May 31 2015by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
Horse riding and travel often go hand in hand. Californian Tracy Hofstrand is attempting to ride on all of the continents (Antarctica excluded, though she plans a visit there). Being an endurance rider, and being that Australia is another continent to conquer, and that the country just happens to hold a challenging endurance ride in the Tom Quilty, it was an obvious choice for Tracy to ride in it. "It is a difficult ride, a national championship. Also the ride has the most entries that I will ride in! It is bigger than Tevis which I did in 2012," Tracy says. "It offers a nice buckle for completion awards, has a big party afterwards, and the people are very generous and friendly."
Tracy's been riding endurance for 13 seasons, and has close to 3000 AERC miles. She will be riding Deanna and Roy Trevena’s 11-year-old Anglo-Arabian gelding Dumaresq Jackson. "Jack" has competed in endurance for 6 seasons; he completed the 2009 Shahzada 120-km Mini Marathon, and the 2014 400-km Shahzada. Tracy's husband Jeff will be her strapper for the ride.
She's looking forward to seeing the Sydney, Australia area, visiting friends and hosts Lee-anne and Charlie Guaci whom she met on the 2011 XP ride, riding the trail, and making new friends. Most of all, with a bit of luck, "I'm most looking forward to coming home with a buckle to keep my Tevis buckle company!"
The Quilty will stream live - bookmark this link: http://www.tomquilty15.com/
For more stories, photos, adventures and results, see
http://www.endurance.net/international/Australia/2015TomQuilty/
