Darlene Anderson and SAR Tiki Rock On, Tevis 2014

Tevis...One Wild Ride, or, Just another Ride. It really is just that.

Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!

~William Butler YeatsBuy the ticket, take the ride.

~Hunter S. Thompson

Photo by Lynne Glazer Photography

The alarm went off at 3:30 am, startling me. I hadn't really expected to fall asleep. I got myself up off the bunk, lit the flame under the water which Max would make coffee for he and Ron, and a chai tea for me and went about the business of feeding the ponies. Rock was ready to eat, as he always is. I woke up Ramone with my rustling about and the boys were soon begging for their breakfasts. Nearby horses thought they should also have some O'Dark:30 breakfast. 

The night before I had sifted through my ride clothes, deciding if I should make any last minute decisions on what I had planned to wear. Max made a crack about my life being pretty good if this was my biggest worry. He was right. Max poured us cereal, yogurt and served up the beverages. Ron showed up about this time and we shared a quiet breakfast. No matter what Ron says, it's true, I am quiet from time to time. 

Heading outside it was still pitch dark, but you could hear the Robie Park ridecamp coming to life on this Tevis morning. I was going about removing Rock's blanket, admiring his braid job, and his shiny shiny hide, all the while telling him what an amazing Rock Star he is to me. I would do my best to bring him through this adventure unscathed. He asked for a few treats and stood quietly while I saddled him up. On either side of me, my Tevis ride partners were also saddling up. We had each attached a green glow light on the back of our saddles so we wouldn't lose track of one another in the dark. They worked really well. Almost too well! Before we knew it, we were ready to mount up and head off on the long walk to our start point, Pen One! On our prep ride the day before we figured out it would take us about 10 minutes to get down there. The horses moved along the road quietly and confidently. Rock led the march in his bold way. Ramone and Warrior followed his lead. 

Trails (and Trials): Crewing Tevis 2012

What a ride! Crewing for Tevis is certainly a mighty job, but really, one of patience. Driving, unloading, waiting...helping! feeding! Then loading, driving, unloading, waiting, again and again. Caveat: I was not a very good chronicler of the event, when I'm busy I don't seem to think about the camera, only when things finally calmed down, and were too boring to take photos of!

I was part of crew for Team Stalley. Pam Stalley has (I think, my brain is too tired to look it up right now) 12 buckles, her daughters Jennifer and Alyssa have multiples as well. They know what they're doing! They know how to train, they have it down pretty well. The crew binder spelled it all out. I loaded some of their stuff on Wednesday night, and was set to met them at Robinson. I also briefly met with GoPony on Wednesday and talked horses and boots, which was fun but is all a blur and seems like ages ago!

Saturday morning we (I had recruited my SO too, ha, he can't escape!) got to Robinson and half the crew was already there (they had rider food and stuff, we had mostly horse stuff). Unload quickly, three minutes only then back down the hill!

Karen Chaton and Pro Bono, Tevis 2013

We had a great ride this year. Everything fell into place for us in so many ways. I actually entered early and planned ahead for the ride this year. And still managed to avoid any Gremlins!

We got up to Robie Park on Friday morning before the ride and got set up by 9 a.m.. It’s nice that we are only about 65 miles from the start so there is no need to go up any earlier.

I had lots of time to take Bo out for a nice leisurely pre-ride on the start of the trail. He was nice and relaxed and already had his mind focused on his job. When we got back, my crew person Wayne ran the Groomlights over Bo one more time. Bo really seem to enjoy that.

I then went down to vet in. This year we didn’t have to bring our tack down to weigh in so that made it a little easier. We vetted in with no issues and Bo got his #80 written on both sides of his butt. It was a relief to have made it this far.

Karen Chaton and Pro Bono, Tevis 2012

Getting to the start of the Tevis Cup is often the hardest part. It takes so much preparation, planning, and then of course worrying about every little thing that could or does go wrong. This year I had the hardest time making my mind up about going. In the end, I realized that I may regret it later if I didn’t try, knowing that my horse Pro Bono (“Bo”) was in such great shape.

On Friday morning we trailered to Robie Park, the starting point for the Tevis. It is roughly 60 miles from my house so Bo arrived after his brief trailer trip looking great. I checked in, then saddled up and took Bo out with a friend for a pre-ride to work off some of that excess energy that Bo was sure to have at the start the next morning. After that, we went to do our pre-ride vet check.


Peter Greig, Dr. Jim Baldwin, Karen Chaton and Pro Bono at Robie Park. Tevis pre-ride vet check.

Coincidentally, we got to vet in with Dr. Baldwin, who had just recently vetted us in Idaho at the City of Rocks ride. Bo passed with flying colors. We were now officially entered and cleared to start the ride!

Redheaded Endurance: Crewing Tevis 2014

Another fabulous Tevis weekend is in the books! This year I signed on to crew for Laura Hayes and Rushcreek Seth from New York/Nebraska; I had watched a friend ride Seth to a top 20 Tevis completion in 2012 while crewing for KC and was so excited this year to be crewing for Seth as his owner Laura rode him through.

After a successful vet in, I gathered my crew gear and instructions, wished Laura and her two rig partners a happy evening and start, and headed for my traditional Tevis dwelling, Motel 6 in Auburn. I generally get no more than and usually less than 6 hours of sleep over the entire weekend at the motel but the chance to rush back and *shower* when I have the chance is much appreciated.

Personally, I approach crewing as a mission. My mission is made somewhat harder by my sensitivity to heat which ended in my heat stroking out of being there for the stadium finish last year, so I really have to approach crewing like I'm in my own little endurance ride. As such, I get up bright and early and am in the first line of cars to get into Robinson so that my rider gets a good spot to relax, AND so that my rig is parked up top and my hiking/hauling is minimal. This was especially crucial this year as I had a few crew bags to carry, was trying to avoid overheating, and had only my 2 arms to accomplish everything.

Eight weeks to Tevis 2002, A journey from Pasture Puff to Tevis Cup in 8 weeks time

by Chris Martin

Eights weeks before Tevis and I find myself without a horse. I had been conditioning my 8 year old gelding for the Tevis Cup for 4 years. During one of our training rides he kicked himself in the sesamoid bone causing a fracture. After xrays and a chat with the vet, it was decided that he needed some time off to heal, and that eight weeks would not be long enough for the injury to heal.

I remembered that my neighbor had bought a nice looking Arab gelding at an auction in Healsburg the year prior. That horse, Bo Stegicc, a 12year old, 15 hand, had a serious injury to his hip, chest, and left rear hock when he fell off a cliff when a saddle slipped back on a steep trail. My neighbor’s daughter had not tightened the cinch enough, when it slipped back, the horse spooked and went over a small cliff and down into thick brush. The horse had some medical attention and was then turned out to pasture on a 1,000 acre ranch for a year to heal and fend for himself.

I had my wife, Nancy, drive me down to the ranch were he had been turned out on the quad to take a look at him, I brought my saddle just in case. I found Bo in a heard of about 15 horses. His right hip looked like it had been crushed and his left rear hock was a mass of scar tissue. You could see the big scar on his chest and where the stitches had been. He was probably 100 pounds overweight with a big grass belly. I doubted seriously that he was sound but I should a least give him a try.  Could I get him ready for Tevis in only 8 weeks?

2003 Wus Tevis Journal - 3-day Tevis Trail Ride

2003 Wus Tevis Journal

By Adda Quinn

Being ladies “of a certain age”, most of us had already concluded that we would never be able to ride in the Tevis Cup race (1 horse, 1 rider, 1 day, 100 miles). [1] But being avid trail riders, we were keenly interested in riding the route that the July 12, 2003 Tevis Cup race was run on the Western States Trail.  But we were also wusses, and not about to do it in one day!  So early in the year we began feeling out our friends as to whom might be interested in doing a “Wus Tevis” ride, as we began to call it affectionately.  Some people said immediately:  Nope! too hard, too long, too many logistics.  Others said an enthusiastic yes, but life interfered with medical problems (horse colic, etc.).  There were a variety of impediments right up to the first ride day.  Kate, at Squaw Valley Stables where some of us were going to stay the night prior to the ride, called the day before to say they had strangles there, and not to come.  So, the stalwart final six that met at Robie Horse Camp west of the Sawtooth Mountain behind the town of Truckee on Monday July 14 were the Wus Tevis Riders of 2003.

Redheaded Endurance: Crewing Tevis 2013

I was lucky enough to be invited back to crew for Karen Chaton and Bo again this year, so Friday July 19th I threw my bag in the truck and headed for Robie Park in Truckee. I actually had a clue where I was going this time and didn't drive in circles around downtown Truckee or anything! Karen got the same camp spot as last year and there was the mighty steed, Bo! He looked so great this year, fit and ready to tough out the 100 miles. We loaded the Robinson Flat crewing gear: a tough cart, 3 buckets, Karen's lunchbox, and the crew bag. A modest supply, and yet she had everything she needed, just like last year. W and I drove back to Auburn and stayed at Motel 6 but were up at 3 a.m. to get a prime spot in the caravan line at Robinson. We were 4th in line and got a sweet shady spot set up for Karen and Bo!

The Cup at the End of the Mountain Trail - 1966 Sports Illustrated

The horses and their improbable riders gathered at Tahoe City, Calif. for the yearly Tevis Cup race across the winding paths and hazardous streams of the Sierra to Auburn, 100 miles away

By Alice Higgins

Originally published September 26, 1966

What the Boston Marathon is to the distance runner, the Western States 100-mile, one-day ride for the Tevis Cup is to the endurance horseman. And, like the marathon, the California race over the rugged Sierra from Tahoe City to Auburn attracts some improbable but wonderful people. Among the 92 riders who started this year, there were a couple on their honeymoon, a 12-year-old girl, a 72-year-old man who had put off a hernia operation in order to compete, an Indian ranch hand, some polo players, a woman believed to be a Cherokee princess, an assortment of mothers, secretaries, factory workers and businessmen and a man with a gray vandyke beard who was described as a retired capitalist.

Tevis Sweep Adventure, Tevis 2013

I have to start my saying this did nothing to convince me I should try riding Tevis myself! Maybe because this is just such a hard, rocky section, but I'm amazed at those who attempt this ride. Finish or not, wow.

We drove up to Squaw Valley. We were the second sweep team, the first team goes from Robie Point to High Camp, we were High Camp to Robinson Flat. But we camped at Squaw Valley, the closest access point. Along with hundreds of yoga people. Yeah, there was a yoga festival going on. With concerts till midnight and the loud bar next door until 2. Fun times.

With very little sleep we started up the trail at 5:45am. We needed to get to High Camp before the bulk of riders came through. Only 3.5 miles, but 2500 feet of climbing. With gorgeous views. Major got a bit wound up, wanting to join the race, but was controllable. I think it was good practice to have so many horses passing him, and making him walk. Maybe this will translate to a better ride start (yeah, right!).

A few of the front runners went flying by about 6:30, and we waited a High Camp for the all clear. We had the final count and watched the final rider go down the trail. We were supposed to stay close, but not too close, don't want to stress anyone or cause them to hurry (ride your own ride!)