Endurance riding is a very challenging sport. The rides range from 50 miles to 100 miles in a day. Limited distance rides are 25 to 30 miles. Veterinary checkpoints are frequent, generally every 6 to 12 miles. Terrains vary from flat & easy to mountainous & technical. Arabian horses dominate the sport. Their hardy desert roots make them a near perfect endurance horse. Fast, surefooted, able to pulse down quickly.
In recent years there has been a trend to go gaited! As endurance riders got older a smoother ride is often sought. Now all ages are enjoyed the smooth ride! Many gaited breeds have gained popularity in the sport of endurance. Tennessee Walkers, Missouri Foxtrotters, Peruvian Pasos, Rocky Mountain Horses & Kentucky Mountain Horses & more. On the national Gaited Endurance Riders Yahoo list there are 243 members now. In the regional PNER Gaited list we have 39 members. Five Kentucky Mountain Horses are listed in AERC competition but I suspect there are more that didn’t think to list the breed when they registered their horses with AERC.
My father, Bob Walz, was the first to see the Kentucky Mountain Horse as a breed that could be a contender in his sport. He is a pioneer of the sport having started the New Jersey 100 Mile Ride in the early 60’s. He went on to get Polar to allow him to alter their heart monitors for horses. He also developed the Easy Ride Stirrups, the largest selling trail stirrup in the world.
In the mid nineties my dad was searching for a smooth, safe breed to continue endurance riding with. His arabian was too hard on his 74 year old body. He saw an ad for Mountain Horses and went down to see what they were all about at Fran & Bill Odom’s ranch. He liked what he saw in the Kentucky Mountain Horses. Being nearly 6′6″ tall he asked them to find him a couple of 16 hand KMSH’s. They found two & my dad quickly bought Almost Chocolate, the older one. The 3 year old named Raven did not pass the vet check. The vet told my dad that the horse would never be sound! The price was dropped $2000 & my dad bought him anyway. Shortly after he bought young Raven, he put his leg through the windshield of one of my dad’s cars, tearing open his right knee. It healed large & lumpy & added to a doubtful endurance future for the big black horse.
In ‘98 Bob was downsizing his property & had to downsize his herd. I drove down there to pick up his arab, Sombro for my older daughter & Raven for my 9 year old daughter. Raven was five & had only done half an endurance ride. I asked my dad if he would really trust the 5 year old horse with his 9 year old granddaughter. He answered that Raven was the most bomb proof horse he’d ever owned, of course he trusted him!
The relationship with Raven & young Sarah started rocky. He was young & fast & Sarah was a good rider but unsure of the 16 hand speed horse. She would bail off of him at a gallop! She kept getting back on & they worked out an agreement on their first beach ride. Sarah finally felt confident to let him run full out! She got a huge grin on her face & yelled to me “I’m fine now! I can do anything with him!” They were a great team after that!
In 2000 they had a great endurance season. They started with the Prineville 50 mile ride. Raven was 6 years old & Sarah was 10. She wanted more so next we did the 75 mile distance at the Grizzly Mountain Ride. We continued with one to two rides a month that season. Sarah’s ambition prompted me to enter us in the Oregon 100 mile ride that September. We ran into some blatant gaited prejudice. The head vet told me at the 50 mile check that he felt gaited horses were not bred for distance & what did we think entering one in a 100 mile ride. At 75 miles he was pulled with no exam. I rider option pulled my arab so Sarah wouldn’t have to care for her horse alone. He wasn’t allowed to finish another ride that season. We call them our political pulls. Those were the dark days of gaited endurance. We’ve come a long way!
The next year I brought Raven back down to my father. He was having balance problems & his KMSH, Almost Chocolate, was being stubborn & giving him problems. So I let him ride the kid conditioned Raven that stood when being mounted & went cheerfully forward on any trail. I brought Chocolate back to Oregon to train him & do a few endurance rides on him. He had a stubborn streak, alright!
In the meantime, my dad’s friend Steve Elliott had been given a free entry to Tevis & the honorary #1 for having rescued a horse the previous year that had fallen into a canyon. Steve didn’t want to ride his high strung arab on another Tevis so he was without a mount for that momentous ride. My dad offered him 7 year old Raven knowing that he had a great base conditioning on him from the previous endurance season with Sarah. Steve talked to me & e-mailed me often asking if I really felt the young Raven was ready to tackle the toughest 100 mile ride in the world. Unhesitatingly I said yes! Steve conditioned him well & on the 47th running of the Tevis, 47 year old Steve Elliott on 7 year old Raven finished Tevis in 47th place!
My dad had me send Sarah down to California six weeks later & Steve borrowed a horse & sponsored 11 year old Sarah on the Virginia City 100 on Raven. So Raven did two of the toughest 100 mile endurance rides in the country six weeks apart!
When I got Raven back at the end of the season, his shoes were pulled & we did the Pacific Crest 50 miler with Easy Boots. I got his hoofs Strasser trimmed & started conditioning him barefoot. He had always had a hard time keeping shoes or boots on. He developed hoofs of iron! We had a few rough seasons getting used to barefoot endurance. I’m just a rebel, I guess! Gaited AND barefoot!
In 2004 at the 50th Tevis I did my first on Raven. Raven was inspired being on the trail he loves so much! He remembered it well from 2001 & took me for the ride of my life! He fell badly in the Granite Chief Wilderness & I ran him through the rest of it when he finally regained his footing. When I finally was able to remount, Raven was in a frenzy! He took off & passed so many riders I lost count! It was an adrenelin rush from beginning to end. And WE DID IT!!! 22nd place on the 50th Tevis! Raven rocked! 245 starters, 129 finishers.
This past season was Raven’s best! The vet’s were so supportive! I started all the northwest rides barefoot. I carried boots in case he needed them & he didn’t! We did six 50 milers & the Oregon 100 barefoot, no boots! He top tenned four of the 50’s. Raven won the Pacific Crest 50! Winning a northwest 50 over arabs is an amazing accomplishment!
In 2006 we also did Tevis again. Here’s that story. It could’ve started better, but we made up time at Squaw Valley. The new start puts the riders in 3 pens, this year by their previous ride record. My last season was dismal so I was seeded in the #2 pen. Not what I’d planned. Raven has had a stellar season this year! I wanted to get to the front & let him stretch out & do his best! Instead I had to hang too much on the bit & pass people as I could. We lost over an hour with the controlled start & aftermath of it.
When we got to Squaw & Raven could move out he about exploded! Galloping up the road to High Camp & Watson’s Monument. We ended up in the front pack of faster movers. More his speed!
He made his way safely through Granite Chief Wilderness. That always makes me nervous, we had a bad fall there in ‘04. He was able to relax on a loose rein after that heading for Cougar Rock. I had decided that if we got to Cougar in a relaxed state that we’d go for it this year! He was & we did! He is a total point & shoot horse. He trusts that if I ask him to do something that it is doable. He didn’t hesitate & followed the arrows up that landmark rock! He did stop momentarily before the big jump, I dropped back into the saddle & was pulling myself back up over his shoulders when the picture was shot.
We did it!!!!! On the other side on the rock I was in a state of shock that we actually accomplished it without a problem! My feet were shaking in my stirrups!!! Adrenelin rush like nothing else!!
We relaxed & took in the incredible scenery as we continued down the trail. The first third of this ride has the most incredible vistas to enjoy! You can see what I mean in the ride pictures for that high Sierra section of the Tevis.
We had a good rest at Robinson Flat. I changed him to his bitless bridle. We got out in good time & onto the new section of trail. More interesting than the road we rode in the previous years. I’m sure it did add some more time but I’m glad they put it back in.
We had a good ride through the big canyons. Raven got to do his downhill thing! He can really make good time on the downhills with his 4 beat Kentucky Mountain gait! I let him take his time going up the canyons. He pulsed down well on all the checks, often below criteria! My crew was great! They made the stops such a pleasure & let me relax as much as I could! After Foresthill we had a couple of hours of daylight to get much of the California Loop done in. It was dark by the time we hit Francisco’s vet check. I pre-rode the California Loop more for me that for Raven. He knows it so well from year to year! I don’t use light sticks. It interferes with the horse’s vision. I think even the bright moon made it more difficult for him. In the dark I try to keep his reins dropped or loose & let him navigate the trail. I swear, the darker it is, the better he seems to see. I get nervous, but he just flys through the night! He wants to get to the fairgounds! He knows it’s not over until we’re there!
We crossed the river & went the wrong way on the trail briefly! We had to turn around in the dark & get on the right trail! The two women I was riding with trotted on ahead after awhile. I thought Raven would pick up & follow, but no, he wanted to walk awhile. I let him & he kept in his long strided flat walk. I started dosing off on his back! He took care of me & kept on the trail while I went in & out of conciousness. When I was awake I found myself hallucinating ocassionally! Red glows around Raven, imaginary rocks… wierd!
We finally got to Lower Quarry. Thank goodness! I ate brownies & put some Emergen-C into my water bottle. Raven scarfed down some mash & some hay. The volunteers were fantastic! At all the non- crewed checks they were invaluable!
Now it was to home stretch! The last 6 miles to the finish! We were revived & made a quick trip of it! We were joined by 3 other riders which helps keep the momentum going. We rode an amazing amount of trail this year alone. Raven takes it less seriously then. He was on a mission to get home now! He navigated the dark trails easily & soon we were galloping up the hill & over the finish line! What a ride!!!
We again came in 22nd out of 87 finishers out of 193 starters. The first non arab to finish & the only gaited horse to finish this year!
Raven has proven that gaited horses have what it takes for the sport of endurance. And Kentucky Mountain Horses in particular! They have a sensible, bomb proof attitude that gets you safely down the most precarious trail! When people comment on Raven’s incredible down hill gait, I say, “They don’t call’em Mountain Horses for nothin’!”

Endurance Links:
http://aerc.org
http://endurance.net
http://www.foothill.net/tevis