High Desert Runner

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🌵Holley, Forest, & Sultan
Colorado endurance rider & mountain adventurer
↠ Emirate SB - “Sultan”
↠ Belesemo Royal Actor - “Forest” (aka 🐓)

10/30/2026

Forest is learning how to be a big brave boy.

He needs hand-holding, cookies, and baby talk. If you get mad at him, he will harbor those feelings of betrayal for eons to come.

10/29/2026

Never a dull moment 🐥

10/27/2026

You don’t have to be a horse whisperer or expert trainer to teach your horse to ride in a neck rope. It’s literally so easy and most horses can do it.

This session with Forest lasted a whopping 15 minutes. I just started Forest under saddle this past spring and he has never been ridden bridleless, nor has he been taught to neck rein.

Step 1: hold your neck rope with your reins. I like to adjust the length so the neck rope is slightly shorter than the reins. This means my horse is getting a cue from the neck rope first, which is then reinforced with the bridle.

Step 2: drop your reins and guide your horse with the neck rope only. This is a safe way to see if your horse will actually listen to the neck rope. If things go sideways, just grab your reins.

Step 3: take off the bridle! Forest was responding beautifully to the neck rope, so I figured I’d take off the bridle and give it a go.

It’s important to note that Forest understands basic seat and leg cues. I am giving very clear signals with my body and simply reinforcing direction with the neck rope. I’m giving treat rewards often, especially when he does something really impressive like stopping and backing up.

Seriously, anyone can do this. If your horse understands seat and leg cues, give this a try! You will probably be really impressed with what your horse can do!

10/25/2026

Who do you think is better at climbing rocks? Sultan or the Beta 300rr?

Hint: it’s Sultan

(my husband disagrees)

10/23/2026

The most Octobery ride ever 🎃🍂

Forest wanted me to share his OOTD details:

🔸 Leather bridle & Ultra Hackamore by Graysville MFG (Sultan10)
🔸 Reins by Counter Canter Designs
🔸 Breast collar, martingale, & stirrup cages by Moss Rock Endurance
🔸 Saddle by PANDORA PERFORMANCE SADDLES
🔸 Fuzzy Butt in “Brown Bear” by White Horse Trading Post
🔸 Saddle bags by Broke Supply Company
🔸 Renegade Hoof Boots Vipers in Caribbean Dream (Sultan10)
🔸 Toklat Woolback saddle pad
🔸 Toklat Matrix T3 Flex Form girth

Comment if I missed anything!

10/22/2026

Blue Hill is an iconic feature of the Moab Canyons endurance ride. It’s a very steep, rocky climb that is much, much more intimidating in person.

The ride manager, Mickey, carefully flagged the safest route up the Hill and reminded all riders NOT to go up the extremely steep step-up.

Naturally, those instructions went out the window when I faced Blue Hill myself. I was completely alone on the intro ride with Forest and I had no other riders to follow up.

So we just fu**in sent it. Forest has earned his Mountain Goat card this year, so I put my full trust in this brave little 4-year-old.

However, about halfway up, Forest hesitated and lost momentum. I could feel his back foot slipping and I could feel him thinking about getting sideways and going back down. So I made the split-second decision to point him at the “no-no” step-up.

Thanks to Forest’s long legs, great traction from Renegade Hoof Boots, and me throwing all my weight up and forward, we made it up!

In hindsight, the correct line was pretty obvious and I’ll do it right next time. But I am really proud that Forest handled such a technical climb and didn’t back down from the challenge!

10/21/2026

Today, AERC sent out a poll to everyone’s email. The board is considering a motion to record introductory rides toward lifetime mileage.

I voted YES to this! Intro rides are shorter distances (usually 5-15 miles) and are meant to introduce new riders/horses to the sport before moving up to longer distances.

Intro rides have been instrumental in helping me move up in the sport. I did my first intro ride at Busch Cattle Co on my late OTTB, Lucy, in 2022. We learned how to camp, do vet checks, and follow flags on the trail. Our next ride was an LD.

My next intro was on a baby Sultan. We rode the Greenland intro ride in 2024. This intro ride taught me that I *can* handle a hot Arabian on the trail. During our vetting, I learned valuable information on how to feed and condition Sultan. Our next ride was an LD. 2 years later, we are doing 50s!

My most recent intro rides were on Forest, my baby Arab. I’m using intro rides for training, so he can learn how to behave at endurance rides. We have done 3 intro rides this year and our next ride will be an LD next season.

Intro rides have helped me figure out how the sport works, test new horses, and train young horses. Despite the shorter distance, they are still a lot of work. You still have to drive to the ride location, camp overnight with your horse, and ride somewhere completely new.

I would love to see my intro rides count toward my horses’ lifetime miles (and my own) because those rides were important to me.

Attached are photos of all 5 intro rides I’ve done over the years. I will always cherish these memories.

If you are an AERC member, check your email and take the poll!

Address

Hot Sulphur Springs, CO
80451 (PO BOX)

Website

http://Renegadehoofboots.com/SULTAN10

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