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From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of typef
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:01 PM
To: Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Tevis trivia question

 

 

Here is a Tevis-related story that just broke in the Auburn Journal:

 

Tevis horse plunges into canyon, feared dead
Arabian fell more than 200 feet near Deadwood

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer
Monday, July 10, 2006 11:00 PM PDT

A rattlesnake spooked a Roseville woman's horse Sunday as she was training for the upcoming Tevis Cup race sending both horse and rider over an embankment.

Rebel, a 13-year old Arabian, is feared dead after plunging more than 200 feet from the Western States Trail near Deadwood into the American River Canyon below.

Nicole Wiere, a veteran horsewoman, was out for a ride with friend and fellow equestrian Shawn Bowling Sunday afternoon when a rattlesnake on the trail, one-and-a-half miles from the Deadwood Cemetery, spooked Bowling's mule and Rebel.

"We went down the hill and I couldn't find (Rebel)," Wiere said Monday. "We tracked where he probably went down and are going out (Monday) afternoon to see if he's there."

A crew of three volunteers drove to the remote location and planned on repelling down the steep canyon wall to confirm the horse's whereabouts and if he was alive. Wiere didn't expect to hear news of her horse until late Monday night.

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Bowling reportedly saw the rattler on the trail and tried to avoid it. But the snake didn't leave the trail, instead it continued toward the mule. The mule then became disturbed and turned, bumping into Wiere's horse.

The horse then lost its footing and went down the cliff a few hundred feet. Wiere was still on the horse, but she was able to grab onto nearby bushes and remove herself from the horse before it fell further down the cliff. She was not injured in the incident.

Wiere was training for the 52nd Tevis Cup, to be held Aug. 5. The one-day race begins at Robie Park, northeast of Squaw Valley and covers 100 miles of rocky terrain to the finish line at the Auburn dam overlook.

Jack Velasco, trail committee chairman for the Western States Trail Foundation, said Monday he was informed by Greg Kimler, owner of Echo Valley Feed, that the horse had gone down and efforts to locate the animal were in effect Monday afternoon.

"According to Greg (Kimler) it's doubtful the horse is alive," Velasco said. "Where they believe the horse went off is about a 100-foot total free fall."

Kimler and members of the trail committee joined forces to repel down the hillside to determine if Rebel was still alive. They weren't expected to return from the remote area until late Monday evening.

This isn't the first time a horse has lost footing on the trail.

"I wouldn't call it often, based on the amount of riders, but unfortunately it does happen," Velasco said. "There are spots on the trail that are very dangerous and that spot is definitely one of them."

Tanya Chandler, 49, of Michigan Bluff, knows all too well what Wiere is going through.

Two years ago her horse, Tenzing, lost its footing and tumbled over the cliff into the American River Canyon.

Her Arabian had competed in Tevis and won several endurance races.

"It's not about experienced horses and riders," Chandler said. "It's just something that happens."

Tenzing's fall was broken by some bushes. Chandler attempted to reach the horse, but he fell further down to his death.

Chandler suffered a broken ankle and spent hours trying to locate her mount. Chandler was eventually rescued after climbing out of the canyon with a broken ankle.

"We should learn to have a healthy respect for this canyon," she said "Don't get too confident."

Chandler said Wiere was more prepared than she to be separated from her horse.

"I didn't have any water with me, it was with the horse," she said. "I got severely dehydrated."

Chandler assisted Wiere Sunday in attempting to locate Rebel. She said Wiere had her cell phone and water with her at the time of the fall.

"I've been doing this 30 years and I didn't realize how unprepared I was to be separated from my horse," Chandler said.

Velasco had some advice for riders who encounter a rattlesnake on the trail.

"You can usually wait them out and they'll slither off the trail," he said. "In this case (the snake) kept coming up the trail."

Riders are encouraged to pack plenty of water, a cell phone, or two-way radio since cell phones don't always work in mountainous areas, and to be prepared for snakes and other wildlife on the trail.

The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

 

 

I took it from the new checkpoint cards that Chuck Mather sent me. But I'm not at the office now, so can't look. I do know they re-routed a lot of trail and an awful lot of the mile markers on the checkpoint cards are different from last year. I've had to re-do all the checkpoint pages on the webcast page.

 

I'm just the new kid on the block, so can only go from what the sent me :) I think it used to be 10 and they've changed it to 12. But that I'd have to check when I get back to the office.

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Lucy Chaplin Trumbull

To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 12:50 PM

Subject: [RC] [RC] Tevis trivia question

 

>

Watson's Monument is 12 miles from the start at Robie Park. Squaw High Camp is 13.

No, that's can't be right, as Squaw High Camp comes a mile
or so *before* Watson's Monument, which is at the very top
before you go over the ridge into Granite Chief Wilderness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
elsietee AT foothill DOT net
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California
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