Mission Complete: OTTBs near end of USA ride

Valerie Ashker and Peter Friedman crossed into Virginia yesterday. They will conclude their months long ride across the USA in Middleburg on Saturday.

Valerie Ashker and Peter Friedman crossed into Virginia yesterday. They will conclude their months long ride across the USA in Middleburg on Saturday.

As the days dwindle down and the finish line of a 3,300-mile ride to prove the valor of the off-track Thoroughbred draws near, Valerie Ashker’s eyes fill with tears.

“Every time I think about this ride, I really start crying,” says Ashker, who expects to complete her journey on horseback, from California to Virginia, this Saturday.

Along with riding partner and friend Peter Friedman, the pair has climbed mountains and sustained falls and broken bones on a trip that started on clear day in May. “Looking back on the entirety of this, I’d say it’s been the ride of a lifetime.”

Primitivo
Sire: Monashee Mountain
Dam: Siberian Shamrock, by Siberian Summer
Foal date: May 6, 2009
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Solar Express
Sire: Bold Badgett
Dam: Proper Look, by Properantes
Foal date: May 18, 1999
And like any hard-earned victory, the going was tough. (Please follow their progress on Facebook page: 2nd Makes Thru Starting Gates).

Ashker, 60, sustained fractures to the ribs and clavicle in separate falls, and was also forced to take time out to investigate a suspicious spot on her lungs, that turned out to be scar tissue from a prior injury, and not cancer.

But no matter what came her way, Ashker and Friedman pulled on their riding britches, saddled their OTTBs Primitivo, 7, and Solar Express, 17, and road eastward.

“When I finish this ride, it will have changed my whole life,” says Ashker yesterday. With about three days left, she approaches the official end in Middleburg, Penn., at the Middleburg Training Track for Thoroughbreds. “I’ve made so many friends along the way. People who don’t know us have invited us into their homes for dinner. And, they’ve let us graze our horses and make camp on their land. We’ve all been pulled together, and immersed in the OTTB cause.”

Throughout the ride, supporters have welcomed Ashker and Friednman into their homes. Ashker is surrounded by new friends, and Solar, left, and Primitivo.

Throughout the ride, supporters have welcomed Ashker and Friednman into their homes. Ashker is surrounded by new friends, and Solar, left, and Primitivo.

Ashker and her daughter Laine have made their careers on the backs of off-track Thoroughbreds. Laine Ashker has ridden Rolex several times, most recently on her impressive bay gelding Anthony Patch. And her successes along with all that these animals have given to the Ashker family, was the inspiration Valerie Ashker needed to fulfill a lifelong dream to ride a Thoroughbred across the United States.

In an earlier interview, she said she used to dream of taking to the open road on horseback. When the dream became a reality on May 9, she soon discovered the ride was “not for the faint of heart.”

Primitivo was spooky at first. But the OTTB quickly learned to adapt to sounds of the road.

Primitivo was spooky at first. But the OTTB quickly learned to adapt to sounds of the road.

Tackling the hardest terrain first, Ashker and Friedman rode into the mountains, and at high altitude for the first month of the trip. At times Ashker questioned her decision, at other moments she made tearful phone calls to family members. But no matter how low her spirits dipped, the call of the finish line beckoned.

And her OTTBs never failed her. They even surprised her.

“Both of these horses have been incredible. Primitivo is an amazing little horse. He has matured greatly on this ride. He started off being sort of spooky, but he quickly became acclimated to everything the ride threw at him. He got used to the noise of really big trucks, the garbage trucks, dogs running out to the roadside to bark, and sailboats being trailered on the highway,” she says. “Along the way he became more confident in his own skin.”

Solar Express, who was her Eventing horse for many years, has been equally unstoppable as he carried Friedman across the country. “This horse never stops. He had his eye on the next mountain, and the next 20 miles, the whole time,” she says. “I used to complain about his forward gait, and being on-the-muscle too much. Now I see that he belongs in the realm of endurance horses. He led the way the entire time, his ears pricked. I’m watching Solar right now, standing by the trailer, and he looks freaking magnificent!”

When the incredible geldings arrive in Middleburg, they will be feted in a press event supported by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. And Ashker, her daughter and family will be there to hug and congratulate the pair after the journey of a lifetime. “This has been, bar none, the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “And I wouldn’t change a thing.”

6 responses to “Mission Complete: OTTBs near end of USA ride”

  1. Loral Thompson

    What a dream come true!! Good job! Mission to find a partner to join me!!

  2. Mary McLeod

    Although I have never met Valerie, Peter, Primitivo, and Solar, I feel I know you and am proud to know those who feel so strongly about OTTBs and who have achieved such a lofty goal!!! Don’t mean to alienate/insult anyone, but….Excellent work, Baby Boomers!!!! xoxo to ALL, Mary in Boone

  3. lisa

    I have followed your trip on facebook and here. Such a journey for you all! Congratulations! You have proved that OTTB are definitly as tough and versatile as any breed of horse out there. So happy you made the trip !

  4. Lori Koestler

    Oh wow, I am so overwhelmed by your journey and so proud of those precious horses????????????; watching you cross those bridges, I just held my breathe ????, those big old trucks barreling on by your one side and nothing but a long drop ???? down on your other… Enjoy your homecoming! May your horses ???? enjoy their retirement! Blessings to you and your family ????

  5. Christina Sawelsky

    I have followed your journey from day one…you, Peter, Solar and Primitivo are amazing!!!

  6. gerda silver

    How EXCITING!!!

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