MEC is always fun however it also signals an end to our competitive rides for another year.  We always hope for decent weather and this year we lucked out. Well endurance lucked out. Sunday’s weather for Competitive Trail was a whole different story!

I had marked one of the loops and I had contemplated using the Tamarac trail for a change of scenery from the same old.  The full Tamarac is seldom available to us due to the serious 1 mile horse sucking lose more than your boot bog midway through the loop. Remember the quicksand in the Tarzan movies?  Well this is worse and no Cheetah, Lassie OR the Lone Ranger to save you! 

As it was such a dry year the bog was pretty much an non factor.  I actually braved it to find out and was hopeful that I could use it. With a fair bit of rain during the week I felt I should err on the side of caution. Well thank goodness I did as Friday we got some serious water!  I would have needed to be out on trail darn early Saturday morning to get that loop changed. Phew!  Disaster adverted. 

We had a great turn out with 8 riders in the 25 mile and 6 riders in the 50. Unfortunately one rider pulled from the 25 after 2 sudden dismounts. She decided it was best to call it a day while still reasonably unscathed. She will live to ride another day which turned out to be Sunday

In the 25 miles it was a tight race with the first 4 riders less than 4 minutes apart. We expect to see a few of these gals move to 50’s next year as it would appear the 25 mile distance is a piece of cake! (hint, hint)

This was Serenade’s first 50 mile ride so I wanted to ride conservatively. Sometimes conservatively, Darice, Serenade and Tia don’t go well in the same sentence. Serenade would try to catch up with other horses ahead of us on the trail or if they were behind us she believed them to be the Hounds of Baskerville nipping at her heels. We had some serious Whoa Bessie moments but all in all I was super happy with her. 

When we went out again after we had finished 25 miles Serenade looked at me like What!! I thought we were done.  By the time we finished she was so tired she could barely chew her food however after lots of yawning and a nap she dove back into her food.  It’s work to keep that full figure in place!

Dianne was aboard Tia riding her first 50 mile ride and she survived as well. I didn’t notice Dianne yawning and napping after the ride but I did see her tuck into her food very enthusiastically. I foresee more 50 mile rides in her future. 

All the 50 mile riders received their completion so a great way to end their year. 

As Dianne and I were last we won the Turtle Prize which was generously donated by Brenda Casement. Who doesn’t like winning a prize?? The lovely bottle of wine was whisked out of my hands so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to sniff the cork! 

And with this our season has ended for another year. My year started rather miserably but ended on an excellent note. I’m very optimistic about next year. 

I do hope anybody reading the blog has enjoyed the recap of our rides. We look forward to the new ride season and we welcome anybody who would like to come out to join us next year. Please contact me or anybody else on the board if you have any questions or would like to be involved with the club. We are always on the search for people who want to have fun! 

Darice Whyte