We did not have the 1998's numbers of riders, but still registered approximately 70 horse & rider teams, and two teams for the 25 mile ride and tie. Unfortunately, almost 50% of those signed up did not start probably because of the dire weather predictions for Sunday (flash floods and the like). Kathy Eichelberger zipped around camp at 7:35 am (five minutes after the 25-milers were supposed to leave) to shame some of the 25 milers into going out and actually convinced about 5 more human/horse teams to go ahead and ride. The trails were reported as being slick. In spite of the mud, our ride farrier David Conner seemed pretty underemployed although it was reported he was not complaining.
Most of this years' riders came from VA-NC-WV unlike last year where we got a little wider participation. It was thought that a ride scheduled for the following weekend (also in Virginia) did not help participation this year, but the ride organizers were not disappointed with the pre-ride signup.
The food committee worked as hard as usual to produce timely, tasty meals for those who stuck it out through the rain. Jeanne Jeffer (head chef) would like to sincerely thank the following folks for their help with the four meals:
|
Carol Atwood Michael Beda Fred & Barbara Burks Nancy Conner Holton Conner Erin Dickinson Frank Hartis Bailey Jeffer |
Susan Johnson Jennifer Johnson Diane Long Kay Morton Judy Mundy Pete Whitlock Karen Zollman |
MFH David Bolen headed up the trail committee and the trails were reported as being obsessively well marked. The trail consisted of two loops, with the 'white' loop being the 12 mile warm-up for the 'pink' loop. The 50-milers did both loops twice, showing up back at base camp for their three in-ride vet checks and mandatory holds. If you see any white or pink surveyors flagging while you are out cubbing this fall, please feel free to remove it from the trees. Carol Atwood rounded up landowners' cattle so that there were only three gates that needed to be personed.
Veterinarian help was volunteered by Stan and Kathy Eichelberger and Dana Reeder. We also hired Randy Darton and Todd Burdick. Horses got processed quite rapidly at the vet checks partly because of the scratches and partly because we had such good help. Amy Guthrie and Blair and Erica Jones scribed for the veterinarians, trying to put pencil to very soggy time cards. Joy (now DVM) Watkins' husband, Andy, was the head timer. Talk about someone who really got to stand out in the rain all day!
The nine 50 mile riders who stuck it out to the finish (out of 13 starters) did the course in times ranging from 9 hours 15 minutes to 10 hrs 30 minutes. There were 24 finishers in the 25; times ranged from 4 hrs 5 minutes to 5 hours 50 minutes.
RH riders again participated in both rides. Lu Dooley was doing her first 50-miler on the Farmer/Baird stallion Shasha and ended up with the 3rd highest vet score. Pam Moskal, Susan Bailey and Mary Lynn Camper sloshed through the 25 miles and they all finished in the top ten.
My apologies if we have left any names out as I'm sure we have. Please let us know for future newsletters. Erica Jones
We had several requests for Viola Wise's coffee cake at the Sunday breakfast, so recipe follows. A good number of cooks suggested RH try to compile a cookbook to help the reader in cooking for small to medium mobs of hungry people. Leaf through your files for contributions and stay tuned. Erica Jones Recipe
Viola Wise's coffee cake:
12 'Rhodes' brand frozen rolls1 box butterscotch pudding (NOT the instant type)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 T cinnamon
1 cup pecans
Place the 12 rolls (still frozen) in a greased bundt pan. Sprinkle butterscotch pudding over the top. Drizzle the melted butter over this.
Mix the sugar, spice and pecans and sprinkle over rolls. Let rise over night. Bake in preheated over 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Viola Wise
Wednesday, September 22, 3 PM, Broadview
The weather was gorgeous, surprisingly cool with a high around sixty-five or possibly seventy degrees, clear and sunny. Hounds probably chased turkeys briefly in the woods between Whiskey Hill and the creek (the creek running to the Blue Hole, does this creek have a name?). There was a good, short chase from somewhere near Lick Run, looping below the Big Woods and then back toward Plank Road, just below the crest of the ridge. Hounds quit near the Tree Stand. Since the huntsman had several young hounds out considerable time was spent gathering them up. The young hounds included Noodle, Nuisance, Norman, Cody, Copy, Witch, Wizard, and Willa. Cindy Morton
The meet on the 22nd came with gorgeous weather to the delight of the 27 in the field. We had a nice sprint around the vicinity of "the barn hollow" with a gray fox suspected as our pilot. My rider hung on with eyes wide and grin silly as I was determined not to be left behind. A tailgate social was enjoyed afterward. Delphi Jones
Saturday, September 25, 8 AM, Morton farm:
The hunting was not particularly good. Fox have been seen this past summer near Roundy's property and a couple of hounds seemed like they got a whiff of something near there but it didn't seem to be fresh scent. Several hounds opened behind Joe and Katharine Conner's house but nothing more happened. I understand that the Jones' summer project, "the rabitat," was featured on the morning's tour. Did anyone see any rabbits? I saw plenty of deer. Cindy Morton
The Newsletter Committee was formed specifically to reduce the club secretary's
workload. As you may have noticed, the current (small) newsletter committee includes
not only the club secretary but also the club treasurer. We both have jobs and horses
to ride and fences to mend and weeds to pull and a little help with the newsletter
would be appreciated. What exactly do we have in mind? Submit something. If you're
putting on an event, make sure we get the information. The newsletter is the place
for announcements ahead of an event about dates and times and what kind of volunteer
help will be needed. After the event the membership wants (and deserves) to know how
the event ran, who participated or competed, who helped, and how much money was made
or lost. If you're on a committee the newsletter is the place for occasional
announcements on whatever it is that your particular committee is working on. If the
members of your committee change, something should definitely be printed about that.
If there's an issue you're particularly interested in or knowledgeable about, there's
generally an open attitude about including something on that topic in the newsletter.
There's always a chance that it may be deemed unsuitable for the newsletter but
appropriate for some other venue. Contributions are far more likely to be cheerfully,
gratefully received. Cindy Morton
Carol Atwood reports that some stainless steel (large) casserole pans are missing
from the hunt lodge. She would appreciate it if you would go stare in your freezer
to check to see if any of them are there. These pans are very handy for the person
doing breakfast and are missed.
Erin Dickinson is offering to clean tack to help finance her stay at Virginia Tech. Prices are saddle + girth = $10. Western saddle - $20. Martingale or breastplate - $5. Bridle - $7. Prices include labor and oiling.
Erica Jones is looking for used all purpose saddle with padding suitable for middle-aged rider. Medium tree. 17.5" seat or so. Would like Passier (!).
The hard work of the Grounds Committee and the Kitchen Committee is evident and greatly appreciated. The grounds around the lodge just keep looking better and better.
[The following appeared on the internet and is reprinted with permission of Joe Rackley, Surfside Beach, SC. September 21,1999:]
Now that we have established that, we can continue. It was only to the dismay of certain parents to discover that their daughter or daughters were not what you would call the norm for the typical young girl. It was only after many a late night discussion when all the children were safely tucked in bed except for the young daughter..who felt it to be a life and death matter to go out late at night to check on her new horse, that it was not the failings of the parents giving their love and devotion...not that the mother and the grandmother and aging aunts didn't spend many hours exposing the young girl or girls to the art of afternoon tea or the Daughters of the Confederacy garden luncheons, that this wayward young girl would stray in to a world so strange to the everyday happenings of other young girls, or conforming to a mold described as the definition of the young female in our society.
No, it was not the countless hours in front of the black & white Zenith TV set on Saturdays watching Sky King and Roy Rogers and then running down main street in front of her grandparents clothing store swinging a Hickory switch, that was cut from the tree with the small two blade Old Henry pocket knife she purchased without her mother knowing, keeping it in the small plastic purse her mother made her wear, screaming at the top of her ability, "Giddy up ya damned ol' horse," then jumping the fire plug in front of the store, not a thought in the world given to her short lady-like dress a-flying in the breeze.
"Harold, how did she learn that word," her mother would say to her father?
No, it was none of these things. The parents had not fallen down on the job providing the correct upbringing for these young girls. They are a product of an ancient race of Amazon horse women aliens from the Alpha Centaur galaxy, who have made a conquest of laying waste to the inequalities between man and woman on this small planet called earth. Selectively chosen, each young girl was implanted with a small micro chip that sent a continuous message to their developing brains, "I love horses...I can tame them...I like all the fittings that go along with them...Miller's catalog and State Line Tack will be my guide...and I will always wear the symbol of the horse on my clothing, no matter the cost."
I've always wondered about those things. When I needed something for my horse, I always went to the tack shop. It was only when I hooked up with the horse woman I live with, that happens to be my wife, I noticed horse related catalogs tucked away neatly in the tack room, sliding out from under the seat of the truck, the bath room and etc.
You know that horse product catalogs are printed on that planet where the Amazon horse women aliens are from, and are delivered to Chicago and then mailed from there to all the horse women who were placed on the mailing list when they were born and the subscription was to activate at the same time as their first credit card. This is true stuff...I know ...I've been following this subject for years.
I remember the first time I actually looked at one...I was in the bathroom and saw all these catalogs for horse stuff. Well, I picked it up and looked at a few pages...wooo...I knew then that I was not supposed to be looking at it. There in front of God and everyone else were these good lookin' young women in tight fitting riding breeches...showing off their backsides and looking back at the camera. Man, I was hooked, you can keep Playboy.
Well, it was after that I decided to keep up with this catalog thing. I watched and observed over the years. It was to my joy when the full leather seat breeches started to appear. You know, I was trying to figure out where I had seen something like that before. For months it just bothered me...and then...I remembered...Doe season...white tail deer...It was a white tail deer jumping a bush out in the woods...Yes,that was it! And the leather on the riding breeches was...Doe Skin!
Well, like I've said, I kept a close look on all this catalog business. Ever notice in that Miller's catalog, that the backsides look a lot better with the more expensive breeches? It's true...just go look. Yes, and that's the facts. Not only that, but the Amazon horse women aliens who print these catalogs also print in invisible ink below the price, in the margin, things like this, Now for $69.95, your backside can look like this and when you get up to the higher prices you get things like this, "For $300.00, hounds will break into full cry and or blue ribbon for sure, baby. Now, as I have said, it's printed in invisible ink that the computer chip implants can only pick up. A safety feature. I actually know this for a fact. One day I was walking through this barn and overheard a few horse women talking about something in a Miller's catalog, and one of them said in response to another, "But did you read between the lines." See, it's true. I also think that the chromosome thing has something to do with it too. And if you pay attention you'll notice that a horse woman can always produce a horse catalog at the drop of a hat.
You think I'm just fooling about these catalogs being printed by Amazon horse women aliens from another planet. Okay, you'll see. Try and find riding breeches or anything else for a man in Stateline Tack or Miller's catalog. Yea, right, I know what you're thinking...I've seen men's stuff in those catalogs. Well, that's a ploy to keep their cover. Stateline has a photo of men's breeches in a postage stamp size photo buried in the back of the catalog, with only one color and a size that might have fit me in junior high.
These Amazon horse women aliens also have secret meetings for their followers disguised as things like baby showers and Dressage shows! I'm not fooled by this. They have secret pass words like, Carl's on a business trip this weekend...bring your favorite horse tape...and wine. I know better than that. They're holding a big ritual with the Amazon horse women alien warriors...and they burn scented stuff and sacrifice things.
As these Amazon horse women alien warriors from another planet require chariots for their warriors...you find that you have been cast into a spell by these horse women and find yourself at the Ford dealership purchasing a Ford F-350 and of course, let's not forget, well, the matching horse trailer with dressing room. These chariots make it easy for horse women to travel, when summoned by the Amazon horse women alien warriors to the big gatherings, like Dressage shows and things like that.
What I want to know is, "What's wrong with a stock trailer?" They look good and horses like them better and they're cheaper. Why do you need a dressing room on a horse trailer...when all the regalia ends up in the back of the extended cab and under the seat with all those catalogs? I think it might have something to do with being able to put your hands on the horse woman regalia at a moments notice when the Amazon horse women alien warriors decide that it's time to team up with all the horse women they have trained over the years and take over the world.