What is Ride and Tie? By Holly M. Have you ever heard of long distance trail racing? What about horseback riding? Sure, you've probably heard of both of these activities, but what exactly is Ride and Tie? It's exactly those two things combined together in one race.
What is Ride and Tie, and how is the race set up? Two people, a horse, and one tough race is often used to describe the sport of Ride and Tie. Ride and Tie is a lesser known sport that combines both endurance riding and long distance running. There are always three partners to a team, two humans and a horse. The goal is to have all three team members cross a 10-100 mile trail safely. The trail, or cross-country course, can be anywhere from up in the mountains, across meadows and rivers, or most likely all of these areas. One team member will start out riding while the other will start out running. The rider will race ahead on the horse while the runner will take off behind them. Ride and tie takes strategy. Switching and pacing is where this strategy is set in. Once the rider believes they are far enough ahead, they will dismount their horse, tie him or her up to anything sturdy that they can find, and take off down the trail. The runner will come up to the horse, untie them, mount, and take off after their partner. The riders and runners can choose to switch whenever they meet up with each other after the beginning or continue to ride on and tie once they settle into a steady pace. Factoring in strengths and weaknesses of the whole team, how tough the terrain is, and the weather drastically changes the strategy of the game. Another important topic is the vet check. There is always at least one mandatory vet check per race, but there are typically more depending on the distance of the race. Vet checks are used to make sure the horse is healthy and can continue the race. If the horse does not meet certain requirements or is injured, it will be pulled from the race. Once the horse has passed the vet check, they will take off again. Overall, Ride and Tie is exhilarating mentally and physically, and it ends up with the riders finding a new respect for their horse once they go through trails they put their horses on all the time.
What is the history of Ride and Tie? Ride and Tie can be dated back all the way to 18th century in Europe when people used to use this method to travel quickly when they only had one horse to ride. It was also a common method used in America out West for traveling back in the 19th century. Although people might have used the Ride and Tie method to get around a long time ago, the actual race was truly founded by Bud Johns. While he founded the sport in 1971, he first learned about it in the 1960s when he was reading about a story where a father and son had all their horses stolen from them but one, so they chased after the rustlers using the method now known as Ride and Tie. Meanwhile, the Levi Strauss blue jean company, where Johns worked as a marketer, was searching for a sport to sponsor. Johns introduced the idea of Ride and Tie to them, explaining how the Western aspect of the company and sport would fit well together. The company was convinced, so the first race took place in 1971 at Sonoma County with the Levi Strauss company sponsoring it. Sixtythree teams showed up, which motivated Johns and the company to continue sponsoring the newly founded sport for twenty more years. Eventually in the 1980s, the sport continued to grow and expand, traveling across the country. Ride and Tie is still growing rapidly and new races appear across the country every year.