Leatherwood Mountains Challenge 50

Eli has been training great for the Leatherwood 50 all winter. We are still using the Easyshoe N/Gs on the front and steel on the rear. Seems that this is the perfect combo for him. He came into the ride super fit and weighing 1070 at the pre-ride vet in.

Photo by Becky Pearman

Becky snapped this awesome picture of Eli at the vet-in. 

 Dody and Itchy joined us on this ride and we started a good 5 minutes after everyone else. We did this at the Biltmore 55 and really had an outstanding ride last year, so we did the same at Leatherwood. We started on a very cold morning and I knew that would be terrific for the horses although we were a bit cold! This picture was taken on the first loop. Eli felt terrific, pulsed right in at 56 and vetted through all As with tack on.

Photo Becky Pearman

 This photo was taken at Elk Creek toward the end of the first loop. Eli is stepping over a rock in this shot.

Photo by John Pearman

We took off on the second loop and found some really tough climbing ahead of us. We encountered extremely steep climbs and descents with a good bit of mud as it had rained the day before. The Easyshoes held up very well and had good traction. There were also some logging roads with a fair amount of rock so I was glad to have that extra concussion support. We vetted through again with all As and headed out on our third loop (same as the first) at 1:40. We had plenty of time, so we enjoyed the day, took some time to graze on some lush mountain grass and finished easily at 4:27pm. I was shooting for an 8 hour ride and managed to improve on that goal. I finished with a happy, healthy horse who was trotting around nicely the next day. He ate terrific all weekend and enjoyed his stall at Leatherwood Mountain's stable. He has now completed his 6th year of 50 mile completions for our decade team goal!
Video of the ride
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGDT2c1rQ_A