Mason tackles Quilty

ney, where she completed the Tom Quilty Endurance Ride.

The event, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, has been on Mason’s bucket list for more than 10 years now.

The challenge, that 341 other riders took up, was to travel 100 miles in less than 24 hours.

‘‘It’s 100 miles in one day, one horse, one rider and we start at midnight,’’ Mason said.

The middle weight rider said she crossed the Del Rio Riverside Resort finish line after 13 hours, taking 36th place in the process.

‘‘It’s a hard ride, it’s a tough ride. I tried to do it 10 years ago but my horse went out lame.’’

She said a major shoulder injury three years ago put her out of action,but after reconstruction in April last year she dived back in to training.

Mason spends two to three hours a day, six days a week keeping herself in form.

The 80km Nation Endurance Ride North Island champion said she is just glad she made it over the finish line.

‘‘ The third and fourth loops were very tough. We had to go up through the goat tracks and in the rocks.

‘‘I got to one checkpoint and asked the lady, ‘where do I go from here?’ She pointed and I tell you it was steep as. I got up and walked and I probably walked for 5km.’’

She said it was a pleasing result considering she had a rough start on the novice horse she had borrowed.

‘‘She was a naughty horse. It was a mass start . . . she just lost the plot and reared up and dumped me twice.’’

But the purebred Arab pulled through for Mason.

She said a huge thanks to Donna Pettley, who always made sure her forest tracks were laid out for training.

Mason is now eyeing the Shahzada Memorial Endurance Test, a 400- kilometre cross- country route.