Jonni Jewell and Hank, 2010

So many do not sleep the night before Tevis. I have been one of them. Often up late, fussing with ones "stuff", to make sure everything is ready, and then getting to bed late, and tossing and turning. I was in bed not long after the sun set, and slept pretty good. Had everything all laid out for in the morning, so when that alarm went off, I crawled out, gave Hank his breakfast mash, and went back inside to dress. Drank a protein drink, ate a piece of cinnamon bread, and headed back out to tack up Hank. I was still feeling rather calm as I swung up into the saddle, to head to the start. In 2005 and 2006, a friend crewed for us. I told her when she decided to ride, she had the choice of me riding with her, or crewing for her. Earlier this year, she had said she was going to enter, and wanted me to ride with her. So, holding that promise, I sent in my entry. Tevis has two different start groups. Pen one, the faster riders, who are there to generally to place well, and pen two, for those of us who ride to finish. My friend was helping to lead out the second pen to the start line, and we tried to fall in as close to them as possible. But in the dark, early morning hour, with 100's of horses on the trail, it is tough to always stick together. Riders tensions can run high, and they start getting pushy and excited. Hank was not jacked up, and the walk to the actual start line was pretty uneventful. We had a slight wait with standing still before the trail was opened at 5:15, and then we were starting our trek towards our destination: Auburn. Between our goal was dust, dirt, mountains, rocks, heat, and some of the most challenging trail ever ridden. Statistics show only about half of the riders would finish. One can only hope they stay safe, and the horse healthy. In 2005, Hank finished, and then in 2006, he coliced at Michigan Bluff. While we don't want anything to happen to our horse, a metabolic issue is harder to deal with mentally than a lameness issue, at least for me. So while I knew Hank has seemed better than ever since the colic surgery in Aug. of 2008, this was the one area I was being extra aware of during the ride.

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