What an amazing couple of days it's been for the Nevada Discovery Ride!

Most exciting -- around 6 am this morning Sandy gave birth to a beautiful little filly! She's the same pretty sorrel color as mom, but without a star and strip! We're told that mom and baby appear to be healthy and happy. We'll of course keep you posted on their progress!

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1/18/2013 *UPDATE* Whoops! The new little foal is actually... a boy! It's hard to tell when mama won't let you get too close! Sandy's adopter has decided to name him "Sammy" after me and the NDR. I'm flattered and honored!
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Sandy was a well-known wild horse from South Reno. She and her herd were rounded up by the Nevada Department of Agriculture in August and sent to the slaughter auction in Fallon. After thousands of dollars in donations came in, the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund was able to rescue Sandy and ALL her herdmates from certain doom. One donor in particular picked out Sandy and gave her to us, with the intention that she would be our second horse/pack horse for the NDR. We immediately began her gentling and training, but quickly realized she was pregnant. We've been waiting all this time for the foal to make its appearance in the world! Glad she finally decided to join us :)

In other good news -- we picked up two new sponsors this week! Menezes Brothers, Inc. offered to cover all of Sage's feed during the ride. Menezes Bros is a wonderful local hay and alfalfa producer and we're thrilled to have their support. Good feed is critical toward the success of our ride!

We're also excited to have Long Riders Gear/Riding Warehouse as a sponsor! The California company is well known supplier of endurance and long distance tack and gear. We'll be proud to get the rest of our gear from them!

It feels like all the pieces are falling into place as we get closer to the ride date! We've got almost all our gear and sponsors. The trail is set. The road crew is getting ready on their end. Sage and I are training. And the ride seems to be attracting an audience... Our Facebook page exploded this week and we are closing in on 1,000 fans!! I'm honored that we will have such a great platform to talk about wild horses!

It's a great time to ride in and around Reno. There's just enough snow on the ground to feel like your roughing it, but not enough to make it too tough! Sage, Bella, and I did a nice 10 mile loop today in the hills behind Spanish Springs. I was very excited to finally see some of the wild horses that I had heard rumors of. In all I spotted 14 horses - 3 in a small band, 1 solo stallion, and a big herd of 10. The solo stallion gave us a bit of trouble. He followed us for quite some time whinnying and snorting. Got Sage pretty worked up. Maybe he thought he was still a stallion too!

In other news, my good friend Bill lost one of his mules last week. Sage and I have ridden many times with Bill and Tracker, including last summer's ride up to Virginia City. She apparently escaped and most likely has teamed up with some wild horses. Please keep your eyes open in Gold Hill, Stagecoach, and Dayton. The flyer with pictures is below, or you can click this link: http://www.netposse.com/view_report.asp?reportid=1818&e=2024.

Happy New Year!!!! Here we are in 2013 and the final countdown to the ride can begin!

Well, we start the new year with a roster change because Sandy refuses to foal! The surprise pregnancy and the late foaling date mean that at this point there is just not enough time to finish Sandy's training and have her ready to accompany us on the ride come May. So we're back to square one for the team - just me, Sage, and Bella. I'll ride and light pack off of Sage. It would have been nice to have a second horse, but unfortunately time is just not on our side with Sandy. Worry not, we'll still have updates on Ms. Sandy and her baby... when he/she decides to enter the world!

As for the rest of us, we're in final prep mode. Sage and I are adhering to a strict riding schedule, and we're stocking up on the final supplies and gear. One of the next things big things for us to buy is the SPOT tracker. Don't forget that when the ride kicks off, we'll have a map on the homepage that will be linked to the SPOT which will track our location in real-time so you'll be able to see where we are at all times. This is an important safety tool for us, but it's also a fun way for you to follow us and see our progress.

The snow has fallen in Reno, but we're not letting that slow us down. Stick with us as we ramp up for the big date!