MARK WAITE / PVT Big Country -- Riders on the Seventh Annual Pony Express ride formed a picturesque scene among the hills in the background between Crystal and Pahrump. MARK WAITE / PVT Michelle Phillips, a member of the Pony Express ride committee, hands off the mail bag at the conclusion of the ride at Boomtown, set up behind the Saddle West Hotel and Casino during the Wild West Extravaganza at sunset Saturday. Advertisement

CRYSTAL -- Jim Hannah, trail boss for the Seventh Annual Pony Express Trail Ride, said there were only three rules, at the start of the ride from the Short Branch Saloon here on a cool, Saturday morning.

"The first is no drinking, no drugging. The second is have respect for the people you're riding with and for the environment, no trash, nothing like that out on the trail. The third is pay attention to what any one of the officials on the ride tells you," Hannah said.

After what Hannah said was the most enjoyable pre-ride party in his seven years on the trail -- a barbecue and camp out at the Short Branch Saloon Friday night -- he estimated a record turnout of 66 riders mounted up ready to take off at 8 a.m.

Pastor Paul Jordan, in his opening prayer, gave thanks for the ideal weather. Past Pony Express trail rides were held in hot, almost summer-like conditions.

"There's no wind, your hands have been here and you just made such a beautiful day, may it be a fruitful day of happiness on each and every one's journey today. I ask your blessing upon each and every one's journey, give them wisdom and especially guidance in the path each and every person will take. Surround them with a hedge of protection against the elements they will face today," Jordan said.

Actually, the brisk, north wind picked up by mid-day. The real Pony Express riders, like "Pony Bob" Haslem back in the short-lived history of the service in 1860-1861, didn't have the benefits of cellular phones to inform their friends about the location of their horse trailer. Latter-day riders and their supporters, like Kathy Cheney, chatting at the cattle guard, do. The Nye County Sheriff's Auxiliary was out in force, to guard against traffic at the first cattle guard on Highway 160.

Hannah said riders would also have more amenities on the seventh annual ride, with a lunch truck serving up Mexican food at the first couple of rest stops.

"We want more people from Pahrump to be involved, so we made it a little, I don't want to say easier, but a little less daunting, a little less intimidating," Hannah said.

Michelle Phillips, a member of the Pony Express committee, remarked, however, that she was ready to put her horse on a trailer if the rest of the ride continued to be so rocky. It smoothed out farther from Crystal.

By the time Mitchell Sayles, a member of the Las Vegas chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers, led the pack into the Jiffy Mart on the north end of Pahrump at 3:05 p.m., they were an hour and a half late.

But no one seemed to care.

Jerry Fuge, Southern Nye County emergency coordinator, said he counted 55 riders leaving Crystal; by the time they pulled out of the water stop at Ohio Road in Johnnie, he counted only 30.

Michelle Berthoty, of Las Vegas, was on her first trail ride after hearing about it from a friend. She didn't normally take out her paso fino as far as the 33.2-mile trail ride Saturday though.

"He's in pretty good shape," Berthoty said. "I like it. I mean, I wish it wasn't so rocky, it was pretty rocky on their feet, but that's Nevada."

"It's been great weather and it's just great to see what my horse can do," she added.

Steve Corso, owner of Silver State Auto Repair, was also on his first ride. He spent two months preparing.

"I figure I'm going to go all the way. It's either I'm going to drop dead or he's going to drop dead," he said of his mount. "He's doing pretty good. I know he's getting tired."

While the riders were late, Corso said, "it's better late than never, to say I did it."

Horse trainer Tom Shiloh, said some of the riders needed to condition their horses for the long ride, more than 30 miles this year, after only a 17-mile ride around Pahrump Valley last year. But he also referred to the rocky trail.

"It's not the distance, it's the terrain," Shiloh said. "Other than that, it's a fantastic ride."

Shiloh suggested taking a horse out three to four miles per day to condition them, and in 60 to 90 days they should be able to go 10 or 15 miles.

A few riders had to opt out because their horses went lame. Others, like rodeo rider Josh Garrett, traveling with his little boy, had the benefit of a backup horse, furnished by his dad, Steve Garrett, who brought along seven extra horses from Panguitch, Utah.

Trail ride coordinator Doug Shaw hinted at a possible change in the route for next year.

"I think we made the trail too long and too rocky coming through that area," Shaw said.

The game plan changed with the late arrival into the Jiffy Mart, and an advance party high-tailed it into Boomtown for the Wild West Extravaganza in the parking lot at the Saddle West Hotel and Casino to hand out the mail only about 40 minutes late, just as the sun was setting at 6:15 p.m.

The tradition of handing off the mail bag at the rest stops wasn't played up as much as the initial Pony Express rides. Instead it was more of a trail ride. In fact, trail ride organizers couldn't identify where the mochilla with the mail was on the route.

But letters were delivered and the mail got through no matter the weather conditions.