El-Devlin Hanad and Bob riding Louise Botha 100 Miler |
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| Bob Seegers riding Perseverance Jedi at Koffiefontein 80. Behind them is Megan King on Hanad. |
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Perseverance conquers Fauresmith
Fauresmith is the premier endurance ride in South Africa. Run annually since 1974, this was it's 34th year. It is unique as a fast 3-day ride over 201km (74km +74km +52km)
In miles that would be: 125.6m (46.25m + 46.25m + 32.5m) The course runs over low hills and ridges. Going is good along the dirt roads but there are a lot of stony sections through the farms that slow you down. The first leg of day three is horribly abrasive along the tar road verge and the first 15km of hard stony farm track. The second leg has a lot of stony bits but interspersed with good going. Essentially I used the soft parts to make up time.
The daily distances are short and the course fairly mild, so the pace is hot and competition for the top twenty is incredible. Course record is 7 hours 56. This year's winning time was 8h11. At those speeds the risk of injury is high. Although there are different weight and age categories, everyone enters the full distance. Fauresmith is so popular that 398 horses were entered this year. I am told this is the biggest endurance ride in the world. If there is a bigger one, let me know. 211 horses finished.
Last year we showed South Africa that, like the US and Australia, we can also ride hundred milers barefoot. But the 100 miler community is relatively exclusive. The impact we made was limited to a small community. Most South African riders focus on Fauresmith as their goal. Many said they would not take barefoot endurance seriously until we could do Fauresmith without hoof protection.
I hadn't qualified our best barefoot horse, Emmie, for Fauresmith this year. We had two geldings qualified and I chose to ride Goshawk. I took my Easyboot Bares along for insurance as Goshawk had only ever done one 80 km (50 miler) entirely without the help of boots. I wasn't concerned about the course, but the cumulative distance and speed would be a challenge. There were 5 barefoot horses entered from around the country. Two were out on day one for issues not related to barefooting. Three horses continued on day 2. Arkab Zigzag ridden by Ranald Vise from Limpopo Province, Tash Cherokee owned by Robert Winter and ridden by Peter Smith from Natal, and our own Perseverance Goshawk. Each has a different home environment and different trim regime. They all live out naturally and do a lot of barefoot mileage in training.
Goshawk's hooves looked so good after the first day that I did not feel it necessary to use the boots at all. After a conservative day one, I gradually allowed Goshawk to speed up with each leg. He enjoyed himself thoroughly. We did an excellent time on day 2 and still did not need the boots. He had a bit of muscle stiffness in his shoulders that I worked out by stretching. I had a worrying moment coming in from the first leg of day three. We had been slowed by horrible abrasive and stony surfaces so that when we hit a good stretch of road, I gave Goshawk his head. He went flying along at high speed. But when we approached the checkpoint he was trotting unevenly. At first I thought he must have a stone lodged in his hoof. But there was no stone and I began to stress about passing the vet check. However I remembered Goshawk being tight in his shoulders the day before and also that the unevenness had come on after a fast gallop, rather than after the stones. We stretched his forelegs and shoulders and were able to pass the vet check without a problem. I had had a bit of a fright, however, and rode a bit slower on the last lap!
Goshawk was the first barefoot horse ever to cross the finish line at Fauresmith! My best moment was during the final trot up as I ran back towards the vet. Goshawk was so perfect that the vet put out his hand and gave me a high five as we reached him.
He placed 35th in the Standardweights in 11h27. Zigzag came home in 13h04 about 55th and Cherokee finished in 15h59, 34th in the Lightweight division. I can't explain how important the result of these three barefoot horses is. Together we have conquered the holy cow of endurance riding in SA. Because of last week's work, many many young endurance horses will not be shod as they start their novice year. They will have a chance to become the barefoot champions they can be.
These are Goshawk's times and speed for each leg. Day one is 74km in 3 legs, day 2 is the same 74km in reverse and day 3 is 52km in 2 legs. On Days 2 and 3 we did a lot more cantering than on day 1.
Perseverance Goshawk: Actual speed for each leg.
Day one first check: 1h34 14.8 km/h pulse 40
Day one second 1h41 15.6 km/h pulse 46
Day one third 1h15 19.2 km/h pulse 48
74 km Time 4h32 16.3 km/h
Day 2 first check 1h28 16.4 km/h pulse 44
Day 2 second 1h28 17.9 km/h pulse 40
Day 2 third 1h10 20.0 km/h pulse 46
74 km Time 4h08 18.0 km/h
Day 3 first check 1h21 19.5 km/h pulse 48
Day 3 second 1h26 18.1 km/h pulse 44
52 km Time 2h48 18.7 km/h
Total distance 201 km. Total time 11h27 Average speed 17.55 km/h
That is the same as 10.9mph over 125 miles.
To average 17.5 km/h means actually riding a fair bit faster, because it includes stops for water and slow sections walking or jogging over rocks. Goshawk can canter comfortably at 22 km/h. I liked to hold him back to that. When I let out the rein he would accelerate to 27 km/h, but his legs are not conditioned for maintaining that speed yet. The course is easy at slow speeds but treacherous at high speed. The probability of an injury is excessively high on a young horse ridden fast. However he was safely maintaining an aerobic trot at 19 - 20 km/h on the gravel roads.
If I had felt that he was being slowed down a lot by being without hoof protection I would have used the boots, because we were riding for the Eastern Cape team and I had a responsibility to do the best I could. We rewarded the selector's confidence in us by giving them the second fastest time on the team! Eastern Cape placed 4th in the team competition: The ERASA team was first, Noordwes second, LMG (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng) third, Eastern Cape fourth, Natal Development 5th. The rest of the 14 teams entered had less than 4 finishers (out of six) and were eliminated from the competition.
I was testing the envelope for Goshawk, but I had my Easyboots Bares as insurance if he got tender. I had a responsibility to my team to do the best time I could safely and I knew Ranald was anchoring the Barefooters with a steady ride time. In the end I was amazed at how well Goshawk performed. This past week's work has done more for barefooting in South Africa than all the months and years up till now.
Actually the older generation have been far more supportive and positive about barefoot because they all remember the time when farm horses were never shod. In fact, many of them still never shoe their farm horses, only their endurance horses. Now we have proven that they don't have to shoe for endurance, not even for Fauresmith.
Bob has been such a strength behind all these results. His strong hands have cradled and trimmed all our horses' hooves. He and Megan were super crew at Fauresmith. Bob talked me through the lowest moment when doubts set in. Without him it might not have happened.
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People said it couldn't be done. We used to think endurance horses had to be shod to ride endurance rides. Nobody even mentioned "barefoot horse" and "hundred milers" in the same breath.
But it is possible. It has been done in America and Australia. Now we have done it in Africa.
This is a photo of the left fore hoof of our horse Emmie. It was taken the morning after she had been ridden a hundred miles in one day - without shoes or boots! The hoof has not been trimmed or tidied up. It is just as she wore it down naturally over the long, long miles. This wasn't just a trail ride. This was an official CEI*** hundred miler endurance ride at Saldanha in the Western Cape, South Africa, September 2006.
This is what Andrea Brand of the Western Province Endurance Union had to say:
"Laura Seegers made all barefooters very proud at Saldanha. She completed the 160km on Emmie completely barefoot. A first in South Africa. Yes, it is Saldanha, a fairly nice course but consider this: of the 43 entries, 10 were eliminated, 9 due to lameness. So maybe not so easy after all!"
Did riding barefoot make the horse lame? No. During the course of the hundred mile ride Emmie had to trot up for the veterinary panel and pass a total of 11 separate vet checks. She passed all the vet checks without any sign of lameness whatsoever. In stark contrast, throughout the day there were shod horses being eliminated for lameness.
Did going barefoot make the horse slow? No. Emmie could have gone faster over the stony bits if she had been wearing hoof boots, nevertheless, she completed the hundred mile course in a riding time of 12 hours and 27 minutes - and placed third! This riding time is fast enough to qualify us to enter an Endurance World Championship! (A qualifying time must be 13 hours 20 minutes or less for 160 kilometres or a hundred miles)
Was it easy? No. It was the result of 3 years of preparation and hard work. Emmie has never had metal shoes nailed onto her hooves. She has never lived in a stable. We have conditioned her hooves to be extremely healthy and sound. Bob has learned how to trim the barefoot hoof to perform at its very best. Emmie has been ridden in endurance rides barefoot for 3 years and has accumulated over a 1000 kms in competition. This was Emmie's first hundred miler. A very long way for any horse. She was very tired by the end of the endurance ride, but still happy and willing to go on. Look how content the little grey mare looks in this photo of her during the ride at Saldanha.
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Boots and Barefoot
At the same endurance ride in Saldanha in September 2006, Bob Seegers rode our horse, El Devlin Hanad Sartiw in the CEI ***120 km Senior event. It was Hanad's first endurance ride over 80 km. Bob had fitted Hanad with a pair of Easyboot Bares on his front hooves. He was barefoot behind. The aim was to ride a conservative ride to allow Hanad to adjust to the longer distance. Bob set a slow pace in the early stages. As a direct result of this, he found that Hanad had energy to spare in the last leg of the ride. Feeling that the little gelding wanted to go, he let him. Hanad enjoyed himself thoroughly and breezed home. Bob was surprised to find he had the best time in his event. First place!
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Louise Botha CEI*** 160km endurance ride at Fauresmith was won by Chris Landman on Willoi Bint Khyberie. They also took Best Condition. Hanli Vermaak was a very close second followed much later by Gillese de Villiers, Loffie van der Merwe, Margaret Hobson and FJ Seegers (our Bob) on El-Devlin Hanad Sartiw.
The Louise Botha 100 mile course is a lovely ride. It is made up of a clover leaf 80 km course which is ridden twice over. The most technical section is the 31 km leg through the Game Park. This year, however, weather conditions were exceptionally awkward. The 3am start was delayed by 2 hours due to very wet conditions after all-night thundershowers. At 5am the start was delayed yet again by a spectacular electric storm which chased people and horses off the starting field. The hundred miler horses eventually got away at 6am!
The leading riders set a fast pace from the beginning. The trio of Chris Landman, Hanli Vermaak and Carmen du Preez went to the front and led the field throughout the day. Hanad had never done a hundred miler before so Bob did not start off fast with the rest of the field. He stuck to his private ride plan to ride steadily all the way. Before long he was on his own. Hanad rode most of his ride without company. He was always willing to go and never balked when asked to leave the grounds alone. There were twelve riders in the 160km event (most entrants had opted for the 120km distance). Later in the day, many were to pay the price of the slippery wet conditions and fast pace. Six of the twelve were vetted out, muscle spasms being common, leaving a 50% success rate.
It was so muddy after the rain that Bob chose to start barefoot on all hooves. He reported that he felt very secure with good grip where shod horses were having problems. Wet conditions soften hooves, however, and this makes them wear down faster. After 60km we put Easyboot Bares on Hanad's front hooves, as a precaution. He rode the remaining 100 km like that. We took the boots off at the checks to clean them out and make sure there was no grit under the gaiters. We did not wrap the pasterns under the gaiters and had no chafing.
The winning horses came home after dark in just over nine hours riding time! It was deep night by the time Bob and Hanad finished. They rode the last 20km through yet another thunderstorm: pouring rain and lighting. Soaked to the skin, Bob and Hanad cantered home in the headlights of escort vehicles. His ride time was 13 hours and 8 minutes.
We wish to thank the officials, vets and ride organisers for being so helpful and encouraging. |
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Perseverance Jedi won the 80.8 km Koffiefontein Endurance Ride
in 3 hours 32 minutes.
He was judged Best Conditioned senior horse and also Best of the Best
to take the big prize of the day, a diamond sponsored by Petra Diamonds
from their Koffiefontein mine.
Jedi always competes barefoot ... |
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Contact usBob & Laura Seegers "Horses Unlimited" Postal address: 48 Somerset Street Graaff-Reinet 6280 South Africa |
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| Above is a photo of Perseverance Goshawk's left fore after 201 km at Fauresmith. Below is a solar view of his right fore at the same time after completing the entire course barefoot. |
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| This is the sole of Emmie's front hoof after completing 100 miles barefoot at Saldanha CEI*** 160 km in September 2006. Her time was 12 hours 27 minutes for third place. |
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Perseverance Goshawk became the first horse to complete Fauresmith barefoot. |
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