January 2008:
Entries will open shortly (subs - Feb 1) for one of the UK's toughest endurance events, the 100-mile Golden Horseshoe Ride over the demanding Exmoor terrain. There will also be three other rides over the three days starting May 11, plus a popular sponsored ride in aid of local charities.
Classes this year will be.-
The Golden Horseshoe - 160K (100 miles) over two days, 50 miles on each day
The Exmoor Stag - 120K (75 miles) over two days, 50 miles on day one and 25 miles on day two
The Exmoor Experience - 80K (50 miles) over two days, 25 miles on each day
The Exmoor 80 - 80K (50 miles) in one day.
Base this year has been moved, although it is still within Exford, Somerset. Everything - start and finish, pre- and post-ride vetting, administration, trade stands and parking - will be on two fields to the South of the village which are used for the popular Exford Show.
Organiser Barbara Wigley said: "Although the Golden Horseshoe has remained more or less the same since 1974, when it was just 75 miles, we do like to make it as fresh as possible. This year we are moving west to take in some new country which hasn't been used on the Ride for some years. But it is still challenging."
The new route includes open moorland, steep climbs and descents, river crossings, and deep wooded combes and will take in Winsford Hill, Withypool Common, Horsen Hill, Pickedstones, parts of the Tarka Trail, Cheriton Ridge, part of the Doone Valley, Robbers Bridge, Porlock Common and Wilmersham Common.
The halfway halt will be at Honeymead, on land owned by Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen. Sir Stephen and his brother, Robert, have been given special dispensation by the sport's governing body, Endurance GB, to ride the 100-mile route in aid of one of their favourite local charities.
"Classes over the lesser distances will follow some of the 100-mile route," said Mrs Wigley. "But we can assure riders that the challenge in all four classes is not diminished in any way - it will still be a feather in the cap of anyone who achieves Gold, Silver or Bronze."
The sponsored ride will offer two routes, 10 miles in aid of the Moorland Mousie Trust and 16 miles where proceeds will be donated to the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.
The 2008 Next Golden Horseshoe route will go west!
Golden Horseshoe endurance riders will get a fresh look at Exmoor in 2008 with a new competition route which includes the picturesque Doone Valley and Cheriton Ridge and the tough uphill haul at Robbers Bridge. And easy access to the moor west of the traditional Exford venue has been guaranteed by a new start and finish site which will include everything from officials to horsebox parking. The ride will take place on May 11 to 13. Organiser Barbara Wigley, who was last year able to turn in accounts all in black, is busily negotiating access which will enable riders to see Winsford Hill, Withypool Common, Horsen Hill, Pickedstones, parts of the Tarka Trail, Cheriton Ridge, part of the Doone Valley, Robbers Bridge, Porlock Common and Wilmersham Common. The route includes open moorland, steep climbs and descents, river crossings, and deep wooded combes. The halfway halt is at Honeymead. “Parts of this new route have not been used for the Horseshoe for some years and we think it will attract new riders as well as our established regulars,” said Mrs Wigley.
Exmoor Golden Horseshoe Ride, 2007
Results:
Tough Exmoor produces Golden Horseshoe Ride medals galore
A combination of Exmoor’s weather and terrain proved just too much for riders and horses in this year’s two-day, 100-mile Exmoor Golden Horseshoe. No one achieved Gold standard, but there were two Silver and three Bronze awards. But the new Exmoor Experience class, designed to give riders the taste of a two-day ride over the moor, but limited to just 25 miles each day, produced two Gold, seven Silver and five Bronze medals and a batch of hopeful, 100-mile riders for the future.
Organiser Barbara Wigley, who this year found a new venue and a new course, said: “The elements plotted against us, although I think the rain and mud were less harmful to the horses than the baked ground just a week before the event. We are thrilled with the enthusiasm and support we have had this year and the results from the new Exmoor Experience class. It is sad that there were no gold awards in the hundred, but it is classed as the hardest endurance course in this country.”
Belfast solicitor Helen McFarland and her partbred Arab, J St Jake, winner of last year’s 100-mile Highland Fling and the 75-mile Northern Championships, took home one of this year’s special prizes – a free entry to next year’s Tevis Cup in California, 100 miles between Lake Tahoe and Auburn. Exmoor Experience Gold winner Alex Nicholls, from Tregaron in Wales, was a member of the successful 2005 Welsh endurance team with her Arab/Cleveland Bay gelding, Jimmy Mac. Alex’s answer to the heartbreak of losing her first husband was to buy a new trailer and 4x4 and “go to lots of rides. Lots of friends and my horses got me through it,” she says.
The second Gold went to Liz Taylor, from Newent, Gloucestershire, and her purebred Arab, Karaanza, who were on their first Golden Horseshoe campaign, were second in last year’s Red Dragon and won the 75-mile Lindum Spirit. The third two-day ride of 50 miles and 25 produced three Silver and two Bronze Medals.
EXMOOR GOLDEN HORSESHOE 2007 ENTRIES:
Golden Horseshoe (100 miles – 50 each day)
David Yeoman, Shepton Mallet
Nikki Routledge/Angela Osborne, Bampton
Jill Kent, Swindon
Judy Baynes, Wells
Exmoor Stag (75 miles – 50 first day, 25 second)
Carolyn Paget, Redruth
Exmoor Experience (50 miles – 25 each day)
Vicky Clink, Okehampton
Rebecca Townsend, Yelverton
Sally Hall, Bristol
Mike Stone, Halwill
Sally Hill, Banwell
Tristan Bishop, St Austell
John Yeoman, Shepton Mallet
Exmoor 80 (50 miles)
Annie Laing, Axminster
Michael French, Torquay
|
