17th Annual Pony Express Reenactment, October 15, 2011
Rider news updated as it happens at the start of this page, or follow the links to other information.

HOWDY, FELLOW PONY EXPRESS RIDERS!

9/26/11: Want to Ride for the Pony Express??

Calling all Pony Express Riders -

The Pony Express Reenactment will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011. Segments run from the Yucca Valley Post Office to the 29 Palms Post Office.
This is for competent riders only. Remember to condition your horse in the weeks before the ride. This is a vigorous ride. The mail carrier must average 6 miles per hour. This is an express.
Advance sign up Mandatory. For insurance reasons all riders must be MBHA members with a current liability form on file with the MBHA (memberships and forms will be available to you if you need them - let us know!).
Riders are asked to wear period clothes, walk with a limp and spit with western authenticity and charm.
Interested parties please contact Kim Ortamond ortamond@yahoo.com

9/22/11: Planning Meeting, 6pm behind the Yucca Valley Community Center.
On October 15th, 2011 the Pony Express Mailbags will travel via two routes, one leaving the Yucca Valley, California Post Office and traveling 26 miles arriving the same day in Twentynine Palms, California, or leaving the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, traveling 10 miles and joining the run from Yucca Valley and going through the 75th Pioneer Days 2011 parade at 10:00 a.m.

The ride is dedicated to the Pioneering Spirit and the Grand Marshals of the 2011 Pioneer Days celebration – The Hatch Sisters. The Hatch Sisters are daughters of homesteaders Bill and Ada Hatch who were among the early Pioneers who helped make Twentynine Palms a community. Ada, the oldest sister, taught school for 30 years in Page, AZ. Martha is an accomplished calligrapher and a water color artist and she resides in Los Gatos, CA. Elizabeth (Liz) was the first woman Mayor of Twentynine Palms, served 8 years on City Council, taught 28 years at Twentynine Palms High School and is currently a Board of Trustees for Copper Mountain Community College and on the Copper Mountain College Foundation Board. The three sisters are pictured on the stamp from a photograph taken circa 1949 when they were dressed up to go to the Pioneer Days Celebration. The horse and rider is Greg Rogers on his Warmblood from the 1997 Pony Express ride.

Take Part in History: Send Mail by Pony Express! * Purchase your $5 Pony Express stamp and envelope. * Address your envelope and add your personal greeting to the letter. * Mail your letter in a Pony Express Mailbox. Your letter will travel via Pony Express horse and rider from Yucca Valley to Twentynine Palms. After entering Twentynine Palms all letters will be specially hand-cancelled and enter into the regular U. S. Mail to be delivered as addressed. These commemorative letters are a great collector’s item. Address letters to friends, family members, or servicemen. Sponsored by Morongo Basin Horsemen’s Association Mailboxes located at Cowboy Attic in the Historic Plaza in 29 Palms, 29 Palms Chamber of Commerce, Desert Trail Office, and White Rock Horse Rescue.

The annual Pony Express ride will take place on Saturday, October 15th, 2011. Many changes are in the works, from the riders' route to the addition of a companion ride so everyone who wants to participate can do so. For those not able to ride an actual leg of the Pony Express, another option will be available so you can join the riders as they turn in the mail.

There are MANY details to plan, and help will be needed to make this another great P.E. year. The first of several organizational meetings will be held this Thursday, August 11, 2011, at 6:30pm at Sherry Wood's house. If you are interested in helping out with this event, PLEASE contact Sukulina Das or Sherry Wood ASAP. Even if you can't make this first meeting, we need your help! We will be putting together groups to work on all the areas needed, so get your name in and lend a hand! Call for directions to the meeting, or just to show your interest!

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN US!

For information: Sukulina Das 365.2653 sukulina@gmail.com or
Sherry Wood 760-364-2154 sherrywood10@hotmail.com

RULES FOR RIDERS

For insurance reasons all riders must be MBHA?members with a current liability form on file with the MBHA. Riders who have not paid their entrance fee and submitted a liability form cannot be a part of the
Pony Express Reenactment.

Entry Fee $25 MBHA?Members
$35 Non-Members (Includes 2010 MBHA?Membership). Family rate $15 for second rider in a family and $5.00 each for the rest of the family members.
Riders will receive a Pony Express Rider badge, a commemorative bandana, and a rider certificate. We ask that riders who have received a badge in previous years please use that badge. If you have an old
west alias such as Deadshot Darla or Jumping Bean James please make sure to include it on your signup sheet so we can put it on your rider certificate.

Riders are asked to wear period clothes, walk with a limp and spit with western authenticity and charm. We will provide some websites for period clothes, can arrange for a riding accident so you can walk with
a limp, and will have spitting lessons at the breakfast. If you have an old west alias such as Deadshot Darla or Jumping Bean James please make sure to include it on your signup sheet so we can put it on your rider certificate.

If there is more than one rider signed up for a section the riders can go as a posse. However, the mail carrier must maintain a trot of at least 6 miles per hour. This is an express. There will be several hundred people waiting in Pioneertown for the mail.

Riders who plan to ride the whole trail need to provide their own escort across bridges, etc. This is an express and the MBHA cannot hold up the mail or provide an escort for riders that cannot keep up
with the express riders.

Please be at your station 20 minutes prior to your departure time in case the preceeding rider gets there early. If you get to a station and the next rider is not there at the scheduled time, call David Kronick. If you alter your route, you must still be at the assigned meeting point , at the assigned time.

Bring water and snacks for yourself and your horse. Hoof pick, halter, and lead rope as well.

Pony Express Art

The 2011 Pony Express stamp:

Cowboy Attic

Fake-n-Bake Tanning

A. Fox Hair Design

Flower Garden

PLAZA REALTORS Larry Briggs Realtor

BOWLADIUM Family Fun Center

COWBOY CORRAL

Coyote Pines Ranch

Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce

Soroptimist International of 29 Palms

Desert Trail Newspaper