Re: 2001 Tevis Cup Ride

[guest@endurance.net]

Mike Sofen msofen@pacbell.net
I drove down from Washington to the Tevis one year in hopes of closing a
deal on a horse who was competing that year.  My purchase agreement
stipulated that the horse must vet out sound after the ride or I would
receive my $500 deposit back.

Unfortunately, the afternoon after the Tevis, my vet - a former head vet
of the Tevis - did his exam, and found the horse was grade 3 lame - he
could barely move...he would not move without major prodding, would not
trot at all, and in the opinion of that vet, should have received medical
attention (including bute).  His blood enzymes showed a seriously
overridden horse.  The vet felt there was a possibility that some
permanent damage had occurred.

There was no way I was going to take on yet another rebuilding project, so
I backed out of the sale, but guess what - the sellers kept my $500
deposit, claiming that because he passed his final Tevis vet check at the
finish line, he was "sound".

The reality was that the horse completed the Tevis on pure heart alone.
The real shame - he was a fine horse, and according to the sellers, he
recovered from his ordeal.  He might have, but I wonder for how long.

The day before the Tevis I'd asked the sellers how they'd conditioned him
for the ride and was told, well we did a couple 50 mile rides earlier in
the year but we haven't ridden him much in the last couple months  - they
were "saving him" for the Tevis.  I asked them how they trained for the
hill climbs and was told they didn't...their state of origin is flat.

The moral of the story - while most Tevis horses are probably just plain
tired, there are some horse people who will say or do anything that
furthers their own needs or greed.  Completing the Tevis was a huge goal
for this particular horse owner and complete it he did - at a high cost to
the horse, in my opinion.

This was a reminder for me that our (human) goals should always be
secondary to our horse's well-being, not vice-versa.  A recent post on
ridecamp reminded me of the above events, btw.

Mike Sofen
now of Santa Cruz, CA