We here at Touch O’ Glory
Appaloosa’s …are so excited to announce that we have two of our mares competing
on the endurance trail in 2006! With 100 AERC miles logged so far this season on each
mare!
#1) TGS Ruby Canyon (Ruby) she is a 6 year old bay blanketed roan. She is a daughter of
our senior stallion North Canyon. Ruby is out of a well bred endurance/foundation
Appaloosa mare. We bred and raised Ruby. She has produced one beautiful, gaited,
tri-colored leopard colt for us, so she is also an incredible brood mare!!
*Ruby is carrying p-r-e-c-i-o-u-s cargo as she covers her 50 to 100 miles per endurance
ride. She has a very noble duty….being ridden by my 13 year old daughter Alicia!!
I’m proud to report that she is handling, Alicia with great care. And Ruby is
expressing great suitability, passion & enjoyment for the sport of endurance riding.
Ruby has been wonderful right from the start of this campaign, being very respectful &
responsive to Alicia and the Vets.
Although I have to say that Ruby was also kind of wound up and ready to go on the first
ride. Alicia had a work out trying to convince Ruby, that she had to conserve her energy
so she could go the distance. Now, giving honor where honor is due, it was Alicia and Ruby
that set the ride pace for the last 11 miles of our first endurance ride. Completing these
last miles in just one hour! A BIG THANK YOU…..Ruby and Alicia (it would have taken
longer with out you)..!
 
#2) Athena’s Dream (Dreamer)> She is a 6 year old bay snow flake roan. Dreamer is
one of our brood/ endurance mares…This is also Dreamer’s first year on the
endurance trail. And she is the lucky steed that gets to carry my (well, not so small rear
end) several hundred miles this year. I’m very impressed with the improvements this
mare has made from the first to the second endurance ride. At the first ride Dreamer was
very anxious and not very good for her Vet. checks. And at the start of the ride it was
hard to set her in to a consistent ride gait, well what do you expect, right , she had no
way of knowing that she was being ridden 50 miles! And that it would be a 12 hour
ride….she hadn’t a clue! But, now having just completed our second 50 miler, I
can report that Dreamer is settling right into a “natural endurance” horse. She
has come a long way in just a few months time. She is doing most of the leading on our
rides and she is setting a wonderful ride speed, at a steady working trot. And she was
great for her Vet. checks. She deserves the award for most improved!!
 
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Click on photos above to zoom!
So…I’m enclosing a few recent photos of myself, Alicia and our trusty steeds. I
hope you enjoy these updates?
Please write and tell me of your Appy trail experiences? Please if you see me at an
endurance ride, show or stallion exposition, please make it a point to say HI and
acknowledge the fact that you have seen our web site!!
App’ily yours,
Kathy, Alicia, Dreamer and Ruby (And from the rest of the Smith/Glory Appaloosa, family
too)!!
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As for how the ride season ended up?
Well, our mares did EXCEPTIONAL! I am so, pleased with them!!
Unfortunately we only logged 150 miles on each mare, so we fell far short of our goal of
350 miles.
Basically we dried up our "ride" fund, when we traveled out east to Wisconsin
too participate in the first ever Appaloosa National Championship (NC) endurance ride.
That is a story in it's self, I'll approach it another time.
On the positive side (I'm an optimist<G>). My daughter and I completed three 50 mile
end. rides!
Our mares improved at each ride and were barefoot for all of them!
We improved our finish time on the second ride by almost two hours!!
The third ride would have been very good also except...we had two major slow downs. First,
my daughter had a belly ache, for most of the 25 mile loop, and could not do much
trotting. Second, on the third and final loop, we had left the Vet. Check and were about 2
miles, away from camp.... when a STRONG storm front came through and began to hammer us,
in a way, I have never experienced!!
This ride was near Greybull Wyoming.
We had finished 40 of the 50 miles. And had about 21/2+ hrs of ride time left, and only 10
miles to complete. Alicia & I said to each other, “we'll finish in no time”,
“an hour, maximum”!
Boy, can a Wyoming storm change things in a hurry! :0(
OK. Here we go...we're 2 miles away from camp, we're riding across the desert. That is all
Greybull is, desert, were talking Sage Brush, Prickly Pear Cacti (?) and beautiful Red
sand!
The "STORM" produced rain and strong gusty winds, out of the west. We were
traveling west. In our attempt to block the wind, we put our head’s down. The rain
was hitting us through the vent holes of our helmets!
The sky was green, when it wasn't lit up with lightning! You, do remember that we were in
the "Desert", so there was NO….shelter at all anywhere!! The Sage brush
just would not offer any protection from the storm...imagine that! The "fun" had
only begun....! Soon, we came to a "Cowboy" gate...and man were we ever wanting
a "Cowboy" to come open this “gate” for us! It took my daughter, (I
opened this same gate on the loop before) a good length of time to get the gate un-hooked,
finally the deed was done.
I rode through, my daughter's horse, Ruby waited for us & then when Alicia gave her
the cue she preceded! Just as Ruby went through the gate, the wind kicked up,
“more”...and then HAIL followed! I'm still on my horse (Dreamer), but I'm
thinking that I need to dis-mount, in an urgent way! Alicia, now is worried about me, and
telling me to “get OFF my horse...Already”!
I'm looking at her still holding her horse & the "Cow" gate, which is made
of barbed wire, mind you! And I'm thinking any minute Ruby, is going to get spooked (from
the wind & hail) and go right over that gate..! Alicia, “just drop that stupid
gate, and get away from the fence”! I said. She promptly obeyed. I managed to safely
dis-mount.
We moved a safe distance away form the "Fence" and did the only thing we could
do ...hunker down and wait and hope the "Storm" would pass quickly!
Here I am with my beautiful thirteen year old daughter. We are out in the middle of
Wyoming, stuck in a hail storm. Where there was no shelter except, that which could be
found in the wind tossed, Sage brush!!
The storm continued for a l-o-n-g time (so it seemed), dime sized hail continued to pelt
us...We were standing next to our horses. Ruby with her butt to the wind, Dreamer on the
other hand preferred to face the storm, so... I had my ‘butt’ to the storm, my
left hand covering Dreamer’s right eye. And my helmet covered head sheltering her
left eye.
The hail pelting me, and my lovely daughter. Both of us shivering, soaked to the bone,
water 1/2" deep in our boots, and our trusty steeds standing at our sides, enduring
the "Storm" with us! At one point Alicia, whimpered as the hail pelted her back.
I could see, Ruby tuck her touché, from the sting of the small ice pellets, as well! This
about broke my Mother’s heart.
I could only wait and pray......
Yes; eventually the storm did pass, not hardly fast, or soon enough for us!
Finally, evaluating the situation, Alicia and I decide that it is safe to proceed down the
trail. We began to walk .The beautiful Red sand that the trail was formed of, had been
transformed, too gum-bo type CLAY. As we walked our boots became caked with this gum-bo
stuff. We were slipping & sliding all over the place. It probably was quite comical;
of course we failed to see the humor!
Along the side of once dry sandy trail, there ran small swift rivers. The wind was still
blowing, we were cold and wet. Praying the “storm” was indeed over. Hoping the
sun would come out, too warm and dry us, and the trail out. Finally, we felt pretty
certain that it would be faster to travel on four legs rather than our two. So… we
attempted to rub the gum-bo off our boots, on to the nearest Prickly Pear Cacti. It
helped…some.
We mounted our trusty steeds. Sitting on my Sheep Skin covered saddle was like sitting on
a wet sponge! We had hours yet to ride…! My left hand had red inflamed welts on it
from the hail. We began our slippery journey, towards camp... The rest of the 71/2 miles
(?) or so remained challenging, but do-able.
Six months after the “Stormy Endurance Ride” in Wyoming, my daughter and I are
still shopping, talking and reminiscing about the “Wyoming Hail Storm”! It was
quite the bonding experience for all four of us!
App’ily yours,
Kathy, Alicia, Dreamer and Ruby too
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