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Sand Hill Moonlight
Endurance Ride
July 31, 2004 By Audrey Salisbury Photos – Ray Salisbury After months of planning, weeks of anticipating, days of ‘I can’t believe Saturday is here’ we pulled up to the entrance for the Sand Hills Moonlight 25, 50 & 100 Endurance Ride. Locating our riding partners right at the entrance was super! The area was also the starting area of all three distances. It was so much fun having my husband, Ray, pit crew for us. While I set up Rabi’s electric coral, she stood in the center and checked things out while Ray was talking with Shari Cattee and Daphne Hoffen on things to be aware of as a pit crew. Then we were off to be signed in, get our number or letter, then vetted in! = ) On the way we had fun saying Hi! to those we knew…and didn’t know too! And even several whom we have recently met on the computer. It was really nice to meet other Endurance riders you have known for months and finally get to ride with them. 5 pm Ride Meeting followed by dinner! Yum! Something about the fresh air always makes you extra hungry. As we relaxed and munched we chatted about horses. The full moon the Saturday of the Sand Hills Moonlight Endurance Ride was a Blue Moon! And the Blue Stars were there too! Five Blue Star Arabian horses from my breeding stock were there. Four entered in the 25-mile division and one in the 100-mile division. It was incredible. 19 years ago, when I went to my first Al Khamsa Convention, I saw several farms with horses that I though were lost to a dream. The Desert Bred Arabian Horse I knew as a child. The vision of breeding a true athlete was again beginning… …..and here I am at an Endurance Ride looking at five of them. And they look good! Especially to a proud horse Mom. We were all looking forward to a fun ride. Our goal was a fun completion. 7 PM, time for the five 100 mile entries to check in. King of Morocko (‘Rocko’ - Rahsil Royel-T x Al Kamaala) ridden by his new owner Tim Worden was number 101. They were both beaming! Tim has been conditioning and schooling Rocko and he looked settled and fit. 
As they passed by us going to the starting area, I jumped up heading for
my truck to get the digi camera.Then off to take pictures of Rocko and Tim starting their first 100 mile Endurance Ride. I was able to get several nice pictures of them then they were off! That little Valentine colt had grown up to be quite the athlete. Watching them trot of I realized it was just shy of 1 hour for us to be heading out, so I quickly moseyed back to start tacking up Rabi. She was munching on her hay and checking out the 50-mile horses that were beginning to mill around getting warmed up for their time to start. While leading Rabi around to give her a chance to check things out I found Ray, my husband, and gave him the camera. There were some Mules there and as we passed by them it was funny to watch Rabi turn and stare! This was Rabis’ third Endurance Race and second Moonlight Ride. As the 50-mile horses were getting ready to start we wondered to the far side of the campgrounds and found the others we were riding with. Ray with digi camera in hand got all of our attention, got us to line up and he took a group picture. It was a really neat and fun moment. 
Left to right: NS Rabi Hawa (Rahsil Royel-T x Al Kamaala) owned and ridden by me, Audrey Salisbury; Bashasha Fadl (Rashil Royel-T x Al Kamaala) owned and ridden by Dody Sutton; RFL Finali (Jameel Al Borak x BAF Rhapsody) owned and ridden by Shari Cartee; Maur Mahruss (Sindid Royel-T x Maur Badia) owned by Dody Suttonm ridden by Laura Worden; NS Fadls Eclipse (Rahsil Royel-T x BreMar Tifla) ridden by his new owner Daphne Hoffen. All five of us were entered the 25 mile ride. Next thing we knew… …the trail is open! As the five us move down the drive toward the starting area we watched the front-runners of the 25-mile ride heading down the road. It was a hot and humid day so speed was not in our itinerary. We were amongst the last to start. Letting our horses move out at a trot as we headed down the side of a road for 1 ¼ of a mile to turn off onto sand roads and trails. The 25 milers repeated a 12-½ mile loop. Eclipse is unreal! This 14.2h (shy) boy has a ground covering floating trot other horses have difficulty keeping as long as he can. When I started Eclipse under saddle years ago, he worked out with my 100-mile horse Sharuk Shattu (Shattu El Arab x Fadalima), Blue List & Al Khamsa, and Rahsil Royel-T (Le Encore x Am Bayah) my Blue Star Desert Bred Arabian stallion. They really helped Eclipse learn to set a pace. This was the first time I rode with Eclipse and his new owner Daphne. It was wonderful. Rabi’ would move out in front from time to time as we trotted on down the road as well. For the most we let Shari and Finali who are familiar with the trails stay out front as we made our first loop finishing just before dusk. It took about 7 to 10 min for Rabi to come down. We went to get her P&R then in line for vet exam. Score – all A’s, in at 9:30 PM Out at 10:00 PM is what my card read. Alright! Time to get her some munchies mash, hay, carrots…and me too! And water! Goodness it was hot. Each of the three of us must of used 10 gal of water sponging down our horses. Ray was right there too! He was incredible. But after seeing the front-runners of the 25 and 50 milers come and go he had a real good idea what to do. While we were out on the trail he was assisting anyone who needed help. 9:43 PM …time to get saddled up and start walking them out. We’re mounted. As we walk down lane from pit area I looked around and noticed the timekeeper was behind us. We turned around laughing, gave our time and trotted on down the trail. Round 2! Shari has found some little strobe light mini-flash lights that she and Daphne hooked to back of their saddles. Bouncing around in an odd rhythmic pattern they were fun to follow. Rabi’s chest glowed with the yellow glow sticks Ray taped to her breast collar. With handy electrical tape in hand he was the man. Taping glow sticks on anyone who needed it. As we were 5 to 6 miles into the second loop the moon came up. Lighting up the tails like a beacon. It was beautiful. The trails were great and we trotted on in the moonlight. We came to a hard sand road that we let them gallop to the end, about a mile. The horses enjoyed loosening up. This road would take us to where we would cross a paved rode going up to the power line alone side of woods. Chit-chatting away as we rode and as we came upon other rides we would say HI! and let them know we were passing…and down the trail we went! Little did we realize how many we were passing. Shari, Daphne and I were having such a good time chatting horses and stories that the next thing we know we turned onto the last sand road that would take us in. As we trotted along I said “oh……it’s over already…???” Finali knew where he was and off he went. Trotting out like he had just started. So do not think his riding buddies were not right there beside him! They all fed off Finali’s alert energy. The three of us were also riding barefooted horses’. Rabi’ and Eclipse were raised and started on the trails barefooted. Finali has been barefooted for little over two years. They trotted down the final stretch to camp along a paved road. As they approached other horses they just went around on the road and kept on trotting. Being barefooted they have awesome traction. Turning down drive Shari hollers out to Daphne that she was suppose to turn back here…Daphne and Eclipse were still trotting on down the road! It was a hoot! We got off and led our horses in the last ¼ or so mile. Trying to decide weather to stop at the trailer and leave the saddles then go check in or just go check in…so we headed up road to tell Nancy we were back! And give our letters. You are not going to believe this….we were the 5t thru 7th horses to come in on the 25-mile ride. Dumbfounded we wondered when did we pass 60+ horses??? !!!Guess it was all those here and there along the way…..WoW! Finali was down in 1 minute. Checking in he took 7th place. Eclipse took about 5 minutes to come down taking 10th place. This was Daphne and Eclipses’ second Endurance Ride and his second top 10. We are all so proud of him! Rabi, not in as good a shape took a good 15 minutes to cool down and breathe relaxed. She was busy drinking and munching out. Then bathroom break. More sponge down…she was loving it! She eats up attention. When she had drank her fill and munched we went to get out pulse taken and vet in. Rabi and I got 18th . I am so proud of the girl! Rabi’s now with her third Endurance ride completion and all A’s on all her scorecards. She is doing great and we are having so much fun meeting so many riders whom we have only chatted with over the internet and seeing old Endurance friends from when I was racing 15 years ago. It is a time to sit back and relax with friends old and new. To share experiences and knowledge…and some tall tales too! Happy Trails! Audrey Salisbury NS Rabi Hawa |
