The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride will have a booth at Kansas Equi-Fest in the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita, Kansas, February 29-March 2, 2008. Our booth will be in Section N2, booths 3&4. We will be flying the United States flag, plus the state flags of the Santa Fe Trail. You can’t miss us!

We received confirmation January 29, 2008 from Ortho-Flex Saddleworks of Warren, Arkansas, that Ortho-Flex will be the “Official Saddle” of the 2008 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride. Ortho- Flex will be providing two certificates of $2,000.00 each to the two winners of the big ride. One certificate will go to the rider who rides multiple horses with the best overall time and the other certificate will go to the rider who rides one horse the entire 515 miles with the best overall time. The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride is pleased to have the association of Ortho-Flex Saddleworks.

Rob Phillips, Race Organizer, Beverly Phillips, Race Organizer, and Nicole Wasylyshyn, Assistant Race Organizer, attended the MOTDRA annual meeting and awards banquet in Meridan, Kansas. Rob was one of the two guest speakers. His subject was the major changes taking place in the 2008 Ride, over the 2007 Ride. Highlights in the speech were the community support, excellent vet staff, and the extremely large percentage of returning riders from 2007. Also in attendance was Laura Marshall, one of the 2008 Ride Managers, and Dr. Jeanie Hauser, one of the five vets who worked the 2007 Ride.


Rob Phillips speaking to the MOTDRA group.
(Photo taken by Nicole Wasylyshyn)

The Santa Fe Trail Spring Ride has been sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC), Ozark Country Endurance Riders (OCER), and Middle Of the Trail Distance Riders Association (MOTDRA). this will be both a 35 and a 50 mile ride. We do require advance registration. The cost is $50.00 for the 35 mile and $70.00 for the 50 mile ride.

All rides put on by the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Association do not charge for junior riders, 16 years old and younger. (There is a $15.00 fee if the junior is not an AERC member.)

Pictured below is the Dale Family from Hugo, Oklahoma, riding in the 2007 Dodge City Shootout. This ride has now became the Santa Fe Trail Spring Ride.

(Photo taken by Ken Morton)

We are very pleased to have Clive and Robin Keith of Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia coming to the United States this summer to join us as volunteers for the 2008 Ride. They have been emailing us for sometime now and following the progress of the 2008 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride. Below you will see their bio and a picture.

Bio Clive and Robin Keith
Clive and Robin Keith have bred, trained and ridden various horse breeds for over thirty years, for both pleasure and competition. Their horse riding activities have included Polocrosse (has similarities to lacrosse on horseback) where Robin competed at National level in South Africa in the 1980’s. Their favorite Polocrosse horses were Anglo Arabs which possessed both speed and toughness for this rather demanding sport. They also used thoroughbreds and Quarter Arabs (Quarter horse sire /Arab mare) which performed well.

As the children were growing up they also had Welsh ponies in their stables. Their two daughters were far more adept and committed riders than the boys. Their four children and four grandchildren now live in different parts of the world i.e. Australia, England, Cayman Islands and USA.

Subsequent to Polocrosse Clive also played club polo for several years before they decided to breed, train and race thoroughbred horses. They bred and foaled down on their own property about eighteen horses over twelve years. A few were sold but the majority won maiden races while several raced more successfully in Clive and Robin’s colours. During this time Robin also rode track work in bringing the horses to racing fitness.

The inaugural South African 212 km endurance ride in 1974 was won by Clive riding Robin’s favorite grey Anglo Arab gelding, a beautiful spirited animal 15.3hh and tough as teak. Robin was pregnant at the time but made amends in subsequent rides where they both placed in the top ten.

Clive and Robin reside in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia overlooking the Coral Sea. It is noted for world heritage listed Fraser Island and commonly referred to as the whale watching capital of Australia due to the superb conditions for huge Humpback Whales to rest and play in the lee of the island on their annual migration to and from the Antarctic.

Their other interests include international travel, boating, game-fishing and outback adventures. They look forward to meeting you.

We have received our first entries into the “Santa Fe Trail Horse Drawn Vehicle Parade”. The parade is to be at 11:00am, Saturday 13, 2008 in Downtown Council Grove, Kansas, taking place on the las day of the Race. Both entries are owned by Kelly Johnson of Pleasant Hill, Missouri. The first entry is a 109 foot long hitch of ten Belgian draft horses and four wagons.

(Picture taken by Lani High)

The second entry is a stagecoach pulled by four Standardbreds

(Picture taken by Pam Johnson)

Rob Phillips and Nicole Wasylyshyn were in Council Grove, Kansas on January 23, 2008 working on the logistics for the Santa Fe Trail Spring Ride, Day 10 of the 2008 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride, and the Kaw Nation Ride on September 13, 2008.

From left to right: Kay Hutchinson, Chamber of Commerce and CVB of Council Grove, Kansas; Mike Lowry, Park Ranger, Council Grove Lake; Rick Sellers, Project Manager - Council Grove Lake; and Rob Phillips, Race Organizer. (Picture taken by Nicole Wasylyshyn)

Rob Phillips, Race Organizer, met with Becky Blake, Director of Kansas Tourism and Regina Nicol, Fiscal and Visitor Services Manager of Kansas Tourism in Topeka, Kansas. The primary reason of the meeting was to discuss and make plans to develop an itinerary for RV-ing the Santa Fe Trail. The main focus will be the two weeks the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride is taking place, although it would work year round. Coordination with other states that the trail goes through will also be made.

(Photo taken by Nicole Wasylyshyn)

Mac entered a team of all Spanish Mustangs in the 2007 Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride. His wife, Diane, also rode on the team. Unfortunately Mac broke his collar bone on Day 5 of the 2007 Ride and was unable to proceed. Diane finished riding the remaining days of the ride.

Mac McSwain on the left, Rob Phillips on the right.
(Photo taken by Nicole Wasylyshyn)

Rob Phillips, Race Organizer, Beverly Phillips, Race Organizer, and Nicole Wasylyshyn, Assistant Race Organizer attended the 2008 AERC Central Region Convention in Henryetta, Oklahoma. The convention was very productive for our event. People attending the convention that rode the 2007 Race or helped in some fashion are as follows: Laura Marshall, 2007 Rider/2008 Ride Manager; Mac and Diane McSwain, 2007 Riders; Dr. Self, 2007 Vet/2008Vet; Barbie Self, 2007 Vet Assistant/2008 Vet Assistant; Dr. Baldwin, 2007 Vet/2008 Vet.

A guest speaker at the convention was Rob Phillips, who spoke about the 2007 Ride and the upcoming 2008 Ride. This was a wonderful opportunity for him to talk about the presenting sponsor, the Kansas Lottery. The major portion of Rob’s talk was about the community support and the effect the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride made on communities as the Race traveled through.

A special thank you goes to the Kansas Lottery and the Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius. Governor Sebelius was at the finish of the 2007 Ride and presented the winning rider his award. The group at the Central Region Convention was impressed that the Kansas Governor was there. Our goal is to develop a world class equine event using the Santa Fe Trail as the stage and create a major economic benefit to the communities through tourism.


(Photo taken by Nicole Wasylyshyn)

We are very pleased to have Craig Opel back as a volunteer again in 2008. He joined us in 2007 on the trail and went to the end in Gardner, Kansas. He worked vet checks as a vet scribe during the 2007 Ride. We are very fortunate to have people like this join us and participate as volunteers.

Pictured above is Craig Opel, (white and blue shirt), scribing for Dr. Mark McConnon DVM, (red shirt). (Photo taken by Barbie Coyle Self)