Spring Trail Ride - April 6, 2013

The Spring Ride was a delightful event this year with perfect weather for the debut of spring and summer riding for our open breed ride at the Southern Sportsman Hunting Lodge.

Thanks as always to owners Jim Mason and Dave Lyon for hosting our MPHA ride with great friends from all over the Southeast. Many of our regulars came in with their horses and living-quarters trailers and RVs on Thursday and stay until Sunday to enjoy the Lodge and beautiful woods and trails of Lowndes County, home of our McCurdy Plantation Horse breed.

The morning ride is a leisurely 2 1/2 hour ride of approximately 12-14 miles with a very diverse mix of wooded trails, open pastures, hills and water crossings. Water and soft drinks are provided along the ride for breaks and hospitality.

Lunch was provided post ride at the Southern Sportsman Hunting Lodge. After lunch was a fun gather-up of all riders and attendees for our McCurdy Horse Showcase and door prizes. At this time a prize is presented to the rider who garnered the "Hard Luck Rider" award and provided us all with entertainment. Usually we grant the "Best Tee-Shirt" award as well, and also recognize the youngest and most senior riders.

After the lunch break and Showcase Presentations, there is an afternoon ride for those who want to continue. It is a shorter ride through mostly wooded trails on the property behind the Lodge, a relaxing ride to close out the day of great horses and great friends!

Our rides are fun, festive and well managed. Please mark your ride calendar's and plan to be with us for the Fall Ride on Saturday, October 5th. Get all the info on the Trail Ride Page!

Thanks to Tammy Mason for the great pictures she sent to us! See them here.

 "McCurdy's in Minnesota".... Joel and Tricia Wittenbraker of Welch, Minnesota enjoying a summer's day drive with their 5 year old McCurdy gelding, Cajun's Cosmo Cramer, aka "Romeo". They are also avid trail riders, and Tricia has logged many miles across the United States on long distance rides with Romeo. They purchased him as a 3 year old with only 2 months training under saddle, Tricia has completed his saddle training and started him in harness this past year. Romeo is a great ambassador for the McCurdy Plantation Horse Association!

May 2011

Miss Haley Bowen (11 yr old granddaughter of Janice and Roy Rogers) showed Haley's McCurdy Buddy in the horse show at Central. She ended up with two first, two second, and one third place finish.
Buddy, now a gelding, is the Roger's former stallion.

Auburn Promotes Animal and Equine Sciences at Alabama Horse Fair Headlined by Craig Cameron

Casey Eckert, a student who is studying Veterinary Medicine, attended the Horse Fair, and enjoyed Craig Cameron's clinics and all of the vendors. Casey also loved competing in the ASHA show on Sunday, and won the trail class division on her McCurdy Plantation Horse, Shadow.

Watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKNzti9UNvs

http://family.auburn.edu/video/casey-eckert-at-the-asha-shows
 

McCurdy's 88 did Great today on
our first 25 mile endurance ride!

 It was on the sand flats at Trace Trails, lots of hill work in the woods, and then on the sand flats. I had a riding buddy, who is the endurance rider for Miars Arabians, here in Athens. Mary was riding a 7 year old Arabian gelding named M.A. Marauder--both veterans at endurance. 88 and I led the way, we were speed racking, long trotting with the Arabian, , and some cantering pretty much the whole time. It was Fantastic!!!--- My helmet pretty much saved my life....we were speeding thru some close switch backs in the hills, I was looking down at our footing for tree roots, then sat up--and took a sawed off tree limb to the right side of my head--the helmet took the brunt of it and deflected the blow. Great battle scar on my helmet, yea!! 88 just handled the whole ride in stride--he never got winded--his vet checks were all A's, his pulses were low. He got tired twice--we slowed up, and had to walk it out--then picked it back up. OH!! 33 entries---Mary and I came in together at 10th and 11th places!! A great surprise. Guess I'm hooked...... Colleen Cates

Bandit Springs Endurance Ride
Sponsored by Arabians in Motion
July 19, 2008
Central Oregon’s beautiful Ochoco National Forest, 28 miles east of Prineville, OR

This is the beginning of the first 20 miles of the 50 mile endurance
ride. Ace was a "pill" and didn't want to leave Blue at the
trailer......once he got to the start and buddied up to Brego...who
is on the left......we were off in good shape. (look just how narrow
Brego is.........) Can't say that it wasn't embarrassing, however,
when he was a jerk!!!!

This is the finish of the 50 miles in less than 8 hours. We are
getting faster, but it was really hot, tons of flying bugs and
hornets, and lots of rocky trail. We were looking out for the
horses, number one, and did a good job of keeping the horses as cool as we could to pulse down at the Vet checks and keep their core temperature under control.

This is the gravel road that comes into the camp at the finish, where the vets are waiting to check the pulse, all the vitals, get them to trot out about 20 yards, and then pulse them again. The horse cannot be higher than the resting pulse for completion. This is
really tough on a hot day. Electrolyte paste at water tanks, and
constant awareness of the horse's core temperature are the only ways to accomplish this....Ace started with all A's and finished with all A's....you would have been proud of him. He isn't the smoothest
ride, but he is the strongest ride. He Never quits.....he never
loses condition....what a McCurdy!!!!

Blue is on the left and Ace is on the right. This is at the pre-
ride Vet check in.

This is Elayne Barclay who has been riding Blue. This was Blue's
first endurance ride. He did the 30 miler and finished with good
time. However, he couldn't pulse down to the 60 BPM within the 30
minutes allowed at the end of the ride. I think the excitement and
newness of the competition was too much for him to handle without a familiar horse around him. He will get better, and this is
exposing him to people that might want to buy him. There was lots
of interest in the McCurdys at this ride.....Elayne and Blue
June and Ace getting ready for the 6am start of the 50 miler. We
braid their mane to keep the heavy manehair off their necks, so they can cool off easier with sponging of water along the ride. It
really makes a difference, and you can keep sponging them from a
water tank until their necks feel cool again. Then you are ready
to "kick ass" again!

Elayne and Blue in front and me with Ace in back going down the camp road to the Vet check-in preride. There were over 200 rigs there, because Tevis Cup 110 Ride was cancelled because of the California fires right on the course. So, we had tons of people doing the 100 miler instead of the Tevis. There were even 2 people all the way from Australia there.

Needless to say, I am Very stiff today!!! Only thing that doesn't
hurt is my knees!

Hugs, June

Prineville Oregon 50 Miler

June Snook, Oregon, and her 6 year old gelding, Ace High McCurdy, completed their first 50 mile Endurance Race last week-end.

A 4 year old mare, McCurdy's Glory, was 8th out of 54 riders in the 25 Miler!!

Ace and June "trucking" along....

This shows you part of one of the downhill shale trails. You can see that one of the Arabs is being led down the trail. I think it's more dangerous to get off and be in front of a horse on a slippery trail...

Ace and June after first hill climb, with Redmond, Oregon in the background.

June and Ace, Brenda and Brego(TWH), Melinda and Dazzle(TWH) on the flat grasslands part of the second half of the 25 mile loop.

This is at the Out Vet check at 14 miles.

Hey guys, I thought I would do a synopsis of the ride so that I could remember what happened and at the same time tell you the whole skinny:

My friend Brenda and I followed each other over Mt Hood and down to Cyrus Horse Camp that is near Prineville, Oregon (central Oregon...high desert with mountains). We arrived around 1pm on Friday and set up camp with about  100 other rigs! The horses were kept on high ties from the trailer (like I did),  portable corrals, electric tape corrals, or just tied to the trailers.  We set up so our horses could see each other and be settled. It worked great! I had Ace, Brenda brought three horses and riders, including herself. McCurdy's Glory was entered in the 25 mile limited distance with Mary... and Ace and I, Brenda and her TWH Brego, and Melinda and her spotted TWH Dazzle did the 50 miler (endurance).

After setting up camp, we took a short ride up the start of the ride trail to get the horses used to the terrain. The first part of the ride is up a steep steep grade.
It's good for excitable horses to calm down and settle in for the rest of the ride's ups and downs.  After the short ride, we had to do the Pre Ride first exam by one of the four Vets handling the ride.  They grade on a scale of A,B,C, or D.
They also determine a resting pulse. They check:Mucus membranes, capillary refill, jugular refill, skin tenting, gut sounds, anal tone, muscle tone, back/withers pain, tack galls, wounds, gait, impulsion, attitude, and overall impression. (Ace got all A's, and a resting pulse of 44!) To check the impulsion they have you trot....yes trot (sigh)....your horse for a straight 20 yards out and back in front of the Vet. They are used to Arabs, and not gaited horses, so you have to practice this and Really go fast to try and get the horse to trot out evenly and well. At the end of the ride I wasn't as able to run with Ace as fast as the other Vet checks! (I must attribute that to my age!!!!) Ace received all A's.

So....the next morning, after a long night with 40 MPH winds rocking the trailer, the 75 milers started out at 5:30am. (This ride did not have a 100 miler...) There were 12 starters in the 75 miler...all Arabs. (Fractious and uncontrollable mostly!, but fast trotters and crazy gallopers!) A gaited horse usually cannot begin to compete for a top ten placement against the Arabs.... Then the 50 milers started at 6:15am. We waited for the big rush of horses competing for the Top Ten awards to leave, to avoid our horses possibly getting caught up in the stramble! We left about 15 minutes later and we still saw two gals get bucked off their Arabs in the first few moments. Ace was a good boy and was listening to me and doing his job. The 25 milers left about 45 minutes after us, including McCurdy's Glory. Brenda bought Glory from field trialer, Paul Wells, and picked her up at the Pacific Coast Championships in Washington the middle of March. So, Glory has had limited conditioning for endurance, but she's tough and determined and loves the job!

The ride for the 50 milers consisted of two 25 mile loops...starting at camp and ending up at camp. It consisted mostly of up hill and down hill single track trails, and flat grasslands with sage brush long stretches. The mountain climbs took us up into ageless juniper groves, with tons of wild flowers....verbena, lupine, red indian paintbrush, and yellow lillies of some sort! The downhill descents were loose shale steep single track trails that some Arab people took on foot. (Cowards!!!) Point of interest: many times I would see the Arab riders off their horses and running beside them....probably because their butts were so sore from the trot and their legs cramped from posting! They say to conserve their horses. Our horses were either fast racking, loping, or fast walking. Being the first ride for us and our horses.....(Melinda and I)...we took the whole ride conservatively, to see how our horses would handle the distance and competition. Ace was the only first time endurance horse in our group. He NEVER took a false step or stumble. He NEVER hit a wall....never did I have to ask him for more speed. I was SO proud of him. He did a great job and loved it!

There were 52 starters in the 50 miler. (42 finished.....ten of which were eliminated at one of the Vet checks or chose to not finish) There were 54 starters in the 25 miler. (52 finished) There were 12 in the 75 miler (10 finished) There is an etiquette on the trail: announce when you want to pass, get over to the right off the trail, and let the 75 milers to the water troughs first. Stay with other horses when a rider is off, until they mount. (Makes perfect sense....)

So, I will explain the 50 mile course only, so as not to bore you too much!  The first Vet check was at the 14 mile marker. You try to walk your horse into the Vet check to allow the horse's pulse to get to 60 or lower. If it is over 60, you must cool your horse down and sponge the horse with cool water until it's down.  Then be checked again. Your "In" time does not start until the pulse is accepted. The first Vet check had a 15 minute "Hold" time. During this time you must take your horse through the Vet check successfully, and rest and water and feed yourself and your horse. (Plus, go potty!) The Vets get you to trot your horse out again....same as the pre-ride exam. Then they grade the same areas as they did in the pre-vet exam. Some horses are eliminated with poor gut sounds, lameness, etc. We try to let the horses drink water and eat some of the native bunch grass on the trail to keep their gastric system moving. Ace easily pulsed in, and passed the Vet check with all A's and a B for gut signs. This gut B is typical. The other horses in the group sometimes had longer Holds because of pulses, so I waited until they were released for us to continue together.  Brenda was a terrific mentor for me, because she's been doing endurance for over 10 years. It was a good learning experience for me. I learned many things to make the ride easier for me and Ace. The next Vet check was at the end of the 25 miles. Same procedure except we were required to un-tack for this Vet check, same Vet check, and a 60 minute hold. �Ace continued with his good scores. We had to re-tack and went back to our trailers, because we were in camp. We ate, fed and watered the horses, sponged them off, re-tacked again, and started out at the "Release" time.  Oh, I forgot to tell you that the horses had Rider #'s painted on their rumps. We had to announce our numbers leaving and arriving at the Vet checks. There were plenty of volunteers helping to take the pulses and numbers and announcing the rider numbers when the horses were released to continue after their hold periods. The next Vet check was again at the 14 mile post, and there we had a 30 minute Hold after the pulsing in and Vet check. They have plenty of water at the Vet checks and on the trail. They provided hay at the Out check from camp and we also had prepared packs of grain, carrots, etc....Advil, sunscreen, water, powerbars, etc to be at the Out check waiting for us. Oh, also, we used electrolyte pastes after each Vet check after the horses had gotten plenty of water.  We had pre-ride electrolyted the horses and also post ride. Then we had the long 11 miles back into camp to finish the ride!

The 25 milers had 6 hours to finish. The 50 milers had 12 hours. The 75 milers had 18 hours. This also includes the times of the Holds at the various Vet checks.

Glory finished the 25 miler in 8th place!!  We were so proud of her!  She kept up with the Arabs.  That's pretty good out of 54 horses! She was just fine after the ride. In fact, she finished in 5th place for Best Condition! The top ten finishing horses can compete for Best Condition, which includes another Vet check one hour post completion. They pulse them before a trotting out, and the pulse should be lower after one minute post trotting out. Amazing..... The three of us in the 50 miler made it with 45 minutes to spare. Dazzle is really a 25 miler, and held us back a little. We took the whole ride with the spirit of "To Win is To Finish", and we did just that! Ace was just as strong, if not stronger, at the finish. I wanted it to be a good experience for him. I think it would have been easier on my body if we had gone faster and quicker to finish! We shall see next time, because Dazzle will be doing the 25 miler and Brenda and I have horses that compete about the same. It should be fun!! (Just push the Aleve!) I was sore in every muscle the day after and today I am pretty much completely normal! I was told that this ride was one of the hardest with all the mountain climbs and shale rock downgrades. It was a gorgeous ride, however.

There were 16 gaited horses there. I am a member of the "Master Gaiters" team and we made points for year end awards. There is an "Insta-Gaiters" team as well. We all pot-lucked the dinners there, although local riding groups provided meals for a fee. Sunday morning, the morning after the ride, they had a wonderful breakfast for the riders and an awards presentation. Everyone that completed their rides got an award. They gave out ribbons for Top Ten placements and also Best Condition awards. So, to me, if you don't go for the Top Ten placements, you should pace your horse well, and win with a sound, happy horse, instead of pushing the horse too hard to come in 11th!! As you can see, the horses come first for care. The Vets make dern sure that that takes place.

I had a great experience and look forward to the next ride. Ace will rest until next Sunday's conditioning ride. Then he will be ridden once or twice a week until the next ride the end of June in Washington in the Klickitat Canyon Natural Resources Area. (Julie, you should be familiar with this area...it's north of White Salmon)

I wish all of you could do one of these rides! Granted the 25 miler sounds more sensible, but it is not considered an endurance ride. They classify it as a Limited Distance Ride and it doesn't get endurance ride points. The 50 miler is the first distance to be considered "endurance"......maybe a 30 mile ride is, but not too many are offered. (And....sigh......I have NO desire to go for a 100, or even a 75 miler!!!)
They even ride in the dark with glo-sticks on for light!!! NOT ME !!!

Thanks for enduring my synopsis of my experience!!!! Hugs, June

NWHA National Championship Show
September 18 - 22, 2007
Miller Coliseum, Murfreesboro, TN

Check out the pics!

The McCurdy Horse is one breed included in:

Storey's Illustrated Guide to 96 Horse Breeds of North America
by Judith Dutson

416 pages, 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 trim size,
full-color photographs and illustrations throughout.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE the history of North America without the horse. For more than 500 years, horses have served as workers and warhorses, as companions and partners. In this first-ever comprehensive tribute, equestrian author and expert Judith Dutson captures the spirit of these noble animals and provides a wealth of information about each breed's particular history, special uses, conformation standards, and much more. Handsome, full-color action photographs and explanatory drawings enliven every page.

This 96-breed panorama covers North America's remarkable diversity of horse breeds, from the popular and well known to the rare and obscure.

http://www.storey.com

paperback - $29.95
ISBN# 1-58017-612-7

hardcover with jacket - $40.00
ISBN# 1-58017-613-5