Scotsgrove Stables Sept. 9 results

What a beautiful day for the opening Hunter Pace for the 2017-2018 Hunter Pace and Trail Ride Series! It was a pleasure to see many new faces in the crowd! The weather was fantastic at Scotsgrove and riders were eager to enjoy the ride before Irma would come to town. There were many compliments on Scotsgrove Farm, the trails, and the day.

There was much preparation involved in getting the trails ready. Lynn Fitch, Laura Ridgeway, Leslie Scott, and Scott Tate pruned, chain sawed, and mowed post haste. There were several trees that had come down that needed to be taken care of as well. The trails were marked with survey tape and Leslie and Katie Tighe reviewed and improved it.

Randy Autrey and Scott and Sherry Tate were on hand to park the trailers. Andrea Gentry, Jennifer Hilson, Gwen Phifer, and Cecilia Snyder manned the registration desk with a few reliefs coming in now and again. Unfortunately, Andrea was called to deploy to help in the impending aftermath of Hurricane Irma and had to leave. The barn was under the care of Laurie Ridgeway with Katie’s help. Katie was mentoring the Mini-Pace Riders who went to the bridge on the first loop and crossed the road and did the last loop. They were “short stirrup” riders and are new to the sport.

Timing was handled by Donia Davis, Samantha Fouse, and Lindsey Massey. Beth Straitiff catered this event with some delicious eats. On the menu were chicken salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, chips, and enough veggies to make everyone happy and healthy! There were cookies and brownies to curb everyone’s sweet tooth! Cara Nelson and Beth’s parents, Judy and Don Long, helped with serving the delicious meal. Elizabeth Lister was the floater and helped where needed.

The trail was 8.4 miles. Riders and their mounts started the ride in the arena and would finish there as well. The trails lead riders through woods and out into open spaces. The Kudzu Field was well marked and is always a favorite with riders. The bridge on Grand Canyon Road that spans the North Tyger River was well marked with yellow tape and signs to ensure riders were heading in the right direction. Overlook Pasture gave riders a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Riders would ride around Little Orchard and the Pine Nursery before arriving at the Check Point. Heather Daniel, AK MacMillan, Ashlan Niemitalo, and Jackie Smith were the greeters at the Check Point. Here the riders were given a cold drink and their mounts enjoyed the three minute rest. Once on their way, riders eventually made their way through New Woods and down Golightly Hill to the arena and the finish line. Series photographer Lou Smith was hanging out in the arena to take pictures, while Jan was spotted in a variety of spots on trail also with camera and long lens.

The turnout was very nice with 67 riders in 36 teams.

Now, let’s get to those results:

There was a total of 25 riders in 15 teams in the Field Hunter Division. The Optimum Time for the Field hunters was one hour, 44 minutes.

The first place blue ribbon was awarded to Kristen Brown from Boiling Springs and Jennifer R. Smith from Landrum with a time of one hour, 50 minutes, 20 seconds. Second place honors went to Marcia Headrick and Richard Neel from Townville with a time of one hour, 36 minutes, 37 seconds. Right on their heels was Rebecca Tolson from Pendleton with a time of one hour, 36 minutes, 35 seconds to nab the third place yellow ribbon.

Right behind Rebecca was Diane Hicks, also from Pendleton, who had another close time of one hour, 36 minutes, 32 seconds and was awarded the fourth place spot. Fifth place honors were awarded to the duo of Christina Goen from Lyman and Emily Mitchell from Greer with the time of one hour, 35 minutes, 27 seconds. Rounding out the placements in the Field Hunter Division taking sixth place was Candice Carr from Columbus with a time of one hour, 53 minutes, four seconds.

An honorable mention goes out to the trio team of Amanda Aiello from Ellenboro, Lisa Clements from Chesnee, and Nicola Deines from Landrum with a time of one hour, 34 minutes, 30 seconds. Also receiving an honorable mention was Debbie Croft from Anderson with a time of one hour, 34 minutes, 29 seconds. Honorable mentions go to those who are 30 or less seconds out of sixth place.

Other Field Hunters out enjoying the day were Karen Brockway, Beth Fiszer, Tim Giles, Catherine Gillett, Kelly Hart, Nancy Mason, Sylvia Rioale, Diane Roemer, Brandon Spencer, TJ Vore, and Lisa and Shane Woodson.

In the Trail Rider Division, there were 36 riders in 19 Teams. The Calculated Optimum Time for this Division was two hours, 16 minutes, eight seconds.

Here are the results:

First place blue ribbon honors were awarded to Linda and Wayne Farris from York with a time of two hours, 16 minutes, 21 seconds. This pair was 13 seconds off the Calculated Optimum Time! The trio from Greenville, Tenn., Darleen Bullock, Nikki Hynes, and DeAnna Norton took the second place red ribbons with a time of two hours, 16 minutes, 50 seconds. Bobby Turner from Spartanburg took the third place yellow with a time of two hours, 17 minutes, 36 seconds.

Right on his heels was Arlene Lulavage from Columbus with a time of two hours, 17 minutes, 39 seconds to nab the fourth place ribbon. And right on her heels was Ronnie Mann from Columbus with a time of two hours, 17 minutes, 43 seconds, receiving the fifth place pink ribbon. Rounding out the placements for the Trial Rider Division was the duo of Susie Justus Hill from Hendersonville and Lisa Kotalik from Tryon who received the sixth place green with a time of two hours, 18 minutes, 15 seconds.

An honorable mention nod goes to the trio of Maddie Brown, Kimberly Hannu from Landrum and Samantha Seay from Gaffney with a time of two hours, 18 minutes, 25 seconds. They were less than 30 seconds out of sixth place.

Other Trail Riders out enjoying the calm before the storm were Jordan Anderson, Alexis Botchie, Benay Daniel, Bob and Terri Davenport, Jill Davis, Katheryn Eilders, Lynn Fitch, Kayla Gonzalez, Natalie Hyatt, Jen and Kate Keilman, Debbie Knebel, Lin Martin, Jessica Nelson, Anna Oglesby, Annette Spencer, Yasmin Straitiff, Sydney Swenson, Stacie Wadsworthy, Laurie Whitaker, Jillian Woodridge, and Sherry Wyatt.

The “Mini-Pace” riders were Katie Tighe, Kaleigh Porter, Haileigh Pruitt, Wren Whelchel, Braelyn Williamson, and Elizabeth Wyatt.

Up next for the 2017-2018 Hunter Pace Series is the Windridge Fall Hunter Pace and Trail ride on Sunday, Sept. 24 followed by the Tyron Hounds Fall Hunter Place to be held on Oct. 8. Please remember to RSVP for lunch at Windridge. It’s going to be a very nice lunch and a headcount is needed.

Check wchpace.org for upcoming events, changes, and to view your photos taken by photographer Lou Smith. With the weather being so unpredictable here of late, rain dates are in place in case of a postponement.

See you on the trails next time!

– reported by Missy Bright