Meet My Endurance Horse: Lily Creek Kong

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Lily Creek Kong, aka Kong
by Dante X Lily Creek My Secret, by Lafayette
13-year-old half Shagya, half Trakhener/ Thoroughbred gelding
owned by Cameron Holzer Gaytko

2885 AERC Miles
14 100-mile completions
27 Best Condition awards
24 Wins
Decade Team

When you watch Cameron Holzer and Kong flying down the Endurance trails, you can’t help but notice what a beautifully integrated team they are, and what a machine Kong is. They’ve entered their 11th Endurance season together, but don’t let his sweet disposition on the ground fool you. None of it was easy in the beginning.

Cameron got Kong from Michelle Mattingley as a 3-year-old stallion with a goal of eventing on him. “Michelle had been trying to sell him for a while,” Cameron explains, “and he wasn’t selling so she told me about him. I decided to take my chances on him.”

Cameron had him gelded, and even then, “He was a very bad boy and had to go to a trainer to start under saddle. He got kicked out of his first trainer. Was there two months. Bucked him off everyday for a month. 

“Then he went to Dan Keen. He specializes in bad horses. After four months there Dan told me do not give this horse a day off or you will regret it. So I rode him every day.”

And with riding every day, Kong naturally got fit, so Cameron decided to try a 25-mile Endurance ride on him when he had just turned four, at Ride the Storm in Texas. He got third place and High Vet Score and Best Condition in his first race.

“The rest,” Cameron says, “is history!”

Kong now has a record of 48 completions in 55 AERC starts, with 2735 miles, 23 wins, and 27 Best Condition awards. Cameron has recently begun to share with other riders the thrill of riding Kong, including Caroline Lindqvist (finished 14th in Tevis), Haley Moquin (won the River Run 50), and Cassadee Jaksch (just finished third in the FITS 100).

“Kong has taken me to Dubai in 2017 and the World Equestrian Games in North Carolina in 2018. He has three Tevis finishes and 14 100-mile completions. 

“He just won and BC’d his Decade Team 50 with me at the Tracing in the New Year ride in Texas.” 

Incidentally, the pair share an August 7th birthday, something Cameron didn’t find out until she contacted his breeder, Donna Coss of Lily Creek Ridge in Illinois, to register him.

After all these years, Kong is still a handful to ride. “He’s a very sweet horse and loves people, but he has not mellowed. He has to be lunged before I ride him at home, and at races as well. He puts on a show for whoever is around. He runs away with me a lot at home. He loves to run full speed.

“Kong has done it all. He’s a great horse that is very sound and tough.”

Meet My Endurance Horse: HCC Elessar +/

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

HCC Elessar +/ aka Monster
17-year-old stallion by MMF Faramir X HCC Sharzara, by Koszar
Arabian
owned by Kristen Grace

6140 miles
14 100-milers
12 Best Conditions
2 Virginia City 100 buckles
2 Tevis Cup buckles
3 Big Horn 100 buckles

To see him now at Endurance rides, HCC Elessar is so mellow and uncomplicated that it’s hard to believe he’s a stallion and that he’s ridden by Juniors. But in the beginning, nothing was easy with him.

In 2007, Endurance riders Lew and Hanne Hollander recommended that Kristen Grace go look at an unhandled 2-year-old colt owned by Cheri Briscoe in Tehachapi, California.

“I drove down to see him, and I was like - what?!” Kristen says. “He was tiny. He was the size of a greyhound! Never handled. Nothing.

“They called him Cookie Monster because the only way they could get near him was with cookies because he has a sweet tooth. I thought, I can’t call him that because that’s silly. I’ll call him Monster because he’s so little.

“We couldn’t catch him or get near him, so we backed the trailer up, and hazed him in. I drove him to Grants Pass, Oregon, to my boyfriend’s at the time.”

Between the two of them, they got Monster haltered in the trailer, got him out and tied him to a tree. They would go out several times a day and hand feed and water him, and get him used to being around humans, and depending on humans for sustenance. After all, he did have a sweet tooth.

It took a week before Monster was tame enough to be petted. When he started trusting them more, they hand walked him, and taught him to lunge. They were able to load him in the trailer again, and Kristen took him home and commenced with the next part of his training.

“It took me a full year to be able to put a blanket on him. He wouldn’t let me near him with one. He freaked out about anything being on top of him. So then we taught him how to carry a pack saddle with panniers, and I used him as a pack horse. We went up in the wilderness and did overnight trips. He’s never bumped my knee on a tree, ever, because he learned to carry panniers.

“So then I started him under saddle for riding. It took FOREVER. He was very, very, very difficult. Any time I moved a hand on top of him, then he would bolt and spin and run off. And I fell off A LOT.

“I fell off so many times, I used to use what I call a stallion strap. It’s a parachute cord and it went from his bit to my pants, so that when I fell off, I had something to hang onto. One year at Bandit Springs [ride], it ripped my pants off!”

Monster started in Endurance as a 6-year-old, and over the years they eventually eased through his reactivity with a lot of practice of Kristen raising her hands/arms/feet while on board. Now he’s pretty bomb-proof - safe and fun, and he’ll take care of you.

Kristen and Monster were involved in a rescue of a fallen Endurance rider a few years ago. Monster had to gallop up and down the trail for Kristen to reach cell reception and relay the rider’s vital stats to 911. When the helicopter flew in, Kristen had to signal where they should land. “And Monster stood there and let the helicopter land right next to us. Even with the blades going he stood there. The EMTs said they’d never seen anything like this, like why isn’t your horse freaking out? He knew it was an emergency.

“So Monster is really cool like that. If it’s in a pinch, he’s got you.”

After exclusively riding him for his first seven years in Endurance, Monster mellowed out enough for other riders. In 2021, he started carrying two Juniors on numerous rides.

Sara Anderson, who’s ridden Monster in three rides, says, “He’s so cheerful. And when the kids ride him, and they canter on ahead, he’s just like - happy. I don’t know how else to describe it. He knows his job.”

Through his dam, HCC Sharzara, 14.2-hand Monster comes from the Hyannis Cattle Company breeding stock. HCC of Nebraska selectively bred great working horses from the 1960s to the 1980s. They were mainly Crabbet/Kellogg Egyptians Arabians crossed with Polish breeding and were known for being rugged, and for possessing good legs and good bone, strength, and stamina. Ann Hall rides Monster's half-sister, HCC Zara RR, who has 3700+ miles, 11 100-mile completions (3 Top Five finishes in the Virginia City 100) and 11 Best Conditions in 12 seasons of riding. Monster and Zara rode the 2020 Mary & Anna Memorial 100 together and finished 4th and 5th. "Zara and Monster were like identical twins," Kristen says, "except one is white and one is black."

Monster also traces back in three lines to Witez II, the famous survivor of World War II Poland who was brought to the US and became a show champion and super sire. “When you look at pictures of his great great grandsire, they look like twins. Monster’s the spitting image of Witez II.”

Kristen had an idea early on that Monster would be a good horse, and she started selectively breeding him at 3. He has numerous proven offspring on the Endurance trail, several who have also completed 100-mile rides. “His offspring are amazing. They all have good minds.”

Top photo: Monster and Kristen at the Idaho Autumn Sun Pioneer
Bottom photo: Monster and Kristen at the Wyoming Big Horn 100

Meet My Endurance Horse: Om El Jadon

by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Om El Jadon, aka Niño
8-year-old gelding by Om El Bellissimo X Om El Jinaah
Arabian
owned by Nina Bomar

1415 miles
2 Best Conditions

Nina Bomar picked out “Niño” as a yearling from the breeders at Om El Arabians in Santa Ynez, California. “I have several of their horses and I love them all. They have sweet temperaments, they’re gorgeous and they’re smart!” Nina says.

Their first ride together in 2020 was the Antelope Island 50 in Utah. “He was such a good boy except for when he was being eaten by the mosquitos. I must’ve used a gallon of fly spray that weekend trying to keep them off him. He got huge welts from them biting him. We had such a beautiful ride on the island and amongst the wild buffalo. He proved to me that he was brilliant and trustworthy!”

They have since completed 27 out of 28 starts together, including several multi-days, and their first 100 in February of this year at the 20 Mule Team.

“[My husband] Juan once told me that someone at a ride told him that Om El bred horses are purely halter show horses… I just laugh. Niño is exceptionally athletic and super brave. He has never shown any weakness and I trust him with my life.

"If I were to liken Niño to a human being, he would most likely resemble Juan. He’s bold, outspoken, and a little bossy. He can also be annoying and kinda pushy. They both love to eat and they’re so much fun to be with, regardless of what we’re doing… 

“They’re hard-working, very handsome and I love that they’re authentic and honest.

“Niño has been a lot of fun and he’s full of personality, grit and superb athleticism. I love him!”

Meet My Endurance Horse: RJO Redhotchilipepper

April 20 2022
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net

RJO Redhotchilipepper, aka Pepper
14-year-old gelding by Kouros X RS Summer Sage
3/4 Arabian and 1/4 Quarter Horse
owned by Melinda Guice

1715 miles
445 LD miles
Decade Team

Melinda Guice and “Pepper” achieved Decade Team in the April 2, 2022 Nevada Derby, a crowning achievement on a horse that Melinda “comptemplated throwing in the towel on.

“He could be quite the handful when he was young,” Melinda recalls. “I got him as a coming 3 year old. “The first trainer I ever sent him to sent him back unstarted, and didn’t have a very promising prognosis for him. I was lucky to find a few fantastic people to help me out with him (and most importantly, a good trainer to work with me riding him). 

“It wasn’t easy for a few years, but there was always something about him that made me believe he would be worth the effort in the long haul.

“I got some great advice from a long time endurance rider to spend a lot of time walking the trails with him, just the two of us, and that’s what I did. I also ponied him a lot off my experienced mare.”

Pepper went to his first intro ride when he was 4, “which was a bit exciting but we made it through.”

At age 5, Pepper did a season of Limited Distance, and at the end of the year they finished his first 50-mile ride at the Oregon 100.

“After that things began to smooth out with him and he really got the hang of the sport and started developing into the fine citizen he is now. My son even rode him at a couple of rides, making the cover of Endurance News one year.

“He did a handful of 75s successfully, but for some reason or another we had a hard time with 100s (usually I was the weak link). Then he finished Tevis on his first attempt, and more recently Virginia City 100.”

Melinda remembers the 2016 Tevis Cup, when Pepper was 8, as one of their more memorable rides together, when she realized how solid their partnership had become.

“He was still prone to silliness. He had been fantastic all day long but I worried a bit as we made our way down the Cal 2 trail and it got darker and darker. My headlamp wasn’t working for either of us, so I kept it off. 

“I remember realizing there was nothing to do but give him the reins and hope for the best. He didn’t miss a beat, trotting through the canyons flawlessly and making all the switchback turns I couldn’t even see. I realized at that point we had really turned a corner and become a team.”

Pepper’s Quarter horse breeding is working ranch lines, and his Arabian is a bit of a Heinz 57 mix of Polish, Russian, Spanish and CMK. 

He still has his opinions, but he knows his job well enough to follow a ribbon when Melinda misses one on an Endurance ride. 

“He always make smile when I ride him. I hope to continue to enjoy the privilege for many more years to come.”

Meet My Endurance Horse: Katla from Windsong

March 25 2022
By Merri Melde-Endurance.net

Katla from Windsong, aka The Wee Dragon
12-year-old mare
Icelandic
Owned by Rebecca Supinger

210 LD miles

The 160-km 7-day Icelandic horse ride Rebecca Supinger went on with a friend in 2016 was “the most fabulous vacation ever for horse people!

“When I came back from Iceland, I was in love with the breed - I figured I was going to be,” Rebecca said. “I’d already gone gaited as I’d gotten older and broken a lot of parts. When I got home, I started looking for an Icelandic horse.”

She found the perfect horse four months later, in Katla from Windsong. “I had geldings, and geldings were driving me crazy. I really wanted a mare. But my mare field has really dominant mares in it, so it was going to have to be a really tough mare, because she was going to be the smallest one out here. So I had to not only find a mare I got along with, but she couldn’t be the bottom of the pecking order. It had to be one who thought she was at the top. And it worked out really well, because Katla didn’t put up with any of the nonsense that the two Arab mares were giving her.”

Katla was bred and raised in New Mexico by Ulla Hudson, of Windsong Icelandics. She was sold as a 2-year-old to a woman in Maine who had her shipped east and finished raising her. Rebecca flew to Maine in the fall of 2016 to try out Katla and another gelding; she bonded with Katla, and then drove from Virginia to Maine in December to pick her up.

Katla was 7 and newly under saddle. “She’d had some initial work with a trainer. She’d only pretty much been in the arena. She tried real hard for me. And off we went from there. And now she’ll go anywhere I ask her. She’ll go through trees, over trees, under trees, vines, rivers, bridges, water bars, across roads, pick her way through boulders and loose rocks and sand bogs. She can ride with a single other horse or with a hundred other horses, she doesn’t care.”

A most memorable ride for Rebecca was the DBDR Indy Run in Indiana. It was being touted by Rebecca’s Icelandic group as a gathering of Icelandic horses. “Katla and I were one of 12 Icelandics that descended on this ride. That was a real special one, having all those Icelandics there and riding with some of them. We’ll try to do it again this year.”

The pair did over 12,000 trailer miles last year from a home base in Virginia, doing trail rides/camping trips in New York, and competing in Endurance rides in South Carolina, Virginia, Maine, and New Jersey.

“She’s always willing to go for another adventure and see where we end up. She’s been my little road warrior!”

Photo by Rebecca's daughter at Manassas Battlefields

Meet My Endurance Horse: Mo Motion Jack

February 17 2022
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net 

CH-SH Mo Motion Jack, aka Brave
9-year-old gelding
American Saddlebred
owned by Natalie Law

560 AERC Endurance miles
75 AERC LD miles
1125 AERC + EDRA + WDRA Endurance miles, 100% completion.

At 16.3 hands, he’s the height of a big giraffe, especially when you’re trying to mount. And his name: “Brave - that’s the worst name you could call him, he’s more like Chicken Little!” Natalie says, though he has grown a little bolder as he grows older.

Natalie bought Brave from her husband’s aunt as a 6-year-old, for her husband to ride as a gaited mountain horse. He was bred by Shelah Wetter, of Blue Haven Stable in Deer Park, Washington. 

When Natalie’s primary riding horse was injured, she borrowed Brave from her husband to ride for a while. “I started riding him and just training him to be a good ol’ mountain trail horse, because that’s what we bought him for. And I thought, well, he can do Endurance - any horse can do Endurance if you take the time and the energy with them.”

However, Brave’s first Endurance ride, the 2019 XP Mount Carmel II Pioneer 50-miler in Utah, didn’t go so well. He was accompanied by Flash, the incomparable monster 11.2-hand (super brave) Hackney pony also on his first 50, ridden by Natalie’s daughter Kyla.

“We got lost, and turned it into 68 miles, and we finished in 11 hours and 45 minutes. I remember 40 miles in, thinking, the pony hasn’t calmed down, and Brave hates this. He hates every second of this.

“After the ride I called Shelah and said, ‘I don’t think he’s an Endurance horse.’ She said, ‘You know what, just give him some time, let him recover. And just let him build back up.’

“So I just kept training him to be a good mountain horse, and he’s getting stronger and stronger and stronger. I spent all my time on him. And he just gradually has built into an incredible Endurance horse. He loves it. He absolutely loves it.”

Brave is gaited, and he does everything from racking to pacing to stepping pace to trot and canter, just kind of blending through all of it, which can come in handy on a variety of terrain.

“On training,” Natalie says, “I really work to strengthen his rack and his trot and his canter. Those are the gaits I’m very specific when out training. But when we get to an Endurance ride, I turn the reins to him, and I let him pick the speed for the condition and the trail we’re on.

“So if we’re heading at an incline, moving up in elevation, he’ll trot. But if we’re going on a downhill slope, he’ll move into a rack. So he just knows how to change the gears based on what the terrain is. That way he is most efficient for what we’re doing.”

Brave is a good and steady multi-day horse, having finished all 3 days of the City of Rocks Pioneer in 2020 and 2021. 

And for a finale last season, Team Law - Natalie and Brave, Kyla and Flash - completed the Tevis Cup last year in their first attempts at a 100-miler. They finished in 36th and 37th place, in a ride time of 21:18. Brave has not only turned into a solid mountain horse, but a true 100-mile Endurance horse. 

Natalie is sold on the American Saddlebred breed for Endurance. “They’re not what people think. People think of Saddlebreds and they think of this crazy, psycho show world horse. But when you pull them out of the show ring and treat them like a mountain horse, they’re an incredible combination of athletic abilities and brains. 

“They’re massive, they’re huge, they walk around like they own the place. It’s quite entertaining. But they’re just incredible athletes.”

** “CH–SH” means Brave has earned his Champion-Sport-horse bloodline status on his registration papers through the American Saddlebred Horse Association Registry.

***Coming soon: the book Kyla and Flash: A Race Against Time, written by Claire Eckard with Kyla & Natalie Law. Stay tuned! https://claireeckardauthor.com/kyla-%26-flash

Meet My Endurance Horse: Kayheart

January 25 2022
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net 

Kayheart, aka “Katie”
22-year-old Arabian mare
by Kasiaa X Zypher Winds, by Harbit
owned by Robin Schadt

2375 Endurance miles
525 LD miles

Robin Schadt started riding at age 44. She tried Competitive trail in 2008 aboard a tall, muscled Palomino Quarter horse mare who couldn’t handle the central Illinois heat and humidity in a 25-mile competition, so she decided to try Arabians.

She bought three, (“of which I knew nothing about! I trained Standardbreds for racing”) with the thought being to try the three and keep the two that she thought would be best.

“Ha!” Robin says. “Katie drew the short straw and I couldn't ride her. Her trot is big and I had zero riding skills. I had no idea how to post.”

Katie sat in the ‘back 40’ until 2011. “I learned to ride a little better - I was always falling off, zero balance and my Arabs were agile. Fortunately I only suffered bruises here and there.” Robin began riding Katie in LD's with a plan to sell her because she was ‘uncomfortable’. There were no takers, so Robin kept riding her. 

January 2013 Robin was riding her gelding Maruf at an Endurance ride in the Goethe forest in Florida. “One of the pigs or something equally scary spooked my guy Maruf. Not sure what got him. It wasn't like him to run off (he was awesome).

“I came off, cracked helmet, concussion for sure. Never did find Maruf.  

“Katie gave me my confidence back after losing Maruf. Katie carried me to her first 100 and my first 100 completion. We completed our 4th 100 (at the age of 21) last October at White River in Michigan.” 

Last season Robin and Katie achieved Decade Team status, a wondrous accomplishment for a later-in-life-starting rider and a mare that once upon a time she couldn’t get rid of.

“Katie's second dam is by Khemosabi. She’s a kind, easy going mare. She's lifted me up through some tough personal times. 

“Katie is very dear to me.”