Could You Ride All Day - The Tevis Cup Trail Ride
By mosquito
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19th Feb 2010 •
9,955 views
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9 comments
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And when I say all day, I mean all day! The Tevis Cup is one of the world’s premier endurance rides, covering 100 miles across California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains in under 24 hours. With altitudes of around 7000 feet, the California July sun – the race is July 24th this year – and thousands of feet of climbing and descending, it’s only for the fittest horses and riders.
The trail ride, also called the Western States Trail Ride, was founded in 1955. A trail and wilderness enthusiast, Wendell Robie, took on a challenge that no horse could cover the 100 miles from Lake Tahoe to Auburn in a single day. Wendell and his friends set out to prove the doubters wrong, and the Tevis Cup was born. It is held every year since the only time it’s been cancelled was in 2008, because of wildfires.
It didn’t get its name, the Tevis Cup, until 1959, when Will Tevis, a San Franciscan businessman, excited by the prospect of what he thought could be the world’s longest horse race, sponsored the ride, and put up the trophy as a prize. It’s named after his grandfather, Lloyd Tevis, an early prospector and horseman of the Old West.
It starts at 5 a.m. and riders continue into the dark. Riders carry head lamps, and horses need to be trained to stay footsure and confident on the rocky trails, even in the dark. They try to schedule the ride for a full moon, because very little bit of light helps! Horses will ford rivers, cross high mountain bridges, negotiate rocky climbs and twisting descents. It’s not a ride for the fainthearted!
Who keeps the horses safe, and makes sure they aren’t continuing when they need to stop? Well, there are regular vet checks, and two required 60 minute rest breaks at 30 miles and 70 miles. Riders also compete for the coveted ‘Haggin cup’. This famous trophy is awarded to the top ten finisher whose horse is deemed to be in the best condition at the end of the ride.
There’s no doubt it’s tough, in recent years only about 50% of the horse and rider teams that start make it to the finish. Vets keep a close eye on the horses, and ‘pull’, or disqualify, any competitor who’d horse isn’t able to continue comfortably.
The Haggin cup has a story too it’s named for James Ben Ali Haggin, a close friend of Lloyd Tevis. James Haggin was quite a horseman too he owned the 1886 Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali! His grandson, Lewis Haggin – still into horses in Kentucky – sponsored the trophy in 1965. There are lots of other prizes too finishers get a silver buckle, and all juniors who finish have their names inscribed on the Scripps Foundation Cup.
Do you have what it takes to win a Tevis Cup? Well, you will be at an advantage of you have an Arabian! All but two Tevis Cup winners since 1955 have been Arabs or part Arabs, and all winners since 1960. 70% of winners have been geldings, but for the riders, it’s pretty much even between men and women for Tevis Cup wins. Juniors (riders under 18) can ride too, but they have to have an adult competitor ride with them the whole way. The youngest horse to win was Chief, a 6 year old who won in 1962, and the oldest was Bandos who won it for the second year in a row at 16 in 1956.
Winners usually finish in about 13 or 14 hours, but most horses need a lot more time. The course isn’t the same every year – although it’s pretty close - and the start locations have changed over the years from the shores of Lake Tahoe to deeper into the mountains, away from growing traffic and developing housing.
Some horses and riders are Tevis Cup specialists. Getting to know every inch of the trail is a big advantage, and there are several multiple winners. The most successful competitor ever was Donna Fitzgerald, who with her Arabian Witezarif, won the Tevis Cup 6 times in the 1970s!
The Tevis Cup brings out stories from those that don’t win too. Like Julie Suhr, who didn’t start endurance riding until she was in her forties, but went on to finish 22 Tevis Cups. One of the most heartwarming was of Bobbie Pomroy and the Arabian mare Hopper, who finished 36th in 2005. Five years earlier, Bobbie’s sister Wanda was training Hopper to help her achieve her dream of riding the Tevis cup, when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Bobbie promised her sister that she would take Hopper to the Tevis Cup for Wanda, even though she didn’t even know how to ride. Wanda died soon after, and Bobbie spent the next four years learning to ride, training Hopper, and qualifying for the Tevis Cup. Bobbie kept her promise to her sister, and finished the Tevis Cup, carrying her sister’s memory with her the whole way in a heart-shaped pendant around her neck.
If you want to experience the Tevis Cup, but you aren’t ready to ride it, it’s a tough event to watch. Viewpoints are hard to find and hard to reach, and much of the trail is inaccessible to cars. However, the ride needs over 600 volunteers every year so helping out is a great way to learn about the ride and be a part of the incredible achievements of winners and finishers alike.
Want to know more? Read Julie Suhr’s book ‘Ten Feet Tall, Still’, or Sam Savitt’s ‘One Horse One Hundred Miles One Day’. Or visit www.teviscup.org |
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Equestri
Great article. That got me really interested. :D
Great article. That got me really interested. :D
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41 days ago
• 5,983 views
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Seastar Stables
Sounds like an olympic event ! I couldn't imagine riding that long, although it would be such a great eperience to do it. I've always wanted to try one of the Native American trail rides in the mid-west . Thank you for the great article.
Sounds like an olympic event ! I couldn't imagine riding that long, although it would be such a great eperience to do it. I've always wanted to try one of the Native American trail rides in the mid-west . Thank you for the great article.
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41 days ago
• 5,962 views
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halfbrokehorses
that was really interesting, reat job at explaining it. where do you get all this info from?
that was really interesting, reat job at explaining it. where do you get all this info from?
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41 days ago
• 5,959 views
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BHappy
my grandmother had one of the riders board his horse at her house and sleep there for the night before the Tevis Cup.
my grandmother had one of the riders board his horse at her house and sleep there for the night before the Tevis Cup.
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41 days ago
• 6,028 views
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boomer
i could ride all day!
i could ride all day!
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41 days ago
• 5,969 views
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Seastar Stables
by joining this trailride, I'll bet you'd get a ton of loyalty points for your horse! =D
by joining this trailride, I'll bet you'd get a ton of loyalty points for your horse! =D
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41 days ago
• 5,962 views
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tkachuk3
i am slowly learning
i am slowly learning
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40 days ago
• 6,033 views
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tkachuk3
i am slowly learning 2.
i am slowly learning 2.
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40 days ago
• 6,033 views
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Take A Chance
ive done that but it was by acedent i was going to my friends house but went a bit to fare.(no water)
ive done that but it was by acedent i was going to my friends house but went a bit to fare.(no water)
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35 days ago
• 6,006 views
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