3/21/2010 Green Creek Hounds Spring  Articles

Green Creek Hounds Spring Hunter Pace & Trail Ride

Held Sunday, March 21, 2010

Reported by: Boots Plyler

The threat of rain, fortunately, did not deter the 100 riders who came to enjoy the Green Creek Hounds Spring Hunter Pace and Trail Ride on Sunday, March 21. The good weather held until around noon and then only gave an occasional brief shower. Neither riders nor ponies seemed to mind since the wonderful Green Creek crew did their usual superb job and left no detail to chance. The trails were well marked and beautifully groomed, the food was yummy and there was plenty of room to eat and socialize under the tents.

The food deserves a special mention. Three different kinds of grilled hotdogs were served with homemade slaw and baked beans. The dessert tent (Yes, there was a whole tent of desserts!) brought out the sweet tooth in most of the riders who were seen to partake of more than one of the scrumptious offerings. Green Creek certainly has an abundance of good cooks.

The ride was held on a portion of Roger and Jennifer Smith’s beautiful property. The terrain is quite varied with trails along the river as well as paths over both grassy and forested hills. The Smiths are not only generous to allow access to their beautiful property, but also are very conscientious stewards of their land. The ride passed through a selectively cut stand of pines that would have pleased the most ardent environmentalist and the bottom land along the river was resplendent with natural foliage. Muddy areas were sanded and the water crossings had comfortable approaches with good footing. There were many canter-friendly tracks and most of the riders took full advantage of them. The halfway point was placed in a picture perfect spot on top of a hill. The teams were greeted with a happy smile and a glass of water or, for the older riders, a touch of port if they preferred. It was a pleasant way to spend the mandatory three minute rest.

The optimum time for the Field Hunter Division with 40 riders was one hour, 18 minutes and 57 seconds. Their course was 9.6 miles long. The winning team consisted of Sherry Wyatt of Seneca and Kris Yon from Pendleton who were a mere seven seconds over the optimum, with a time of 1:19:04. The second place team was Ilena Budde of Columbus, Kathy Godsey and Linda Matthews both from Tryon with a time of 1:26:32. There was a tie for third place with the teams of Ken Feagin and Suzanne Strickland of Landrum and Dean and Roberta McKinney of Campobello both coming in at 1:26:48. Liz Crawley of Inman and Sue Smolka from Hickory took fifth place with a time of 1:27:04. Sixth place was won by Sue McDaniels of Landrum in 1:27:53.

The remainder of the Field Hunter Division along for the fun consisted of Michael and Roberta Axelrod, Darby Barr, Dan Bates, Kathy Bethka, Baiba Bourbeau, Mary Britt, Stephanie Culbertson, Nancy Finkell, Ann Fratcher, Rodney Hawk, Peg Henneke, Betty Hill, Tom and Vicky Jackson, Beatrice Lamb, Bonnie Lingerfelt, Joe and Kate Manno, Kit Matthews, Claire Moore, Kristina Nordan, Gail Patton, Thomas Pluemper, Eileen Taylor, Debbie Thrasher, Bobby Turner and Kim Whitehurst.

Sixty riders rode in the Trail Rider Division on a course that was 6.9 miles long for the calculated optimum time of one hour, 48 minutes and 16 seconds. Boots and Erin Plyler from Greenville and Easley took the lead with a time of 1:48:20. The second spot was won by Joanna Holzinger of Spartanburg and Barbara Madill of Columbus in 1:48:29. Thann Boyum and Wes Moore of Columbus took third place with a time of 1:47:55. In fourth were Ali Merritt and Morgan Palmer from Woodruff in 1:48:40. Russell and Sally Rock from Campobello came in at 1:47:10 for fifth place. Becky Bockoven of Marietta and Justin Hall from Anderson were sixth turning in a ride time of 1:49:57. Honorable mention was awarded to Chris Britton and Peggy McMakin from Tryon, who were still barely two minutes off optimum, with a time of 1:46:15.

Also out to support the Green Creek Hounds event and enjoy the day were Brittany Anderson, Victoria Bailey, Sandra Bailey, Rebecca Barnes, Kathy Bucks, Kelly Cannon, Ruth Ann DeHollander, Sean Eastman, Jan Ellis, Hannah Frick, Erin Gambrell, Amy Gee, Bonnie Gill, Nancy Grennon, Susan Haslam, Elaine Hobbs, Gwen Hunter, Sidney Jeffcoat , Debra Kennerly, Lisa Kotallik, Regine Kraft, Virginia Leavitt, Sherry Lilley, Patti Lovelace, Randi McEntire, Emaline McGee, Soline McGee, Avery Mintz, Jan Mize, Connie Moore, Andi Nelson, Lindsey Newsom, Donna and Leah Odom, Erin Pagliano, Gwenlain Phifer, Leslie Scott, Sarah Silver, Lisa Spriggs, Amanda Stickley, Diane Thorpe, Katie Tighe, Cathy Weaver, William and Renee Wormell, and Ralph Zimmerman.

The Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) has re-scheduled their Hunter Pace that was cancelled in February because of bad weather. It will be held on Sunday, March 28, so please come out and support this great equestrian facility. The grounds are always beautiful and everyone loves to have their picture snapped by Lou as they splash through the water obstacle and play among the cross country jumps. You can call Melissa Le Roy at FENCE (828) 859- 9015 for more information or visit their website www.fence.org.

We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events so mark your calendars and plan to also join us as The Tryon Hounds will pick up the pace again after Easter with their spring event on April 11th, followed by the Big Brothers Big Sisters Benefit on May 2nd. The Benefit Hunter Pace & Trail Ride for Steps to HOPE will be held on May 16th and the River Valley Pony Club will round out the competitive Series on May 30th. But don’t forget the Year End Awards Gathering scheduled for June 20th to benefit HALTER on Biltmore’s West Range for one last fun event before we take a summer break.

Remember to check the website at www.WCHPace.org for all upcoming events, news, articles, photos, placements and contact information.

Thank you to Lou Smith for being at the events to capture the riders and their mounts as they fly over jumps, canter through the fields and ride the trails. Hit “Photos” on the website to view your and your friends’ pictures. If you like, you can even place an order online.

For information on the Western Carolina Hunter Pace & Trail Ride Series please e-mail Series Coordinator, Jan Smith at jan@wchpace.org or call her at 828-894-8760.