New Procedure for Newsletters: We are introducing a new method of XP Newsletter distribution this year.  Instead of pasting the entire body of the newsletter to an email we will just send a link to the XP Website. Most newsletters will not be password protected. Riders who are unable to receive email will now be able to go to the web site and keep up on XP news.

June 2007 XP Newsletter

EDITORIAL – Some thoughts on drugs and treatment

During the past year, the AERC Veterinary Committee has put a great deal of effort into formulating new drug rules for our sport. The AERC drug rule is predicated on the premise that horses should compete only on their own natural ability. The argument that the use of drugs will allow horses to be pushed beyond their natural capabilities is a valid one. A common rationale for the drug rule is that the use of drugs may allow a horse with a minor problem to continue on the trail resulting in major damage. However, a more serious situation exists when a horse is treated for metabolic problems and is allowed to continue.

The drugs of choice in treating exhausted horses are electrolytes. Oral electrolytes are drugs and are used to enhance the performance of a horse. Oral electrolytes are not innocuous. Oral electrolytes, administered by non-professionals, are sometimes given with little regard for the content and volume. Signs of abdominal discomfort in horses treated with oral electrolytes is not uncommon. There is evidence linking the exacerbation and/or occurrence of gastric ulcers with electrolyte use. The use of oral electrolytes is not without risk. The fact that oral electrolytes will enhance performance is undeniable, but enhanced performance brings with it, added responsibility and unknown consequences.

Electrolytes administered intravenously with water are commonly referred to as “fluids” and enter the bloodstream rapidly often producing immediate improvement in the patient. IV fluids are precisely formulated with known concentrations of the ions contained in them.  Intravenous electrolytes administered by professionals at a rate and concentration that is known and regulated is safer and more effective than oral concentrations of unknown products. The vast majority of fluid treatment offered by ride veterinarians is not only safe, but could benefit almost all horses during or after an event.

Why is it then that such a stigma is attached to treating a horse with IV fluids during or after a ride?  We tolerate, condone and encourage all kinds of electrolyte and performance enhancing nutricuticals but we are aghast at the idea of administering IV fluids.  During the past year this sport lost some great athletes and has come close to losing even more due to the reluctance of riders to start fluid therapy early on. Even though it is legal and indeed encouraged by many, the administration of electrolytes during a ride constitutes treatment. When you treat an animal and ask it to continue to perform you must take an added responsibility upon yourself. Riders should spend a lot of time thinking about what they are using, why they are using it, and what the potential side effects are. There are far too many people fooling around with Mother Nature, and we all know how dangerous that can be.

Over the years I have treated a number of horses that were carefully and conservatively ridden and yet developed metabolic problems during or at the end of a ride. When you observe a horse receiving fluids don’t assume the worst. Indeed, that horse may be the lucky one, as opposed to the poor horse that must recover slowly on its own because its owner doesn’t want to be embarrassed by having their horse treated.  Public opinion against the overuse and abuse of our equine friends is warranted, but to conclude that all horses receiving veterinary treatment at a ride were overused or abused is faulty and your expressed intolerance may very well have very grave consequences for some horse in the future. Endurance riding and racing are high-risk endeavors and our equine companions deserve the best of care when things go bad for them.  

News of General Interest 

·        Updated Web Site   After a years of procrastination I have finally gotten around to updating the website.  It is still a work in progress and Karen is great about making the changes as soon as I get them to her.  The look is still basically the same but some of the old and outdated material has been corrected.  I hope to have it completed by the middle of August. 

·        On line entries    We thank you for the continued use of our online entry system. The online entries really help us to prepare awards and plan for the rides. If you are having problems making the entry work, a simple email with the basic information is all that is needed.  

·         Results  We try hard to keep the results accurate, but we sometimes make mistakes.  On top of that, riders often fail to make changes from what they put on the entry cards.  On most rides we are able to post the results the evening of the ride and it is easy to make changes at that time, so please take the time to check the posted results before you leave the ride. Spelling of names is not important to AERC if the numbers are correct. 

·         MexiCan Ride I have continued to work on a route for the ride and have made some progress although it is slow coming.  There have been some suggestions that the Great Western Trail is available, however the GWT appears to be little more that a dream with not much physical trail other than in southern and central Utah and possibly some in Arizona.  Any information to the contrary would be much appreciated. I am still working towards a two stage event with a  couple of weeks in the spring to cover the area south of the Grand Canyon and then a second stage from the North rim of the Grand Canyon to Canada. I am comfortable with what we can do in Utah and southern Wyoming but have not made a decision about going around the east or west side of Yellowstone. Any information and suggestions about routes through eastern Idaho would be appreciated.

Late Summer and Fall Rides

·        Paunsagaunt XP – The Randy Coleman Memorial Ride.  August 30^th through September 3rd  

The Paunsagaunt XP was Randy Coleman’s favorite ride. Randy, a long time XP Rider and a friend to everyone who knew him, peacefully passed away while attending the ride in 2006.  We will dedicate future Paunsagaunt rides to his memory.

 

Last year we moved the camp across the Kanab Creek road.  The new site offered us privacy that was unavailable at the previous location. The forest service was pleased with the move and will allow us to continue using it. The forest service is trying to improve and repair the habitat along the banks of Kanab Creek and is going to close or severely restrict the camping between the road and the creek. We are fortunate that we are able to continue to have a place to camp in that area. The camp site will be more organized this year and we will open up a loop road that will improve access and parking.

·         Virgin Rim Ride – On the scenic Virgin Rim Trail. September 15^th and 16^th

We plan some big changes this year.  The first day will be a loop ride in and out of the same camp. We will camp north of Navajo Lake and ride to Webster Flat on the Virgin Rim Trail as well as a loop towards Brian Head. The trail overlooks Zion National Park and all of southwest Utah. The views are truly outstanding and the fall colors are usually at their best.  The following day we will ride from the Deer Valley camp to Mt Carmel Junction using the eastern portion of the Virgin Rim trail and then an old XP trail down Muddy Creek.  As this is always a small ride we should be able to assist those without drivers in getting a rig moved. We will be finishing at the XP Barn in Mt Carmel and riders are welcome to come early and stay late.

·         Grand Canyon XP – North rim of the Grand Canyon.  October 10^th through the 14^th

We are fortunate to be able to return to the Dry Park Camp again this year. Last year it was anything but Dry and one wonders how it got its name. The forest service was surprisingly and pleasantly quite reasonable about the assessment of damage to the area.  A couple of weeks after the ride, we returned with a tractor and drag and were able to repair much of the damage but it always takes a good winter before we know how much permanent damage was done.  Apparently our efforts were successful as we have received a long awaited, long term permit for the ride. We do have plans this year for an alternate campsite in a gravel pit where rain and mud would not be an issue with environmental damage.  Both the Forest Service and I feel that last years storm was an aberration that is unlikely to occur again. As always however, there is nothing we can do about the weather. We are looking forward to using some of the new trail that was missed last year due to the storm. 

·         Cold Springs Ride – Cold Springs Station in Nevada. October 27^th

A fifty mile, seventy five mile and 100 mile one day elevator ride, sponsored by EasyCare, at Cold Springs Station on the original Pony Express Trail. A rider may elevate only from a shorter distance to a longer one, may elevate only once, and is awarded a completion only with no placing. Upon elevating, the rider is no longer considered to be a starter or a finisher in the shorter ride. If by chance the rider's horse is pulled, no miles or points are credited Cold Springs station is on the west side of the Desatoya mountains in the middle of Nevada and was a prominent station in the days of the Pony Express. This station is also the location of many XP events and we always look forward to riding in the surrounding area.  We ride into the mountains early in the day and then do loops back at camp for the seventy five and hundred mile rides. Riders in the 2006 ride felt that the course, along with the elevator option made this ride a good place to start a new horse or rider in hundred mile rides.

January 2007 XP Newsletter

In Memory of Randy Coleman

Randy Coleman, long time XP Rider and one of the first of the XP Gold Medal Riders, passed away in his sleep at the Paunsagaunt Ride at Bryce Canyon, Utah last fall. Randy was a frequent XP Rider and had recently stated that the Paunsagaunt Ride was his favorite ride. He arrived at this years ride camp on the afternoon of August 31st and checked in his horse for the following day's ride. He was in good spirits and apparent good health. Shortly after retiring to bed, his wife, Ann noticed that he was breathing abnormally and then not at all. Three medical doctors in camp were summoned immediately but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Those of us he left behind are somewhat consoled in that he passed away quietly and peacefully in his sleep, on the evening before a planned favorite ride. He was a friend to all who knew him and will be remembered and missed around many campfires. We will dedicate future Paunsagaunt rides to his memory.    
 

NEWS of GENERAL INTEREST

·        2006 XP Rider Statistics I remember when you could win the AERC National Mileage Championship by riding 500 miles. This year, 8 Riders rode over 1000 XP miles this year. 34 riders rode over 500 XP Miles. We’ve come a long way baby. 394 XP Riders rode a total of 80280 miles in 2006. Complete XP Statistics can be seen at http://www.xprides.com/RideResults.html

The Top Ten XP Riders

Les Carr and Tulip                                                   1315 miles

Karen Fredrickson and Murphy                             1215 miles

 Stephanie DuRoss and Hadji Halef Omar              1060 miles

Karen Chaton                                                            1285 miles

Cindy Crook                                                              1265 miles

Dave Rabe                                                                 1210 miles

      Rick Leonard                                                            1165 miles      

Heather Van Fossen                                                  1010 miles

Karl Phaler                                                                965 miles

                                        Julia Lynn-Elias                                                        860 miles                                           

·        Year End XP Awards We will announce the Annual XP award winners at the AERC convention in Reno as well as posting that information to the XP Web site at that time. The Ed Johnson Trophy for XP Horseman of the Year and the Wendel Robie Trophy for XP Horse of the Year will be displayed at Reno and the winners will be announced there.  This announcement will be followed by the presentation of these awards at the Cuyama Ride the following month. 

·        Plaque and award crisis Most of you are undoubtedly aware of what we go through to provide distinctive and personalized awards.  Suffice it to say that the process is anything but “simple”. Not only are we constantly faced with failures of printers and ink, we also have been plagued this year with backorders of supplies.  We would like to think that we are finally caught up but I’m sure that many may be missing awards.  On top of the awards which we are unable to provide at any given ride, we have a large collection of awards that were never picked up, even though they were ready at the ride. If you think you have an award coming (besides the embroidered five day awards) please contact us by email immediately. We have our awards set up in Ridgecrest and would be happy to have your awards ready for pick up by yourself or a friend.

• Embroidered awards Embroidered jackets and awards won during the year can be picked up at the XP Booth in Reno.

• On Line Entries Please help us by sending entries for the Sunrise Ranch Rides and the XP Rides on line. I know that some of you have problems in accessing the entry page but most of the entries come through. All we really need is your name and AERC numbers for you and your horse along with the weight division you ride in and you can email those to me directly if you are having trouble accessing the entries on line.

• New Phones: Frustrations with our cell phones deepen. We have switched our long time main number 775 233 6030 to Verizon. If you have a Verizon phone it will be cheapest for both of us to use that number.  If you can not reach me on that phone, try my Alaska cell 907 209 8881. Annie has a Verizon phone as well with a new number of 435 899 9737.

• Tips on Trail Etiquette Most of our rides take place in areas where water is scarce. This means we have to haul water, which is done at great expense. We try hard to put out enough water so that the horses will have all they need and want, but far too often there are riders who use the water to wash and cool their horses, leaving the tanks dry for those who follow.  Please remember those who are coming behind you and make sure that you have not wasted their share of the water.

·       News From the Federal Government The Utah State veterinarian recently sent this to me and I thought it might be of interest to those who travel with horses, especially those from Canada.

      The USDA's new National Surveillance Unit (NSU) has established a web site on which the public can see where equine diseases such as equine infectious anemia (EIA) and vesicular stomatitis (VS) have been detected. Before the launch of this web site, finding the disease status of a state might have meant contacting several sources or playing phone tag with a handful of agencies. In addition, each state's health requirements for transported horses are available on the site. The site appears at        www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine.

·       Preride Information During the coming year, we will be posting the pre ride information usually found in ride packets on the website. This will hopefully alleviate some problems we continue to experience when riders come to camp and make some serious and embarrassing errors caused by failing to observe camp rules and requirements.  Please take the time to check the web site for last minute changes and updated info. 

·       Jackie Bumgardner is stepping down as manager of the Twenty Mule Team Ride and the Death Valley Encounter. She will continue at present to manage the Eastern High Sierra Ride in Bridgeport. Robert and Melissa Ribley will manage the 20 Mule Team in the future and we will continue to manage the Death Valley Ride.

·       Tulip breaks AERC Mileage Record. On the first day of the 2006 Death Valley Encounter, Les Carr’s great horse Tulip broke the all time AERC mileage record with 18265 lifetime miles.  6850 of those miles are XP miles. Don’t commit those figures to memory as Les and Tulip are just getting a second wind.

·       XP Awards will be ready at the AERC convention in Reno. Come see us at the XP booth.

• MexiCan Ride News We have not given up on the idea of the MexiCan Ride. I have continued to work on tentative trails and have devoted time this year for on site trail work. This is a much larger and harder project that any of our Pony Express trips. This is all new ground and requires much more effort.  I now have a tentative route and would welcome help from volunteers through various sections.  I would like people with local knowledge to explore and suggest  more specific routes. I can be contacted at duck@xprides.com or via phone at 775 233 6030 or 907 209 8881 if you have the time and desire to help in the planning stages. We will definitely not do the ride in 2007. I am now tentatively planning 2008 if possible.  

Our tentative route would be through Arizona to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and would probably occur in the spring, possibly in April. This portion might be completed in a week or two. We would then take a break until the snows leave the high country and would resume our journey in June. I am looking at a route that would make use of the Great Western Trail and then back roads through western Wyoming and Montana. That second portion of the trip could probably be completed in 5 to 8 weeks,

It sounds as if we have enough interested riders to make it work at an entry fee of $5000.00 If this is the figure decided upon, we will limit the ride to 40 riders, which should make for a good group, similar to our adventure in 2004. I know many of you are trying to make plans and I wish I could be more specific but I am getting older and slower. I hope to make this a reality before I pass on.

2006 RIDE NEWS

The 2006 Paunsagaunt XP

Pictures, results and information at http://www.xprides.com

      It’s with mixed emotions that I describe this year’s ride a success. It is hard to describe an event that loses two old time friends, Randy Coleman and Crockett Dumas’s great horse OT Nessous as a success. The weather, however, was close to perfect with the exception of an afternoon thundershower on the second day. The new campsite assures us of a permanent home for the ride and was favored by most of the riders. It should be even better next year when we will have some more areas cleared of sagebrush and have a better road through camp. . Twenty-two riders rode all five days, seventeen of them on the same horse. Carol Miller and Meksiko’s Mystique won the overall fastest time.  The overall best-conditioned horse was Montana Flyer, ridden by Dorothy Sue Phillips.

The 2006 Virgin Rim Ride

Pictures, results & information at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com

            By far the smallest ride that we do, the fall colors and the views on the Virgin Rim make it all worthwhile. The single track Virgin Rim Trail winds along the edge of Cedar Mountain offering spectacular view of Zion Canyon and surrounding country all the way into Nevada and Arizona. The most excitement this year came a couple of days before the ride, when the camp was deluged with hail stones that broke camper vents and dented numerous rigs.  Fortunately by ride day, the weather had cleared and the storms had softened and improved the hard roads leading to the trail from base camp. Plans for this year are to make the first day a loop ride followed by a point to point ride into Mt Carmel.

The 2006 Grand Canyon XP

Pictures, results and information at www.xprides.com    

For years we have been extremely lucky and have generally been blessed with good weather for most of our rides. Our luck ran out however for this years Grand Canyon. We were forced into a later date for this year and on top of that, it seemed as though fall arrived a little earlier this year as most of the aspen had lost their leaves by the time of the ride.  The night before the first days ride, it rained so hard that Annie declared she was going to cancel the ride as no one would ride in the miserable rain. We argued and I said that we have never cancelled a ride and would hold the ride if even one person was willing to brave the elements. Much to her surprise 35 hardy souls started the ride and made it through the day. Fourteen riders finished all five days, 11 of them on one horse. Karen Fredrickson and Murphy had the overall fastest time and Stephanie DuRoss’s horse Hadji Halef Omar won Overall Best Condition. Making these placing even more impressive is the fact that Stephanie and Karen finished the last XP ride of the year placing first and second overall with a seven-minute time difference for the five days. Even more impressive was the fact that these horses are both XP Gold Medal Horses, having completed all of the XP rides this year. What an outstanding achievement. Complete ride results are available at http://www.xprides.com/RideResults.html. Those who took their time were able to outlast the rain and were able to finish the ride under partly cloudy skies. The next couple of days were tolerable and it looked like the storm was going to pass and allow us some good weather for the last couple of days, but alas, on Tuesday morning it started to snow just as the first riders were leaving camp.  Unfortunately, those morning flurries gave way to a rumor that a massive snowstorm was on the way.  Those who chose to leave in mid day found that the saturated ground was more than their rigs could handle and a couple of tow trucks made the matters even worse as they had no better fortune moving around the soft ground that anyone else. By late afternoon however, the sun was out and by evening the camp was drying out.  Those who stayed to the end were treated to a splendid day on the Rainbow Rim.  There were some valuable lessons learned at this years ride that I will pass on.

1.      Size matters. Bigger isn’t always better. Heavy rigs sink in soft ground

2.      Four wheel drive vehicles work better with the hubs locked in.

3.      If there is a chance it will freeze during the night, you can drive over frozen muddy ground with little problem before the morning sun melts the ice.

4.      When you get stuck, stop spinning the wheels.

We were forced to pack up the day after the ride and head for Cold Springs, but when we returned a couple of weeks later, the area had dried sufficiently that we were able to mitigate much of the damage with a couple of days of tractor work. The forest service felt that much of the damage would be repaired if we have a lot of heavy snow this year. We are hoping for the best.  Next year we have applied for an earlier date that will provide us with more fall color and warmer temperatures. In addition, I have requested to have an alternate campsite, so that we can be in a better spot during adverse weather. 

The 2006 Cold Springs Ride

Pictures, results & information at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com

            After much deliberation and with many reservations we went ahead with our first one day hundred and are now glad we did. Although not anxious to spend a night out in the cold, I agreed to continue with plans for the ride so that we could continue to use the historic trails in the vicinity of the Cold Springs Pony Express station. Our hosts at Cold Springs couldn’t have been nicer and everyone agreed that the ride was too good to not continue. Michele Roush and Tallymark won the hundred, Linda Glazier won the seventy five on Nova Star and LuAnne Holmsen won the fifty on Flambeau.   Complete results available at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com/

The 2006 Death Valley Encounter

Pictures, results & information at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com

            After years of hard work, Jackie Bumgardner has finally decided to turn over the reins of the DVE. This year we agreed to a joint venture in order to learn the ropes. Although I have been involved with the ride from its earliest days, I have never paid attention to the many contacts and planning required. This year was particularly difficult in that Panamint Springs has been sold and the new owners required far more compensation then endurance riders can afford.  We found the facilities at the Indian Ranch much more private and to our liking. We found an ideal spot for a first day camp and an interesting trail that led through the living ghost towns of Johannesburg and Randsburg.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have the foresight to not allow parking on the dry lake bed.  Then the winds came. In fact they came with a fury that set records in southern Cal. To make matters worse, we parked our ride equipment directly downwind of the worse part of the lake. The wind finally laid down for the second day, which was a point to point ride over interesting trails, never used before by endurance riders. The third day was the same as last years first day and the last day was similar to the previous second day with the exception of even more rocks on the steep climb into the Panamints, on a trail that will never see horses again.  The overall fastest time and best condition was won by MM Avengionce ridden by Rick Leonard.  Complete results can be found at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com/

The 2007 XP and Sunrise Ranch Rides Calendar

Feb 17^th, 18^th, 19^th  The Eastern Mojave Scenic SRR Ride

Eastern Mojave National Preserve, Mountain Pass, CA

Information available at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com/EMSRide.html

March 24^th 25^th and 26^th     The Cuyama Oaks XP Ride

Phoenix Ranch, New Cuyama, CA

Pictures and information at http://www.xprides.com/RideInformation

May 5^th 6^th and 7^th     The Mount Carmel XP Ride

Mount Carmel Junction, Southern Utah

Pictures and information at http://www.xprides.com/RideInformation

May 19^th and 20^th      The Lost Padres SRR Ride

Rancho Santa Margarita,  Santa Margarita, CA

Pictures & information at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com/LostPadresRide.html

June 4^th through the 8^th   The Schellbourne XP Ride

Schellbourne Ranch, Eastern Nevada

Pictures and information at http://www.xprides.com/RideInformation

August 30^th through September ^3rd  The Paunsagaunt XP Ride

The Randy Coleman Memorial Ride

Paunsagaunt Plateau, Bryce Canyon, Utah

Pictures and information at http://www.xprides.com/RideInformation

September 15^th and 16^th    The Virgin Rim SSR Ride

Cedar Mountain, Southern Utah

Pictures & information at http://www.sunriseranchrides.com/VirginRimRide.html

October 10^th through the 14^th The Grand Canyon XP Ride

North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Kaibab National Forest, Arizona

Pictures and information at http://www.xprides.com/RideInformation

October 27^th     The Cold Springs 50/75/100 SSR Ride

Cold Springs Pony Express Station, Cold Springs, Nevada

Pictures & information at http://sunriseranchrides.com/ColdSprings100.html

December 28^th  through 31^st  The Death Valley Encounter SSR Ride

First Ride of the 2008 Ride Season

Randsburg, CA to Death Valley, CA

Pictures & information at http://sunriseranchrides.com/DeathValley.html

Extended Your Vacation in Southern Utah