By: Bec Bramich

On the weekend was the Raglan endurance ride which we attended with two very special ponies on board, our gelding Pioneer Park Talieb and mare Castlebar Nariel. It was Nariel’s first ever endurance ride so my fiancé Daniel and I were super excited! Nariel and Talieb were entered into the 20kms on Saturday and Talieb was entered into the 40kms Sunday. We got to ride base early with plenty on time to set up camp and settle the horses in before the 1.15pm ride start. Daniel was riding Nariel (who he broke in) and Tracey was riding Talieb. 

Daniel and Nariel trotting up © Bec Bramich

The pre ride talk was mounted so all the 39 riders met at the front gate to listen to their instruction. Not knowing how Nariel was going to cope with this situation I was a bit nervous, but all she could worry about was eating grass! Talieb, who has done this a number of times before and was meant to be baby sitting was more anxious than her! I swear, that mare cant be a purebred arab!!!!! She's just TOO chilled! We often joke that there must've been a quarter horse stallion who jumped the fence at Castlebar because her personality is more Quarter Horse than Arab. The riders set off and I was left back at camp to wait……which is the worst EVER!! I didn't know what to do with myself! Its so much better riding than staying back at camp worrying and anticipating! 

Having a cuddle with Talieb before everything started © Bec Bramich

When they returned Tracey and Daniel were both smiling ear to ear so I knew it must have been a good ride. I collected their logbooks while Trace and Dan took the horses back to camp to strap. There wasn't much strapping to be done so they had a bit of a clean up and vetted through straight away. All good and both horses through - YAY! Nariel survived her first endurance ride (and so did her mum and dad).

Tracey and Daniel returned with happy faces - YAY! © Bec Bramich

After the excitement of that I met up with my good friend Nicky who had arrived with her two horses, Zharion, (who I rode in the last two Quilties) and Doug who I was riding on Sunday in the 80kms. We got the two boys vetted through and took them for a short ride to stretch their legs. The 80kms started at 5am Sunday morning, and after about an hour of confusion due to the daylight savings time changing we finally figured out what time we would need to set our alarms for. 

Nic and I headed off in the dark of the night. The ride was very challenging due to the amount of steep hill in it. Luckily Nicky's horses are trained in the steep hills of the Bunyip State Forest, so took everything in their stride (so to speak). Even still, we rode the horses up the hills but got off and ran them down. Nicky is a very good runner….and I am not…. but the adrenaline of running through the bush in the dark with fit horses all around me kept me going. My legs were like jelly but that didn't matter, all that matters was we were looking after the horses. 

We arrived back after the first leg just as the sun was coming up and vetted through with no problems. The second leg was the much easier leg of the two, which was good for the horses as the weather was starting to heat up. About 10kms into the second leg I saw some of the 40km riders heading out. I was so excited at the thought I would see Talieb and Tracey riding along! A few horses past and I still couldn't see them….then I spotted Talieb!! But Tracey wasn't on board….Daniel was!!! I screamed WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY HORSE and he was fist pumping the air with a big smile on his face…. Daniel and Tracey had decided that if it was going to be hilly that Daniel would be better off riding Talieb as he could get off and run Talieb up and down the hills whereas Tracey couldn't with her asthma! A smart move from them but I did think it was going to be a huge challenge for Talieb carrying Daniel's weight and heavier saddle! All I could think was ‘I wish I had of got Talieb clipped’ because it was heating up.

In the end I shouldn't have stressed as Talieb totally blitzed it, I was SO proud. 60kms over 2 days for Talieb and he looked fantastic! Daniel said he was a breeze to ride and felt fit and strong! YAY!

Nicky and Talieb vetting through © Bec Bramich

Nicky and I also went extremely well placing =1st lightweight! We couldn't of been more proud of the two boys once again, trying their butts off for us! Unfortuantly Doug got a bit of colic a couple of hours after the ride and I was vetted out due to metabolics. Doug was taken to a vet clinic to be monitored and was luckily fine. 

It was a fantastic weekend and a challenging but great ride. Excellent underfoot and the most beautiful scenery you could imagine! However I am struggling to walk. I am RIDE fit but certainly not RUN fit! I had an epsom salt bath and rubbed deep heat into my legs but nothing is working - I really need to start training myself as well as my horses!

the surrounding hills © Bec Bramich

Until next time, enjoy your riding!

Bec.