Iron Horse Trail

Horse, rider endure miles, trail as a team

Before the iron horse invasion of the Sturgis rally, this weekend, live horses took over near Sturgis for the Horse Endurance Ride.

"To get to ride in such a beautiful area - it's so great," said Jutta Schmidt of Minot, N.D. "People of literally all ages can do this, too, which gives the sport a nice appeal."

This is the fourth year for the three-day ride that includes a 25-, 30-, 50-, 55- and 75-mile ride at the Alkali Creek Recreation Site. The rides began Friday and will end today.

Connie Follensbee of Buffalo and her horse, Big Boy, were among teams who took part in the 30-mile ride Saturday.

"I like to do rides like this because I love to ride fast and because my horse and I are a good team. We help each other to accomplish the ride together," she said as Big Boy slurped water beside her from a small pool. "It also gives you something to look forward to and to train for."

Some of the riders said they have been doing endurance rides as a hobby for more than 15 years.

"You really develop a strong relationship with your horse out there on the trail and over the years," Schmidt said. "It's not about who wins or loses with this sport either -- it's about how many miles you store up -- so it's really a great thing when you and your horse can tackle miles together."

For some riders like Rachel Zander, 20, from Dickinson, N.D., it was their first time doing an endurance ride. However, she said, it won't be her last.

"I absolutely loved it," said Zander, who rode her horse, Duke, on Friday and Saturday. "It was so much fun -- tough -- but it's such a pretty ride."

Paschal Karl, 60, of Rapid City, who has clocked more than 25,000 miles on trail rides over the past 20 years, said doing the horse rides is a way to stay young.

"It's amazing doing these rides because you can live vicariously through the horses," said Karl, who will be participating in the 50-mile ride today with his horse Krajus. "It's like flying without wings. There's nothing else like it."

Karl said the community of riders is very close-knit and that he has made countless number of friends over the years who share the same passion for the rides.

"You start to see the same riders at different events, so it's a chance to make some great friends that you stay in touch with even after the ride is over," Karl said.

Although Saturday's temperatures reached the high 80s and low 90s, Colleen Soelzer, who was working at the veterinary check-up station, said riders and veterinarians were monitoring the horses carefully to make sure the animals were healthy and staying hydrated.

Iron Horse trail intersection at Bollinger Canyon Rd. in San Ramon ...

The Iron Horse trail at Bollinger Canyon Rd. has pushbuttons to activate the traffic signal lights. These are the capacitive type and normally give a beep tone when you touch them and also light a red LED at the button. Recently the one on the north side of the crossing appears to have failed - there is no longer any beep or red light and the signal didn't change for several minutes (it finally did only after someone on the south side pressed the button there).

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