Trace Tribute Endurance Ride
Meet the Trace Tribute TeamThe Trace Tribute Endurance Ride proudly introduces several of its key participants.Ride Manager: Angie Fura
Angie is a dedicated endurance rider and AERC Trail Master. Angie's skills as a Project Manager for Cigna lend themselves well to the ride management role. Angie is an excellent leader and organizer. Angie lives right on the Trace trail with her husband David, 4 Jack Russell Terrorists and two endurance horses, Khasey and Sabre.
Photo Courtesy of PicturesDanielTook.com Head Vet: Otis Schmitt
Dr. Otis Schmitt is a welcome sight at endurance rides all over the SouthEast region.
His careful attention and communication with the horses is almost legendary.Dr. Otis recently married his sweetheart, Becky Ridley, while attending the Alabama Yellowhammer Pioneer Endurance ride in October 2006. The pair snuck off the day before the ride to be married in a nearby town. They managed to keep the secret until after the pre-ride meeting! The Trace Tribute is pleased to have Dr. Otis as its head vet. Photo Courtesy of PicturesDanielTook.com Vet: Troy (Ike) Nelson
Dr. Ike rode his first ride in 2001 and for the first couple of years he got to ride quite a bit. Dr. Ike says "My wife, Rebecca, and I really enjoy being around the endurance people and horses. The last few years it seems I have worked more rides than I have ridden, but that’s OK. Like I said we enjoy just being there!" The Nelsons live in northwest AL with 5 dogs, 4 cats, 14 horses and an ancient pony named Macaroni. Photo Courtesy of PicturesDanielTook.com Vet: Nathanial Wright
Dr "Nathanial" is a member of Equine Medical Associates in Thompsons Station, TN. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He is also a member of American Association of Equine Practitioners. Although he spent some of his youth in the state of Texas, he is a Tennessee native. In fact, his family hails from an area not far from the Trace Tribute’s base camp. Dr Nathanial is very enthusiastic about learning about the sport of endurance and again joins the Trace Tribute vet team. When not practicing, Dr Nathanial enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his wife and one-year old daughter. Vet: Wendy Rosenbek
Dr. Wendy Rosenbek, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, is a both an endurance rider and veterinarian. She has been riding endurance since 2002 and vetting rides since 2005. For those that don’t know Wendy already, you’ll easily recognize her by her hearty, robust laugh and huge, friendly smile. She became acquainted with the Trace Tribute team last year when she called out of the blue and asked how she could help - the kind of volunteer every Ride Manager dreams of! Wendy made good on her offer and helped mark the trail, but she was not able to attend the day of the ride because of a previous commitment. She’s making up for that by vetting the ride in 2007! Wendy and her family enjoy the different activities that the Natchez Trace Parkway offers. Wendy and her competition horses Pablo and Reuben enjoy riding the Trace horse trails. Her husband Clay and son Bryce enjoy both cycling and hiking the Trace. It was Wendy’s passion for this beautiful trail system and the sport of endurance that inspired her to become a part of the Trace Tribute Endurance ride. Wendy’s practice is Ardmore Companion Animal Hospital in Ardmore, TN. Timer: Samm Bartee
Samm has ridden horses her entire life, seriously! Since her mother was pregnant with her.
Samm has ridden 2200+ AERC miles. She began riding endurance in 1991 on Appaloosas Moonlight Jet and Sir Revel. She still has both of those horses (they are 26 yrs old now).
Samm quit riding to pursue her other passion of Power lifting but continued helping Nancy Gooch at rides with timing. Samm discovered that she really enjoys helping at rides more than riding the rides. She says it gives her a great outlet for socializing while giving back to a sport that has given her so much.
One of Samm's greatest highlights was being able to attend the Tevis in 1998 thanks to Nina Barnett and Susan Kasemeyer loaning her Coujur to ride. Although she didn't complete that ride, it still remains one of her more vivid memories in this sport.
Farrier: Guy Buck
Guy Buck lives in Selmer,Tennessee, and has been a farrier for almost 24 years.
He is a graduate of Memphis State University and Oklahoma State University.
Guy has been in West Tennessee since 1991 and has concentrated on Endurance horses for over 10 years.
Guy has been working Endurance rides since about 1992 and is the "Ride Farrier" for a growing number of rides in the
Southeastern region.
He is member of the American Farriers Association and participates in continuing education every opportunity available. The Trace Tribute team is excited to welcome Guy as the official farrier in 2008.Photographer: Genie Stewart-SpearsGenie Stewart-Spears has been photographing horses, pets and people since 1984. The sport of endurance riding has occupied a major part of her time as she has been the Official Photographer for such rides as the Race of Champions, Pan American and North American Championships, World Championship, Old Dominion and Biltmore Challenge, to name a few. What a thrill to have her photograph the Trace Tribute 2008 ride. Genie's web site holds lots of fascinating photos of our wonderful sport. Please visit her at http://www.geniess.com. Trail Designer: April Johnson
April Johnson discovered endurance riding in 1998, but was unable to compete on
a regular basis until 2003. She completed her first 50 mile endurance ride in over
9 hours ride time and set the stage for her future endurance rides. April and her
horse, Tanna, now have over 1000 endurance miles together, all barely above a snail's pace.As a self-described "turtle award chaser," April has spent many hours on trail examining various trail marking techniques. For the inaugural running of the Trace Tribute Endurance ride in 2006, April helped Roger Barrett with trail layout, mapping and trail marking and de-marking. This gave her the skills and confidence to step up as the Trail Designer for 2007 and 2008. April lives 30 miles from the Natchez Trace trail with her husband Daniel, an avid photographer. April and Daniel have 2 horses. Tanna is April's endurance horse and Serts is Tanna's pasture buddy. April and Daniel also have a dog and 6 cats, including one that travels to endurance rides with them. Photo Courtesy of PicturesDanielTook.com |