Quicksilver 50,
1997
We just
returned from the Quicksilver Fall Classic ride held at
Quicksilver /Almaden park in San
Jose. This is another one of
those
times I
love living in Northern California- the ride is 45 minutes
from
home,
and the weather in early November was between 60 & 70
degrees,
sunny,
light breeze all day. Sorry about
that, east coast. This was
my
first
ride on Shatta since late August when he suffered a slight
stone
bruise. He has finished 9 out of 9 rides this
year, and I could not be
any
happier with his performance if I tried.
The big news of the ride
was
that my wife Judy was back on Warpaint once again! This fall ride
was yet
another injury comeback ride for the spotted butt wonder. He
blew
out a splint in June, and like the past 3 years just about took
the
summer
off again. (maybe he likes
vacations?) a side note- Judy
and I
traded
horses for a 4 hour ride a few weeks ago, and really for
the
first
time I got to ride Warpaint in the wild. (I've never WANTED to
in
the
past!) No wonder she does so
well! That horse is so powerful
it's
hard to
believe. He's like riding a
motorcycle. I also got to see
my
horse
from a point of view other than my saddle- he sure looks
cool
trotting away, leaving the poor
appy cantering to keep up!
Oh,
yes, the event. The ride is put on by the Quicksilver
Endurance
riders,
and was managed by Brian Reeves and Val Weiser, who are
both
Internet endurance buddies. Judith
Ogus was there working, and special
accolades go to the hard working
Mary Thompson Moore for being ride
secretary. The infamous Maryben
Stover was there working the ride,
continuing her usual barrage of
Appaloosa Jokes. The ride was a carbon
copy of
the famous Shine and Shine rides put on by Becky Hart in
the
winter
months, which made me a little disappointed. The last time I
rode
this ride it did a big, neat loop through a little town and
out
away
from the Quicksilver park. This
year (as well as the SASO rides)
the
ride just did two loops of the same roads.
Poor Shatta- he did all
three
SASO rides earlier this year, and was in no danger of getting
lost
at any
time. I rode the ride from start to
finish with my barn buddy
and
conditioning partner Sally Abe on her little gelding Ahkiba,
also
known
as Akebono. Judy waited until the
end and rode a controlled ride
on her
fire breathing Appy. Also in
attendance was our long time good
friend
and endurance mentor Marilynn R. Russell riding her feisty
mare
Cresta. She also had her old retired gentleman
Centur out for the 25
with
first time rider Jane Hart on board.
Lots of the regular Nor Cal
gang
were in attendance- Julie and Bob Shur, Beth and Scott
Wachenheim,
Jazon
Wonders, Becky Glazer, Teresa Cross, Jamie Kerr (riding a
MULE!),
Diane
and Jack Enderle, and to top off the list was none other
than
Becky
Hart, riding none other than Rio.
Yes, they finished. There
are
no
words to describe that horse. At the last vet check Shatta
was
grazing
on some hay when Becky and Rio walked up.
Rio dropped his nose
to eat,
and rubbed noses with my horse for a second. I told Shatta "If
ever
there was a nose for you to rub on, that's the one I want you
to
rub."
The
ride started out with a genuine trailer rodeo. The ride
management
had to
drive about 40 rigs from the start and park them in a parking
lot
the
size of an average mini-mart. They
got them in there, but opening
tack
doors was interesting. We walked
the 2 miles of controlled start
to the
park, where we took off up the big hill.
Then it was just a lot
of good
(although a little hard) roads for the entire event. Head vet
Nancy
Elliot did a great job of keeping 80 some odd horses
moving
through
the checks with only a couple other vets.
There were no
treatments, and most of the pulls
were rider option or lameness.
Scott
W
pulled his big horse at check three since he was a little
concerned
about
his recovery. Poor old Centur came
up a little lame very early in
the
ride, so Marilyn pulled him.
One
problem came up when someone sabotaged the course markings at
a
point
where riders had to make a turn on the first loop only, and
not
the
second. Two riders need special
mention when they missed the first
check,
rode about 10 extra miles, turned around, rode back, and
completed the ride. Just think- the first ever Quicksilver
Fall classic
70! A lot of people could do this ride
blindfolded, but the course was
well
marked for the first timers. One funny thing- Judy was
trotting
along
the trail when she came across a runner with his dog, who
turned
out to
be Bill, one of her office mates at work!
Judy said: "Bill?"
Bill
said: "Judy?" They introduced their
pets to each other and went on
their
way.
How did
it go for us? Perfect! I don't think I can describe my
ride
better
than that. Shatta was ultra strong
all day, he drank as well as
he ever
has, he ate well all day, he did not spook at anything, he
even
let me
give him his electrolytes a few times (which he really,
really
hates). Sally and I just bopped along all day at
a nice moderate pace,
finishing in just under 6 hours for
14th and 15th place. The best
news
was at
the finish, where Shatta trotted perfectly sound- so much for
the
stone bruise! Judy came
bounding across the line at 3:30 or so
with
her War Pony still looking fresh.
She and Becky Glazer rode a lot
of the
last loop together and had a great time talking about all the
fun
rides
those two have had. Marilyn made it
in with Cresta- there was no
question when she arrived, since
Centur started bellowing like a
Canadian moose when he saw his
stable mate show up! The ride
provided a
very
nice BBQ dinner, finishers got a tee-shirt, and I even won a
cool
little
hand made ceramic plate for taking first middle weight. I'm not
sure of
the number of starters/finishers, or top ten, so I'll let
Val
post
that info. Everyone felt so happy
for Judy and her spotted
speedster! It's nice (once again) to have him back
in the completion
category.
Thanks
for the ride, Quicksilver guys and ride volunteers! Next stop-
Death
Valley!!!!!!
Nick
Warhol
Hayward, Ca.
Shatta-
Who has gone around this 20 some-odd-mile loop EIGHT times
now
this
year, and was still happy to sail along.
Is that some sort of
record?