SAERA

 

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ENDURANCE RIDERS ASSOC. STATES CHAMPIONSHIPS

Incorporating CEI 3* 160km EVENT

The long weekend dawned dull and cold with the threat of rain.  Undaunted 50 riders and their assorted strappers and support crew turned up at Starkeys, Mt Crawford, to take part in the Endurance rides on offer.  Riders came from all over South Australia for the State Championships and visitors came from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and from Malaysia, with most of these entering the CEI 3* 160km event.  Entries were taken on Saturday and all horses had to pass their pre-ride vet check.  Vets and technical delegates came from various parts of Australia to supervise the CEI 3* with one vet coming over from New Zealand, and the SAERA rides were supervised by Dr James Vowles from Murray Bridge.  Sandy Little and his wife Bronwyn came over from Victoria to act as Chief Steward and Ride Secretary.  The Birdwood CFS provided meals and were very popular with their barbecues going all over the weekend and they also provided vital checkpoint communication for the rides.  The CEI 3* 160km and the SAERA 160km State Championships both started at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Many of the CEI 3* riders were hoping to qualify for the upcoming world championships in Malaysia in November and had to complete the ride in under 13 hours and 20minutes.  Riders had to complete 6 legs, the longest being the second leg of 40km and the shortest being the last leg of 13km, and the horses are presented to the vet after each leg before being allowed to continue.  The tracks went around Mt Crawford Forest with some undulating ground,  road crossings and the usual Starkeys step-overs, with good going on all legs.  The weather tried hard to put a damper on things but could only manage a little rain on Sunday night, heavy mist on Monday morning  and unrelenting cold, but none of this could put a stop to proceedings.   Winner of the CEl 3* was Penny Toft from Queensland riding the superstar Electra BBP Murdoch, with others from Queensland, New South Wales and three of the Malaysian visitors completing successfully.  The State Championships were divided into weight divisions and 1^st and Best Conditioned Lightweight and Line Honours went to South Austalian, Cheryl Bullock and her evergreen Chip Chase Knight, 1^st and Best Conditioned Middleweight went to Shelley Cowan from Victoria riding Parlour Mountain Pandora and 1^st and Best Conditioned Heavyweight and 1^st SA Bred registered Arabian or Arabian derivative across the line went to another South Australian, Paula Van Eck, riding Kentonvale Shazam.  In the meantime other rides offered were a 107km ride, an 85km ride and a 40km training ride with the 107 and 85km riders leaving at 5 a.m. and the 40km trainers at 10a.m.  10 riders contested the 160km State Championships, 12 riders entered the CEI 3*, 9 in the 107km, 3 in the 85km and 16 in the training ride.  The 107 km Lwt division was won by Stella Harbison riding Castlebar Moonlight with NSW rider, Asher Batty riding Castlebar Dell winning the Mwt division.  Tania Drever and Maggi Winn were equal first in the Mwt division of the 85km ride and 12 of the 40km riders completed successfully.  It was a great weekend with ride organiser, Jodie Luck, doing a tremendous job and all the many volunteers and the very generous sponsors making it all possible.

TRURO ELEVATOR RIDE - 10-11 MAY 2008

It was cold, dark and foggy at 5am on Sunday 11^th May when 21 riders and horses, including 2 visitors from Victoria, left Truro Oval on the first leg of the Truro Elevator.  SAERA were putting on their second ride at Truro this season thanks to the efforts of Sarah Adams and Steve Ellis.  The rides offered were and endurance ride of 81km elevating to 101km, a 52km training ride, a 41km training ride and a 20km introductory ride.  The plus side of the early start was that there were some stunning view looking down over the low-lying mist as the sun began to rise creating the mirage of a large lake.  The first leg for the endurance riders was 28km and wound around north and east of Truro through paddocks, tracks and vineyards, returning to base for vetting and it was on this leg that the riders were treated to the beautiful sunrise.  Leading at this stage was Cheryl Bullock closely followed by Kimberly van Eck and Ray Heinrich and all but one of the competitors vetted through successfully and prepared to set off on their next leg.  This leg went off to the east of Truro crossing farm land, some rugged tracks, and riding over a small but steep hill passing under a 40 year old eagle’s nest which is still in use.  First back to base this time was Julie White and all riders vetted through.  Next leg for the endurance ride was 21km travelling east again following part of the last leg and returning once more under the eagle’s nest.  The final 20km went west once more, taking in more farmland and tracks.  Nine competitors elected to retire at 81km with only one vetting out, and the remaining six completed the 101km course with Julie White first over the line in a total riding time of 7hrs 6mins also taking out Best Conditioned Middleweight with Khabeel.  Cheryl Bullock took out Best Conditioned Lightweight with Chip Chase Knight.

 

The 18 entries in the 52km and 41km rides set off at 8 am with Leg 2 being used as the first leg of the 52km ride and Leg 3 being used as the first leg of the 41km ride with both rides finishing on Leg 4.   The 20km introductory ride took in only Leg 4.  Eight of the eleven 52km riders completed successfully as did all seven of the 41km riders and the six 20km riders.  The final endurance rider came over the line with a riding time of 9hrs 48min and was just as pleased as the winner, which proves the motto of endurance riders “To Complete Is To Win”.  The overall completion rate of over 85% is considered a great success.

Truro Cricket Club provided some excellent catering on Saturday night and a huge vote of thanks goes to the organisers, the two vets and the many volunteers - without these people the ride would grind to a halt and very special thanks go to the extremely generous landowners as without their land the ride would not start at all.  We believe that hte 3 horses that vetted out are back iin good condition and it is hoped that Karen Alderton's little mare will make a speedy recovery after a freek accident that injured her hind leg.  Karen tells me the vet took extremely good care of Catt Dancer and she is looking very well.

 

LOWER MURRAY NEXT CHALLENGE - 12 and 13 April 2008:  The weekend  once again saw the South Australian Endurance Riders Association congregating at the Monarto Sporting Complex . The 81km endurance ride began at 6 a.m. with riders leaving via the side of the railway track, taking them through the growing industrial area of Monarto South before entering the woodlands adjacent to the SE Freeway. A tunnel under the freeway was used to access 11km of trails in the Monarto Shooting complex which provided the challenge of sandhills and “scrub bashing” before passing back through the tunnel and returning to base after 30km of riding.  First in were Lightweight rider Cheryl Bullock on the evergreen Chip Chase Knight and young Victorian rider, Jesse McKinnon riding Sandine Belcoo at 7.46 am and these two were closely followed by Victorian Meg Wade, and two of her Castlebar team, Amily Daw and Kristie McGaffin.  23 riders had left base and the last of these came in at the end of the first leg at 8.45am.  After vetting and a compulsory break of 30 minutes they were on the move once more and again it was another 30km leg.  This leg included the entire length of the Highland Road which has a commanding view of the Bremer Valley and the Mt Lofty Ranges, while to the East the view over the Monarto plateau is also quite spectacular.  This time Cheryl, Jesse and Meg all arrived back together and the break was 40minutes before leaving on their final leg of 21km.  This leg concentrated in the Callington Hill area utilizing the woodland adjacent to the Adelaide/Melbourne Railway and more local dirt roads.  Despite the day starting rather overcast and with a little drizzle it was a perfect day for endurance riding.  At 8 a.m. fourteen 51km  riders had left base to begin their first 30km leg.   This ride was an “elevator” and riders were allowed to withdraw at 30km or elevate to 51km and complete a further 21km after being checked by the vet.  Four riders chose to withdraw, two horses failed to pass the vet check and the remaining 8 riders completed their 51km ride successfully.  At 9 a.m. twelve 21km riders left and all riders completed successfully.  In the meantime the 81km riders were coming in with Jesse McKinnon finishing at 12.04 with a riding time of 4hrs 54mins followed by Cheryl and Meg finishing with a riding time of 5hrs 8 mins.  The 81km riders continued to come in until 3.24 pm and finished with a 74% success rate.  With the three leading Junior and Lightweight competitors and the five leading Middleweight and Heavyweight competitors presenting for Best Conditioned honours, the Junior/Lightweight was won by Jesse McKinnon and Sandine Belcoo and Middleweight/Heavyweight winner was Meg Wade and Castlebar Kalahari.  Most riders stayed for the presentation and Lainie Ray couldn’t hold back the tears as she was awarded first place in the Heavyweight division after completing an endurance ride for the first time both for herself and her little mare, Shataan Park Sybella. General feedback from riders was that it was a fair but challenging course with a variety of terrain and good vistas.  It appeared that most competitors enjoyed their ride. A huge thanks goes to our sponsors which included Daish Fodder Store and Horseware International.   Head vet for the weekend was Harry Ousley, and Harry Frauenfelder came to assist on Sunday.   Chief Steward was Pip Archer and many thanks were extended to all the helpers over the weekend.  Most rides seem to run very smoothly but it takes a huge amount of work to mark out the rides, organize officials and helpers and make sure there is water on course plus numerous other things that help make the ride a success.   See photos in Photo Gallery.