MEMORIALS

JAZLUM

SUSAN DYKE

SNOW DRAGON EA

DORIS ANDERSON

ANDY BENDER

AA BRAVO

EDWARD E. JOHNSON

WENDELL T. ROBIE

LOUISE “TURTLE” CLARK, M.D.

JAZLUM

Jazlum was a 15 year old fleabitten grey arab gelding and the most
favorite horse I have ever known.  I heard about him from Dave Nicholsen,
DVM (AKA the Duck), about 8 years ago.   He was seven then and had just
run through a barbed wire fence.  Dave was treating him for a wound
infection in his Kanab office.  I was desperately looking for a heavywt.
horse for my new interest in endurance riding.  When I talked to Dave, he
told me Jazlum was "just another flea bitten grey" but  he was easy to
doctor, and thought he could carry me at 6'1" and 210 pounds.

My daughters and wife drove 300 miles to check him out for me and thought
he was no good.  He only jigged, and tried to run away and rear.  He
seemed too small for me at only 15 hands, so I kept looking for another
horse.  After three months of looking and not finding a better prospect,
I decided to go check Jaz out for myself.  I rode him on Friday
afternoon, loved his feisty attitude, bought him and took him to an
endurance ride the next day in January 1998, and have loved him ever since.

He was the most aloof horse I had ever been around.  He didn't go for
cuddling, but I know he cared for me and my daughter Jennifer by the most
subtle signs that went unnoticed to others.

He was a handful when I bought him.  I reared off of him five or six
times during the first few months.  He gave me a black eye once and broke
the visor of my helmet. I finally had had enough from him and pulled him
over backwards when he reared .  (This is a very dangerous and stupid way
to correct a rearing horse and I would never do it now and don't
recommend it), however it worked for him and he never once reared or went
up with his feet again. 

Jaz taught me and my entire family alot about endurance riding.  I had
read that a year of LDs was the best way to start an endurance horse, so
I did five on Jaz between Jan and Sept. 1998.  He did his first 50 in
Oct. of 1998 and hit the wall at about 35 miles.  In retrospect, doing
25's on him was the worst possible thing for his mind.  He never learned
to drink or pace, because even a fast LD didn't tire him out.  Now I
start a new horse with slow 50s and then move to multiday slow 50s, so
the horse learns right off that they must rate, relax, eat and drink.
Jazlum was the second hottest horse I have ever ridden.  When he was
younger, I think he could have been literally ridden to death by someone.
 Now, after eight seasons and 4460 miles, he still wanted  to go faster,
but would reluctantly go any pace he was asked and took very good care of
himself.

Jaz, like most of the Johnson's endurance horses, has been ridden
conservatively, winning and BC ing on those special days when everything
felt right. Over half of his miles have been at multiday rides.  He did
Tevis with my daughter Jennifer in 2001 and finished in style, prancing
in the moonlight.  It was both Jennifer and Jaz's first 100!  Jaz carried
me all five days at Duck's Cold Springs ride in 2003, which is quite an
accomplishment, since I weigh over 260 with tack! 

Jaz was very surefooted and loved technical, rocky, mountainous rides.
He showed off these talents winning and BCing our local Man. vs. Horse
ride in 2002, carrying my daughter Julianne.  He repeated this feat again
in 2003, carrying my daughter Jennifer.  He got very ill in 2004, and
wasn't able to compete, and show off last fall.

Another career highlight was in 2003 when Jazlum and Jennifer rode all
five days of the Fall XP.  Jenny is tough and smart.  She can run on foot
with the best of them and ran all the long down hills and tailed up the
steep climbs to save Jaz's legs, especially his arthritic hocks.  They
got overall fastest time and overall BC for the ride.  They were top ten
each day, but never raced to win on any given day. 

Jaz was taken on March 5th 2005, in his prime.  His hocks had fused, he
wasn't in pain at the rides, and he felt so fit and strong.  Life is like
that, you never know how long you will have your equine friend and
partner.  Its important to love and appreciate them and live in the
moment.  Jaz died doing what he loved to do.  He went painlessly and
quickly.  One moment, he was stomping and fussing, impatient because I
had stopped to help a fellow rider with her injured horse, and then as we
were walking toward the first vet check, he fell down and was gone.  I
barely had time to hold him, comfort him and say goodbye. Words can't
explain how much I miss him, and how special he was. Hopefully time will
ease the pain.  He won't go down in history of the AERC as a perfect 10
horse, but that is what he was to me, and our entire family. I was lucky
to have Jaz, that one special horse of a lifetime.

Brent Johnson and Family

SUSAN DYKE

Susan on the 2004 XP Trail, Rushcreek Ranch, Nebraska.  Photo by Jonni Jewel

Susan Krusi Dyke passed away peacefully at home with her family by her side on Tuesday, October 5, 2004.  We are grateful for the thirteen additional years spent together after her original cancer diagnosis.

Susie was born June 16, 1943 in Oakland, California to the late Harriet Hume Krusi and engineer, LeRoy Farnham Krusi, one of the founders of NATRC.  Sue attended UC Davis and graduated from UC Berkeley where we met.  She moved to Arroyo Grande in 1971 following her marriage to Louis Henry "Skip" Dyke III.  Susie was a lifelong horsewoman, a cattle rancher with me, and an accomplished sailor.

She was a founding member, lifetime member and past president of the California Dressage Society and a lifetime member of the American Endurance Ride Conference, as well as a member of the North American Trail Ride Conference, Longriders and Back Country Horsemen and Morro Bay Yacht Club.

She completed numerous distance rides with more than 8,000 miles recorded, including Tevis twice, Capitol-to-Capitol, and the Pony Express in each direction and many other XP rides.

Skip and Sue began sailing in the 1980's with our daughters.  Sue first competed in a Lido with Skip, but soon took up sailing a Laser in competition against me and our daughters.

She will be remembered for her competitive spirit and for living her entire life to its fullest, participating in horse events throughout the decline of her health.  She is survived by her husband Skip, her two daughters and their husbands, Thomas and Bette Jenkins of Arroyo Grande and Mary and Lawrence D'Rozario of North Carolina.  Sue has three brothers, George and wife Barbara Krusi, Carlisle and wife Lynne Krusi, and the late LeRoy "Tim" Krusi.  Sue was looking forward to a grandchild to be born in the spring.

The family requests no flowers; instead, memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society or Hospice Partners of the Central Coast.  It is my hope that Susie will be remembered for her philosophy of riding our horse well and that only YOU, the rider, are responsible for the health and well-being of your horse.  My heartfelt thanks for the support and friendship of all of our ride friends..... Skip Dyke

DORIS ANDERSON

Doris Tomac Anderson crossed over in August, 1999. She was an inspiration to all the XP riders who saw her year after year as she covered over 15 thousand miles on the Pony Trail and many other historic endurance rides. Doris and her tough little mare Sweet Pea won the first Wendell Robie award, given in 1989 for the fastest time from Salt Lake to Carson City over 13 days. She rode the last 150 miles of that ride with a cast on her leg! We will always remember Doris as a smiling and determined woman who knew what she and her horses had to do, and then went ahead and got it done in style. In addition to endurance competitive trail riding, she was an accomplished nature photographer, and enjoyed telling stories about her hunting and fishing expeditions. She shared a deep love of family, and is survived by 24 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Her lifelong companion Deane Anderson continues to operate their T&A Ranch in Fallon, Nevada.

Doris - on the XP - riding with a cast & a broken leg.  Photo provided by Pat Roloff

                                                 
ANDY BENDER

Ol' Man Bender
Andy Bender
September 22, 1944 - October 27, 2000

A man with a superb appreciation of life, fine horses and endurance riding. A generous and unconditional friend. Andy loved life and was determined to outlive his cancer. He gave new meaning to the term endurance.

Andy loved our sport. He supported and promoted International events and served as a highly respected Chef'd'Equipe. He was one of the all-time advocates of historic trails and multi-day events.

Andy was born in Pennsylvania but was raised in the San Francisco area. He was a talented and inventive machinist, specializing in the electronics industry. Andy loved to hunt, fish and golf and then found his passion in horses and endurance riding in 1973. This is where we all met and enjoyedthe friendship and appreciation of Andy, the endurance rider.

With his trade and his passion for horses, Andy became a skilled farrier. He combined his trade with passion and designed fine furniture; horse shoes as his mark. Andy had a true appreciation of art as well. He collected and prized fine bronze works and  especially noted western art. He was lost in the peace of the canyonlands, and Indian flute music. Andy was at home in the Santa Fe Opera in a Tux as he was in wranglers and Adidas looking for "the trail" ... as a guest of Taos Inn as the last finisher at Shellborne ...

Andy's passion for good horses, historic trails and friendship came in one package. As he  loved a fine wine, he loved his Rushcreek horses and he was most content at the trails end of a 5 day ride... Horses brushed and eating, he sitting on the side of his trailer with a fine glass of wine and "evaluating" the ride as well as the riders and laughing... his laugh... listen, you will hear it now.

As he rode mile after mile of rides he became the advocate of trails that would preserve the future of endurance riding. Andy also saw the future of endurance riding in the International circles of competition. He was one of the few who could see the vision of endurance in the Olympics yet preserve the backyard 50 mile rides of which our sport is founded.

Andy was generous. He would stop for a rider in trouble, thunder past you on a better horse and always mend fences, ... except for maybe one or two. Andy knew everyone and had an opinion about everything. That is why you will see him on the trail, you will meet people of whom lives he touched, and you will ride this ride he so loved. If you shared time with Andy... treasure it... he rides with us and for us, he watches over us.

In loving memory of Andy, Ol'Man Bender, who we met on the XP and who put his heart and soul into the Outlaw Trail and left us with a bond of love and appreciation of one hell'va adventure. The XP 2001...

Andy, you are the wind for Jake's wings...watch over us... ride with us!

                                                 
AA BRAVO

Late last summer we all lost a good friend when Bravo passed on to the greener pastures on the other side. Bravo was well known to XP riders as he has travelled all of the XP trails, winning on many occasions. Though he won numerous overall fastest time awards and many best condition awards, this last summer of his life was one of his finest. This gallant grey gelding not  only won the fastest time at Schellbourne this year, he also won the overall best condition. Bravo returned this fall to the   Paunsagaunt XP where he won the overall fastest time and was a very close second in the contest for overall best condition. We all miss him greatly.

                                                 
EDWARD E. JOHNSON

 Ed first became known to the endurance world when he won the Tevis Cup in 1965.  Riding the magnificent chestnut stallion, Bezetal, he won the event in less than eleven and a half hours, bettering the
 previous record by more than three hours. Ed and Bez also won and set records on the  Feather River Downriver Race and the Jim Shoulders Hundred Mile Race in Oklahoma.  Ed and Bez won the Tevis again and was named Endurance Horse of the Year in 1967, but just winning wasn't what Ed was about.
To any who were fortunate enough to have seen them in action, this horse and rider team embodied perfection. Few realize that the picture of Ed and Bez, with his hand on his thigh and the hackamore rope neatly coiled on the saddle, was not a posed picture, but was taken in natural light as he rode near No Hands Bridge on his way to winning the Tevis. The balance and symetry  exhibited were truly poetry in motion. Ed was the finest horseman that most if not all of us ever had the honor of knowing. His skills at
communicating with horses were evident long before Monty Roberts and Robert Redford made talking with horses a household topic. Ed Johnson left behind a legacy of excellence that all of us should strive for. May his memory live forever in the hoofbeats of his horses.

                                                 
WENDELL T. ROBIE

Wendell Robie was a lumberman from Auburn California who revived an old sport when he challenged a friend from Nevada to a "little ride over Sierras" Wendell claimed that he could ride one of his beloved Arabians from Lake Tahoe to Auburn in a day. One summer morning in 1955, when the full moon was
shining bright, Wendell led a group of friends out of Tahoe City on a ride that was destined to become the keystone of modern endurance rides. Wendell was the Tevis Cup and for years he nurtured it. There is no
question that the Tevis was responsible for making the modern sport of endurance riding what it is today. Without Wendell's authoritarian leadership there is no question that our sport would have never gotten off
the ground. In the early years when humane societies and government agencies were trying hard to close this event down, no one but Wendell Robie would have been able to keep going. We owe our sport to his efforts.

LOUISE “TURTLE” CLARK, M.D.

October 1, 1921 – June 4, 2002  (Memorial & Photo provided by Sharon Dumas) 

"Like a turtle, the slower we grasp knowledge the longer it will remain

 in our hearts and mind”

The Outlaw Trail dedicated the 2001 event to Turtle’s health and the 2002 Ride in celebration of her life!  Turtle shared our trails, our joys and our challenges.  We will always be thinking of her!

Turtle was born Louise Stone in Waltham, Massachusetts.   She married Lincoln D. Clark in 1949 and had other interests before she became a famous “Outlaw” and endeared endurance rider & friend to all riders!  She attended Concord Academy, Smith College, and was part of the first class of 12 women who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1949.  She became Board eligible in Internal Medicine but chose to practice psychiatry.  At her retirement in 2000 and 28 years of practice with Valley Mental Health (SLC, UT) she was honored for her high quality, consistent patient care that made a difference not only in the lives of her patients but also to those who worked with her.

Turtle owned horses all her life and rode as well as taught children at Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire.  She won many jumping and horsemanship awards long before she competed in endurance rides at 70+ years young!

Turtle loved to snow ski, camp and of course travel with her family.  She spent many years with friends and family at the Quarter Circle XX ranch in Williams, Arizona.  It was there that she rediscovered endurance riding.

Turtle’s lifetime passion for her love of horses was shared with her daughter Linda of whom she shared and offered total support in many 50, 100 & multi-day rides.  Turtle’s kind and constant concern for the welfare of others made her a person everyone wanted to be around.  Everyone she met was drawn to her engaging personality and loving smile.  Somehow Turtle managed to crew, take P & R’s, time or do “whatever” for ride management and still be there for Linda at each and every vet check.

For those of us who shared those “patient miles” between vet checks with Turtle we will truly miss the wonderful funny, fun and wise lady who always listened… listened to our current problem, our latest joke, the new scuttle-butt, a horse issue, and anything else we needed vent.  Turtle was there, with that smile and a volume of wise, wonderful, positive input… sometimes it only was a few words… but always the right ones.

“Turtle”… what’s in a name?  The turtle is an important figure in Indian Cultures as one who invokes health, healing and well being.

Turtles have a central nervous system and a well-developed brain.  They have keen senses that they use to interpret their world.  They have sharp vision and can recognize patterns and colors and their eyes are adapted for seeing underwater.  They have a good sense of smell and sensitive to the touch.  Turtles’ ability to hear sounds that travel through the air is limited to low frequencies, but they can perceive vibrations transmitted through the ground or water.  Their shell although heavy provides protection and shelter from those elements of harm. 

One would read and think, yes, this is how Turtle earned her nickname… Her wisdom, patience and ability to not only see people as they wanted to be seen, but know the person they truly were.   Turtle’s integrity and compassion only complimented her gracious manner.  (However truth be known, Turtle’s nickname came from some kidding for her ability to play tennis!)

Turtle was not adverse to taking risks.  “Like every time the persistent turtle takes a step, it sticks it neck out”, Turtle was willing to risk all to live.  She made the most of her time and was beautiful, caring and appreciative of life and all her friends and family to her last moment.

“Even Solomon spoke of the beautiful time after winter when the flowers come and the voice of the turtle is heard on the land”

“Remember Me”

I cannot speak, but I can listen.

I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.

As you gaze at the stars

or watch children play,

Remember me.

Remember me in your hearts

and in your thoughts.

Remember all the good times we shared.

For if you always think of me,

I will have never gone.