There was ice on the water tanks at sunrise but the temperatures rose to the low 60’s by early afternoon for the first endurance ride of the year in Texas. Over 100 riders gathered at the LBJ National Grasslands to compete on the 50 miles of permanent trails. This year’s ride attracted riders from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Forty-eight riders took to the trails at 7:15 AM for a fast and extremely competitive 50-mile race. At the halfway point, the top horses were separated by only a few minutes. Forward Motion, ridden by Shelley Bridges, made a bid for the lead covering the third loop’s 15 miles in a fast paced 1:09 to open up a three minute lead over the nearest horse. The next four riders were a scant 12 minutes behind the two front runners with 10 miles to go. Featherweight Shelley Bridges, riding for the Trinity Riding Center, increased her lead to 5 minutes in the last loop, winning with an overall time of 4:09. While this was not Forward Motion’s (a.k.a. Thumper) first time in the top ten, it was his first win for owner Sherry McGraw. Bridget Cavanaugh, riding Karronick, held off a strong challenge to place second by less than one foot over Terry Nance on Jetalong Mandate. The top ten was rounded out by Bobbie Barber/Kash, Lynn Zeigler/Bab Sheeba, Jan Wright/Bab Terah, Bethany Cobb/Symbolic "Zia", Gail Fiebelman/Obsyssion, Tracy Webb-Hoskins/Flight Leader and Kathleen Prescott/Jazz Baar Star "Jazzy". Flight Leader was presented with an embroidered wool cooler for his overall Best Condition score of 697. Symbolic "Zia" was awarded the reserve BC honors. Cameron Holzer, in her first 50 mile ride was the top placing junior rider with a time of 6:58. Three riders optioned out during the ride with all the remaining riders finishing within time.

The 35 mile event started with 12 horses at the civilized time of 8:30 AM. Ulama Arabesque, ridden by Patsy Hoffman, was first to reach criteria with a time of 4:13. Shetan, ridden by Monica Chapman, was judged Best Condition with a score of 666 from the field of eight horses who presented to Veterinarian Steve Slushier. Jared Bell, riding RS Mac Douglas, was the first junior to complete the race out of the eleven finishers.

The twenty-five mile Limited Distance Ride was well attended with 43 riders taking to the trails. Bask Genial "Buddy", ridden by Lightweight Kimberly Hearn, was the first horse to reach the 60 criteria set by Head Veterinary, Dennis Seymour. Kimberly Norris, riding Alota Bijon, were the first junior pair to reach criteria. W A Fire Starter, who was ridden by MariAnn Byknish, was awarded the Best Condition cooler for their 704 score. Reserve BC was awarded to Shadrach, ridden by Mike Campbell.

The Frigid Digit was sponsored by the Texas Arabian Distance Riders Association, a club in Region 9 of IAHA, and was sanctioned by AERC.