This all started with the Sept., Oct., 2000 Canadian Morgan Magazine:

RED EXPRESS Registered 1990 Ramul's Justin daughter. Bright Copper Chestnut, 15hh Previous reining work. Now used for endurance. Experienced rider needed, as she is very spirited.

The magazine came on the Tuesday right after Labour Day and I read the magazine, only glancing at the ad. But I kept coming back to that page. Before the night was out I made the call to Stoney Plains, Alberta from Ontario. All my husband could say was, "There goes the phone bill!" As things would have it, there was no answer that night and all the next day. Wednesday, this horse and that picture wouldn't leave my mind, so the first thing I did was call when I got home from work and leave a message. At 8 p.m. the phone rang and lo and behold, if it isn't the owner of the horse! After about 2 hours of conversation the owner was me. I bought a horse over the phone with only a picture to go by. Now how do I get this horse home? I made a couple calls and everybody that I knew had already left for home from Spruce Meadows. Then I found out that Red had never had a Coggins done before so the waiting game began.

I called Nancy Beacon to see about a trucker to bring home this horse, only to be told by Nancy that she phoned out to Stoney Plains and wanted to buy that mare. All Nancy got was the answering machine. I told her the mare was sold and she was too late.

The Coggins came back 2 weeks later, negative, and the trucker was booked. Now all I had to do was wait and wait; by the way, did I say I had to wait? Finally the call came; Red was being loaded on the truck to come home Oct. 12^th. So the real waiting had begun; again, did I say waiting? By this time everyone that knew me was aware that my horse was finally coming home. October 16^th at 01:00 a.m. we picked up Red Express from Cookstown Livestock Yards.

It was something else to see the horse that I had been waiting for standing in the back of a stock trailer eating hay. As the doors opened up, the driver backed into the dock to unload her and abandon her travelling companion that was continuing on to New Brunswick. Red had to walk through the sheep that the stockyards were moving around from other trucks and squish through a gate so the panicked sheep didn't follow her out into the yard. Red handled all this in typical Morgan fashion and onto my trailer for her ride home.

Much to my dismay work called, and Monday saw me off to a seminar for 2 days. I was disappointed that I had waited all that time for the horse from the picture to come home, and now I would have to leave. I had to pay for her somehow and work was the only way to do so.

Wednesday evening I was home again and able to see how Red had adjusted to her new home and found that the weather we were having was just a little warmer then she was used to out west.

When I had spoken with her past owner and was told what the temperature had been and the amount of snow they got, it certainly made me happy to live in Southern Ontario. But don't ask in January or February if I still want to live here with the snow and cold days.

Thursday was the night to ride this horse and so I did. Trying to catch her, well that was another little problem that I had to work on or learn that the only way that you catch her is after Red has a run and a couple sliding stops and rollbacks. Then all you do is walk up and halter easy as that. That routine must have come from all the reining training that she had in her younger days.

Cross-tying Red wasn't a problem but don't ask her to stand on 4 feet, because I'm sure that is when the Morgan really shows up. Red always stands with 1 foot up in the air and bent under, looking like she is begging for something, which is either please don't ride me or would you just hurry up so we can get going.

Riding Red for the first time was not at all that I expected from the conversation that I had with her previous owner. Red was easy and willing to move without any problems. I figured anybody that could sit on a horse could ride her. That first ride was about 5 miles and then home for supper. The thing about riding in the fall is the shortage of daylight.

Friday I took her out again and this is the horse that I bought, strong, wilful and sure that she was right and we must travel at the speed of light. If anything, Red is smooth and it really didn't matter what she did, everything was fast. At this we decided it was in the best interests of Red if she started back at square one and did everything slow and steady instead of using up all of her energy jumping and bouncing, demanding to run.

The last ride of the season for OCTRA is on the Sunday, it's a Ride & Tie with a 20 mileage. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day with ideal weather for the end of October, and Red was a charm to ride; sponsoring 2 juniors and ponying a horse through the river. It just didn't matter what you asked of her, the Morgan blood is strong.

Well the Pulse came in and they were looking for nominations for the Pan American Championship Ride (PAC) Do I or don't I nominate the deciding factor was the location of the ride, in Morgan Country South Woodstock, Vermont, the place that I always wanted to ride a Morgan just to experience some of the history of the breed.

Red had a 100-mile FEI qualifier in August 2000 that her previous owner had completed. So all I had to do was pay all memberships, put together her ride history, pay the qualifying fee, ride 1 more 100-miler FEI, and hope to make the top 12 for the list.

The list came out in the spring and Red and I were 16^th out of 18 horse and riders nominated for the PAC. Next was to get the last 100-mile qualifier that would move us up the list and that was going to be June 1^st up north west of Barrie, and as luck would have it this was going to be a FEI qualifier.

The day before the ride, Red and I went up to the ride site and set up camp in the wind and rain. Husband John was to join us later in the day. Saturday morning started at 3 am with feeding and getting the truck ready for John with all Red's food, blankets, water, and electrolytes that would be needed. It was no longer raining, which was a relief. Just thinking of riding in the rain can sometimes put a damper on things when you know that you're going to be out there for 12 to 15 hours. Well, it turned out that we happened to be out for 18 hours and we were the last pair to finish. As I finished bandaging and blanketing Red the rain finally came and it poured right though the breakfast awards but everyone was in a jolly mood; wet but happy.

July I was told "Get your passport, you're going to Vermont." Red and I moved up to 12^th place on the list and now the money needed to be paid for the entry, $450.00 US. Thanks to my parents Joe & Nancy Blake because my 40^th birthday happened to be in July, and they gave me my entry fee for my birthday present.

The final arrangements were made and Dad was my official groom and Mother and hubby the gofers. My kids and neighbours were looking after the horses at home.

The trailer was packed and at 3 am August the 19^th saw me feeding breakfast to Red and then getting hubby going. Mother and father were to follow on Tuesday. 5 am we pulled out and we were in South Woodstock at 5 pm after a very unplanned scenic side trip over a couple hills. Camping was in an open field on the side of a hill, so trying to get the trailer level so that the water heater and the sink drained or worked properly was a bit of fun.

Monday we had time to enjoy the sites, and then Tuesday was the start of getting ready. The horses had to be weighed twice a day to make sure that they were gaining back the weight that they lost from trailering by giving them electrolytes and wet grass in the mornings. Gayle Ecker looked after all of the horses' electrolytes and the weights, drawing blood and testing at her own expense.

Canada East was very fortunate to have such a knowledgeable and capable Chef d' equipe: Kay Melvin, Team Vet: Stan Alkamade, Assistant: Brianne Henderson, and Gayle Ecker, who has worked at Guelph Vet College, and was one of the team members to do the electrolyte studies on the horses at the Atlanta Olympic Games for hydration, plus some 500 hundred case studies under her belt. Thank you guys.

Wednesday and Thursday Hubby, Dad and Mother were out checking the Vet check areas. 8 areas in total. Thursday was the day that we had to take the horses everyone from Canada East tacked up and put on the team bridles and pads under the saddles. We really looked good.

Thursday afternoon was the opening ceremony where all the teams paraded and showed off all their colours. After the teams left the ring, the real show began, and was it a show that would make every Morgan lover drool; even the Arab people couldn't stop saying, "I didn't know Morgans could do that". And do, they did from a foal being lead in as Figure, followed by a Morgan pulling a log into the ring, then the pride of every magazine that dark Morgan and girl carrying the American flag around the ring, followed by every discipline that we as Morgan owners do. The opening ceremonies were something to be proud of but a proud breed did it.

Friday was the start of the vetting and weighing in with all tack and anything else that you were carrying on your saddle. The minimum weight is 154lbs at this level of competion. Time to get the last minute things done and have dinner. Saturday was going to be a very long day.

At the barn for 3 am to feed Red, see a pattern here? The ride started at 5 am with what they called a controlled start, meaning that 87 horses followed an ATV for the first 1-mile or 2 in the dark. I waited for the crowd to leave the ring and started out on the trail following a very well lighted group.

The trail was marked with wooden arrows and metal can lids with the colour of the loops that we were doing. The first loop was Blue, second white and the third loop was red.

The first vet check was 13.5 –miles out and an elevation of 1700'. This was a pulse gate so the only thing we had to do was make the pulse of 60 beats per minute and away you go after trotting out your horse on line.

Vet Check 2 was back at base. We now have done 22.5 miles and the elevation was only 950' and at this check Red had a 40-minute hold that is mandatory for all horses to refuel and rest. At this point, Gayle Ecker stepped in to assist to pit crew Red. Then away for vet check 3 with a Satellite station at 27.5-miles that was run by OCTRA members that went down to help the entire Canada East group. Some 60 members showed up and by the end of the ride they helped any and all horse and rider teams that needed it, with many compliments on the hospitality that Canada East supplied.

Vet check 3 was at 37.5-miles and something wasn't right with Red but we couldn't pinpoint what was wrong and she vetted through without any problems. So after a 30 minute hold away we went. Did I mention that as I was riding, Father, Mother and hubby had to haul all of the food for Red and myself into the crewing area? You couldn't just drive in, and sometimes they had a long walk in the heat. The elevation on this loop was 2780'. I found that to save Red I did all the down hills on foot with her.

Vet Check 4 at 47.5-miles was a climb of 1820' with a number of steep down hills, and most of the ride at this time has been on road surfaces with little soft footing because if you did get into wooded trails, the stones on the trail made it rough to ride. By this time I knew that Red wasn't traveling the way she could, but I still couldn't figure out the trouble and she vetted through without any problems again. That Morgan blood in her and a will to please is something else.

Vet check 5 is at 60-miles. As one person I was riding with said we have over half of the ride done, but you are never done until you see the finish line, because anything can happen, and that anything did happen with Red. On one of the stony parts of the trail she slipped off a stone.

That is when she finally said that something is wrong, and we got into the vet check and vetted. The vet noticed that she was off just a bit on the hind, so on further investigation we found Red had sprung her shoe. But in the process of saving her hind she had become back sore on palpitation. It was at this time the decision was made to pull her with 40 miles more. There was no way that she would finish, and this vet check was at base. so it was only a walk across the field to the vet barn for the vets to check her out and say Red was fine and she could go to her stall.

Pulling Red was very emotional for all. Father finally was able to get off his sore ankle; mother decided that pit crewing was just too much work and the next time she would be riding. Then my dear hubby said that at least he wouldn't miss too much sleep. A big help he is. But without them Red and I couldn't have gotten as far as we did and I'm sure that I lost it a few times along the way.

If we could do it again I'm sure that my dad and hubby would be there. As for mother she will be riding.

Did I mention that I almost did lose Red to my mother? She brought her saddle, and on the Wednesday took Red and went out to ride some of the Vermont hills for that feeling of riding in the heart of Morgan country. It really is a feeling of amazement when you ride over the hills and think of the hard work and tough terrain that Vermont is. You really understand where the heart comes from in a Morgan, and the will to perform to the maximum.

Well, Canada East did finish a team; not in the ribbons, but we did finish 4^th. All that would have been impossible had it not been for the help of some very dedicated people. I can't even begin to remember everyone's names to thank him or her.

Teams came from all over the world to compete in Morgan country. 87 horses started with a 67% completion rate. That is very high for this ride, as normally the rate is about 45% or so, but then again this is the best of the best in endurance horses.

Red and I came home, and 2 weeks later hauled to the Ottawa Valley to compete in a competitive ride and finished very well for an endurance horse. Red's ride season finished in October with a 50-mile endurance race in the rain. Red and I finished 9^th with a time of 4 hours and 40 minutes. But I'm also known to finish rides last, wanting to get my moneys worth at a ride, but always remembering TO FINISH IS TO WIN.

Thanks to Joe & Nancy Blake, Hubby John, even if he spends more time complaining but always wanting to help at rides doing anything else but pit crewing, my blacksmith Peter Stock, Lorna Bell, Red's massage therapist, Gayle Ecker for helping crew, Vets Art Rotenberg and Clare Holmes and a very special thank you to the person that made this possible, Lorrie Walls for selling me such a great mare, Red Express.

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