The Official Newsletter of the Texas Endurance Riders Association
Volume 13, Issue 2 Spring 2014
www.texasenduranceriders.org www.aerccentralregion.org
Trail Markers is published Quarterly in January, April, July, and October. It is distributed solely to members of the Texas Endurance Riders Association, and is comprised of both their input and the opinion of the editor, neither of which represent the organization’s views or official stance. Of course, if there is no input from members, then you’re pretty much stuck with the editor’s opinions. Which don’t amount to much, really, but they can sometimes make interesting reading. Other times … well, the term “bird cage liner” comes to mind. Advertising rates are as follows (these are for black and white. Call or email for color rates): Full page - $80 Half page - $55 1/4 page - $32 Business Card - $22 These are one time rates. Contact Todd for yearly rates. We are also offering a classified section free to TERA members. Non-TERA members -.50¢ a word. Deadline for the next issue is July. 14th, 2014.
In This Issue: TERA Ride Calendar - p2 2014 BoD - p3 Officers Elections - p3 Editor’s Musings - p3 Ride Manager Clinic- p5 Regional Championship Results- p5 Reminiscing Through the Rides- p6-7 The Mortl Challenge - p8-9 AERC National Championships- p10 You Know if You Are A TERA Rider- p11 Posting Horse Trail Photos - p12
Wanna be published? Get it in!
Heart Murmurs - p13
Sylvia Sazama starts off in the morning sunrise of the Bootlegger Boogie.
Trot Out - p14
Cover photo: John Nowell http://www.remuda.smugmug.com
2014 TERA Sponsored Rides Old Glory
May 24-25 2014 Parrie Haynes Ranch, Kileen, TX John Nowell 972-672-8250 jcnowell@msn.com
Llano Estacado Pioneer June 6-8, 2014 Lake Meredith, Armarillo, TX Doug Blashill 806-622-8583 dblashill@clearwire.net
Unicorn Hunt
Sept 8, 2014 DCNF, Kennard, TX David Fant 936-655-4048 dfant2007@hotmail.com 2
Off-Road Warrior
2014 AERC National Championship 100
Oct 30, 2014 Priefert Ranch, Mount Pleasant, TX Khristin Seymore 903-563-6639 HorizonAggie@aol.com
2014 AERC National Championship 50
Nov 1, 2014 Priefert Ranch, Mount Pleasant, TX Khristin Seymore 903-563-6639 HorizonAggie@aol.com
Nov 15-16 2014 Trace Trails Athens, TX Jamie Lemon 281-732-0629 jamie.lemon@yahoo.com
That’s all for now folks!
2014 Board of Directors President Vickie Roden 373 Langston Ln. McKinney, TX 75069 972-978-0072 Vickier_is@yahoo.com
Education Director Valerie Bixler 3598 CR 406 McKinney, TX 75071 214-514-3618 bixlerdvm@gmail.com
Publicity & Awards Director Vice-President Khristin Seymore David Fant PO Box 559 3901 North Possum Walk Rd. Daingerfield, TX 75638 Kennard, TX 75847 903-563-6639 936-655-4048 HorizonAggie@aol.com dfant2007@hotmail.com Secretary Sylvia Fant 3901 North Possum Walk Rd. Kennard, TX 75847 936-655-4048 sfant2008@hotmail.com
Membership Director Hope Finan 1560 Rogers Hill Rd. Waco, TX 76705 254-339-0012 HopeUrban@hotmail.com
Treasurer Robin Howze 845 Wilson Rd. Waxahachie, TX 75165 214-244-5909 rhowze@sbcglobal.net
Ride Manager Director Caryne Edwards 311 Hunters Creek Dr. New Braunfels,TX 78132 830-660-5552 cedwards23@satx.rr.com
Editor, Todd Hezeau 7259 CR 3223 Lone Oak, TX 75453 469.261.8733 maccwall@yahoo.com
The Editor’s Musings... It’s funny nowadays how all you seem to hear about is how bad the world is and who is at war with who or just, well, you know. I see people on the highway flippin someone off who cut them off, usually me or griping about a long line in the store, etc. That’s where this sport come’s in. It’s my release from the world outside and it makes me feel good to see how good the majority of the people in our sport are to others. We have had some major tragic events as of late to a few of our members and I love the fact that people in our group step up and help these folks that have had either severe injuries or major loss of, well, everything, step up and help out... Just makes me feel good to belong to an organization with folks as good as TERA folks. See you on the trail... Safe Riding, Todd
TERA OFFICER ELECTION The Officer positions of President, Vice-Presifent, Secretary, and Treasurer begin a new 2-year term, beginning Dec. 1. Nominations for yourself or any member in good standing, must be made by Sept. 1. Please email the nomination to Sylvia Fant, TERA Secretary, at sfant2008@hotmail.com. Descriptions of each position can be found at texasenduranceriders.org, under TERA By-Laws. For more personal information, please call Vickie Roden, current President, at (972)978-0072.
3
2014 ANNUAL RIDE MANAGER CLINIC Date: Saturday, July 5th (come earlier, stay later) Location: Bo & Linda Parrish’s farm, Kennard, TX. Site of the Armadillo Endurance Ride. Focus: Practical Knowledge to run a ride All T.E.R.A. members are welcome to attend this year’s R.M. Clinic. It is an excellent way to learn the finer elements of a ride, how a ride is put on, what goes on behind the scenes, and to have fun with existing managers and other members. For immediate information, please call Caryne Edwards, Director of Ride Managers, at (830) 660-5552. More details on agenda and registration will be available in the next few weeks on the T.E.R.A. website and will be communicated through social media channels. Come join us!
2014 CENTRAL REGION CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE RESULTS 100 Mile Championship: (3 starters, 2 finishers) 1. Victoria Roden on Jolly Juice **BC** 2. Lucy Estabrook on Smokin’ Walor SWA
50 Mile Championship: (2 starters, 2 finishers) 1. Gunnar Frank on MI Clever Ansata 2. Alanna Frank on Ramses Mr. Midnight **BC**
25 Mile Championship: (9 starters, 9 finishers) 1. Windsor Mundy on Kharismas Grace **JR** 2. Angela Rutledge on DJB Tessarah **BC** 3. Kirby Killingsworth on Sundays Saving Grace 4. Doug Carberry on Khadin 5. Donna Murphy on WMA Proclaim 6. Ragan Kelly on Dazzel EM **JR** 7. Kerry Lowry on Takoda 8. Tracy Kelly on GP Cali Rooz 9. Beverly Gentry on Gus Mygray
oss
ock
ndurance
Gear for the Trail, Competitive Trail and Endurance Rider
Specializing in custom made Beta Biothane® Equine tack and Dog Accessories, plus lots more! Lisa and Paul Douglass, Colorado Springs, CO, USA Phone: 716-439-2472 • Fax: 208-902-0966 www.mossrockendurance.com lisa@mossrockendurance.com 5
Reminiscing Thr
Bootlegger Boogie I & II Tarrent Ranch, Bullard, TX March 1st - 2nd
Shanghai Trails Pierce Ranch, Pierce, TX March 29th - 30th
6
Photos courtesy: John Nowell http://www.remuda.smugmug.com
rough the Rides
Post Oak Challenge Trace Trails, Athens, TX April 12th - 13th
7
2014 AERC National Championship Priefert Ranch Mt Pleasant, Texas 100 mile – Thursday October 30, 2014
Qualifications: 500 lifetime miles (horse) AND 500 lifetime miles (rider), with at least one
100 mile, one-day ride together. The mileage requirements must be met with endurance competitions of 50 miles or more only -- no limited distance miles count towards qualification criteria.
50 mile – Saturday November 1, 2014
Qualifications: 300 lifetime miles (horse) AND 300 lifetime miles (rider), with at least 100
miles together. The mileage requirements must be met with endurance competitions of 50 miles or more only -- no limited distance miles count towards qualification criteria. Alternate qualification (either distance): If the horse and rider team has completed 1,000 AERC endurance miles (rides 50 miles or more only) they are qualified to enter. All entries must meet AERC qualification criteria! ! SPONSORSHIPS NEEDED PLEASE CONTACT Khristin IF you are interested!! For more Information Contact: Khristin Seymore – HorizonAggie@aol.com - 903-563-6639 Brittani Murray – Stormarab5@aol.com - 832-928-6441
8
How To Know If You Are A TERA Rider Ever been to a ride outside our region, and things just are not the same? Not just the location, but the way things are just, well, different? Here are some fun ways to KNOW you are at a TERA sponsored ride. You know you are at a TERA ride when: 1. You arrive in camp and can tell the location of your ride photographer immediately. 2. You yell out “Vicki” at a ride and half of the riders respond. 3. You know all the names of all the camp dogs, and which ones will be in trouble. Again. 4. Your ribbons are always on the right, UNLESS they are on the left. 5. Your vet, now living two states away, flies in just to vet at the ride. 6. You have traveled for 14 hours to arrive at the ride, and never left the state of Texas! 7. You suffer with humidity that is higher than the temperature. 8. You smile and wave at our Chief Equine Aquatic Engineer who is hard at work as you ride down the trail. 9. You start a ride in short sleeves, and end it covered in ice and using every available piece of clothing you own. 10. You turn a corner and panic because you can’t find your confidence ribbon. 11. You dont even bat an eye when the In/Out Timer brings two chairs AND two dog beds to work. 12. When the Bluebonnet Classic has no Bluebonnets, the Armadillo has no “dillos’, the Unicorn Hunt has no Unicorns, the High Roller has no gambling, and the Texas Tango and the Bootlegger Boogie have no dancing. What kind of Wacky Wides are those? 9
April Mortl at the 2009 Freeze R Burn Looking back at our time with you Training rides, Endurance rides, lunches too! Your willingness to always lend a hand, Your smile and laughter in great demand. You left us in a flash Gone from our sight as you went to the light As my tears continue, my heart carries you along my rides,
Congradulations and thank you so much! All net profit after awards goes to Horse Feathers!
2012 $1200
2013 $200
2014 $200
Looking forward to seeing you on the other side.
1st Annual Mortl Challenge 2012
Challenge: Complete 3 rides, same horse, any distance except intro. • Airport Express • Old Glory • Ride the Storm (Rides spread out over 2012 season) 66 starters - 17 completions - 26% completion rate Yvonne Ambrose - Shirazz Leslie Barlow - Fionna Ross Carrie - Diamante de Zeta Ginny Conner - Dez Willemina DeBaur - Frisia Shaheen Allanna Frank - Ramses Mr. Midnight 10
Robin Howze - El Capitain Regina Hunter - Thee Sheba Cindy Kovalchuk - Cypress Diane O’Conner - Karina Al Prescott - Lefty Deanna Prusak - Punky
Vickie Roden - Jolly Juice Bob Rogers - Hatch Sylvia Sazama - Nordik Khristin Seymore - Eddie Mike Sturgil - Denato
2nd Annual Mortl Challenge 2013
Challenge: Complete 3 rides, same horse, any distance except intro. • Ride the Storm • Armadillo • Trace the Trails (Rides within a 6 week time frame) 33 starters - 15 ompletions - 45% completion rate Pualette Brehob - Koko Doug Carberry - Khadin Richard Darroh - BF saturn Fyre Hope Finan - Annie Ann Goolsby - Lilly Ragen Kelly - Dazzel Cindy Kovalchuk - Cypress Jim Matthess - Beacons Nite Lite
Diane O’Conner - Karina Al Prescott - Marauder Vickie Rodgers - Nugget Bob Rogers - Hatch Angela Rutledge - DJB Tessarah Donna Thompson - Abha Amiir Leslie Wills - Caleb
3rd Annual Mortl Challenge 2014
Challenge: Rider can complete first 50 Rider can complete 2 days on the same horse either distance and could elevator up on the second day. • Bootlegger Boogie 20 starters - 9 Completions - 45% completion rate
Vickie Roden - Jolly Juice Bob Roden - MA Shamelys 2-day 30
Kent Battersfield 1st 50
Jackson Kelly - A Pint of Paint 1st 50
Robin Howze - April’s Trust 2-day 30
Stewart Kelly - Steady’s Tempo 1st 50
Denise Daylet - Holly 2-day 30
Kaitlyn Timmons - Syrena 2-day 30
Casey Free - Raq Ahn 1st 50
11
Posting Horse-Trail Photographs onto GoogleEarth Introduction
by Robert H. Sydnor, AERC Trail Master and Geologist
April 2014
It is helpful if AERC equestrians upload GPS-tagged photographs of horse-trails and horse-assembly areas onto GoogleEarth. These unique photographs can then be viewed by anyone for reliable visual data about the geologic terrain of the horse trail. This is particularly welcoming for experienced riders from afar who may want to ride in a new area, for daily conditioning rides, and for official AERC rides. A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when describing terrain, logistics, access difficulties, horse-trailer navigation to the parking lot, key signposts to look for, and the trail-head venue. Photos that also have horse-ears in them clearly notify the world that this is a horse-trail. The purpose of this AERC Trail Master report is to describe the steps for AERC riders from all over North America to post horse-trail photographs that will be inviting to new AERC members and thereby promulgate our sport of endurance riding to a wide public audience.
Examples of Suitable Logistical and Terrain Photos for GoogleEarth
Notice that the horse is not the center of attention; these logistical and terrain photos have a very different purpose. Social photographs of AERC rides are optimum for Facebook, personal websites, and the cover of AERC Endurance News. However, GoogleEarth will not post them.
Hidden Falls footbridge, No-Hands Bridge on the Tevis Trail, and Canyon View Bridge over Coon Creek = very different bridges for horses.
Tevis Trail near Milepost 3; the John Muir Trail in Yosemite at Cathedral Pass, and the South Fork of the American River at BLM Cronan Ranch { Several thousand people have viewed these on GoogleEarth }
Steps for Uploading Horse-Trail Photos onto GoogleEarth 1. Obtain a (free) Google account using your real name. No fake names and no pretentious names are allowed. OK to have other gmail.com accounts but for this unique purpose, a real person is needed. No, you cannot use other Internet service providers to do this. This is part of the Google empire. (Continue to use your preferred e-mail address; no need to change.) 2. Go to www.Panoramio.com This website is owned and operated by Google. Panoramio serves as the uploader portal onto GoogleEarth. Establish a free personal Panoramio account using your gmail.com address. Essentially this is where the suitability of your trail photos are examined, vetted, and checked for standards. Photos with lots of people in them are not approved by the censor (who is neither a horseman nor a trail specialist). As of 2014, there are about 75 million photographs posted onto GoogleEarth, and about 50,000 per day are uploaded worldwide.
12
Heart Murmurs Often Don’t Affect Performance in Horses Abnormal sounds, known as murmurs, can sometimes be heard as a veterinarian listens to a horse’s heart. Owners who hear the words “heart murmur” may worry that their horses can’t be ridden or are in danger of dying. And would anyone buy a horse at a sale, knowing it had a heart murmur? Thankfully, though a heart murmur is not an uncommon finding on examination, the majority of horses are not troubled by this condition, and their sale prices and performance potential are often completely unaffected. However, some types of heart murmur signify serious problems, and a veterinarian will be able to determine how significant the condition is for a particular horse.
At a recent FEI endurance competition held in Ashville, North Carolina, event veterinarians identified six horses with cardiac murmurs out of the nearly 200 starters. None of the competitors had problems with performance, and all finished the race normally.
When a murmur is found in a horse that is already performing satisfactorily, it might be expected to lower the value of the horse in the eyes of a prospective buyer. This was borne out in a study led by Dr. Marianne Sloet at the Department of Equine Sciences of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. During a five-year period, the study team looked at a number of horses for prepurchase A number of studies have been conducted to examinations or at long distance rides. They found evaluate cardiac abnormalities in the equine murmurs in 62 horses at prepurchase examinations population. In Australia, researchers at the and in 15 horses competing at distance rides. Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Mitral valve problems were found in 63 horses, the University of Sydney looked at 846 racing and tricuspid valve issues were noted in 40 (some Thoroughbreds. They found that 686 of these horses had multiple problems). horses (81%) had some type of heart murmur. The researchers concluded that most of the murmurs Reduced performance was found in only 10% of did not seem to be clinically important. the horses that had heart murmurs, but the presence of murmurs nevertheless affected the sale price of Another study was done in Italy by the Department many of the horses. Among the horses in the study, of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Equine Internal 43% sold for the original asking price, despite being Medicine and Sports Medicine Services at the identified as having a murmur; 21% sold for a lower Large Animal Veterinary Hospital of the University of price because of the presence of a murmur; and the Milan. Researchers investigated the cardiovascular sale was terminated in 36% of these cases. Clients systems of 752 Standardbreds that had been apparently viewed the presence of heart murmurs presented for examination because of poor as a detriment, even though less than 10% of horses performance. In this group, 233 horses were found with murmurs demonstrate any clinical significance. to have heart murmurs. Most of the murmurs were due to tricuspid valve regurgitation, but mitral valve, The researchers found that the left atrial diameter aortic valve and pulmonary valve-related murmurs (LAD) was the most important feature to predict were also identified. Though all of the Standardbreds future performance. When blood leaks into this had shown poor performance, their problems at the chamber through a compromised mitral valve, the track could be traced to heart murmurs in fewer heart’s left atrium increases in size and the walls than one-third of the horses. gradually thicken as the atrium works harder to push the blood out. If LAD is normal (less than 14 Researchers at Specialist Equine Cardiology cm) in the presence of a heart murmur, then the Services in Suffolk, England, were interested in the flow problem is being well tolerated by the equine possible association between murmurs and athletic heart and shouldn’t cause performance concerns. performance, which was largely unknown. They If the LAD is increased, the heart is adapting to the looked at 526 fit Thoroughbreds that were either pathology in the valves, and the horse should be jump or flat racing. After evaluating the horses and removed from performance and carefully monitored. correlating their conditions to racing performance, the researchers found essentially no evidence that Shared with permission from KER • http://ker.com/ horses with murmurs performed any differently from 13 those without murmurs.
Spring 2014 Texas Endurance Riders Association TERA AS
RS
TE X
AS
U R A NCE
DE RI
%Hope Finan 1560 Rogers Hill Rd. Waco, TX 76705
D EN
S O C I AT I O N
Trot Out
Sp e c ia lize d Sa d d le s Th e L a st Sa d d le Yo u Will Eve r Ne e d ! “T he One with the Adjustable Fit”
Eurolite
Trailmaster
International
Why are Specialized Saddles taking the horse world by storm? • Width, arch and angle can be independently adjusted to achieve a perfect fit – the ultimate in comfort for horse and rider • Easy to adjust as horse changes shape or you change horses – no tools required • Lightweight, durable designs begin at 14 lbs complete • Six models cover virtually any riding discipline; trees also available for extra wide horses and mules • High-quality, best value: prices begin at $1349 • T ry before you buy; ask about our demo program
Specialized Saddles www.speci a l i zedsa ddl es.com
Kelly Brough’s horse finds something humorous about the pre-ride vet check! Photo: John Nowell http://www.remuda.smugmug.com
Contact John Nowell, Regional Distributor, for more information specsaddles@msn.com (972) 672-8250