Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Riders saddle up for Habitat

Sandy Battin News-Bulletin Editor; Sbattin@news-bulletin.com

Belen It was all about houses and horses.

The gates were open to the conservancy district's ditchbanks east of the Rio Grande just above the Belen bridge Saturday morning, something horseback riders don't see everyday. For the last several years, gates have closed off the ditchbanks to riders — and almost everyone else — in an attempt to keep vandals from trashing the canals that bring the lifeblood of water to farmers up and down the valley.

With clouds that looked as if they'd been skidded across the sky with an artist's palette knife and hints of yellow just beginning to paint the cottonwood trees of the bosque, it was a perfect day for 16 miles in the saddle.

Habitat for Humanity of Valencia County had invited folks to bring their horses to a bosque trail ride away from the din of traffic of N.M. 47 and close to the music of the end-of-season irrigation water. It was like getting a backstage pass to Mother Nature.

And the pickups and horse trailers pulled up with riders from as far away as Carlsbad. With the head-tossing glamour of runway fashion models, the horses backed out of their trailers and riders gave them a final primp with mane spray and curry combs.

Shine they did. One horse's haunches shown with the honey metallic glow of a copper Cadillac. An Appaloosa's white coat was studded with black circles ringed with gray petals, like some exotic flower.

Organizer Mary Andersen said that "the goal is not just to raise money, but to let the community know Habitat is here. We're no longer a hidden secret."

While she wouldn't be riding this day — "Oh, gosh, I haven't been on a horse in 40 years," she said — she was excited that the conservancy, the sheriff's department and so many other agencies and businesses had lined up behind Habitat to make the ride a reality.

The riders left Belen a little later than the expected 9 a.m. start, but the plan was to meet up with another contingent under the Los Lunas bridge and follow the ditchbanks to a barbecue lunch at the Bosque Farms Rodeogrounds.

Among those expected to join the riders in Los Lunas was Isleta's governor and planning director. Habitat has just completed negotiations to begin working with Isletans in building homes there. "We're hoping to assist them with building 20 houses in 20 months," said county Habitat director Les Swindle.

"Our goal is to eliminate substandard housing in Valencia County. We're doing it." The organization has built 112 houses from its founding more than a decade ago.

The money raised from the 45 riders will be going toward that effort. "Every house is built from donated dollars," Swindle said. "We need money to get homes started. We need to have one-third of the cost of a house before starting it — about $20,000."

In Habitat, families help build their own homes with sweat equity — and most also go on to help other people build theirs. The organization not only teaches them how to Sheetrock and put in windows, it also teaches the families how to deal with budgets, college savings accounts and other financial information.

Nancy "Pug" Burge of Peralta had volunteered to help with registration at the outset of the trail ride. "The bosque is just so beautiful this time of year," she said. "People who ride like being on horses and being outside.

"There's no traffic so you don't have to worry about dodging cars. Enjoying the bosque is what it's all about."

Volunteer Tony Williams of Los Lunas sat behind a triple deck of playing cards, waiting to help the riders draw three cards to begin making a poker hand. They would be able to discard as many as they wished and draw up to four more at the water station up ahead. At the end of trail, they'd get a fifth card and the holders of the best and worst hands would each win $25.

Kristin Stouber of Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque had come down to ride the trail with her friend, Erik Petau of Belen. "I like riding horses," she said. Petau predicted that, come the end of the 16-mile trek, "she'll be hurting."

Back at the horse trailers, Gary Wyttenboch of Albuquerque was preparing his Appaloosa, Sir Prize, for the trip. He loves trail rides and thought this one was for a good cause. "It's beautiful, especially at this time of year," he said.

Larry Lunsford had come all the way from Carlsbad with a group of educators from New Mexico State University and the local school system. "We love Habitat," he said. "It helps a lot of people. We came to help."

Jo Ann Van der Geest of Los Chavez had brought her half-Arabian Palomino Appaloosa Bubba to the event. He leaned his long head casually against her back as she bent to register at a table on the ditchbank. "I'm a back country horseman, and I love to volunteer. I'm always up to providing for a charity fundraiser. ... I've never ridden all the way from Belen to Bosque Farms, but I've ridden along the river off and on for 35 years," she said.

As they prepared to leave on their idyllic journey, the real world intruded. Trailmaster Dolly Wallace of Bosque Farms warned them that the sheriff's department was reporting an armed robbery the night before involving a Mercedes as a getaway car. "If you accidentally come across it, do not get close," Wallace warned. "Call 911."

A veterinarian was on call, she told them, along with a trailer that was on standby if needed if a horse threw a shoe. Water would be available for horses and riders at the midpoint.

And so they went, a pack of horses and a mule, a group of riders in caps and hats, off for an adventure.

In the end, Andersen said, all the riders and horses made it safely to Bosque Farms and many of them asked if Habitat would sponsor the ride again next year. Plans are already in the works.

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