One of the highlights of the 2007 ride was when a small community school dismissed classes so the students could come out and watch the riders as they went by. It was just a small community school, but to see the joy and excitement in those children’s eyes, as they experienced an event on the historic Santa Fe Trail was marvelous. It was this instance that helped give us the idea of developing “The History of the Horse on the Santa Fe Trail”. This exhibit will be at a number of the Race Villages. Invitations will be sent out to schools in the area to come out and visit, be entertained, and learn history. If anyone would like to volunteer to assist with this program, please contact Rob Phillips at sfthorserace@aol.com.

(Photo taken by Jim Burton)

One of the volunteer positions we had during the 2007 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride, is what we called a “Vet Check Host”. This volunteer would help riders, with and without a crew. Some of the duties included holding a rider’s horse for different reasons, refilling the rider’s water bottle, sometimes getting water for the horse, assist the rider with finding their gear bag, help point out where the different stations were at a vet check, generally being helpful, and much, much more. If you would like to become a vet check host for the 2008 Ride, please email Rob Phillips at sfthorserace@aol.com.

Pictured is Nancy Hitt, volunteer Out Timer, (left) with another volunteer at a vet check in Ford County, Kansas. (Photo taken by Gail Stevens)

The theme of this years Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride is “The History of the Horse on the Santa Fe Trail”. A special section of the web site will be added, telling the story, plus a traveling exhibit will accompany the event this year. The first time horses were seen on what would become known as the Santa Fe Trail, was in 1541 when Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was looking for the “Seven Cities of Gold”. The painting below is provided courtesy of the Coronado Quivira Museum in Lyons, Kansas. Stan Herd of Lawrence, Kansas is the artist as well as one of the founders of the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride.

During the 2007 race, we had two couples from Indiana who traveled the total distance of the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride. Shortly after the couples arrived in Santa Fe, they got aquainted with Mike Urschel and his team from Wabash, Indiana. These couples visited the Race Villages daily to check in on ‘their team-Mike Urschel’ and helped his team some with chores.

If you want to travel in 2008 with the Race, now is the time to start planning. Contact us at sfthorsreace@aol.com.

One of the main objectives in 2008 is to put more information on the web site about the Race as the ride happens. Example: Each day as the ride starts, all the starting riders will be listed. As the day progresses, information will be posted as to when riders arrive and depart vet checks and arrive at the finish line.

This is a communication challenge and a large personnel manning task. To accomplish this we will need a staff of 6-8 people. If you are interested in volunteering and being part of the 2008 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride, please email Rob Phillips at sfthorserace@aol.com.

December 9, 2007: In 2008, ride postings will be put on the web site
constantly. The time each ride starts every day, along with vet check times
and finish times, will be posted as they happen. The Great Santa Fe Trail
Horse Race Endurance Ride web site had 37,000 hits during the month of
September 2007 and not one update was made during that time period.
In 2008, updates will be made constantly. The web site will be changing daily as more information comes in about riders, trails, race villages, historic points along the trail, sponsors, and much, much more.

December 8, 2007: The newly re-built 2008 web site went live today at
about 2:30 PM. This is the official kickoff of the 2008 Great Santa Fe Trail
Horse Race Endurance Ride campaign; although work has been going on
since September 17, 2007, the day after the 2007 Ride was completed.
Many changes to the 2008 ride are being made. Most note worthy is the
reduction in the miles of trucking between ride camps, start points and finish
points. The team being assembled to put on the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse
Race Endurance Ride 2008 is working to create a world class event
everyone would be proud to part of.