Well I've completed 100 of the 350 Endurance miles I've set as a goal this season.

First was the Aprilfest in May ride on May 17th where we finished the 50 mile Endurance ride in 7:02 for 21st place. Not bad as I didn't consider either Loosi or I fit yet for the season so we rode slowly for the completion.


Last weekend (June 13) saw us in Hesperia MI, about 1 hr north of Grand Rapids saw the Canadian invasion of the White River Summer Ride. 18 Canadian horses attended this 2 day event with the majority of us starting on day 1. This time Loosi and I were much fitter and the footing and weather conditions spoke of a much faster ride. I had planned on riding the 50 mile ride in 6-6:30 hrs to just bump up the speed a bit in accordance with my conditioning and compeittion plans. Well we rocked in a 5:59 riding time. Much faster than I had expected but the trails were mainly sandy bush lanes and sandy roads with a bit of mud bog at the beginning and end of each loop. Loosi was a bit erratic at the start so she had to have a walk time out while plenty of riders passed us. We caught them all at the end of the first loop, leap-frogged some for most of the 2nd and 3rd loop and left in the the dust for a fast 4th loop. Out of 25 starters, we ended up placing 15th overall (AERC), 6th Heavyweight (UMECRA) and Best Appaloosa for the day. Unfortunately we had to head home on Sunday as mother and I both had to be at work bright and early Monday morning.

Looking forward to heading back to MI for the famous Shore To Shore ride in August run by the same ride manager.

The week before White River we had attended the Pause-A-Tively Ponies show in Aurora with Babs and Dijon. As Dijon was a little less round than I would like for a show pony and not 100% shed out and Babs sporting bite marks from a pasture mate I would have to say we weren't up to our usual top notch standards. That's not to say that our ponies were not suitable to be there - just not up to our standards. We ended up bringing home 1-2nd, 1-3rd and 2-4ths not bad in any case. We partnered up with another pony sired by *Stockham Commander M to enter in the Get of Sire class as Dijon and Babs while out of the same dam have different sires. Entries were a tad light but it was a rainy Sunday in an already busy season.

Off to start backing the 3 oldest ponies for the 3rd year in a row. Hopefully we will get them finally broke this year and out showing under saddle. Basics are already there so it shouldn't be too hard to finish them off.