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?