Friends of FENCE Hunter Pace at Greenspace of Fairview Sunday, Aug. 31

Published 10:00 pm Sunday, September 21, 2014

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The first pace of the season began with summer temperatures, so the ride times started a bit earlier than usual to get riders and their mounts out and back before the sun got too high. BJ Plumley and Madelon Wallace did a fantastic job planning, keeping a majority of the trail in woods and shade and a wonderful job clearing and marking. There was an occasional breeze in the open pastures and vistas which helped make the day a lovely start to the 2014-15 Western Carolina Hunter Pace & Trail Ride Series.

This event offered by Friends of FENCE was located on the gorgeous Greenspace of Fairview trails. Debra Carton, Andy Foster, Steve Quintannens and Jim Zygmont were directing traffic and trailers.

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Registration was in the immaculate clean green shed with Julie Gordon, Fran Schlabauch, Gretchen Verbonic, Marilyn Yike and Dana Zygmont at the helm for registration, holding horses and keeping folks organized and ready.

Joey Cabaniss with assistants Jeff Case and Madeline Clas were hilarious as they described the route of the pace. It was like the three stooges and had you laughing as you timed out.

Halfway point was manned by Ken Feagin and Nancy Mahler on early shift, Martha Lott and Linda Sprague later in the day. They offered Gatorade, lemonade and water. They also had a lone chair sitting in the pasture informing riders there were bees in that area and not to get too close.

Filling in at a variety of spots as needed were Jimmy Hanson, Billy Pound and Jo Quatannens, as well as volunteer coordinator, Martha Lott, FENCE staff, Tracie Hanson and Host of Greenspace of Fairview, Madelon Wallace.

Lunch was set up by Foothills Mountain BBQ and they offered pulled pork or chicken, coleslaw and chips. To quench the thirst was water, lemonade and sweet tea.

The trail was a little over 8 miles and meandered through lovely wooded areas with views of a lake, creek crossings and along the river. One trail traveled thru a lovely cool “tunnel” where the overhead trees leaned into each other to form a cathedral-like arch, and most wooded trails opened up into wide fields long trot outs or lopes.  And of course, the much lauded and beautiful racetrack where many riders enjoyed a good canter with the lovely sandy footing.

The turnout was spectacular with a total of 134 riders in 65 teams.

There were a total of 55 riders in 27 teams for the Field Division.  The optimum time for Field Division was one hour, 15 minutes.

First place in the Field Division went to a team of four, Rebecca Drumgool and Erin Gambrell of Campobello, Anne Pierce of Columbus and Addison Sama of Mill Spring with a time of one hour, 16 minutes, 19 seconds.  Second place was Beth Goldizen of Roebuck, S.C. with a time of one hour, 16 minutes, 24 seconds. Third place went to Elyssa LaRock of Tryon and Shelli Nelson of Mill Spring with a time of one hour, 19 minutes, 14 seconds. Fourth place goes to Anna Dalton of Columbus, Gena Meredith of Landrum and Cindy Stafford of Tryon with a time of one hour, 19 minutes, 43 seconds. 18 seconds.

There were a total of 79 riders in 38 teams for the Trail Rider Division. Their calculated optimum time was two hours, two minutes and one second.

The Blue Ribbon was awarded to Karen and Richard Peterson of Candler, N.C., with a time of two hours, one minute, 57 seconds, a scant four seconds under the optimum. Second place went to Jean and Marcy Wright of Tryon with a time of two hours, one minute, 38 seconds. Third place went to Sandra Hyder of Landrum with a time of two hours, two minutes, 59 seconds. Fourth place went to Missy Bright of Campobello and Jan Smith of Columbus with a time of two hours, three minutes, 20 seconds.

Check the website often at www.wchpace.org for upcoming events, changes, and to view your photos taken by official photographer, Lou Smith.

 

-article submitted
by Linda Farris