by Shannon Weil
Long before endurance riding evolved to embrace cushioned saddles, biothane tack and helmeted, electrolyte-toting riders, the fledgling sport watched as a chestnut mare, Bint Gulida, and world class rider Linda Tellington traveled the trails in true endurance style.
While growing up in Edmonton, Canada, every member of Linda Hood’s large family was involved with horses. Linda, the eldest daughter, won more than her fair share on “catch rides” — showing for other people on their horses. Unmistakably, she was a first class horsewoman.
Linda’s grandfather Will Caywood was a significant influence in her life. Caywood’s credentials included training race horses for Czar Nicolas II in Russia, and in 1905 he won the distinction of leading trainer at the Moscow Hippodrome racetrack. He touched the heart and mind of his granddaughter and taught her how to quietly hear the nature of horses, the worth of herbal remedies, body massage and secrets of gypsy lore.
Also living in Canada was the adventurous New Hampshire-born Wentworth Tellington. Went was brilliant, earning degrees in English Literature and American History from Columbia University and Harvard University, then transferring to Norwich University, a military school in Vermont that trained young men and horses in a highly disciplined U.S. Cavalry horsemanship program. He later became an officer at West Point where he taught mechanical engineering and polo. He also rode as a competing officer at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Later Wentworth became the Chief Geophysicist for a large consortium of American oil companies. He formed a partnership and set up a pack horse outfit catering to geologists, engineers, and explorers to research oil and mineral possibilities in the rugged, far reaches of Canada. They rented out 30 to 40 pack horses; all the while Went was perfecting his eye for the finest qualities in horses.
On the final day of the Canadian Spring Horse Show in 1952, Wentworth sat next to Mrs. Hood, Linda’s mother. He was astonished by Linda when she won the big “knock down and out” jumping class (many classes had up to 60 entrants). Her precise equitation, together with her bold and fearless style, smacked of star quality. Frankly, Wentworth was instantly smitten. Despite the fact that he was 20 years her senior, he soon knew that he wanted to marry Linda; finally her parents allowed him the privilege. Linda and Went married in 1955. Linda continued to rack up blue ribbons and had a promising future as a professional competitor.
In the late 1950’s Linda and Went traded the cold Canadian weather for a warmer climate and moved to Puerto Rico where he taught at a bi-lingual school. A year later they relocated to southern California where they landed at the renowned Chadwick School in Rolling Hills, California. The school’s horse stable soared with activity upon the Tellingtons’ arrival, which soon led to the development of their horsemanship program.
By then, there was only one endurance ride in the west — the Western States Trail Ride, well regarded by the Tellingtons. Went and Linda viewed this ride as a way to profile their program. By applying Cavalry Horsemanship training methods – where the principle objective was to train riders and horses to travel great distances over difficult terrain for long periods of time – an ideal way for Linda to make a name for herself in California. She had been training several horses but none seemed capable of withstanding the rigors of long distance riding. Now all she needed was the right horse.
After reading Arabian horse magazine advertisements and researching bloodlines, Went and Linda settled on the horses bred by Dr. John L. and Ellen C. Doyle of Sigourney, Iowa. The Tellingtons hauled their trailer to Iowa and arrived at the typical mid-western breeding farm. Linda remembers, “The Doyles were very nice people and they brought out several 3-year-old horses including a chestnut filly with a white blaze, splashes of white on her legs, alert ears and a wide observant eye.” This was Bint Gulida. “She had only been haltered once or twice,” said Linda, remembering how they closely inspected the skittish filly.
When asked what made her pick Bint Gulida, Linda paused for a moment and said, “That’s a good question…,” another pause, “only Went could answer that question.” Since Went passed away in 2000, we can report the details from an interview Anvil Magazine editor Rob Edwards conducted with Went, which describes why he chose the frightened chestnut filly.
“Well, she was some horse!” Wentworth boldly expounded.
“She was a very well-built animal. She had a fantastic barrel; her flank area measured 3” greater then the heart girth gifting her with great lung capacity. She had, as W. R. Brown would say, “a roomy middle,” and she was very well let down. Her knees and hocks were close to the ground, so she had short cannon bones and good, clean, long muscles in the forearms and in the gaskin area. She had a powerful body, and her forearms moved a very light load below the knees. And it was of good leverage because it was closer to the ground. With a horse whose knees are too high, you’ve got poor leverage and not as much muscle to move a lot more weight. So structurally that was a good thing about her. She was an extremely well-balanced horse fore and aft. She didn’t have too long or too short a neck. She had one of the loosest gullets of any animal I’ve ever touched. You could manipulate her gullet even when she was nervous, and it was always a shakable gullet.
“She had a big spread between the jaws so she had no trouble breathing. And she had a well-set tail. A horse whose anus is too far forward is not a good prospect. It’s more important even than a slope of the shoulder. The slope of the shoulder is a critical thing, however. The line of her shoulder was perpendicular to the slope of her ilium — just ideal. All those things were great physical attributes. She had only been handled enough to halter break her and have her feet taken care of.”
Went elaborates on his research of Bint Gulida’s bloodlines. “She was a W. R. Brown type that had been chosen by Carl Raswan who was the guru of Arabian horses for decades. W.R. Brown formed the Arabian Horse Registry in 1908 and had some wonderful horses and did promotional racing with the United States Army from the Third Cavalry Regimental Headquarters outside of Burlington, Vermont, to the Washington Monument. W. R. Brown’s good gelding, Crabbet, won this 300-mile race every time. Bint Gulida was the granddaughter of Gulastra, Brown’s most famous stallion. I took all that into consideration, but I picked her as a specimen on her own. She was an Egyptian-Arabian horse with the highest possible qualities.” Went ends his comments, however, by saying, “But I wouldn’t pick an Egyptian-Arabian just because it was an Egyptian-Arabian.”
So Bint Gulida, born 24 September 1956, a chestnut mare by Ghadaf out of Gulida who was by Gulastra of the Saklawi Jedran Ibn Sudan strain, held a substantial pedigree. She had a straight Egyptian lineage from the Crabbet Stud in Sussex, England where in 1878 Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt imported the first Arabian horses to England. The iconic history was continued by their daughter, Lady Wentworth, who carried forward the huge success of this magnificent breeding operation. The Sheykh Obeyd Stud, just outside of Cairo, Egypt, was also founded by Wilfred and Lady Anne Blunt where half of the horses were kept, with many of the best ones shipped to the Crabbet Stud in England.
Bint Gulida’s bloodlines are savored in Al Khamsa, Inc., an organization devoted to the preservation of the Bedouin Arabian horses bred by nomadic horse breeding tribes of the desert. Her pedigree is described by these terms as well, Asil (which means pure), Blue List (a list originally published in 1961 by Miss Jane Llewellyn Ott as a catalog of horses proven to trace in every line directly to the Bedouin bred horses of the desert), Doyle (we’ve already met the Doyles), and Heirloom (Egyptian Arabian horses descend entirely from the Al Khamsa Foundation Horses and their predecessors exported from Arabia Deserta before 1914 that figure in the pedigrees of the Root Mares and Root Stallions of the Royal Agricultural Society preservation breeding program).
Bint Gulida was definitely built for endurance and now she belonged to Linda Tellington.
“We brought her back to Chadwick and just observed her for a few weeks. Despite her feisty behavior, I was determined to ride her but Went doubted that I would ever be able to get on her back because she was so reactive,” Linda says. “So I just started ground driving her a little more every day, then slowly I started getting on her bareback.”
Linda remembers from over four decades ago, “I read that American Indians would break their horses at night so I waited until after sundown to ride her and soon I was riding her bareback in the dark.” She went on to say, “I truly believe Gulida tuned into me quickly because of the night riding.” And that is how the duo ultimately solidified their bond.
Gulida, who stood 14.3 hands, continued to challenge Linda who had trained and ridden hundreds of horses by this time. “If anything was out of sorts with me, Gulida would pick up on it immediately. I really had to pay attention to her and kept my own emotions in check. She didn’t miss a thing,” Linda relates. “Any horse will mirror you and reflect how you are feeling so I paid close attention to how I felt while around her.”
Once Linda began riding Bint Gulida regularly, Wentworth implemented his regimented training program five days a week with two days off. He was always testing endurance horses to see if they were worthy of Cavalry standards. “One day we would be cantering for 10 miles, the next trotting for 20 miles,” reports Linda.
In her 1969 book, The Arabian War Horse to Show Horse, Gladys Brown Edwards discussed the action of a horse. Historically, “the Bedouins did not use this gait (the trot), so it was undeveloped to the point that Arabian horses were often described as two-gaited when first they were imported.” Edwards went on to say, “Considering that the trot was an unused gait in the breed for countless generations, it seems to me that its progress is remarkable. There is still the strange conglomeration of ways of going, but nevertheless there are more good movers and the others are either improving somewhat or else going out of style.” It appeared that trotting was coming back into fashion through endurance riding.
After awhile Linda and Bint Gulida progressed rapidly. “Bint Gulida never had an unsound day; she was amazing. It was very difficult to tire her out. “ Their bond was remarkable. “I felt like I was hers, like we were a Centaur, as if we were one.” Of all the exceptional horses Linda has ridden none of them compared to Bint Gulida. “She really took care of me. I never questioned her judgment; we had a very special trust and she was so much more than a horse. I loved her intense curiosity and she always wanted to know what’s over the next hill – and she loved going down the trail. It was a great feeling to always be in tune with her. She loved being outside, no matter what — storms and everything. She was probably the smartest horse I’ve ever had and most responsive. She never failed us with her mind.”
By now Linda’s reputation as a horse trainer was becoming well known. Miss Jane Llewellyn Ott, who originally published the Blue List of Arabian bloodlines, sent her Al Khamsa Arabian stallion “Lothar” to Linda’s stable for training and breeding. Other horses included an incorrigible mare named Al-Marah Rainbow owned by Bazy Tankersley. A previous trainer had no success with the 6-year-old mare, and the recalcitrant Al-Marah Rainbow was declared unusable and sent back to pasture. Linda met Al Marah Rainbow and discovered she possessed the same characteristics as Bint Gulida, so she went home with Linda and was transformed into an excellent riding horse. She also took on horses for Arabian breeders John Rogers and Patricia “Tish” Hewitt of Friendship Farms in Illinois. “I have found that some of the hardest horses to initially connect with turn out to be the best ones in the end.”
The now 5-year-old Bint Gulida would deliver a breakthrough performance for endurance horses: compete in two 100-mile rides in one year! The year was 1961, and this was unheard of.
Training preparation was well under way. As most riders did back then, Linda spent a week in the Auburn area prior to the ride. “While practicing for Tevis, I slept on the ground in the paddock by my trailer. One night, Bint Gulida actually laid down beside me to sleep,” Linda fondly remembers. On another morning, Linda was sleeping when Bint Gulida ducked under the corral rope and took herself for a walk. Linda woke up, called her and she came right back to camp. “On another afternoon we were camped near Foresthill and I parked our five-horse van in a clearing and walked to get some food – I looked around and Gulida had caught up with me; she just wanted to go along. Her intelligence was exceptional and she became very sociable. I never spoke loudly to her and I wouldn’t have dreamed of punishing her because she was so sensitive.”
In July of 1961 the Tevis started 45 riders and saw 28 finishers. It was the first 100 mile ride for both Linda and Bint Gulida and they finished in the Top Ten in 6th place. Drucilla Barner won the Tevis Cup on Chagitai and the Haggin Cup wasn’t conceived until 1964. Once forbidden from riding the 100 miles, it was rumored that these women just might excel at the sport of endurance riding. . .
In September two months later, the Tellington team loaded up Bint Gulida and headed to Moore, Oklahoma for the Jim Shoulders 100 Mile One Day Ride. The ride was in honor of the legendary cowboy who dominated the sport of rodeo during the 1950’s and had won 16 world titles.
To get the lay of the land, Linda and Went pre-drove the trail in a Jeep a few days before the ride. They made detailed notes on yellow 3x5 index cards that Linda carried with her during the race in order to stay on pace and identify all the turns. Nothing was left to chance.
The ride started at 2:00 p.m., theoretically in hopes to avoid the Oklahoma heat. With a hatless head, a white blouse and riding pants, Linda rode in a McClellan saddle. As evening fell, a critical factor loomed over the ride management: The date had fallen on the dark of the moon and many riders were at the mercy of a pitchblack night and got lost. The index cards tucked in Linda’s pocket kept her locked into her riding plan. “By the time the morning light broke, I had ridden 94 miles. I was tired and sleepy and I knew we were far ahead, so I just walked Bint Gulida to the finish line.” The total elapsed time was 16 hours and 36 minutes; riding time was 13:36 and Linda’s mare, Bint Gulida, was declared to be in better condition than any other horse in the contest — “ready to go on.” By the way, Linda and Gulida finished five and a half hours ahead of the second place horse and rider.
In the Tellingtons’ 1967 book, the first of its kind published on long distance trail riding, Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding Manual, it tells of this win: “Finishing in good form, Linda’s position on Bint Gulida is erect. Bint Gulida’s stride is smooth, long and efficient as she takes the final step crossing the finish line in a winning time and winning (best) condition too.”
Linda did not ride in any endurance event during 1962; her record of winning both time and best condition at the Jim Shoulders Ride stood until seven years later when the legendary Pat Fitzgerald set a new record.
In 1962 the Tellingtons moved to Hemet, California where they developed and managed Hemet Thoroughbred Farm with 80 mares and two stallions. In addition, they had an Arabian horse operation called Banat Ar-Rih Ranch with 20 Arabian mares and two stallions. One of the stallions was Miss Ott’s Lothar. Linda’s grandfather, Will Caywood came from Hialeah Racetrack to live with the Tellingtons for awhile, and that’s when he shared his 60 years of secret remedies and massage methods he had learned from Russian Gypsies at the Russian racetrack. He attributed the success of 87 winners to these practices.
By 1964, the Tellingtons had moved to Central California and founded the permanent home of the Pacific Coast Equestrian Research Farm. It was on a 365-acre ranch, in the foothills east of Visalia at about 1,600 feet elevation in the oak studded foothills of the lower Sierra Nevada mountains. The nearest town was Badger, California, with a population of 13.
The mission of the Pacific Coast Equestrian Research Farm was to explore technology and tradition as it applied to horses. The subjects included equine transportation, leather care, equipment, feeds, specialized techniques for wound care, training, detecting physical ailments, and peaking for competitions – especially endurance rides — specifically the Tevis Ride. In the Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding Manual, the Tevis Ride was cited numerous times as a model endurance ride. It notes that there were a handful of rides across the country and in Canada – Wendell Robie’s Tevis Ride was always revered as the pinnacle of distinction, the ultimate standard.
The Tellington’s School of Horsemanship was divided into a summer session and a nine-month program; students came from nine countries and 36 states.
In the mid-1960s the Tellington wrote a column for Western Horseman Magazine called “Let’s Go.” One of the issues touted, “The Western States Trail Ride began about 10 years ago with less than 10 riders. Now it is an internationally recognized event with over 50 riders annually.”
“We’re cookin’ on the front burner now!” was a common phrase used by Went when his projects were in full swing; indeed he had many projects simmering. In the late 1960’s, the PCERF hosted a weekend packed with competition that included the 50-mile two-day, Class A NATRC ride, the 50 Mile One Day “Sontag Evans Getaway,” the 100 Mile Two-Day Research Ride commemorating the “Vienna to Berlin Ride of 1892.” Wentworth was big on naming events after historical occurrences; Sontag and Evans were two Old West 1800s outlaws and train robbers in the area. The weekend list of participants included a who’s who of endurance riding at the time: Richard Barsaleau DVM on Good Trip, Pat Fitzgerald on Ken or Lanny, Phil Gardner on Cricket, Cliff Lewis on Black Jack, Marion Robie (Arnold) on Hailla, Julie Suhr on her Peruvian Paso mare Marinera, Susan Riley and her Mustang, Shannon Yewell on Ringo or Big Red, Rho Bailey as crew, and a cast of other local characters. And of course the legendary Charlie Barieau appeared at remote locations with his camera and his constant companion, a poodle named “Shoes.”
“There were so few rides back then that we would go to every one we could,” said Auburn resident and AERC Founder Phil Gardner, winner of the Sontag Evans Getaway 50 mile ride. “We would leave our jobs early on Friday afternoon, load our horses in the trailer and drive all night to get to the ride.” Marion Robie (Arnold) proved her grit as a seasoned endurance rider by wearing a pair of skimpy canvas Keds sneakers and riding English stirrups irons lacking any rubber cushion. Her grandfather, Wendell Robie, had trained her well.
In typical Cavalry style, Went had thrown in a number of obstacles that were designed to offer time points. If you chose the obstacle, you were allowed to continue on a shorter course.
Dr. Barsaleau remembers, “We had the option of riding down banks, slides and over jumps. I had to take a four-foot jump that included a drop, cutting 2-1/2 miles off the trail.” Riding his wonderful bay mare, Good Trip, he won the ride that year. “We also swam a pond and gained more time,” he recalled. “That was the only endurance ride with those types of obstacles.” Went was in a rowboat serving as lifeguard. It was a memorable moment when non-swimmer Pat Fitzgerald nearly drowned while walking totally submerged across the bottom of the pond while his horse was swimming above him. Pat finally surfaced, sputtering and gasping for air, on the other side of the pond. Those were the days!
Bint Gulida’s Breeding History
Wentworth noted that “I have always believed that a great horse will never make a good sire or dam directly; it’s their brothers and sisters or their grandchildren that make good sires and dams. I never expected a great son or daughter of a great horse directly. That has proven to be generally true. If Bint Gulida had had a sister, I would have ideally bred the sister, because great athletic mares don’t make very good mothers. Interesting enough, Bint Gulida’s dam, Gulida, produced three other foals by the same sire as Bint Gulida (GHADAF): Gulnara (1952), Jadib (1954) and Gulnaret (1955).
At the Research Farm, Bint Gulida was held in the highest esteem and was exemplified for her hallmark characteristics as the quintessential horse. Even Gladys Brown Edwards singled out this mare in her book The Arabian War Horse to Show Horse. “Bint Gulida, (Ghadaf-Gulida), a mare inbred to GULNARE and consequently also to *RODAN and *GHAZALA; with nine fairly close-up lines to MESAOUD, and also linebred to RIBAL, has a remarkable record in these affairs. She was 6th in the Western States 100-Mile Ride in July (1961) as a warm-up, then in September won the “Jim Shoulders 100 Miles in One Day Ride” in the unprecedented time of 13 hours and 36 minutes. She finished the hundred miles more then five hours ahead of the second horse. She was owned and ridden by Linda Tellington.”
“Gulida had two foals for us — Kaweah (by *Bajram) 1965 and Jacpot (by Bezatal) in 1966,” Linda said. “Gulida would always wait for me to arrive in the barn before she foaled. I think it was rooted in our bonding in the dark when I first began to ride her. Then she left our ranch for a year in 1968. I leased her to Ed Johnson to be bred to Bezatal and that’s when Cougar Rock was foaled.”
The day the mare came home, Linda was on a long trail ride and when she returned Bint Gulida was at the distant end of the pasture. Linda fondly remembers, “I called her name and she came galloping to me. That was an affair of the heart.”
Another horse Linda rode proved his versatility, including Tevis completions. A magnificent bay stallion named Hungarian Brado, a Hungarian Furioso, was a consistent champion that Linda rode in numerous disciplines. He won the Open Jumping Gamblers Stakes in the Oakland International Horse Show and one week later, he placed in the top ten at the Tevis Cup 100 Mile One Day Ride. On this occasion he drew position 127 in a field of 127 and had to pass more horses than any other horse in the history of the ride to achieve his final position. When Brado’s competitive career ended he was sent home to Countess Bessenyey at the Bitter Root Stock Farm in Hamilton, Montana. Bint Gulida followed him there and they produced several unregistered foals.
Early in the 1970’s, avid horsewoman and daughter of a U.S. Cavalry officer Danica Cucavich DuBois, was residing at her ranch in Woodside, California. It struck her that many of the endurance horse bloodlines were vanishing and she became fixated on learning more from endurance riders such as Bud Dardi, Jesper Peterson, and Paige Harper. It was Dr. Richard Barsaleau who told her that no one was specifically breeding for endurance horses. Danica’s pursuit to honor the champion endurance horse bloodlines grew even stronger. Her friend Paula Fatjo, a breeder of Egyptian Arabians and former member of the WSTF Board of Governors, suggested she contact Linda Tellington who would know the whereabouts of Bint Gulida. A telephone call to Linda led her to Countess Bessenyey at the Bitter Root Stock Farm in Hamilton, Montana, who had purchased Bint Gulida from Linda Tellington when she and Wentworth split up.
Charmed by Danica, Countess Bessenyey decided to sell the mare to her for $1,000. But…there was still one condition — her farm manager, Bud Ruard, would have to approve of Danica’s stallion before he would leave the mare with her. The handsome grey passed with flying colors; Bint Gulida had a new home.
At age 20, in 1976 Bint Gulida produced a grey filly, Gulida Fa Raada, by Fa Raad. The following year a chestnut Bint Bint Gulida by Omagh was foaled. That ended Bint Gulida’s reproduction career leaving a total of seven foals: 1963 Tengrii, 1965 Kaweah, 1966 Jacpot, 1968 Cougar Rock, 1971 Silm, 1976 Guilda Fa Raada, and 1977 Bint Bint Gulida.
Cougar Rock by Bezatal was perhaps Bint Gulida’s most brilliant offspring. He belonged to Ed Johnson, then was sold to Jack and Mary Dale Underwood. He has sired over 195 horses and the names of about half of them begin with “Rushcreek.” Cougar Rock stood at the Rushcreek Land and Livestock Company in Lisco, Nebraska in the 1970’s while he was owned by the Underwoods. These horses have proven exceptional for endurance riding. In his sunset year, he was left under the care of someone near Soledad, but he was being neglected. Danica received a phone call from Mary Dale Underwood who asked if she would please take him. Danica had him shipped home where her father received him. When Danica called to see if he had arrived, her father said, “Cougar’s bones are here – that’s all I can tell you.” Every rib could be counted; he was in very sad condition. Six months later, October 1988, Cougar Rock died.
Danica’s reverent love for the Bint Gulida bloodlines led her to yet another stallion, this time it was Cougars Gold who she would picked up for the board bill that was due on him. Dr. Barsaleau accompanied Danica to see the 4-year-old horse. A survivor, this horse had been living in less than desirable conditions. She brought him back to her home in Cool, California where he lives today.
By 1969 the glue was melting that held the Research Farm together; the magic was slipping away. Linda and Went were ready to go their separate ways. Wentworth moved to San Francisco then later to Auburn. He served on the Western States Trail Foundation Board of Governors for a number of years and wrote several more books, including in 1979 with Linda Tellington-Jones, Endurance and Competitive Trail Riding. He spent several years gold mining in North San Juan and finally moved to Tucson, Arizona where he passed away in 2000. He was always moving forward, dreaming up grand ideas, sharing knowledge. He was a great teacher and inspiration to many.
Linda moved to Los Altos Hills where she became Linda Tellington-Jones and established the Westwind Hungarian Horse Farm showcasing the Hungarian Furioso horses of Countess Margit Bessenyey’s Bitter Root Stock Farm.
By the time endurance riding had hit its stride, Linda had developed Tellington Equine Awareness Method (T.E.A.M.) and Tellington TTouch. She studied with Moshe Feldenkrais who created a method to improve human functioning by increasing awareness through non-habitual movement. While still in the Feldenkrais program, she was the International Coordinator for the 1976 Great American Horse Race (from New York to California) and organized and trained Icelandic horses for 10 German riders who rode them across the U.S. She was with the spin-off group that formed the 1,960 mile Pony Express Ride from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. She has influenced hundreds of riders to put their toe on the starting line of the Tevis Cup Ride, including this writer, and served on the 2002 Tevis Cup Committee.
In 1977 Linda was invited by two of the German Pony Express (XP) riders, Ullu and Claus Becker, to introduce the sport of competitive trail riding in Germany. Linda nabbed the two XP spearheads, Dave Nicholson DVM and Kate Riordan, to serve as the Veterinary Judge and Horsemanship Judge. This was yet another example of how Linda has spread the seeds of the sport of distance riding.
Linda has written 18 books about her work, covering all species, and continues to give clinics and courses in the United States and Europe. She resides in Hawaii with her husband Roland Kleger and her Westie “Rayne.”
As for me, in all that I’ve admired about her, I can definitely say that in the forty years that I’ve known Linda, the only thing I’ve ever seen buck her off was a crooked chaise lounge chair.
First published in the Tevis Forum pp. 5-7
