Cross-country horse rider and savior stop in Fallon

Crow’s Ear Farm president Valerie Ashker, 60, from Georgetown, Calif., is riding her horse across the country on U.S. Highway 50 to raise awareness about giving retired racehorses a second career.

Ashker’s daughter, Laine, is a well-known competitive rider and Junior Olympic medalist. The former and her team stayed with Fallon family the Drosses. Their daughter Sydney heard about the trek and jumped at the chance to host Laine’s mom for her Fallon stopover.

Ashker experienced a slight delay in Fallon,though, when her two horses were playing too hard.

“We were trying to blanket them and Solar is a real Alpha and was nipping at Tivo, who is the smaller follower,” she wrote on a blog site. “We got the blankets mixed up because they’re the exact same color, so we were pulling blankets on and off, and Solar reached out with his teeth, and bam, Tivo hit a bull’s-eye on my back. Thank god he had his rubber easy glove boots on! That really did soften the blow.”

Ashker was treated at Banner Churchill Community Hospital where the doctor told her she had clean breaks to ribs seven and eight and a possible fracture of a third rib.

Although the doctor advised her to rest, she felt well enough to continue her journey.

The self-contained traveling trio with a high quality horse trailer includes Ashker, her boyfriend and fellow horseback-rider Peter Friedman, 53, and driver Willie Gaff, 20. Ashker said both men are generously giving five months of their lives to the cause that will take them from Georgetown — they set out May 9 — to likely the Middleburg Training Center in Middleburg, Va. The plan is to arrive in October for the Million Dollar Madness race day at Laurel Downs.

“Lainey has become synonymous with off-the-track thoroughbreds,” Ashker said. “They’ve put us on the map … Because of what they’ve given to us, I felt this was a great window in my life to give back to them. Many people don’t know that with the proper trainer, you can do what’s called a makeover and create a sport horse prospect. There’s nothing finer than a thoroughbred under your saddle. They’re the most athletic, giving, generous, strong, courageous horses you can be mounted upon. The cherry on the sundae is their heart.”

“I want this to be strong,” she said of her endeavor to inspire retired racehorse adoptions. “We all know the slaughter pipeline. When these horses are three-to-four years old, they’re done — but their life has just begun. We’ve already proved that, and now I’m going to take it right to the bank. Let’s get them out of the racetrack farm and eventual slaughterhouse and into loving homes.”

Ashker is riding her petite 7-year-old gelding, Primitivo, whose easy to get on and off of and now a pro at handling tricky highway travel, from the sounds to the roadside terrain. Friedman is riding her 17-year-old thoroughbred, Solar Express, who charges toward the next mountain, intersection or grade with tirelessness. Both horses are trusting their riders more and growing.

“I’m elated as to their progress,” she said. “Their fitness and health, they’re overall eye on the prize … I’m really happy about that … My horses look fabulous.”

“They’re not all Seabiscuits and War Admirals,” she said. “Most aren’t that fast, only an illustrious handful.”

The last Triple Crown winner was 37 years ago till last year’s American Pharaoh.

“There’s no money to just keep them (on the racetrack farms),” she said.

When asked what someone who wants to take action should do, Ashker said to just make one phone call to the nearest racetrack farm.

“If someone calls me up and says, Val, I’m looking for a horse,” she said, “I ask: What’s your level of riding? Do you have access to a great trainer? What’s your budget? … I want to know exactly what your wish list is because there’s a horse out there, and I can find it for you. You can adopt them for $1,500, a lovely horse, who you know the skinny about … I’ve supplied a lot of the Olympic riders on the east coast with a horse … It’s like a kid in a candy store for me, going to a racetrack farm.”

“Something like this (trip) I think is going to the draw attention of the right people … If only a couple fans get an off-the-track thoroughbred, I’ve done what I set out to do. It has been an incredible journey thus far.”

Ashker said the Highway 50 corridor is symbolic due to it being one of the oldest in the country. They’ll join up with parts of the Lincoln Highway, and they’ve also ridden some of the Pony Express Trail. Austin, Texas, is their next big city. She added that they’ve had many generous sponsors, from sunscreen to sustenance to riding gear.

“The reason why we do a host family,” she mentioned, “is it’s lovely, number one, with their hospitality—but this ride is about bringing people together. We used to drive through but never really stopped at these places.”

“We’re on the soil now; we’re watching the sagebrush blow over the road. We’re part of the network at this point. Meeting people just makes the world go ‘round. You talk to them, trade life stories … When we look back on our time, it won’t just won’t be the view (we remember), it’ll be the people.”