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Ride
& Tie Championship 2002 This story begins in March of 2001 when I traveled with a friend to the west coast to take part in a 3 day riding trek through the redwood forests and along the beaches of northern California. This was my first intense experience "back in the saddle" since recovering from a serious riding accident the previous summer. Fortunately, I was in good hands. My "ride"was Nikita, a Russian Orlof, belonging to Lari Shea.. Lari is an outstanding endurance rider, having raced and won all over the world including the 100 mile Tevis Cup (the equine version of the Western States 100). While I knew that I had a few demons to conquer mentally as I stepped up into the stirrup, little did I know that I would be introduced to a whole new world of endurance riding and even better yet to the sport of Ride & Tie. Ride & Tie is a sport "invented" in 1971 by Bud Johns who at time was working as public relations director for Levi Strauss & Co.1 The small manufacturing company in San Francisco needed a sports promotion for their jeans. Johns had gotten the idea from a publication by Henry Fielding in 1742, describing how he traveled with a friend to London. In his History of Joseph Andrews, Fielding described " a method of traveling much used by persons who have but one horse between them". "Two travelers set out together, one on horseback, the other on foot: now, as it generally happens that he on horseback outgoes him on foot, the custom is , that, when he arrived at the distance agreed on, he is to dismounts, tie the horse to some gate, tree, post or other thing, and then proceeds on foot; when the other comes up to the horse he unties him, mounts and gallops on, till, having passed by his fellow traveler, he likewise arrives at the place of tying." On one of those daily rides in March of 2001, Lari "staged" a R&T for us on some mountain trails and I was hooked. Having never run trails before, I discovered the joy of running through forests and realized this sport combined my two loves: running and horses! Lari invited me to be her partner for the Ride & Tie Championship on September 14, 2001 in Truckee, California. So I started to train for the 35 mile race both on foot and in the saddle, here at home. I was packing my bags to fly out when our world changed forever September 11, 2001. I was scheduled to fly out on the 12th but that was not to be since all flights in the US were cancelled for 48 hours. I looked into the bus schedule but it was going to take 52 hours with my bus arriving 2 hours before the race started. So my chance to ride in the R&T was not to be...at least for 2001. I was determined that I had to try this sport so I stayed in touch with Lari by e-mail. I even went back out to California in March of 2002 to ride in my first endurance race. The race was called "The Land of the Neversweats 55 Mile Endurance Ride". Boy, they weren’t kidding! It was 19F and we rode through a blizzard, finishing in 5 hours and 20 minutes. Lari and I agreed that we were on for the 2002 R&T Championship and again, I started increasing my mileage to train up for the September 7 event. |
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The morning of the race in Truckee, I scraped ice off my windshield in 32F temperatures prior to driving to the ride site north of Lake Tahoe. My partners in the race were Genevieve Proulx, a 25 YO Canadian woman (Lari had had to bow out due to a back injury) and "Indiana Jones", a 7YO Arabian gelding. With numb hands, we tacked up and lined up at the start. Gen was riding first since she was the more accomplished rider and the race starts could sometimes be chaotic. At the sound of the gun, we were off and running. It was quite a sight as 38 runners and 38 horses with riders surged ahead across an open meadow. The course quickly narrowed to a mountain trail with horses in the lead and runners following. |
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The strategy of the R&T is to "let the horse do all the work", with frequent exchanges to allow for recovery from running. Our first "tie" was about 1.5 miles into the race. Gen had ridden ahead and when she stopped to dismount, "Indy" did not understand why he had to stop with 30 some odd horses racing past. So he dragged Gen about 50 feet down the trail before she could manage to tie him to a tree. When I finally caught up with Indy, he was circling the tree and dancing to go. It took me 10 minutes to untie him and mount as he tried to take off without me. I rode ahead for about 10 minutes, passing Gen along the way. When I stopped for my first tie, Indy tried to climb up the side of the hill where I had located a tree to tie him . I was afraid he was going to kill himself so I untied him and waited for Gen to catch up with us. In the meantime, Indy managed to push me down the lower embankment. Things were not going well! When Gen arrived, I held Indy as she mounted and took off. And so it went for the next few exchanges. While this strategy was not efficient and actually illegal (One of the few rules to R&T is that only one person can touch the horse at one time.), we felt it was safest until he settled down. |
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The course consisted of 3 approximate 12 mile loops. According to the map, there was the first aid station on loop 1 at about mile 6, followed by a left hand turn onto a 3 mile sub-loop a mile later. Unknown to us, the race officials had moved the aid station to the turn off at mile 7. When I arrived at the aid station, after watering my horse at a trough, I failed to see the 12" X 8" sign on the ground indicating the turn off because there were about 6 horses milling around. So I rode straight ahead expecting to find the turnoff a mile ahead. After riding a mile or so without seeing a turn off, I realized I was in trouble. I ended up riding ahead to the first vet check at mile 12 to ask for directions. After finally getting back on course, I caught up with poor Gen who had been running nonstop for about 5 miles. After arriving at the first vet check officially, we watered and fed Indy while waiting for his pulse to go below 60 beats per minute. I refueled my Camelbak, ate a few strawberries and headed out on foot on loop 2. When Indy’s pulse had gone down, Gen processed him through the vet check where soundness, pulse, hydration, gut motility, capillary refill time and anal sphincter tone were evaluated. Indy passed but his hydration score was a "C" (anything lower and he would have been eliminated from the race). Gen mounted up and quickly caught up with me on the trail. Loop 2 was relatively uneventful as Indy started to figure out the "tie thing". We were able to tie him up and leave him alone to run ahead which greatly improved our time. We decided to slow his pace somewhat because of his hydration status. Again, I rode into the second vet check and Gen followed on foot. This time Indy’s pulse came down quickly and he scored a B on hydration. I again refueled and started out on the third and final loop. |
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As the day warmed up into the low 60s, we shed layers. My New Balance shoes had started out white but by now were a dark brown. I had noticed that runners and riders alike had either bandanas or surgical masks over their faces. Now I knew why. My face, nostrils and I am sure my lungs, were filled with dust from horses galloping by on the trail. It gave new meaning to the term "eat my dust". The third loop turned out to be our biggest challenge. About mile 3, we made a sharp turn to the right and started up a very steep mountainside that climbed for the next 4 miles. I told Gen that this was "my hill". Throughout the race, every time we approached a hill, Gen would stop at the bottom, tie Indy and start running up the hill so that I could ride up the hill. So I told her I wanted to run up this hill to repay her kindness (She probably just felt sorry for this old lady). Boy was that a bad idea! R&Ters will often describe their ability by saying" I walk the hills and run the flats". Well, I wasn’t even able to walk up this hill at some points. The 6000 foot elevation was starting to get to me in spite of my excellent hydration status. I was starting to get a headache and my heart was literally pounding in my throat. I would have to stop frequently and catch my breath for a couple of minutes before forging ahead. Finally, about two thirds of the way up the mountain, I found Indy tied beside the trail. I cried with joy! As I rode Indy up the mountain (even he had to walk at this point), I came across Gen and another horse and rider. The horse had just stopped and refused to take another step. We stopped to take his vital signs. Fortunately, he was not physically in trouble...just smart! After a few minutes, Gen and I moved on ahead. At this point, we decided to just stay together to talk each other through our pain. The last 3 miles flattened out for an "easy finish". It hurt my back to ride at this point and Gens’ calves were cramping up, so we decided it would be easiest for me to finish on foot and her in the saddle. Every time I would start to run, Indy would trot along side. When I slowed to a walk, he would slow down and walk as well. And this is how we finished. As we trotted across the finish line, we were a team of 3 tired but very happy athletes. We had one more vet check to pass so while we were waiting for Indy’s pulse to slow, we fed and watered him and sponged off his body. Indy passed with flying colors with an "A" in hydration. After putting Indy to bed, we celebrated with a past dinner and awards banquet (All finishers received a silver belt buckle.). Thirty-eight teams had started and 35 teams finished. We had finished 32nd in a time of 7 hours and 45 minutes. Lari thanked us for finishing with a healthy horse. |
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Not only had I accomplished a goal that I had been working towards for 2 years, but I had bonded with a new friend as we shared our pain and our horse on the trail. As we parted ways the next morning, we each headed to our own new goal. Mine was the Marine Corp Marathon the next month and hers was an even grander goal...on to medical school. And so the Ride &Tie was everything I though it would be... a great athletic and mental challenge and an opportunity to meet and be with exceptional individuals who will be friends for life. |
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