the date for April 5th...
Read more here:
http://www.kstoddardphoto.com/musings/2016/4/5/st-jude-patient-dreams-of-riding-a-horse
Sunday, April 03, 2016
Texas: Priefert to host equine endurance riders
Dailytribune.net - Full Article
April 2, 2016
By LYNDA STRINGER lstringer@tribnow.com
Rodeo and horsemanship is big in Mount Pleasant, but many may have never heard of or seen an equine endurance ride. They’ll have a chance to see the action up close when the Racing Stripes Endurance Ride comes to Priefert Ranch April 9-10.
It’s the world’s fastest growing equine sport combining a nature trail ride with the athleticism of endurance sports.
“Riders will be hauling their trailers from miles around to converge on Priefert Ranch,” according to a release from the sport’s sanctioning body, the American Endurance Ride Conference...
Read more here:
http://www.dailytribune.net/news/priefert-to-host-equine-endurance-riders/article_48f55cee-f86e-11e5-b0db-cf0b43739f4e.html
April 2, 2016
By LYNDA STRINGER lstringer@tribnow.com
Rodeo and horsemanship is big in Mount Pleasant, but many may have never heard of or seen an equine endurance ride. They’ll have a chance to see the action up close when the Racing Stripes Endurance Ride comes to Priefert Ranch April 9-10.
It’s the world’s fastest growing equine sport combining a nature trail ride with the athleticism of endurance sports.
“Riders will be hauling their trailers from miles around to converge on Priefert Ranch,” according to a release from the sport’s sanctioning body, the American Endurance Ride Conference...
Read more here:
http://www.dailytribune.net/news/priefert-to-host-equine-endurance-riders/article_48f55cee-f86e-11e5-b0db-cf0b43739f4e.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)