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| 2008 Peace Point Endurance Ride A Success |
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2008 Peace Point Endurance Ride a Success!!
2008 Peace Point Endurance Ride by Laura Riddle Eighty-two riders descended on the small quiet town of Bethany, West Virginia, to participate in the third annual Peace Point Endurance Ride. The ride site is located on Peace Point Equestrian Center’s 2,800-acre facility and offers riders a glimpse of West Virginia’s beautiful scenery. The trails give riders a combination of all kinds of terrain from open fields and rolling wooded countryside to steep climbs and descents and creek crossings. We couldn’t have asked for better weather in mid-August in West Virginia: sunny and mid-80s with moderate humidity. It was definitely a pleasant change from the 2006 ride at which we battled through heavy rain, strong winds and deep mud. On Saturday morning 61 riders headed out on the 50 and 25. At 8:15 a.m., 50-mile riders were returning to base camp for their first vet check and reports began to circulate about a loose horse on the trail but there was little information about what had happened, only that the rider was OK and walking in to camp. I headed off to find the trail master to let him know he needed to go out and pick up the rider and to discuss the best possible way to locate the loose horse without interfering with any riders still on the trail. As we were preparing to leave camp to pick up the rider and search for the horse, the rider returned and informed us that she had dismounted to fix a horse boot and dropped her reins and her horse decided to continue on without her. She was optimistic that he would come in with the other riders and told us to put the search on hold. After the last rider had returned to camp for the first vet check we decided it was time to start the search. A mile in, the trail master informed me that he must return to base camp to re-fuel his ATV. I decided to continue the search on foot instead of wasting time going back to base camp. Big mistake! I would find out hours later, after walking 10 miles back to base camp, that when the trail master returned to re-fuel his ATV the missing horse had been found and a small section of trail had been vandalized that he had to re-mark. Needless to say, re-marking the trail took precedence over picking up the ride manager. Deb Shaffer on Sheik Abu Galihad was the first to finish in the 50. Miz Vandansk ridden by Corie Ann Gregg was best condition and also received high vet score. Amanda Munson on Studs Hooligan was the first to finish in the 25 LD, Dennis Thompson on Cochise received the vet’s choice award and Teresa Izer on Raffala Derama received the optimal time award. There were six pulls in the 50 and two overtimes and only one pull in the 25. Sunday morning we had 21 riders starting and thankfully all riders and horses managed to stay together. Claire Godwin on PL Mercury was first to finish in the 50. PL Mercury earned both BC and high vet score. Patricia DeMott on CMK Lees April Love was first to finish in the 25, John Welch on MB Fyre Khracker received the vet’s choice award and the Loomis family—Shannon riding Quest For Star, Christopher riding Quail Meadow Star and Morgan riding Be A Quiet Man—received the optimal time award. There were two pulls in the 50 and one in the 25 with no overtimes in either. The ride is a joint effort between Peace Point Equestrian Center (www.peacepointfarms.com) and the West Virginia Equine Association (www.wvequineassoc.org), both non-profit organizations. Thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors, Dr. Art King, Dr. Nick Kohut and his wife Ranelle for helping to make this ride possible. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 08 September 2008 ) |