Biltmore Challenge Endurance Race

After 1756 miles of driving, 7 states, and riding over 50 miles in 4 locations we finally made it home from our adventure to North Carolina! 

On Wednesday, May 3rd we packed up the trailer and headed down to North Carolina with our amazing teams of horses and riders. 

Photos of our team:

Erika Eckstrom & Rainbows Poco Spade
Logistics Coordinator

Jennifer VanDusen & JPR Rock On
Team Leader

Reka Reisinger & Merlin's Beard
Team Optimist

Lorraine Moyer & Bachelors Foolish Blonde (aka Dutchess)

Danielle Winterton & SS Sultani (aka Nymeria)

Laura Engel & Double My Scotch

We were supposed to head all the way to North Carolina on a big 12 hour journey the first day, but unfortunately we ran into a couple of snags on the way:

Sheered Trailer Cable

The trailer cable somehow got loose and unplugged while we were headed down the highway.  By the time we could pull off the cord had been dragged and sheered down to the wires.

Luckily there's a Tractor Supply Company every 30 miles or so and we were able to go get a new plug and wire it back together in the parking lot!

As we headed back down the road, we only made it another hour before the truck lost power and was unable to continue forward. We were stuck on the side of the road with our 6 horses! 

Luckily just before the journey I had made sure my USRider plan was ready to go. USRider provides 24/7 nationwide roadside assistance for you and your horse, unlike AAA which will not service diesel vehicles and cannot tow trailers. 

USRider hooked us up with a wonderful tow guy who had a connection to an auto shop where the owner also happened to have horses on site. Little did we know that we were about to meet some of the most generous and kind people who also happened to own the most FANTASTIC auto shop we have ever seen. 

Windview Truck & Trailer Repair was an absolutely beautiful shop specializing in high end semi-trucks. They have some of the best truck

The gorgeous view from the pasture at Windview

technicians in Pennsylvania and have won numerous awards, including national awards for best paint job. Their skilled hands were immediately obvious!

Not only did they get our truck in for repair, but they also gave us a glorious grassy pasture for our horses, let us use their camper to spend the night so that we all had a bed to sleep in AND they let us use their Jeep so we could head to town for dinner! We also had the luxury of being able to ride around on their beautiful farm and the surrounding roads. 

Click here to see a video from that ride!

The culprit for our adventures is this very specific lift pump. When it broke it caused the PV pump to go as well. 

The pump we replaced it with had to be the exact one (different than the more typical stock) and Evan at Windview Truck & Trailer Repair had to drive over an hour away to get us the only one in stock in the entire of Pennsylvania.

Once the part was back at the shop it only took an hour or so to get the truck finished and we were off, heading down to our house in North Carolina. 

While we had missed the Friday race, the gang at the Biltmore was nice enough to let us enter in the Saturday race instead! We actually lucked out because it had been raining all day Friday and was miserable and the weather was better for the Saturday race.

Second Loop

First Loop

The route we were to take was the Orange East loop, followed by the Black Bridge Access and then the Yellow West.

The Orange East loop takes you through the more manicured portions of the estate. The trail consisted of wooded trails and jaunts through rolling lawns. Basically it was like riding on a golf course - every equestrian's dream!

View of the Biltmore Castle over the reflection pond

The Black Bridge Access was the only portion of the entire journey we got to do twice, once on the way out and then retracing it on the way back in. This graveled trail takes you past the reflection pond as you head for the bridge to the west side of the estate.

The west side of the estate is less manicured with more wooded access trails meandering you up to the top of the mountain.

Roughly 25 miles into the race you come to the vineyards that produce grapes for The Winery At The Biltmore Estate. At the top of the mountain, the views are awe inspiring. 

Riding past the Biltmore Estate castle! 

It isn't until mile 28 or so that you end up on one of the most beautiful views of the Biltmore: the view of the castle! This view is only accessibly by horseback or by booking the site for a wedding. That's it! Equestrians are incredibly lucky!!!

The trails were pretty rough - with all of the rain from the days prior the mud was deep and it was quite slippery. Many of the horses from the day prior had come up lame from the slippery footing in the hilly terrain. For us we decided it wasn't about winning, it was about finishing. 

Of the 45 starting riders, only 33 finished with most of the 12 non-finishing horses coming up lame. Erika (25th), Jen (27th) and Lorraine (30th) all placed. Danielle completed the entire race, however was considered non-finishing because Nym's back and legs were sore on one side. Reka and Laura planned from the start to only do the first half of the race.

Results from the Race >>

The next day, after sleeping in and resting, we took the horses to Dupont State Forest for a slow, easy ride to stretch the horse's legs. 

Unfortunately when we got there the parking lot was full of cyclists and hikers leaving little options for parking. By some miracle and to the amazement of the crowd, Erika was able to park the 6 horse trailer by backing into a double pull through spot between two cars. 

The trails were perfect for a follow up ride - level sandy trails taking us past waterfalls and down to a swimming hole for the horses! We couldn't have asked for a better post-race ride!

Painted Bar Stables Biltmore Endurance Team at Dupont State Forest

Poco is so happy to have a well bedded stall and a good nights rest.

Heading back north, we overnighted at the Bed & Breakfast at Penmerryl Farm. Dan and Erika had overnighted here the previous fall and knew it was the perfect spot to finish the epic journey.

The horses each had their own deeply bedded stalls to sleep in and us humans had a wonderful log cabin. The trails around the farm were simple and beautiful to ride the following morning.

All of our horses have been amazing troopers.

A Subtle Prompt, Not a Full Leg Whomp

People have a lot of problems riding slower horses.

PROBLEM #1: HOW MUCH LEG?

The biggest problem is that they are USING TOO MUCH LEG! Unlike riding the feisty thoroughbreds where you need to have all leg, all the time to give them a squeeze of reassurance, these more deliberate, unhurried athletes require a lot more leg CONTROL!

That's right, control not strength!

You can't kick a leisurely horse forward - and often they will actually slow down at the audacity. They want specific cues, at specific times; a subtle prompt instead of a full leg whomp. They don't want to be nagged, they don't want to be over cued, they want a timely and purposeful communication.

What this means is that they need you to be able to hold your leg to them with a gentle contact. This means you need to have stabilize your leg holding it in AND out at the same time. You can't just death grip onto these slower horses and call it good!

You also need to be able to manipulate different parts of your legs to cue different things, understanding how to get support from your upper thigh, yields from your calf, and momentum from your heel - AND USE THEM INDEPENDENTLY! Keep in mind that often:

• heels mean go,
• kicks mean sass, or a mental shut down!
• calves mean leg yields, but not go!

You'll also find that people who "toe out" in their riding tend to be better at riding slower horses. This is because their heels are the point of contact and they don't have the full leg contact that can feel nagging to horses.

 Am I saying to ride with your knees out like a frog and your toes pointed out like a ballerina? NO! I'm saying that you need more control of your leg so you know if you're putting pressure on the calf (leg yield, support) or on your heels (go button!).

It is no surprise that often these steady horses are more fond of being ridden with spurs - and I mean properly with spurs not prodding them with them! Leg flexibility of riders is just one of the reasons these horses tend to do better being ridden with spurs (even just bumper spurs) because they are heel extenders for when you just can't get your leg to bend quite around that way. But more specifically, spurs can localize cues more specifically than an entire blunt foot.

PROBLEM #2: MISREPRESENTATION OF SLOWER HORSES The main obstacle to get over with slower moving horses is changing vocabulary.

Descriptive but not accurate vocabulary: Slow, Lazy, Plodding, Sluggish these words are more appropriate for describing day to day changes in a horse's behavior, not the overall speed of a horse.

More accurate vocabulary for non-forward horses: unhurried, deliberate, leisurely, unrushed, steady, measured, relaxed, cool-headed

Once you change your vocabulary you realize that you can more easily appreciate the horse's personality and understand how to work with them! I mean, who doesn't want to work with a relaxed and deliberate companion?!

PROBLEM #3: CHECK YOUR SEAT

Often these more deliberate companions are also more in tune with a rider's balance and seat. They make the best bridle-less companions as a result because they will respond to the slightest adjustment of your weight.

Thinking that speed comes only from legs is a huge problem for many of these horses. If you're kicking with all your might but your seat is dead and heavy, they will more likely listen to the breaks in your bottom than the momentum in your heels!

Welcome baby Rogue One!

Rogue One was born on a very cold March 5th winter night. She was the surprise baby that we did not expect when we purchased Mystique from auction in the fall of 2016.

Rogue is a healthy HUGE bay filly. Her mother is a Percheron and we believe her father to be an Amish Belgian. We expect Rogue to be very large as she matures!

Horse Blaming and Shaming

Time to review the horse blaming and shaming lesson! The best horse in the world is the horse between our legs.

Riders always tend to put shift blame towards horses. Please do not blame horses but instead remark on the failure to communicate - a two way channel. None of us would ever blame our peers, our co-workers, our teammates in sports, our spouses and boyfriends the way I hear people casually blaming horses.

Horses do not fail. Humans fail horse. 

Failure from a horse is almost always the riders fault for not setting the horse up for success. With chunked goals and good communication any horse is a winner. But with selfish expectations or badly timed cues, lack of finesse or brazenness a frustrated horse can become a scapegoat. Horses need to tell when riders are doing it wrong, their honesty is a teaching tool.

Even when it is not the rider's fault it is still human error for not preparing the horse previously through schooling and conditioning, therefore causing the horse stress and frustration. Through less blame and more focus on physical and mental development (even within one session) a horse will relax and be a better teammate.

We need to take ownership of our horses that we ride on. Syntax, sentence structure and spin can make or break a horse's reputation FOREVER.

If anyone in our community has repeated problems with a particular horse please post it in our private group for discussion or alert me or Jennifer Marosek VanDusen. We look forward to remedying the relationships through lessons (or therapy!) and schooling.

Spooking: Is it the horse's fault?

Did the horse spook, or were you already making the horse nervous placing it on edge and making it susceptible to surprises?

Something important to think about is the cause and root of a horse's behavior. Often it seems that people put the blame on the horse by defining it as the horse's weaknesses instead of realizing that it is in fact their own weaknesses causing the problem. 

A team is only as good as its weakest link. Be careful how you think of horse's behavior. 

I've even seen the most beginner-level and consistent horses spook when someone is overly neurotic, passive, continually wavering, indecisive, meek or otherwise not very good at human-ing.

Set Up a Practice

There are many jobs that recognize the need for continual updates to your skill sets in an ever improving quest for personal development. 

For instance you PRACTICE medicine and you PRACTICE law. You definitely want your doctor to be on top of the latest drugs and methods, and I would hope my lawyer knows of new updates to laws. 

What would it be like if we approached every career like this? With the linguistic use of "practice?"

And more so, what if we recognized that we also must "practice" happiness. And love. And kindness.

Dentist Day: Merlin's Mouth

Merlin's mouth was a hot mess with sharp points and ulcers in the cheeks, not to mention ramps and accentuated transverse ridges. And this photo doesn't even show how needle sharp his canines were or the diagonal bite of his incisors!!

This was probably Merlin's first proper appointment EVER. We purchased him early last fall and at 7 years of age we think the only attention that he ever received previously was to have his wolf teeth removed.

Merlin and Nym tied for worst teeth of the day with Panda coming in a close second.