09/27/2026
Went on my second official Endurance ride with Lydiker at LBL ( Land between the Lakes). It turned into 2 rides! Stephanie Knaebel and her super mare Michi and Lydiker and I did 25 mls Friday, and it went fantastic. We came in 3th and 4th, wow that was awesome. And we started in the front. That was not the plan. (we don't want to " race" out) but both our horses did great.
Then Stephanie convinced me to do 50 mls on Michi on Saturday while she rode her Arabian Katch. Uchh I wasn't sure if I could do that. But I was like, I can at least try.
I got up at 4 AM get us and the horses ready. After a quick vet check we rode out in a beautiful sunrise.
The first loop was 25 mls...pff I made it. We had some boot problems and Michi had girth sores that could potentially get very concerning. So we had to decide to pull out or figure something out.
While Stephanie was fixing boots, I was doctoring Michi and moved my saddle slightly and changed girths. After a little overtime we went on our second loop.
Half way in, more boot issues and we had to fix it. Then the fatigue hit me. I got dizzy and really nausea. Because of everything we had to do with our horses, we didn't take care of ourselves. So dehydrated, low blood sugar kicked in. I was glad we finally made it back. I was totally miserable and I was not going to do the last 12 mls. I was in pain just and felt awful. But then I ate and drank something. Michi went trough the vet check with flying colors. I was suck it up buttercup. So of we went again. It actually went very well. We made good time and this was the "easiest " loop. Still lots of hills and rocks. Overall it was a very hard 50 mls. Even the seasoned riders said it was rough.
We made it. And again Michi got a great vet check.
We came in 13th. What an amazing little Curly mare she is. Standing 13.3 H !!!! Against all these massive athletic Arabians. Stephanie did a fantastic job with her since she left here 10 years ago.
All in all an awesome weekend with great accomplishment for Lydiker, Michi, Katch Stephanie and I.
Thank you Don Knaebel for being there for us. And thank you Eric Beene for organizing another fantastic ride!
