The Little Mountain trails were lovely with fall colors making their appearance followed by the lush green hay fields at Maude Carr&squo;s Hidden Hollow Farm. The jumps located there were the real clincher for exuberant riders.&bsp; &bsp;

The successful event was pulled together by a great team of capable workers. The course was laid out and marked by Mike and Roberta Axelrod along with &squo;director&squo; Nelson Minnick not to mention the great new &squo;friend&squo; that carried workers and equipment through the trails.&bsp; Meet &dquo;Kabota!&dquo; How did we work without you!

The Check Point commanded by &squo;Captain&squo; Jack Casey and assisted by Lisa Sprigs, Richard Pierce, Skip Leck, Robert Lamb, and Bob Begley. The location of the check point brought a new dimension to the event at Hidden Hollow&squo;s Farm cow barn. The cows resting inside the barn appeared to be quite curious as to who was sharing their space.&bsp; Bob Begley assured them that we&squo;d &dquo;eat more chicken.&dquo;&bsp; &bsp;

The course was very well marked&bsp; as was promoted by Timer, Joey Cabiness. Entries kept both secretaries, Margy Thompson and Anne Pierce, busy the entire morning as the numerous trailers pulled in with eager participants.

The lunch provided by Crossroads was served by Wes Sweet and Heather Begley while out on the deck Pam Minnick and daughter, Morgan, did a brisk business offering TH shirt, caps, windbreakers and license plates for sale.

Our thanks to Green Creek Hounds for their promotion of the event and to FETA for allocating the trails for the day.

The Wings competition, held immediately before the Hunter Pace, had three teams riding for the honors: Amy Gantt and Lisa Tyler, both from Seneca, won with Cee Cee Wilmanns in second and Sheila Grymes and Ron Piccari a close third.

There were 149 riders, but two so loved the trails they did a second round and 151 rides. Sixty-eight riders divided up into 34 teams to compete the Field Hunter Division trying for a preset optimum time of one hour, six minutes and 30 seconds. On the quieter side of the trail 83 riders split into 44 teams completed the Trail Rider Division for a calculated optimum time of one hour, 51 minutes.

Bill and Terry Boger of Simpsonville completed the course in one hour, seven minutes and 33 seconds for the blue ribbons. The red ribbons were awarded to Lorie Blessing, Cat Dye and Kay Fleenor who drove in from Bristol, Tenn., and completed the ride a scant one minute, one second under the optimum. Shelia Grymes of Columbus and Ron Piccari of Tryon rode the course in one hour, four minutes, 32 seconds to earn the third place ribbons.&bsp; Fourth place honors were awarded to Rodney Hawk of Asheville and Eileen Taylor of Lake Toxaway with a ride time of one hour, nine minutes and 13 seconds. The pretty pink ribbon will look nice on Becky Bockoven&squo;s grey mount, Apple, out there in Marietta. Sixth place honors were awarded to CeeCee Wilmanns of Rosman whose ride time was three minutes, 21 seconds under the optimum.

Also out to compete the Field Hunter Division and enjoy the jumps and wonderful day were: Rachel Ambrosin, Michael and Roberta Axelrod, Grace Barnes, Sinclair Berdan, Andrea and Brandon Blankenship, Ben Boatwright, Baiba Bourbeau, Susane Brown, Yo Casey, Liz Crawley, Joni Fielding, Amy Gantt (2nd Ride), Kelsey Garvey, Carolyne Groves, Duane Harm, Jeannie Hester, Melinda Holland, Katelyn Jones, Cindy and Karen Kaufman, Lydia Kellett, Barbara, Kem and Linda Ketcham, Brenda King, Mike Kinsey, Lanet Ladd, Beatrice Lamb, Roger Leik, Cindy Lubin, Brian and Carolyn MacCormack, Joe Manno, April McCormack, Lisa McGrady, Anne McIver, Jan Mize, Casey Morris, Meghan O&squo;Brien, Yasmine Ouertani, Gail Patton Harold Pfeiffer, Suzanne Russell, Sue Smolka, Jean Stryker, Debbie Thrasher, Mary Tolles, Katrina & Emily Turnage, Lisa Tyler (2nd Ride), Sherry Wyatt and Kris Yon.

Wow! The first four teams were all less than 60 seconds off the optimum!

Erica & Linda Yopp of Simpsonville took First Place honors with a ride of one hour, 50 minutes, 47 seconds, a scant 13 seconds under the calculated optimum! Kathy Gleason of Candler and Karen Reynolds took second place with a ride of one hour, 51 minutes, 26 seconds. Third place honors went to Kara Cassel and Michelle Mallonee of Candler just 28 seconds over the optimum. Russell and Sally Rock of Campobello earned the white ribbons with a ride time of one hour, 51 minutes, 53 seconds. Fifth place honors went to Kathy and Ric Rondell of Tryon who were only one minute, 28 seconds over the optimum. Sixth place went to Graham Martin of Belton, Sydney Souveson and Emily Wilson of Williamston with a ride time of one hour, 53 minutes, 11 seconds.&bsp; Honorable Mention goes to Bill and Karen Anderson, only two minutes, 15 seconds under optimum, and Peggy Abbott and Janet Stone who were only two minutes, 26 seconds under optimum.

Also out to enjoy the beautiful trails, views and weather and competing in the Trail Rider Division were: Christi Bell, Kathy Bethka, Laura Bierly, Derek Billib, Cynthia Boyle, Chris Britton, Ail, Cameron, Chris and Kelly Cannon, Ginny Chibbaro, Madeline Clas, Jeffrey Clayton, Brenda Cox, Candace Crawford, Stephanie Culbertson, Ruth Ann DeHollander, Holly Domoto, Jan Ellis, Deanna Ermson, Gwen Frangias, Carla Fullam, Fran Gambrell, Amy Gee, Brittany Godfred, Katie Gordon, Karen Graham, Trish Griffin, Terri Harrah, Susan Haslam, Donna Haynie, Mary Hill, Grant and Pam Hilsman, Elaine Hobbs, Liz Strahlo Holdren, Joanna Holzinger, Teresa Johnson, Debra Kennely, Clare Kerry, Rhonda Lewis, Matthew Lewis, Patti Lovelace, Rina Lugas, Peggy McMakin, Paula Mierop, Connie Moore, Amy Moyer, Lindsey Newsome, Rachel O&squo;Brien, Kristen Pearce, Anne Schoch, Pamela Scott, Marlene Sher, Susan Sloan, Flow Sommerich, Jennifer Spratt, Kayce Stevens, Amanda Stickly, Virginia Sullivan, Bobby Turner, Susan Wallahora, Larry Wassong, Kristen White, Elliot Williams, Anita Williamson and Cindy Wilson.

Plan to join us for the upcoming Hunter Paces. For more information, check the website at www.WCHPace.org. On Nov. 9, FENCE will host their fall Hunter Pace & Trail Ride. Nov. 23 is set for the Polk County 4-H & Youth Foundation&squo;s event. And Dec. 7 we&squo;ll finish the 2008 calendar (but not the 2008-09 Series) with a Hunter Pace & Trail Ride at the Biltmore Equestrian Center.

Remember to always check the website WCHPace.org for all upcoming events, news, articles, photos, placements and contact information.

Lou Smith is at every event to capture the riders and their mounts as they fly over jumps, canter through the fields and ride the trails. Hit &dquo;Photos&dquo; on the website to view the pictures. You can place an order online.

For information on the Western Carolina Hunter Pace & Trail Ride Series e-mail Series Coordinator, Jan Smith at Jan@WCHPace.org or call Jan at 828-894-8760. &bsp;