At The Hold: A Podcast for Endurance Riders

Barb is an avid Ride & Tie competitor and recently logged More than 5000 ride and tie miles!  Yep!  You heard that right!  She is only one of two  in Ride and Tie History to accomplish this!  She met this huge milestone at the September 2026 Big South Fork Ride in TN.

Many of the rides, at least in the Southeast and Northeast Regions, are now including a Ride & Tie event. 

In this episode, Barb walks us through a Ride & Tie competition - from conditioning her horses as well as herself; choosing a partner to compete with; as well as how she developed a strategy for a Ride & Tie competition.

Barb is in her late sixties and only sees more trail miles ahead of her.  She is truly an inspiration.

To learn more about Ride & Tie Competitions, please visit: www.Rideandtie.org

Deb Ong, who has only been competing for slightly more than 2 and one half years,  along with her mare H Mocca H, recently won the 2026 AERC National Championship 55-mile held at Old Dominion in Virginia.  

Deb had not planned to enter the National Championship for various reasons but was talked into it.  She shares her lead up to the ride and ultimately entering.  Deb describes the difficult terrain at Old Dominion and how Mocca handled it  as well as being out in the lead until the very last loop.  It’s a great story.

Deb also shares Mocca’s story and how she came about buying her.  A great feel-good  story about a very talented mare finally finding her partner in Deb.

Deb talks about her career, her family, a grandmother of six.  Her husband Jim, who loves to come to the rides to crew and cook.  And, she shares another sport she was involved in and became quite accomplished at it.

Evelyn Baig and her gelding Obsidian aka Dart won the 2026 AERC National Championship 100-mile ride held at Old Dominion in Virginia  - also known as The Beast of the East - Not only did she win, but she did it with a near record time of 14 hours and 49 minutes. Her horse Dart won Best Condition as well.

Shortly After her win at The National Championship, Evelyn packed up and hopped on a plane to travel to Australia to ride in the Tom Quilty 100!  Evelyn shares her experience traveling to Australia, driving in Australia and riding various horses prior to the ride itself.

Evelyn also shares a great ride story about her most challenging 100 — the Big Horn 100 held in Wyoming which she completed in 2019.

I am especially excited to have Lara Worden back on the podcast.  This time to dispel the many myths about feed and supplements that we get bombarded with daily on social media.

However, In this episode, Lara dispels common myths about horse nutrition, covering topics like salt, electrolytes, protein, beet pulp, magnesium, and anti-inflammatory diets. You will gain science-based insights to make informed decisions for your horses' health. Lara discusses equine gut health, ulcer prevention, sand clearance, and effective supplement strategies. She shares practical insights for horse owners to optimize their horses' health and performance.

SOME CORRECTIONS NOTES:

But... a couple of corrections from the podcast because apparently even this nutrition nerd is not immune to typos and misspeaks on the fly: 

• Apple A Day Electrolytes ARE a sugar-free electrolyte. 
• One pound of a 30% ration balancer supplies ~136 grams of crude protein, not 30 grams. 
• Psyllium husk is a relatively "indigestible" fiber in the horse's digestive tract, but it also functions as a "fermentable" fiber (prebiotic) in the hindgut.

Lara, is a passionate distance rider, and has been around horses throughout her adult life. She began her journey in Competitive Trail as a junior rider in the Upper Midwest. After college, she moved to the Foothills of North Carolina with her husband, Tim, whom she introduced to distance riding. Together, they have been competing in endurance and distance riding for more than two decades.

Professionally, Laura serves as an Agriculture Extension Agent with NC State and Gaston County Cooperative Extension, bringing 20 years of experience working with horse owners. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Animal Science and a Master’s in Non-Ruminant Nutrition from Michigan State University. Her expertise and personal interests lie in equine nutrition, pasture management, and equine parasitology.  

All of which leads to many topics we are all interested in.  So stay tuned for many more episodes with Lara!  I encourage all of you interested to join Lara’s FB page called "Horse Post of the Day. " She provides solid evidence and research based information in her posts and each sprinkled with her great sense of humor which makes for a fun read.

Today, Lara and I talk about the many myths swirling out there on social media regarding horse feed and supplements.   So…get a notepad and pen ready - you’re definitely going to want to take some notes. 

Laurie is an admired, hardworking, caring and devoted fixture in our Endurance world.  She is the timer at 90% of the rides held in the SE Region.  She serves on the AERC Board of Directors as well as chairs and is a member of several of its committees.  

Laurie is a welcoming face at the SE rides.  She remembers you and your horse and is quick to say Hello and wants to know how things are going.  But what many of us are not familiar with is who Laurie really is.  

Well, stay tuned.  Laurie grew up in a military family and later married Jim, a military man.  To say she is well-traveled, is an understatement.  Like some of us, Laurie got into horses at a later age and began competing in Endurance in 2000 with her sweet heart mare named, Roar Kim Jaleel.  Over the next six years she logged 980 Limited Distance miles.  In 2006, the mare was no longer able to compete due to Cushings and other issues, but that did not keep Laurie away from going to the rides.  She has a long and dedicated career of volunteering as a timer now.

Laurie shares the challenges and pure joy of being a timer as well as the advantages of being a volunteer.  And, she shares some fun ride stories.

I hope you enjoy my chat with Laurie as much as I did. 

Episode 15 - Tracy Foley

Tracy is a life-long deep lover of horses.  It’s not a surprise that her very adventurous personality and life led her down the path of equine body work, therapy and strengthening.  And, thanks to a few FEI endurance riders, Tracy is now an endurance junkie just like us.  Many of the riders in the Southeast and Northeast Region may have seen Tracy at the rides, crewing and providing equine bodywork and assessment at the holds and after rides.

Tracy has a unique approach to her equine bodywork.  She walks us through her comprehensive evaluation as well as treatment and conditioning plans.  She also gives us riders some great tips about being balanced in the saddle and how our fitness effects our horse.  She specializes in kissing spine recovery and rehabilitation which you will hear more about in our chat and in her bio.

I think you will really appreciate and resonate with Tracy’s philosophy about our horses.  She encourages us to think of them as the athletes that they are, and to provide them with the proper resources to keep them in optimum shape.  

Tracy had the amazing opportunity to travel with Evelyn Baig’s mare Maggie’s NChanted Pipi, most affectionately called Pipi to Romania.  Uma Kraskin, and FEI Young Rider and Pipi were invited to compete in the FEI Young Riders World Championship held in Romania this last September.  Tracy shares her experience meeting up with Pipi in Germany, staying with her while being hauled to Romania and back.  As well as her work with Pipi and other members of the US team during the competition.

Tracy’s bio and credentials reads like this:

She holds certifications as an FEI Permitted Equine Therapist,  Equinology Certified Massage Therapist, and an EAGALA Certified Equine Professional. She has completed courses in Equine Physical Rehabilitation and Wound Care, including a nine-month internship with Summer Terry at Superior Therapy in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Superior Therapy worked closely with Veterinarian Cliff Honas in the development of protocols for post-surgery physical therapy for Kissing Spine Surgery, and they continue to contribute valuable insights to veterinarians performing Kissing Spine surgery in Texas and Oklahoma.

Tracy has extensive experience working with horse owners, trainers, and riders across various disciplines to enhance the physical fitness, strength, and posture of horses for optimal performance. She focuses on the prevention and treatment of Kissing Spine and Top Line Syndrome. Combining 15 years as a professional human fitness trainer with horsemanship skills and a decade of expertise in equine biomechanics, fitness conditioning, and injury recovery, she offers a specialized program aimed at maximizing the performance and the “Rideable Life” of horses.

Tracy has a deep love and passion for horses and I’m certain that this kind and caring energy is the key ingredient to her remarkable outcomes.

You can reach Tracy by visiting her website: www.EquusMaximusllc.com

Many of us in the Southeast, Northeast Region and beyond know Dr. Nick Kohut as he is usually the Head Vet at many of our rides.  Dr. Nick has also been part of the veterinary team for Tevis over the years.  And wait until you hear about the many adventures he has had vetting rides outside of the US.

During our chat, Dr. Nick gives us some insight into vetting Tevis, shares some funny ride stories and he provides some great tips for how to best present our horses at the vet ins and and vet outs, especially some great tips to riders with gaited horses!

In addition to having boots on the ground at many AERC and FEI rides, Dr. Nick has served as the president of AERC for the past six years.  We talk about the future of AERC and the upcoming 2026 Virtual Convention.

Dr. Nick grew up in Pennsylvania and lived locally until the early 70's.  He attended The Ohio State University achieving a B.S. in Animal Science and then his DVM in 1990.  He became a co-owner of Gap Veterinary Associates in 1996.  Outside of his real job,  Dr. Nick is quite involved with judging Competitive Trail Rides and Equine Endurance Rides.  When not involved with those sports, he is an active hunter and fisherman.  In his leisure time,  Dr. Nick and his wife Ranelle, can be found at their cabin along Penns Creek in Union county Pennsylvania with their dogs Jax and Jiminey.

This podcast is part of a series featuring the stories, struggles, successes and assessments of several riders that decided to make the journey and enter the 2025 Michigan Shore to Shore Ride.  

The Michigan Shore to Shore ride began in 1985 and was held annually until 2018.  With a tremendous amount of determination, love for the ride, energy and vision , Barb Kurti decided to take on the enormously challenging role of Ride Manager to bring this iconic ride back for one time only in 2025.  The ride was held Sunday, July 27 through Saturday, August 2.  Seven consecutive days covering 250 trail miles from Oscoda to Empire, MI following the established Michigan Trail Riders Associations trail connecting 10 primitive campsites from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.

In this podcast Kim Minarich shares her Shore to Shore Ride adventure with her BLM Mustang mare, Maybelle. Kim and Maybelle were the only same rider/same horse team to complete all 7 days of LDs! Maybelle completed in the Top Ten each day, received two High Vet Scores, and completed and won two 3-Day 25 Miles Pioneers!!

Kim shares the challenges of each day on the trail and the special people she met along with way. And, of course, there are some funny ride stories as well as some very emotional moments. Enjoy!

This podcast is part of a series featuring the stories, struggles, successes and assessments of several riders that decided to make the journey and enter the 2025 Michigan Shore to Shore Ride.  

In this podcast you will meet a SE super mother and daughter team Emily & Mattie Compton. Emily and Mattie along with 3 of their horses hit the road to attend the Shore to Shore ride.  Both mother and daughter started competing in endurance in 2019.  Emily has logged a little more than 2000 miles.  While Mattie has found endurance in her young blood.  She started riding with her mom as a one year old.  By the age of 5, she was riding  by herself.  Mattie completed her first LD at age 6, and at the age of 9, she is the youngest junior rider to complete the Old Dominion 100!  Now 12 years old, she has logged more than 3100 miles, with 6 attempts at 100 mile rides, completing 5 of them! 

The plan at Shore to Shore was for Emily, mom, to crew for Mattie who entered the 5-day Flex option - any horse any distance, any day.  With Emily’s major crewing efforts, Mattie was able to complete two 50 and three 25s, 175 miles of the trail.

Emily talks about the unique challenges of crewing at this ride and managing the crazy logistics of having 3 horses and crewing at the same time.  She is one dedicated and determined mom and superstar crew!  

Mattie talks about the trails, the challenges she encountered on trail and what she enjoyed best.  

I really admire this mother/daughter team.  I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did.

This podcast is part of a series featuring the stories, struggles, successes and assessments of several riders that decided to make the journey and enter the 2025 Michigan Shore to Shore Ride.  

The Michigan Shore to Shore ride began in 1985 and was held annually until 2018.  With a tremendous amount of determination, love for the ride, energy and vision , Barb Kurti decided to take on the enormously challenging role of Ride Manager to bring this iconic ride back for one time only in 2025.  The ride was held Sunday, July 27 through Saturday, August 2.  Seven consecutive days covering 250 trail miles from Oscoda to Empire, MI following the established Michigan Trail Riders Associations trail connecting 10 primitive campsites from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.

In this podcast you will meet Rebecca Wall.  Rebecca embarked on her Shore to Shore journey with the whole family in mind —  Her husband, Bryan, and 3 children, Franklin, Amelia and Owen.  And, mom, Kathy Burnett, came along for the adventure as well.  Rebecca and Kathy each brought two horses.  So with 4 horses in the horse trailer. Bryan was in charge of their 3 children traveling in a rented Winnebago. It was really rather brilliant.  The plan was for Bryan to take the kids for day trips to enjoy what Michigan has to offer along our trail route and beyond.  Rebecca and Kathy would primarily take care of the horses, horse trailer and ride.

Rebecca is fun, energetic, adventurous and has a ton on trail experience.  She has attended rides with her mother Kathy since she was two years old!  So to have her kids in tow to this ride is nothing new to them!  She has been competing in Endurance since 2000  with more than 4000 AERC miles to date.  She has been serving as nursemaid to a few of her Arabians, as many of us do.  Some of you may know Rebecca from her posts on the AERC Facebook page about her mare Fable who suffered a sever hoof injury more than a year ago.  Due to a very freak accident, Fable lost a good quarter of her lateral RF hoof wall and more.  Rebecca has been tending to that and Fable is coming along.  Her gelding, Roofie, recently had a tumor in his mandible removed.  As a result, Roofie is no longer able to fully retract is tongue.  So many of us in the SE region know Roofie — he is the grey gelding with his tongue hanging out all the time!  But, the boy is doing very well under Rebecca’s great care and watchful eye.  Roofie and her mare, Ruby came along for the Shore to Shore experience.

I have been fortunate to call Rebecca and her mom my friends, so it was so special to share this experience with them.  We tried to park next to each other at most campsites and Rebecca and I had the pleasure of riding together on day two.

Rebecca shares the sites and attractions her husband Bryan and the kids experienced, some of the crazy logistical problems, her time on trail and of course some funny stories.  I hope you enjoy our chat the humor Rebecca finds along the way!