A Ride & Tie team consists of 2 people and 1 horse. The people take turns riding and running the course. One person starts out on horseback, the other on foot. The person on horseback dismounts and ties the horse at 1/2 - 1 mile into the race and continues on foot. The person originally starting out on foot reaches the horse, unties it and mounts, and soon passes his other human teammate. After a certain distance this person will dismount, tie the horse and continue on foot, and so on in a sort of leapfrog race to the finish. There is a mandatory vet-check midway through the race to ensure the horse's vital signs are good, and that the horse is not lame or injured, and the vet has the final say in whether the horse and his human teammates may continue. All horses are checked by the vet before the race to get baseline readings, and also after the race. There is a prize for best-conditioned horse.

This was my first Ride & Tie event, a Pro-Am. Being a newbie, I was paired up with a veteran and fellow running club pal. We had a great time and were making great time until 1/3 of the way through the race where I lost my partner. He left the horse for me and I should have passed him a few minutes later, but never found him. Turns out he took the wrong trail (oop s - I'm guilty of taking the wrong trail twice, both while on the horse, but was able to correct myself quickly within about 50 yards, and get back on track).

But I continued on the horse for about 3 miles, on into the vet check and left him with my crew to be fed, watered, cooled down, etc and continued for loop #2 on foot. I passed my partner about a mile or so into my run, told him the horse was waiting for him, and to catch up with me. It took a good while for them to catch up with me, about 5+ miles into the loop, due to the vet giving some trouble about the horse favoring a leg (turns out the horse had been left to "cool off" for a little too long).

By this time my legs were exhausted, at not having had a chance to 'rest' while on horseback in quite some time (we'd planned to switch off every 1/2 mile to 1 mile, max, to keep our legs fresh and keep a fast & competitive running pace). We got a nice pattern going for the rest of the race and managed to all finish with no injuries, though we were dead last. I was told at the midway point when I came in with the horse, that we were the 6th horse/rider to come in (out of about 20) so I know we could have done pretty well in the race. But I'm only a tiny bit bummed out about it because it was so much fun to participate in that it doesn't really matter and we'll be practicing for the next one. :)

I had a blast and plan on entering my second Ride & Tie event in 6.5 weeks.

Take along a small hydration pack, one that fits around the waist. The camelbak I'd brought was too bulky and I opted not to use it during the race. Train more, especially get in some longer runs on the trails.

Walked around a bit, cleaned up and de-tacked the horse. Ate pizza & hydrated.


Experience, partner lost his way on the trail.


Lots of fun! Can't wait until the next one. Truly a unique sport, and a cool combination of trail running and endurance riding for a one of a kind multi sport.


For anyone wanting to know more, here's the Ride & Tie website:
http://www.rideandtie.org/index.php

And a neat article on the sport:
http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4302
(this is same article that got my attention years ago, when I first heard of Ride & Tie and thought to myself that it would be fun to get into if 1) I ever started running again and 2) got a horse or found someone willing to loan a horse to me to use)