The Origins of Team 91

All my pictures seem to show Hoss and me in our team colors. Green and yellow may seem a little ridiculous, but there's a story here. 


It's not common for a horse and rider to have a team name. It's not even particularly common for people to choose equipment that matches. Most people simply go out and do endurance rides. I have chosen to create a team name and a team look. I wear green and yellow, Hoss's tack is green and yellow. We are so color-coordinated that everybody knows we're coming! I joke that I wear such bright colors so I can be found if I fall off.

There's a deeper explanation for the color scheme and emblems I've chosen. That explanation is my father. You see, my dad was a fan of auto racing, and particularly liked older race cars. In 1982, he purchased a 1967 Lotus 51A, an early Formula Ford race car. He raced it in historic races and had a wonderful time with it for many years before hanging up his helmet in 1995. Since he purchased the car, he did a great deal for the advancement of vintage Formula Ford racing. It is largely because of his efforts that vintage Formula Fords are racing. My father passed away in 1998.


When I first started endurance riding, I didn't give much thought to color schemes or team names or the like. I just got out there and rode. Over the years, I thought about my dad and conversations we'd had. He often said he'd be more impressed with horse racing if it were more of a challenge. If the horses had to do multiple laps, it would mean they were really getting a challenge. He saw traditional track horse racing in much the same light as he saw drag racing. Not much of a thing. Additionally, he realized that traditional track racing allowed some drugs he would consider cheating. Sort of like using an illegal engine in a race car.


When I found endurance, it slowly dawned on me that I had found precisely the model that would have impressed my father. Hey, there's pit stops! Drugs aren't allowed (at least not in the horse; nobody cares if the rider is drugged out of his or her mind). The similarities between endurance riding and auto racing – at least in its street racing form – are striking. The horse must pass inspection to enter the ride, there are pit stops (not voluntary as in auto racing, but still), and there's an end of race inspection, as well. I realized this was a type of horse "racing" that my father would approve of.

 
I chose my color scheme based on the Lotus colors. My father was fond of saying that all Lotus's are British racing green, regardless of color. Dad used yellow contact paper to make his numbers. Yellow is the secondary color for Lotus. His wheels were yellow as well.


The number 91 has an interesting origin. Because the car model is 51A, my dad wanted to have 51 as his racing number. Fabulous idea, but it didn't end up working out. He would arrive at race tracks only to find that some other 51A owner had beaten him to the number. This would necessitate him changing his number. The easiest thing to do was to add another line to the 5, transforming it into a 9. After a while, he gave in to the inevitable and took up the number 91.


Dad at some point acquired the race team name of "No Rush Racing." The story goes that he'd gone in for car parts. The gentleman who runs the shop asked him how soon he needed the parts. My father replied, "No rush." The shop owner laughed and said, "You should call your race team "No Rush Racing." It stuck. A line drawing was created, depicting him stretched out atop the race car with a hat drawn over his face and cobwebs on the wheels. This became his racing emblem.

It had slowly occurred to me that I could use my endurance riding as a venue for honoring my father's memory. I just needed to do it. When Hoss came into my life, I had already decided my next horse, no matter his color, would wear our team colors, and we would ride as "Team 91" as an homage to my dad. Hoss is a beautiful buttermilk buckskin. He looks absolutely striking in green and yellow. Yellow, in particular, is a good color for him, so my bridle, reins, and breastcollar are mostly yellow with green overlay. I can hardly wait to get ride pictures of him in his spiffy tack.


When I registered Hoss with the AERC, I registered him as NRR Team 91 Hoss. NRR is for No Rush Racing. I've decided that all my horses, from here forward will be NRR Team 91 followed by their names.

I have green and yellow riding tights and green or yellow t-shirts. On the t-shirts are the emblems I've created for our "team." On the chest is the memorial sticker that my mother had made after Dad passed away. She used his No Rush Racing emblem, added a cloud and "In Memory of Vern Jaques." The race car still bears one of these stickers. I scanned it into my computer and colored it in (that took a long time) and made iron-ons that I used to create our shirts. On the back is an oval with "Team 91" in it.


This is the origin of Team 91, and why I have all that green and yellow. It's really quite fun! I get a lot of compliments and comments on my choices, and I'm recognized from afar quite easily.