Benefit for One Heart

Hi Friends;

We are having another snow day here in Iowa. Time to think about a HOT, summer activity. Maybe swimming, boating, lemonade? How about a Ride and Tie Race?

This photo is by Thom Vollenweider of the Santa Ysabel, CA R&T.

What is Ride and Tie, you ask? When a youngster, most of my allowance went to The Western Horseman magazine. From this, I learned, in the early '70s about Ride and Tie. Fashioned around a Native method for transporting warriors and their horses ( due to raiding and warring, warriors sometimes outnumbered horses) across vast distances, Ride and Tie became popular. I want to refer you early on to the Ride and Tie Association's website; they cover this topic better than I can. I will give you the simple version. Two people and one horse cover a predetermined distance. The first team to arrive at the finish is the winner. The stategy is to have one person riding while the other person is running. Periodically, they switch. The team of three all start together. Of course, the rider outpaces the runner. Once the rider gets to a tie spot the team has selected, the rider dismounts and starts running along the trail to the finish. When the original runner arrives where the horse is tied, they mount and head up the trail towards the finish. The plan is that the rider will than catch and pass the runner until they arrive at the next predesignated tie spot. That rider dismounts and takes off running. The horse waits until the teamate comes upon it, mounts and rides. In this way the team of two runners relays the horse between them. They alternate riding and running (or walking) until they all three cross the finish line.

This is a sport more common on the west coast, but One Heart wants to bring it to IOWA!

A committee is being formed now to organize and promote a ride and tie benefit for One Heart in the summer of 2010.

So far, we pretty much have a location and a whole lot of enthusiasm!

Our mission statement says we will make equine-assisted activities available in a safe, compassionate and professional manner. Did we mention it was FUN? If you have been with us over the last eight years, I hope you have caught our attitude of FUN. We think that a Ride and Tie will be a FUN way to raise money for One Heart.

A ride and tie appeals to runners/walkers and trail riders. People mix and match on teams and develop the stategy that works best for them. Of course, there is all the measures of safety for the teams, similar to those of a local "run". These include water stations, vet checks for the horse, preliminary trail etiquete meetings. (photo at right is by Corey Rich of the Libby, MT R&T)

Since this will probably be Iowa's first Ride and Tie, we would like to have entrants use it to prepare for other Ride and Tie races. There are not many in the midwest at all.

We missed the deadline to have our race sanctioned by the Ride and Tie association - but think positively......that means it DOES NOT have to be a 20 mile minimum! Of course, we can have one that length.

The initial steering committee is thinking of having several different lengths of rides, suitable to almost all abilities. And of course, prizes! The entry fee for each team will go to One Heart to help continue our program. It has been several years since we have had any type of fundraiser so we hope people will really jump on with their support. Photo by Corey Rich, Libby MT R&T.

We need support in these areas:

Sponsorship - sponsor prizes in a division, provide start-up sponsorship for advertising and promotion (grants don't go this route), sponsorship for water and perhaps a hoe-down following the evening of the race.

Committee Members: organizers and doers to help the planning committee implement this project. People to go out and get donations we can use as prizes.

Input: How would you like to help One Heart with this fundraiser? Participation; Ride & Tie, just run, just ride? Committee work, sponsorship, volunteer?

Remember, this is in the very first stages. Jump on board now. We have alot to do and alot of FUN to look forward to. I am suprised by the number of people who have gotten the hint of what we are thinking about and have kept inquiring as to how planning is going.

The pictures I've included here, I downloaded from the Ride and Tie Association. Their website is http://www.rideandtie.org/

2009 Ride and Tie Association Winners.

By the way......jump on the treadmill today and start planning on conditioning your horse when the windchill lets up! The champs for 2009 went 34 miles in 3:57 hrs. 2nd place was 4:00 hrs. The winners of the "short race", 19 miles, finished in 2:33 hrs. No biggie, the 34 mile race went as long as 7:45 hrs and the 19 mile race went 5:30 hrs. I did say you could walk!

Please leave comments here or better....email me at oneheart@netins.net with you plans to participate.

Yee Haw!

Kris