These articles have been printed in the Highland-Bath Recorder as a series following the path to the Vermont 100 mile endurance ride.

Article 1: Introduction

Published January 15, 2025

In the extreme but lesser known sport of Equine Endurance Riding, horses and riders take on competitive events starting at 25 miles (officially Limited Distance), through the more common 50 or 75 milers, and for the most elite teams, the coveted single day 100 mile distance. The 100 mile rides must be completed within a 24 hour period, and even for tested and experienced horses, it’s a big ask. Khaleesi and I completed the Old Dominion 100 in 2023, and as the 2025 season opens up in front of us, we’ve decided to set our sights on another of these monster challenges: The Vermont 100-miler. I’m excited to bring Recorder readers along the journey as Khaleesi and I prepare for and compete in this historic race through a series of articles.

I didn’t grow up with horses as most people deep in the weeds of equine sports have. In fact, this whole horse thing began right here in Highland-Bath Recorder territory…

When I moved to Bath County in 2007 to work for Garth Newel Music Center, first as an administrator, now as a violin teacher and director of the Allegheny Mountain String Project, I did not know I would become more passionate about horses than music; and I was pretty passionate about music. Probably anyone who knows me would consider that a defining trait: Passion.

This story began in 2014 when I was entrusted with a local bred filly from Apple Horse Farm. She was born on the mountainside on March 17, 2010, and called Ireland. Her first years were spent basically unhandled by humans roaming the large farm in a horse herd. She communicated to me upon her arrival that she was queen of the horses and we settled on the name Ireland’s Khaleesi. I had never started a horse and was curious about the process. I was grateful for a personal connection that meant I could take the filly and see how things went. I could decide to buy her or bring her back after we got to know each other. 

I wasn’t sure I could do this, having only had one other horse in my life and only a couple years of experience. Inexperienced is called green in the horse world. I was a green rider taking on a very green horse. There is a saying for this: green on green makes for black and blue. I was willing to take my chances, after all we have to be a beginner at everything we begin. 

I spent most of my horse time trail riding. I never aspired to be a dressage queen, show a horse, or compete for ribbons. I thought (incorrectly) that arenas were boring. I loved exploring the mountains with my GPS and finding a way through the wilderness. My initial goal for Khaleesi was to develop a solid horse to carry me through the potentially sketchy, real life situations a wilderness explorer regularly got into. I had high expectations because no one is just a trail rider. We needed mental fitness to take on the mountain trails. We needed emotional control to not spook at all the wild creatures we’d see. We needed physical precision and fitness to open and close farm gates, navigate challenging terrain, and ride the countless hours and miles. These experiences trail riding were a natural entry point to the sport of endurance, which is trail riding, only more extreme.

The same year I acquired Khaleesi, an article showed up in the BARC magazine. The article was about a woman who had a dream of completing the Old Dominion 100 mile endurance race. It took her multiple attempts over a few years to accomplish this grueling race, but she had finally succeeded and the magazine picked up the story. “Imagine that,” I thought, “riding 100 miles on a single horse in a single day.” I was intrigued, but after I tossed the article I don’t remember giving it another thought, at least not until dinner a few weeks later with some friends.

Someone at dinner asked me how it was going with the little filly and what my plans were for this horse. To this day, I wonder where these words came from because they took me by surprise even as I said them: “I’m going to take this horse from unstarted to a single day 100 mile endurance race.”

Though I shocked myself, once the words were out, I knew they were also true. This was our journey.

The road was long and winding. I kept track of it in my first blog, and in June of 2023, nine years later, Khaleesi and I crossed the finish line almost 24 hours after starting the ride endearingly nicknamed the Beast of the East. This wasthe same ride that had sparked my imagination in the article: the Old Dominion 100. The blog still exists at greento100.com, and there is a video that follows the day of the race on YouTube called Ride through fire: the OD 100 2023. Yes, the day we took on the beast included, probably to add to the drama of my story, a forest fire.

It doesn’t take everyone nine years to get through a single-day 100 race. Like every good story, ours took some twists and turns. In equine endurance the Arabian Horse is king. Khaleesi is only one quarter Arabian. She is also Saddlebred, TN Walker, and Racking Horse. For the horse savvy out there: no, she doesn’t naturally gait. While people who are experienced with endurance all say that almost any horse can participate in endurance riding, they also agree the most direct route to being successful and certainly competitive is through an Arabian or similar type horse. They are right.

The benefit that came to me, however, in bringing up a less than ideal candidate, and being a novice to endurance and horses in general at the start, was the richness of education that came along with the endeavor. On the other hand, neither Khaleesi nor I had much previous baggage to contend with. There were a lot of things I did poorly that had to be reversed and revised, but my mistakes provided me a wealth of understanding that I draw from today. The learning curve that resulted in the attempt to help an ordinary local bred, unpapered mare go from a turtle contender (turtle award is for last place) to a season of mostly top 10 finishes became the foundation for my understanding of what makes a Powerful Horse. This concept of Powerful is fodder for a book I’m working on, as well as a community that has been forming loosely in recent years.

In May 2024, K and I took my boyfriend to the Biltmore in Asheville, NC for their 50 mile event and finished 5^th place. This was our strongest ride yet. Matthew turned out to be superb support crew material and Khaleesi approved him, so we hung up our competition plans for the remainder of the year to plan two events that were incredibly special to me: the Powerful Horse Expo and a wedding – my own, to Matthew. 

As the year has drawn to a close, It’s time to hit the trails and start planning the 2025 season. I’ve decided to set my sights on the historic Vermont 100 in mid-July. This time we aren’t walking the road to 100 untested and hopeful. The investment in the nine-year journey to our first 100 brought a valuable return. Always a learner, I hope to never arrive at the know-it-all moment, I have layers and lessons to unpack going onward. Regardless, I know we have the experience that gives us decent odds of getting us through the next 100 mile ride successfully. 

Getting to the start of a 100 mile ride with a horse takes a lot of things going right, getting to the finish is even more challenging. Most of these rides have around a 40-60% completion rate. It will require meticulous training in all areas: mental, emotional, and physical. An unfamiliar ride in a region we’ve never experienced has additional challenges. Success necessitates a team coming together in support of the horse, and getting my own self in competition shape. The drive to Vermont with a horse requires an overnight stay and will be the farthest distance I’ve yet hauled. Now that Khaleesi is officially a 100-mile horse, I’m ready to take on this next level endeavor farther from home and outside our current comfort zone. 

I hope you enjoy an insider look at preparing for a single day 100-mile horse event. Through the series, I will offer additional content online with interviews, videos and opportunities for questions. I guarantee the story will have many unseen curves as we follow the trail that we hope will end at a successful finish in Vermont. It’s an opportunity to engage in a story that is yet unwritten, and the likelihood stands that truth is stranger than fiction!