Congratulations to Terri Tinkham and Oliver Twist - XP Rides 2008 Gold Medal Award Winners!!

Is that a Mustang???   Is that horse gaited???  What kinda horse is thaaaaat???  Well, no, yes and he’s a Tennessee Walker, Standardbred cross.

     And, it is not just his appearance that baffles. To look at him you wouldn’t have a clue! Not only about his breed but that he just finished this year with 1925 Endurance miles; earning 2nd place in the AERC National Mileage Standings.  Last year with 1120 miles, when we tied with Dave Rabe for 10^th , I thought, “hey, we are really doing something” !  2007 was our first year of doing serious 50 mile Endurance rides; in my three previous years in this sport, I was content to mostly ride LDs. But once you get hooked on the multi-day rides and especially the Duck rides, there is no going back ….. ever. I have become so addicted that I drove almost 14,000 miles last year to attend these rides.

    So, how can this be, you wonder: a 14.2 hand, non Arab, barefoot and gaited horse succeeding in Endurance? It is one of life’s little mysteries and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to get him.

   But, according to Equinox Acre’s breeder Claudia Pequin, Oliver Twist’s youthful antics in Northern Alberta, almost earned him a one way ticket to the dog food factory. As a yearling, he would climb gates because he wanted to be “somewhere else”. He was a complete and total brat. More than once she confessed to almost taking him out and feeding him to the wolves. Not until he was five years old did he decide to join the human race. He still is pretty impersonal and independent but by some quirk of fate, he is a superbly behaved horse on the trail. He is so safe and reliable, that I can ride him bitless, using only a halter.

   I am convinced one reason for Oliver’s success in doing all these miles is that he was not started until the age of 5. He also comes from sturdy stock; his ancestors were used as pack horses in the 1920s in Montana. Being a cross breed also is an advantage for him. He inherited his flying Standardbred trot from his dam; and from his sire the ultra smooth rack for which Tennessee Walkers are famous. Last year he also started showing a foxtrot; a gait similar to the trot but offset just enough to eliminate the jarring bounce. It is very comfortable to ride and an easy gait for a horse to maintain. Having a variety of gaits helps keep him from overusing and wearing out any one group of muscles.

    One of my better moves last year was to seek the advice of Dr. Gene Nance about the number of miles that Oliver was racking up. Several friends had warned me that I was overriding him and that I was going to wear him out  etc. etc.   …. Dr. Gene has watched Oliver closely since I rode him in his first LD in 2004 at the Oregon Dunes ride where Gene was vetting. He had liked Oliver from the start and told me I had a really special horse in him. He basically encouraged me to continue to campaign him and since he knows I ride slowly, he had no doubt that Oliver would continue to get even stronger. He was right; in those 1925 miles, Oliver has had not one single pull.

   After having ridden Bryce Canyon twice and the Grand Canyon once I still feel that Ft. Schellbourne is my favorite. Although it is hard to compete with the scenery of the former, I love the wild, wide open spaces, the variety of landscapes and incredible vistas from the top of the mountains of Eastern Nevada. That said, it is also one of the more challenging of the XP rides. The elevation change on the last day last year was impressive. But we finally got to ride on the newly blazed ridge top “Ranger Trail” which rises to 10,000 ft. The fact that the wind was howling at gale force speed mattered not a whit. The views were beautiful up there.  And as is its habit, it snowed again on Wednesday.

     Our goal for 2008 was not for any of the above AERC mileage placings however.  I wanted very much to have Oliver succeed as an XP Gold Medal Horse by completing all the XP rides. We did every single Duck ride with the exception of Lost Padres for a total of 1515 miles.

     Oliver rose to the great challenge, and we are now on the list with the likes of my heroes Karen Frederickson and Karen Chaton. What a tremendous accomplishment for this little gaited horse! The experience has been the thrill of a lifetime.

    I would especially like to thank (Saint) Annie for all her generous help in so many many ways, and to the irascible “Duck” for continuing to put on these rides. We may not always seem as if we appreciate all your hard work, but we really do!

Photo credits:  First photo:  Cuyama Oaks XP, by Lynn Glazer.  Second photo:  Grand Canyon XP, by Natalie Herman