Feature: Never say never

FEATURE

Never say never

Pam Karner is a remarkable woman whose philosophy on life has taken her where others might fear to tread, writes REBECCA ASHTON.

Pam Karner has a philosophy. “Never shrink. You never want to say no, or that you can’t do things. You get scared of pain, you get scared of failing, you get blinders on and you get smaller. So, just keep going.” The 68-year-old retired vet is worth listening to. In recent years, she’s not only completed two of what are arguably the toughest horse races in the world, but she also won this year’s lightweight division of the 160 kilometre Tom Quilty Gold Cup. The American grew up in New Jersey in a non-horsey family. “As a child, I saved babysitting money so I could take riding lessons.” Pam went on to become a large animal vet, not something women did in the early 80s. Her drive for the more interesting things in life was already becoming apparent.

After marrying an Australian and visiting her in-laws in NSW, Pam found that the only jobs available to female vets in Australia were in small animal medicine, so the couple moved back to the States where Pam started a large animal practice. “The first breakthrough was when a gentleman phoned me. His beef cow had a prolapsed uterus. He called me because he’d made a bet with his buddies that I couldn’t do the job. Anyway, I got it in and suddenly people started to call.”

It was during this time that Pam began riding endurance. She loved riding and being in the woods so it was the perfect sport. She had to train at odd times, like at night when the kids were in bed, and was able to fit in a couple of competitions a year. A friend would often take her horse while she drove through the night to the competition, rode, and then drove home. “It was insane. You can’t say no, though. You need to follow your passion.”

After selling her practice, the time was perfect for Pam to undertake the first of her recent big adventures, the 2018 Mongol Derby. “I remember going to the museum as a girl with Mum and seeing pictures of Mongolia. You know how some places just draw you in? I never forgot

that.” The 1,000 kilometre race must be completed in 10 days and requires riders to cover 100 to 160 kilometres a day, switching horses every 40 kilometres.

It took Pam eight and a half days to finish and it was a pretty tough slog. “I had a hard time. I got really sick on day four with a bad stomach ache and never got well. I hadn’t drunk enough and had taken too many electrolytes. Unfortunately, I just happened to half fall off my horse at a horse station with a medic watching. I told them to give me a minute to stretch my stomach out and really, if there was something life threatening going on with me, I would have stopped. I had to sign a waiver that I wouldn’t hold them responsible! There was no way I was stopping. The Mongol Derby is a lot of luck,” she concludes, “you just have to push through.”

She followed that ride with the Gaucho Derby in Patagonia earlier this year, attracted by the romanticism and excitement of the region. “It was amazing. You try to put it into words and it kind of diminishes it.”

For Pam, the most memorable part was the horses. Eight of them carried her on the 500 kilometre route and her respect for them grew as she recognised their capabilities. “The first day I got off and walked up a very, very steep mountain. I realised that they actually did better if you just stayed on them. You get on their neck and they stay straight and lunge. If you see this from behind you think the horse might flip over. We went over rivers with monster boulders, and through forests with no tracks because it’s too high for cattle.”

The tough Criollo cross horses were tied to a bolder at night and ate lichen and sparse grass whilst en route, drinking from the cold rivers they forded. Navigation was a challenge and the ride wasn’t without its mishaps. Although a bond was formed while riding the horse, once off, they were often skittish. At one stage Pam lost her horse as it took off down a river, her saddle and gear dumped in the glacial run off. Pam retrieved her horse and her gear, most of which had thankfully been in wet bags with a broken toothbrush the worst casualty.

The Gaucho Derby must be one of the world’s most remote. Gauchos herd as many as 40 horses at a time up mountains for the riders. Medics and vets ride with their supplies on pack horses. The reality of the situation hit

FACING PAGE: Tobias Endress and Pamela Karner finish the 2022 Gaucho Derby. TOP: Pam draws her first mount for the 2022 Gaucho Derby. BOTTOM: On the home stretch. All images by Richard Dunwoody

home for Pam when fellow rider Daniel was kicked in the head by his horse. Pam recalls: “Right behind me I heard this smack. He was on the ground. Luckily he had his helmet on. I ran over and he wasn’t breathing. I tried to feel for a pulse and vaguely remember someone calling for a medic. Just as the medic arrived, he took a deep breath.” Because it was a clear day and they were on a mountain top, a rescue helicopter could land. Five kilometres further on, it might have been different. But Pam warns against focusing on such events. “If you were fearful of that sort of year-old mare Flamingo Saphire. I looked for three years to find her. I’ve had her for two seasons.” The pair won the lightweight division, were fifth over the line and crowned best condition for the lightweight section. “It’s taken 25 years of distance riding to get all the skills and then it’s all got to come together. Plenty of times it doesn’t.” The planets have certainly aligned for Pam this year. And what’s next? At the moment she’s back in America taking a vacation from chasing her dreams. “The Gaucho especially was so spectacular that I feel

Near the finish LtoR: Ciara Cahill, Sarah Endress, Tobias Endress and Pam.Confidential I need to soak it in a bit. I’m not getting any younger, but I don’t want it all to become a mad dash.” But don’t think Pam is hanging up her boots. She has her eyes set on more adventures.

thing, you just wouldn’t do it. You have to have the attitude that nothing is going to happen, just like when you did those crazy things as a teenager. You have to be really prepared and train well, but just enjoy winging it.” Basically, you deal or you don’t deal.

Straight after the Gaucho, Pam and her husband were back in Bellingen, NSW, where they now live half the year. Without missing a beat, Pam was onto her next project, the Tom Quilty Gold Cup. “I have this amazing horse, an eightHer final words of advice for the older thrill seeker are to never let yourself become riding unfit. “I think that’s really one of the keys. Getting that fitness back as you get older really sucks,” she says. “You have to be someone who will persevere and not give up, have a forward looking attitude, never think of quitting and you just can’t let any fear creep in.”

Potties Stockholm Tar

A mild antiseptic for the treatment of chronic skin diseases of the hoof, corns, quarter cracks, split hooves and heels.

Nervine Powder

Vitamin B1 supplement for horses under stress.

Nervousness, stress and poor performance can be a result of deficiency in essential vitamins, poor quality feed, transporting, after sickness and during periods of high performance work.

White Ointment

Zinc based.

Allows rapid healing, is a UV protectant and protects against invasive dirt and bacteria.

Isogel

Muscle, joint and tendon pain relief.

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Green Ointment

Anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

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