Horses and riders of all breeds and sizes spent the weekend in the Skull Hollow-Crooked River National Grasslands participating in endurance rides, trail rides and other challenges at the 43rd annual Still Memorial Weekend, formerly known as The Prineville Ride.
Sandy Mayernick, volunteer coordinator at Mustangs to the Rescue, an all-breed horse rescue and rehabilitation organization based near Sisters, said she estimated about 200 people participated in the three-day event.
“It’s huge this year,” Mayernick said. “Our numbers are definitely up. (Saturday) there were horse trailers as far as the eye could see.”
For the first 42 years, the event was known as The Prineville Ride.
When Mustangs to the Rescue Executive Director Kate Beardsley took the event over this year, she changed the name to honor Cole and Charlotte Still. Friday’s first event was a 25-mile endurance ride at 11 a.m., followed by a competitive trail challenge at 2 p.m. Saturday’s events started early at 6:30 a.m. with a 50-mile endurance ride and a 25-mile endurance ride at 7:30 a.m.
An endurance ride is a timed event in which a horse and rider traverse a marked, measured cross-country trail over natural terrain. The rides can be up to 100 miles, and riders are expected to cover the distance in one day. The sport is governed by the American Endurance Ride Conference, which sanctions over 700 rides a year in the U.S. and Canada. The AERC maintains ride points, lifetime mileage statistics and an awards database for each horse and rider.
“Riders are judged on how they and their horse handle obstacles along the trail,” Mayernick said. “We also put pink horseshoes along the trail for people to find. People who brought back a pink horseshoe were given a special prize.”
Mayernick explained that during the trail challenge, judges are positioned at different obstacles, such as at the top of a steep hill, and judge riders by how they tackle the obstacle and how well they control their horses...
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