Feature Article July 24, 2002
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Competitive trail horse event on Bell Line Roadby David BrisonRick and Elaine Steele hosted their second annual 33 mile competitive horse ride at their Lost Creek Farm near Mountain Grove on Sunday. The Ontario Competitive Trail Riding Association (OCTRA) sanctioned event came just eight days before the Canadian Nationals, which will be hosted this year by Ontario and held in Flesherton, Ontario.
Many of the top horses and their riders from the Ontario team participated in the ride in Mountain Grove. Kristen Howard, the manager of the Ontario teams, was present and held a meeting for team members. The championship is an 80 mile ride 40 on each of two days.
Wendy MacCoubrey, who won the Mountain Grove event last year, returned again this year and finished third over-all on her horse Mariah. Wendy will be competing at her first nationals on the weekend. She will be joined by Wendy Benns, one of the top contenders for the Canadian Champion. Benns took first place in Mountain Grove on her horse, Flirt with Ecstasy. Michelle Bignell, who is not on the Ontario team, was Reserve Champion (second place overall)
The Wendies were joined on Sunday by 40 other entries, 11 of them novices, which is up from 33 entries at last years event. Word of mouth travels fast in the tightly knit competitive riding group, and undoubtedly the new riders were lured by talk of the excellent trail prepared by Rick and his volunteer helpers and the warm hospitality the Steeles offer.
The trail this year was tough rocky and hilly. You really had to have the horses attention, which is challenging, said Ms. Benns. Just 26, which is young to be at the top of her sport, she has been riding competitively for six years. Prior to that she competed in other events.
Wendy is dead serious about what she does, said Dr. Stan Alkemade, who has been the veterinarian for the Canadian team since 1996. She has already competed in two Pan Americans. I think she will be a top contender for National Champion. He was also high on Wendy MacCoubrey. She rode in her youth, but just started back again four years ago. In the sport of competitive trail riding, there have been only eight perfect scores of 0. Wendy has one of them. He went on to say, If both Wendies get on the same Ontario team, they should be quite formidable.
Dr. Alkemade is part of a newly formed group, TeamStream a performance development group which spots talent, and through mentoring and coaching tries to get promising horses and their riders on the teams. He had two comments about the ride on Sunday. He said that there were no horses with metabolic problems during the race, which means that the horses were in good shape. He also commented in an interview on the high level of cooperation amongst competitive riders - everyone helps novices and they also encourage each other. A few years ago, the leading horse in a race threw a shoe, he said. The rider called a vet, but knew by the time the vet got there she would be out of the competition. The rider on the horse in second place gave her an easy boot, waited for it to be put on, and this allowed the horse in the lead to win.
Local riders and their horses did well at the event. Elaine Steele, on her horse Fleetwood Shadow, finished second in the middleweight class. Elaine is the first alternate on the Ontario team. Elizabeth Hughes of Arden was the first place junior and Kaitlin Balogh of Mountain Grove was the second place junior. Elizabeths Hughes mother, Heather Hughes, Manager, Customer Services at the Bank of Montreal in Westport, awarded ribbons to winners on behalf of he Bank of Montreal.
There were several top endurance riders at the event. Endurance events are races in which the first to finish wins. Competitive rides are similar to car rallies the horses are given the same amount of time to finish the race and are ranked on the condition of the horse, rated by a series of checks by trained vets at the end of the ride. The Mountain Grove event was a competitive ride.
Teresa Finnerty, with Red Express, is primarily an endurance rider, but she also competes in competition events and was present at the Mountain Grove event last year. She said that she had ridden 83 miles on her horse in the last eight days a 50 mile endurance event (endurance events are usually 50 miles and up and can be 100 miles in one day) and the 33 mile ride on Sunday. Dr. Alkemade said that she is a very promising endurance rider.
