October 28th Leaderboard Update

October 28th Leaderboard Update and it was a wild week for riding for alot of people :-)  I even took my computer on my vacation down to Eminence, MO to make sure I kept it updated and I was very busy every nite posting everyone's rides.  It was a great week for riding....yes....a little cold, but great :-)

October 21 Leaderboard Update

Well here is this week's leaderboard a little late.  I would say I am sorry but I'm not :-)  I am on a horse riding vacation in Eminence, MO with friends and having a fabulous time :-)  I have been reading about everyone's great vacations will I was waiting for mine and here it is!  Have a great week all.... I am :-)

October 14 Leaderboard Update

October 14th Leaderboard update.  

It's starting to get cold, so bundle up and keep riding :-)  

October 7 Leaderboard Update

Here we are at the final quarter of the year.  Three more months of 2013.  My favorite time to ride.  I noticed the trees are starting to change colors and loose their leaves.  I'm hoping for a long, mild autumn.    Heard a great joke....Autumn is the only time that fall and riding should be in the same sentence :-)  Loved this!  Happy fall riding everyone :-)

End of September Leaderboard

End of September and a LOT of riding being done this past week.  Congrats to Team 14 for leading the way with over 1429 miles!!!  Have a great October everyone :-)

NOTE:  Tammy wanted me to pass along a message.  The Distance Derby shirts had a spelling error (can you find it?) and if you want to return it for a replacement you may do so. Some colors may not be available now because the supplier ran out.  She will not cover shipping costs, so that would be $4.00 to be paid in advance and you will have to send back your original T-shirt.   Please contact her directly with questions and more information.

 (BTW,  She will have to pay for it out of her own pocket since she made the error and none of us caught it all the many times we saw the logo before it went to inking.  Personally I am keeping mine since I never saw the typo and most other people who see the logo when I wear it won't see it either. :-))

September 23 Leaderboard Update

Happy Autumn everyone!!! 

 I love this time of year with all the leaves changing colors and cooler weather and less bugs :-)   Let's hope we have a long autumn with great cool crisp days for lots of riding!  

Oh, and what's wrong with this picture????

September 16 Leaderboard Update

September 16 Leaderboard Update.  

Congrats to Team 22 for leading the week.  We now have 4 teams with over 1100 miles and 3 more almost at the 1000 mile mark!

September 9 Leaderboard Update

First week of September Leaderboard.  I waited until today to update the board so more people who did the NHTC Trail Challenge could post their miles.  So here it is :-)

End of August Leaderboard

This is the end of August Leaderboard and we now have 4 teams over 1000 miles!  Congrats to Team 22 who leads the board with Team 14 less than 5 miles behind!  August was a great month for riding even with the heat.  Happy and safe trails for everyone this September!

August 26 Leaderboard Update

Congrats to Team 14 - Messick for reaching 1200 miles this weekend!  She helped with the timing ride for the Te-Kote Turkey Trot CTR coming up at the end of September and rode 49 miles during this hot weekend.

August 26th, just one more week and August will be over and here comes fall :-)  Gonna be hot this coming week, so ride early and make sure both you and your horse drink lots of water :-)

Still riding until he was 89 years old.

I never had the honor of meeting this amazing rider, but many of derby riders in the Lincoln and Omaha, NE area did.  He had the passion that we all understand and kept riding till a week before he passed away.  I sure hope I can still be riding when I am that age.  RIP Mr. Ketzler, you are an inspiration for riders everywhere!

Donovan "Van" Ketzler, and his horse, Showdrift, in March 2013.

Donovan “Van” Ketzler has made his final ride. Ketzler, 89, a horseback rider who trained others how to ride during World War II, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack in his Omaha apartment.

He had been president of the Dehner Boot Co. in Omaha until semi-retiring about 24 years ago. But he continued going to work as chairman emeritus to the end, his children said Saturday.

Ketzler also helped create the Omaha Police Department mounted patrol. And he helped found the North Hills Hunt, a group that relishes the riding and camaraderie more than it cares about hunting foxes, said son Jeff Ketzler of Omaha.

The Dehner Boot Co. makes equestrian and military boots and boots for law enforcement. President Ronald Reagan enjoyed wearing the boots. So did Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The company's roots are in Kansas, but it was moved to Omaha in the early 1930s.

Ketzler began riding horses as a boy at Fort Omaha and became an excellent rider, competing for a time. He understood horses and had a rapport with them, said son Jon Ketzler of Madison, Wis.

“He taught me how to fall before he taught me how to ride,” he said. “Dad said you had to fall off a horse 75 times before you could call yourself a horseman.”

Friend Vicki Krecek said Ketzler rode his horse Snowy just a week ago in the Valley, Neb., area. Three weeks ago he rode for two hours. “The horse was exhausted,” said Krecek, an avid rider herself. He was a tough guy who didn't mind getting banged up a bit. Krecek said if he suffered a scrape or worse — he broke his leg while getting used to Snowy 17 years ago — he liked to say: “Well, it's a long way from my heart.”

Donovan Ketzler graduated from Central High School and enlisted during World War II. He served as a riding and weaponry instructor at Fort Riley, Kan. He was shipped to India, Burma and China during the war and retired from the Army Reserve as a major in the early 1970s, his children said. He flew the American flag from his apartment balcony. Ketzler told a World-Herald reporter in the spring: “I was a cavalryman, I am a cavalryman and I'll die a cavalryman.”

He and his wife, Bette, were married for 62 years and loved to travel. Bette Ketzler died in 2009.  His dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Poteen, was his close companion in his final years.

Jeff Ketzler said then-Mayor P.J. Morgan asked Ketzler in the 1980s if it might be possible to start a mounted patrol in Omaha. “That was the wrong thing to say to my dad, because with him, everything was possible,” Jeff Ketzler said. The patrol now has a strong presence here.

Article published by Omaha.com on August 18, 2013 By Rick Ruggles / World-Herald staff writer

August 18 Leaderboard Update

Middle of the month Leaderboard Update is here.  Most of the schools are back in session which means more riding or less riding.....I guess it depends doesn't it :-)  Have a great week everyone.  Congrats Team 22  for leading the way this week!