The Thinking Athlete's Sport

History, Strategy, and Camaraderie at the Ride and Tie World Championships

Observers often wonder if the sport is hard on the horses. Head vet, Jim Steere, is quick to point out that this kind of sprinting and stopping closely mimics a horse’s experience as a prey animal in the wild. Indeed, anyone who has competed in a ride and tie has no doubt that the horses think this is darned fun. When the riding partner ties the horse to a tree, the horse watches as he runs off. Then he turns his head to look for you, the runner coming to claim him. You see your horse waiting for you and call to him. He nickers in response. As you are untying him, he’s ready to go, wanting to gallop off to look for your other partner.

In order to do well, you need a little help from your friends. One of the hardest parts of ride and tie strategy is getting the timing of the vet checks right. One person rides in and runs out while the other person comes in on foot. You need to be able to hand the horse off to your crew. They cool him, calm him, feed and water him. They make sure that he is ready—pulse and respiration rates down to the mandated maximum—for the second partner to show him to the vets before the team is deemed eligible to continue. A good horse is a sine qua non; a good crew makes for an easier race.

People here refer to themselves as the "ride and tie family." That’s because it’s a close-knit, though ever-evolving, group. There are also a number of actual families who come and take part. The Ruprecht clan boasts three generations of ride and tiers. Eleven-year-old Sarah Howard is crewing for a number of family teams: her mom, Elaine Ruprecht, and her uncle, Tom Gey, multi-time winners of the Man/Woman division; her aunt, Carol Ruprecht, and grandfather, Ted; and of course, her dad, Jim Howard, and his partner Dennis Rinde. Sarah has been riding since before she could walk. Freckled, with long red hair, Sarah has already run a six-minute mile. I’ve called dibs on her as a partner in a couple of years.

For now, I’m lucky to have Running Times’ editorial director, Candace Karu, as my crew. Candace is my friend. I know that even if I scream at her during the race, she will still love me tomorrow. However, it wasn’t until two days before the event that I met my human and equine partners. My running partner, Michael Whelan, is exactly my height, which makes it easy to share a saddle (teams with big height disparities are either uncomfortable or use double stirrups). He’s run 44 marathons and was, for six years, a jockey in his native Ireland. Irish Mike heard about ride and tie six months ago and knew he’d found his sport.

We found each other through the organization’s website (www.rideandtie.org). We have leased our horse from Cliff, a long-time ride and tier who often brings rent-a-horses to races. Our boy is named Slick. He isn’t. He is dull, dirty, and seems, when we take him out for a test ride, a little dopey. He has an inefficient, not to mention uncomfortable, trot. He competed in a 50-mile endurance ride the week before and has a 100 miler coming up the following week. Slick works hard for his living.