We set off for the Sparkler ride at Imbil on Friday morning, as the ride commenced at 4pm Saturday and went into the early hours of Sunday morning. After setting up our campsite and yards for 10 horses it rained!! Oh no, not another rainy hot Imbil ride! I was quite depressed at the very thought!
But fortunately the rain cleared away and even though the weather forcast was for hot days, it remained quite acceptable, with a bit of a breeze cooling things down. The forestry was quite warm...
The Spring Mt 80km ride was won in 4:11 by Akhmed Pshunov on Mt Eerwah Siridion. The next rider in was over half an hour behind Akhmed. This gives an indication as to how incredible his time of 4:11 for this track was!! Congratulations Akhmed on a well run effort!
The Track: Spring Mt is looked forward to by Qld riders each year because it is such a lovely track, and such a well run ride. Normally this ride is considered to be a great Novice Horse track, with l...
We arrived home late this afternoon after a very busy weekend in Imbil, home of the Far A Way Endurance Riders Association.... headed up by Bob Sample. Once again this club put on a wonderful weekend of endurance rides, with 2 FEI rides and 2 AERA rides running very successfully together.
The FEI*** 160km ride was won by Linda Meredith on Anglesea Trooper, and this pair led the field from the start, riding over 100kms by themselves through the forestry tracks. Brothers Matt...
Last Friday I packed up Tarni and Shaah and sent them off with the lovely Kate Gadsby of Ra Endurance to the Eidsvold ride, as I was unable to attend. And then on Saturday morning Renae and Robert Kuhn picked up Tumbleweed and Hero and they set off on the long drive to Eidsvold. Splendacrest rider, Angela Head, had been asked to ride Nazzerin for Sally Gennings, so she also headed north for Eidsvold.
The weekend turned out quite successfully, with Tarni and...
The weekend's weather consisted of periods of very hot bright sunlight interspersed with cool cloudy patches with a very sneaky cold breeze.... just ideal strapping conditions.... NOT! In fact, the strapping was quite difficult at times, with care needed to make sure the horses coming in off a hot track did not cramp in the time it took to get to the Vet Gate. Fog greeted the early departures in the 120km event at 4am, and was still evident as the 45km training riders got underway at 7am. The...
We all got wet this past weekend. Very very wet. Soaked to the skin, several times. And then a bit wetter, just for fun. Wrinkly feet wet. No dry clothes left. And then wetter.
Yes, it rained for the Far A Way Easter Endurance Carnival. But then with a full moon shining, and the notorious recent Coastal weather conditions, what else would we have expected? I just didn't expect so much of it! :-)
Another FABULOUS ride weekend put on by the Toowoomba Endurance Club at Brymaroo saw over 70 horses in the 80km ride, as well as quite a few (don't know the exact numbers) in the 40km. Yes, Brymaroo is a flat track, and yes, it is also quite hard underfoot at the moment, but BOY, did we have fun!!
The Club members, headed up by Ken Gordon, Tanya Trevarthen and Angela Hawks, and ably assisted by a host of friendly volunteers, also provided us with ideal weather con...
We had the pleasure of attending the Terrific Tenterfield ride this past weekend, held in the beautiful Girard State Forest east of the town of Tenterfield, NSW. The dire warnings of rain from the Cyclone and cold weather were not heeded, and the weather was quite hot on Saturday, prompting the purchase of ice, but then turned overcast and mild on Sunday for the ride, although it did heat up a bit in the middle of the day and that ice was welcomed!
As we left home early Saturday morning, the weather report stated that Cyclone Hamish was moving south along the coast and that SE Qld could experience wet weather on Sunday! Well, that meant a hasty addition of some wet weather clothing into the bag, as I HATE getting soaking wet while strapping!! (Even though I usually end up with wet shoes and wrinkly feet anyway!)
So Saturday was hot and dry as we arrived at the Fernvale Rodeo Grounds,...
Yesterday, Tarnia Kittel and I played hookey from training horses, and instead attended the Equestrian Qld Conference in Brisbane. It was a great day, and we both learned a lot from some very interestin people.
The day started off with Sonja Johnson (Beijing Olympic Silver Medallist with the Australian Eventing Team) telling us all about her journey from small child mustering steers to the Olympic arena. Sonja was a fabulous speaker, and had the entire audience in stitches with her v...
