Even though she was always in the running, Jodi Rogers-Buttram was “pleasantly surprised,” when she was first to finish the Biltmore Challenge Endurance Ride, May 20, held on the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C.

With a 100-mile ride time of 13:08:25 aboard Petit Jets Aries, Rogers-Buttram laughed and said, “It wasn’t my intention to win this ride. It was just luck!”

Rain, gusty winds, lightning and thunder set the atmosphere for this year’s ride, sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference, Southeastern Endurance Riders Association and South Eastern Distance Riders Association. Biltmore offered a 50- and a 100-mile distance, with 104 competitors taking the challenge.

Rogers-Buttram began the ride with her daughter, but she was left to finish alone when her daughter’s horse was pulled at the halfway mark.
“I had a pace in mind, take it at a nice pace the first two loops, slow down the second two and pick up the pace on the last two,” she explained. “When I had two loops to go, I was in fifth place, and then I caught and passed four riders. It was there that Betsy Knight was having some trouble with her horse trying to cramp, and she wasn’t able to continue.

“I left out with a 10-minute lead on the next two riders behind me, Steve Rojek and Karen Isaacs. So that final loop, I was just trying to keep that 10-minute lead, but it turned into almost an hour’s lead by the time I got to the finish line!”

New Challenges
Even though this year’s Biltmore wasn’t sanctioned by the Federation Equestre Internationale as in recent years, the popular ride drew 81 competitors in the 50-miler and 23 in the 100-miler. Ten of those riders were cross-entered in the Arabian Horse Association Region 12 100-Mile Endurance Championship.

The Biltmore Ride was founded in 1994 by Anne Ayala, but due to health issues, Ayala turned management over to Cheryl Newman, whose husband Stagg Newman is the AERC president.

Due to the late change in management, FEI sanctioning wasn’t feasible and the usual ride date was taken (first weekend in May). Also, base camp was moved 1 mile down the road because the ground had recently been reshaped and thus was not solid enough for all the rigs. Otherwise, the change of management wasn’t apparent because Ayala was ever-present, working as Cheryl’s assistant and consultant.

Despite management’s meticulous planning, they couldn’t control everything, and Mother Nature didn’t cooperate as well as they’d hoped. At 5 a.m., pouring rain and lightning lit up the night sky as the 23 100-milers saddled up. By 6 a.m., when the course opened for competition, a drizzle and low-lying fog replaced the rain. Eventually, the rain ceased and fog lifted, but the poor weather returned in the afternoon, along with thunderstorms later in the night. The temperatures ranged from the mid 40s to lower 70s with up to 80 percent humidity.

Tennessean Betsy Knight on Jureeba Kassan, always a good bet for winning, set the pace. Knight had competition, though–any one of the riders who might have a lucky day. It would be the trail and weather that took Knight out of the competition 15 miles from the finish, however.

The Alabama riders, the mother-daughter team of Rogers-Buttram and 14-year-old Joni Buttram, entered the Biltmore Ride as a “dress rehearsal” for the Old Dominion Ride three weeks later in Virginia.

Jodi was aboard her 16-year-old mare Petit Jets Aries and Joni was on her long-time mount, Fantastiq Love. “The low for me was when my daughter Joni got pulled at 50 miles,” said 40-year-old Jodi, who is approaching 12,000 career miles. “We knew this would be a test whether she would ride my horse or hers in the Old Dominion.”

Jodi and Petit Jets Aries held on for the victory, 41 minutes ahead of Isaacs, who completed in 14:23:54. Rojek crossed the finish line 1 second later aboard Farley.

Petit Jets Aries earned the AERC best condition with 715 points, while Isaac’s Shameless was reserve best condition with 664.52. Shameless topped Petit Jets Aries with the higher vet score of 440 to 420, however.

Nicki Meuten, Darlene Krell and Kathy Neunzig, finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, just seconds apart. Neunzig said, “At that point we were all so just glad to see the finish line that we didn’t race off! We just trotted in together.”

Neunzig was the first AHA contestant to finish, earning the Region 12 Championship on her purebred mare, PAR Snickety, nicknamed “Snickers.” Neunzig’s course time was 15:04:15. This was both horse and rider’s first 100-mile competition.

“I try to make the Biltmore Ride every year,” said Neunzig. “I’ve never attempted the 100 but have done the 50s in the past. Actually, this horse did her first 50 here last year and now her first 100 this year.”

Neunzig kept her sense of humor throughout the ride. “The rain and lightning and thunder was fun,” she joked. “And we got chased by some turkeys and spooked by the geese. A goose dove off the bank into the river in the dark, and Snickers went straight up into the air. If she could jump like that at 83 miles, I was assured she was good to go to the end.”

But for the first-time 100-miler, the last two loops were the toughest. “I was tired on the second-to-last loop, and then the last loop seemed to take 10 years to complete!” she said.

“It is amazing–the vets were impressed with Snickers, and I was impressed with her,” Neunzig added. “She could have kept on going long after I was done.”

Bella’s All Business
Under overcast skies, 81 competitors set out on the 50-mile course. Although the rain had stopped, the competitors had to deal with sloppy and sometimes slick trail, adding difficulty to the already challenging trail.

Anticipation and excitement grew when Sally Mann, of Lexington, Va., left the last vet check with three riders only 1 minute behind her.

Crews gathered at the finish line pondering who or how many would appear in the distance to race off for the win.

But only a single rider came into view at 1:30 p.m., trotting and then cantering toward the finish line. It was Mann on Bella Atheena. She managed to gain 8 minutes over her challengers and crossed the finish line with a ride time of 5:00:53.

“We set out toward the front so I wouldn’t have too much of a struggle at the start, and then we settled back to around 10th,” she explained. “The trail was sloppy and rocky for much of the first loop, so we took it easy. When we came into the first vet check, even though she was still jazzed up, we gained a few minutes and went out around fifth place or so on the second loop.

“At the next vet check, Bella was all business and pulsed down immediately, and we went out first on that last loop,” she added. “Occasionally, I would see her ears flicking back to check whether anyone was behind us, but she relaxed to a nice lope, enjoying the fine day and the scenery, stopping at the streams for good long drinks and snatching at the high grasses.”

The crewmembers and bystanders waiting at the finish line weren’t disappointed as the next three riders raced in. Rachel Neidich on Mirage outran Sandy Thomson on Shamala by 2 seconds to take second place. And T J. Vore, riding Moon Cheyenne, breezed across the finish line 1 second behind Thomson. Debbie Moore, who had caught up with the three riders, tailed in 37 seconds later on Comets Nugget.

To everyone’s delight, Lucy “Grandma” Hancock, who is often sponsoring her grandchildren as well as other youngsters at rides, came into view at a hand gallop and crossed the finish line in sixth place. She was riding HH Trinity, the same mare that carried Hancock to the AERC National Middleweight Championship several years back.

Hancock’s HH Trinity earned the best condition award with 735.97 points. Trinity also earned the highest vet score with 460 points. The best condition and high vet score runner up was Mann’s Bella Atheena, with 696 and 440, respectively.