From The Horse's Mouth: Transition Tuesday Week 22

Crossing the 20,000 Mile Threshold

Celebrating Kevin Waters

Kevin Waters and Tahoe’s Thunder won first place and Best Condition at the Virgin Rim ride when they crossed the finish line in Nevada on September 20. Kevin also reached the noteworthy 20,000 AERC career mile marker.

Kevin and Tahoe at the National Championship 100 in 2009. Photo © by Merri Melde & Endurance.Net.

Originally from Chicago, Kevin is not really sure why he started in endurance – or what keeps him in it. “You do get to see a lot of country,” he said in his characteristically ironic way. He started riding horses when he was three and took on his first endurance ride at the Black Hills ride in South Dakota. When he crossed the 10,000 mile mark, he was sure he would quit riding endurance. Now that he’s doubled that mileage achievement he says he hopes he won’t make it to 30,000 miles. We’ll just have to see about that.

Kevin and Ali 'Palomino' at Tevis.

Kevin has been using Easyboots regularly for more than 20 years now – mostly the Original Easyboot, and mostly over shoes when the trail dictated it. In some years he was able to get as many as 1,000 miles out of a single Easyboot. In 2002 alone, Kevin accumulated more than 2,000 miles. In that same year he rode all five days on the same horse at each of the New Mexico Renegade; Fort Stanton Pioneer; Outlaw Trail and Owyhee Canyonlands Pioneer rides. He did it all in Easyboots and managed to take home five BC awards in the process.

Like an old friend: the Original Easyboot.

At his 20,000 mile mark, none of Kevin’s competing horses are in shoes. He made the leap to barefoot almost 12 months ago. He was riding the horse he affectionately refers to as Palomino at the Las Cienega Pioneer Ride southeast of Tucson in December 2008. “The steel shoes wore out before the three days were over, so Garrett helped me pull them and we used a set of Gloves so I could finish all three days. I haven’t looked back since.”

That’s a bit of an understatement, considering Kevin has gone on to win seven BC awards this year, and counting, including Overall BC at Paunsagaunt (Bryce Canyon) XP five-day in September. Every BC was in Easyboot Gloves or Glue-Ons.

Garrett helping Kevin apply a set of Gloves to Palomino in the mud at Strawberry Fields.

Kevin’s training strategy is uncomplicated: he usually starts his horses by running with them. He’ll climb aboard only once he feels the horse is mentally and physically ready to carry a partner. All of Kevin’s horses are long term competitors: he attributes high mileage in a horse to being able to resist the temptation to ride up front too frequently. “I try not to get caught up in the speed,” said Kevin, “I prefer steady over speedy.” The one constant in Kevin’s own training protocol is to run: he usually runs for an hour every day. He likes to run in Asics, and thinks the sport of endurance will see a resurgence of runners in the next few years.

If you have seen Kevin at a ride, this is probably how you saw him.

Kevin has not had as many horses as you would expect over a 20,000 mile career. Nor does he want to calculate how many miles he has driven in the various rigs he has owned. Three horses seem to stand out for him. His first endurance horse –George- was very highly spirited. He is 30 now, and still lives at home. On Al, he rode more than 6,000 miles, and more than 4,500 miles on Quidado. “I always ride according to how the horse feels on that day.”

Rides are not always a trot in the park for Kevin. He took Tahoe to the National Championship in California this year and although they finished, they did not have the kind of ride Kevin had planned for. “He got metabolically upset up in the first 13 miles and then just would not settle down and would not pulse down the way he usually does. It was just not his day.” Tahoe went on to get first place and BC at Virgin Rim ten days later: you just never know.

Kevin Waters on Day 1 at the Grand Canyon XP last weekend. Photo © by Steve Bradley.

Kevin feeds electrolytes quite sparingly, usually buffering them with molasses or apple sauce. On a hot, long, challenging ride he will give smaller doses more frequently.

His strategy for resting a horse is also unique to each horse. Every horse gets some rest every year – usually as much as two months per horse.

A trio of horses in Gloves.

There are currently three horses competing in the Waters’ herd, with none currently in the pipeline. He has owned 11 year-old Tahoe since he was six months old. He ran with him in hand from ages two through four, then had a young girl use him in lessons for a year before running with him for another year. He started competing in endurance with him in 1999. “Two horses are definitely easier than three to keep going!”

Kevin can often be seen spending time running with his horse at a race. He says he usually runs about 10% of a race, but when I have seen him at competitions I’m sure he has run more than that. In the earlier days, he says he ran as much as 90%.

His running strategy proved to be very successful at Tevis this year where he finished in 30^th place on Palomino after running about 25% of the trail. This was Kevin’s first Tevis attempt and it was a much more enjoyable experience than he had anticipated. He found riders and crew to be nothing but generous; the army of volunteers and vets helped his vet check experiences run smoothly and efficiently. “And the ledges were not nearly as tough as I expected them to be,” he said. “The only thing was that you just had to keep hurrying all day.”

When asked what one piece of advice he would give to the reader, he encourages a transition to barefoot today. Quidado is now 19: Kevin is convinced that he would have enjoyed a longer career if he had switched him to Easyboots ten years ago. Quidado used to battle issues from contracted heels and almost got laminitis. “I just wish I’d gone barefoot sooner.”

Kevin and Palomino at Grand Canyon XP in 2009. Photo © by Steve Bradley.

“If things go wrong with Easyboots, it’s all your own fault,” Kevin went on to say. “Johanna and I don’t trim that well, but we are learning, and we have found that boots are much more forgiving than steel shoes. Now my horses have no more bruising and no more crumbling of the hoof wall.” He laughed when I asked him what he thought the biggest challenge was in using Easyboots: “To stay off to the side of the road.”

Kevin’s short-term plans include returning to the Big Horn in 2010 because it is an unusually challenging ride in terms of trail and resources. He says his long-term plans are to quit endurance. Like I said, we’ll just have to see about that.

Keep up the boot legging!

Kevin