Submitted by Renee Robinson, Team Easyboot 2012 Member
Reno, NV rides are absolutely the best. Especially when they’re managed by people like Tami Rougeau. If you haven’t done this ride, next year RUN, don’t walk to Rides of March.
In case you couldn’t tell by its name, this ride is held during the middle of March. That means if you live on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains like I do, you spend the week before the ride watching Weather.com for hourly updates. Last year we had to cancel our trip to the ride because of a little storm over the pass (“little storm = blizzard like conditions, road closures and car accidents). This year, I was lucky enough to get to go. Accompanied by my husband and our trusty dog, Jefe, we made the 9 hour haul to the ride.
Getting to the ride was easy. Once we got there, the weather took a turn for the worse and I spent the entire day Friday inside my trailer only coming out briefly enough to vet in. That night the wind blew and blew. We woke up ride morning to snow and ice but the weather was supposed to be in our favor for the day so off we went. As it turned out, we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.
The first ride of the season is always interesting and this ride was no different. After an involuntary dismount at the start of the ride, Bite and I were on our way. Bite is a 16 hand horse stuffed inside a 14 hand body, so sometimes he gets a bit explosive. But after his brief lapse in judgment, our ride went off without a hitch. He ate, he drank, and he had marvelous recoveries. We also rode entirely by ourselves (not hard to do when you ride at the back of the pack) which is a very big accomplishment for this particular horse. He made me very proud.
If you like rides with perfect footing, go to Rides of March. If you like rides with water placed exactly where you need it, go to Rides of March. If you like nice vets and awesome ride management, go to Rides of March. And as if we weren’t spoiled enough already, after the ride, Tami took us to her house where we enjoyed real showers and real beds.
This is Bite’s second season in Easyboot Gloves, so we‘re still relatively new to boots. He transitioned easily to a barefoot lifestyle and rarely loses a boot (knock on wood). Rides of March was his 5th 50 mile ride with the same pair of 00.5 Gloves on the front. He also did many conditioning miles in the same pair and now my mare is using them as spares for her hind feet. I love the Glove!
Thank you Tami Rougeau for putting on such a fabulous ride. Weather permitting, we’ll be back every year!
Renee Robinson
