Here's one that I believe Bill Adams has been doing - Damn fine show, Bill. 8000 miles is a bunch and winning 100's at 20 years old is impressive. Joyce Sousa's 20-year-old LV Integrity hits 8000 miles and gets his 33rd 100-mile completion in winning the Owyhee Fandango 100!
Thanks Jack. Team effort, Great Rider, Great Horse. I started doing him, 'Ritz', 5 or 7 years ago when he was on his way down. I had found this Farrier's Forum thing though and got to know guys like Jaye Perry, Guy Buck, and I believe I called you a time or two Jack. I was Mister Big Time Expert when I had these fellows on speed dial. I'd say that I had to make a call for something, come back around from the other side of the truck with a very experienced solution. I'd joke about it with Joyce and Dennis, the owners and good friends, but we got him finishing in front of every one else. They had met Jaye at a race in Florida once, and he worked with me on Ritz in Ohio before a race in Kentucky. It is real nice to bask in the good times and the glory, but I gota shout out to them what got me here.
Yep, you had called me just to chat a bit, Bill. That's how I knew you were doing him. For non endurance racers (or farriers) a career approaching 10,000 miles is relatively rare and the majority of horses that do it are being ridden for mileage, well back in the pack. Horses that race to 8000 miles or more are in a very small select group. It ain't easy to do. Many of Ritz's race were international and FEI.
Even though I'm obviously preaching to the choir, I'll deliver a short sermon. Boots are getting better and some horse may some day race to high mileage in boots, but every horse that I'm aware raced to high mileage (say 5000+) did it in shoes, not boots.
That phone list Bill mentions doesn't need to be just farriers. Back in 05, I was preparing to shoe a horse to compete at the North American Endurance Championships in Fair Hill, Maryland. Neither the client nor I knew anything about Fair Hill so I just called a rider that I knew out there and asked. She said "be drilled and tapped". I said I'd never used studs on an endurance horse and she repeated "be drilled and tapped", explaining they currently had hard clay hillsides covered with dead leaves, but most major events at Fair Hill seemed to involve major rain and slick trails. Well, better to have holes that weren't used, than to wish we had them and I followed the advice. Two days before the race, a hurricane rolled up the East Coast and dumped seven inches of rain. My client did the first 65 miles in studs before the trails had dried some and she pulled them. She won North American Championship and agrees that my phone call and those studs that we'd have never thought of had a great deal to do with it. 'Course she and the horse were the main reason. Excellent rider, outstanding horse.
Cheers to Bill on that one! Great Job, Bill. And how nice of Jack to spread the word. You should be very proud.
Nooooooooooo!!!!! (head desk, head desk)...... how am I supposed to recognize you the next time I see you!?
You could have five and they w0uldn't equal Bill's one - when I saw him last - sniff. Gosh I feel old. Nothing personal Travis...
