Endurance riding June 2010

I am so lucky to have a family that supports me and rides with me!

 

As some might know by now - my little speedy girl *Charm is out of commission for this year's endurance.... I was SO hoping to be bringing her this year, but it was just not meant to be.  She will be bred to *Bobble for a 2011 foal and then we will get back at her training when she is well and truly healed from her bone bruise.....

 

Now, since I am not taking *Charm to the endurance rides I took my back-up girl Mirage, Mirage is a purebred Arabian and dam of my now three year old Curly girl *Sandman's Serenade (she is going to be started lightly this year).  We also took my SO's horse Dakota Scout, he is a NSH and really shines in endurance, but most important to "me" is that we took two of our Curly horses and they just rocked!

 

Anastasia brought *Poplars Bijou, this was *Bijou's very first endurance ride - she was absolutely wonderful!  She trailered great, accepted the remote camping and the very different climate at the coast where the ride was held, and on the ride itself she was happy to keep up with our other horses and she crossed the river like she had been doing it forever, in one place it was almost deep enough to swim! 

 

The other Curly we brought was *Cuervo - my 15 year old son Shane rode as a junior and they did awesome!  That *Cuervo is an amazing kind of horse, he packs beginners anywhere, does uncounted riding lessons and then we throw him in the trailer and he is getting to have quite the extended trot on these rides!  Shane and *Cuervo got runner up high vet score for juniors and he got a great prize!

 

I have to say just a footnote about my mare Mirage.  I purchased her several years ago for breeding to *Sandman and I did get our really great filly *Serenade from her, but after that I discovered what a fun and competitive little riding horse she is and so I have been riding her in endurance as most of you know.... Now, what most folks do not know is that Mirage came to me with a severely damaged left knee, it is fused so that it cannot bend fully, she can't bend it up totally for the farrier, she can't really jump and she can't lie down normally, she can lie out flat but most horses sleep somewhat upright.  But, she has never been lame on it, she doesn't favor it at all and while we watch it carefully, so far it doesn't seem to give her any trouble.

 

So anyway, we were at the awards ceremony after the endurance ride and I was SO blown away when they announced that Mirage and I had achieved the prestigious High Vet Score Award.  Now this award is given to the horse that has received the best vet scores from before, during and after the ride, they said she won this award quite decisively too.... I was almost moved to tears I was so proud of my little horse.  This score is not related to her injury, but I wanted to tell about it anyway for some understanding of what this horse is about - she is very neat, quirky, but an absolute competitor - if not for the knee, I know this horse could do 100 mile rides, she is really something!

 

I am attaching a couple of pictures - the photo with the three of us is me on my grey Mirage, I am holding *Bijou (she looks grey too, but that is because she wears a whitish fly sheet) Anastasia is on *Cuervo and Shane is on Dakota, we are cooling their legs in the river after the ride.  Oh and that is my other daughter to the right at the back, she swam all day in the river lol.  The other picture is Shane and Anastasia.

Shelly
Standing Curly Sporthorse Stallion *Sandman's Magic
http://www.curlystandardplace.com