Chuck
Mather, riding Dance on Hallany, pauses at to check the horse's heart rate
after running up a steep hill during a workout Tuesday. They are preparing for
the 52nd annual Tevis Cup Ride on Aug. 5. More than 200 horse-and-rider teams
have qualified for the world-renowned 100-miler through the Sierra. Sacramento Bee/Kevin
German
"Worst horse in the world," declares Chuck Mather of Weimar. "The first
time I rode him, we were out for an hour and went 100 yards. He wouldn't go
forward. He'd back up before he went forward."
Mather will saddle up Aug. 5 for his 10th Tevis Cup Ride, the exhausting
100-miler from RobieEquestrianPark
near Truckee to Auburn.
More than 200 riders have qualified for this year's storied endurance ride.
In 1994, Mather finished his first Tevis Cup riding Dusty.
Since then, he's finished four more times on two other Arabians. He and his
current horse, Dance on Hallany, placed sixth, only six minutes behind the
winner, in 2003.
And Dusty? After eating part of Mather's barbecue and the top to his
convertible, Dusty was sold years ago to a woman who qualified him as a patrol
horse for law enforcement.
"I kept working with Dusty, and he obviously learned
something," says Mather, who admits he's since learned quite a bit about
horses.
The Tevis Cup is a partnership of horse and rider. Both are conditioned
to endure ascents totaling 18,000 feet and descents of 23,000 feet in the
rugged and spectacularly beautiful Sierra, where temperatures can hit 120
degrees in deep canyons.
The idea is to finish the 100 miles in 24 hours or less, which requires
riding in both sunlight and moonlight. Most of the way, riders and horses are eating
dust.
In the words of two-time finisher Marvin Jacinto, "This is not a
race for snivelers!"
Mather, 59, isn't much for sniveling but does admit his back hurts
during rides. "Arthritis," he says.
His stomach doesn't cooperate, either.
"I get sick a lot," he says. "The last time I finished,
about 30 miles from the finish line, I was puking about every five miles."
The Tevis Cup is famous worldwide and sometimes called the granddaddy of
modern endurance races. Since the beginning of the ride on an annual basis in
1955, the challenge of crossing the Sierra on horseback has lured teams from as
far away as Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed
brought a team to ride in the 50th anniversary Tevis Cup in 2004.
Officially, it's simply a ride, and all finishers are considered
winners. Winning, however, is the aim of the most competitive entrants. The
first horse-and-rider team to complete the 100 miles takes the Tevis Cup
Trophy. No cash is awarded. Rules also state that the winning horse must be in
sound physical condition and "fit to continue."
Among riders, gender is not important and, in fact, women seem to have
the edge over men. Male and female riders tied in 2004, but of the remaining
winners in the past 10 years, seven have been women.
As the competition has improved, so has ride-related technology. Today's
horse and rider are tracked by global positioning systems, the horse's heart
rate is monitored by radio frequency signals to a digital readout, and the ride
is broadcast via webcast (at www.foothill.net/tevis/webcast06/
index.html).
At checkpoints along the trail, veterinarians from a staff of 17 check
heart rate and condition of each horse. Often, either the vet or the rider
pulls a horse out of the competition. Last year's completion rate was only 43
percent.
Mather didn't finish last year, pulling Dance on Hallany (he calls the
horse "George" for short) early when he suspected the animal had a
flu bug.
This year Mather estimates his Arabian will carry about 200 pounds, a
total that includes rider, an English saddle and other gear. To rest their
mounts, riders dismount and lead the horse over portions of the trail.
The steepest uphill segments, meanwhile, call for another tactic.
"I'll tail-up the steep hills -- grab their tail and follow them
up," Mather says. "Let them pull you up."
Once darkness falls, the horse, with its superior night vision, is
trusted to stay on the trail. Each year the ride is scheduled to coincide with
a full moon to light the way.
"I rode one year where it was cloudy with no moon, and it actually
rained," says Mather. "It was horribly humid, but the horses do fine.
They keep on the trail. Give them a loose rein; don't try to steer them. Trust
the horse and let them go."
Tevis Cup horses are almost entirely Arabians or Arabian mixes, and most
are geldings. A handful of mustangs are entered in this year's ride, along with
a few other breeds and a couple of mules. Arabians, whose roots are thought to
have been in Middle Eastern deserts, possess two important traits to endurance
racing -- speed and stamina.
Mather prefers Arabians and spent about four years learning about them
before that initial ride. Before endurance horse racing, he competed in
endurance runs, including the Western States 100, which is over the same Sierra
trail.
"About 1990, when I was doing a lot of running, my wife decided she
needed something to do, so she brought a horse home," says Mather.
"She and the horse didn't get along and I'd never been on a horse in my
life."
So Mather got on the horse -- good ol' Dusty. The chemistry between man
and horse wasn't there with Dusty, but Mather was hooked on riding.
Once, a mountain lion bounded across the trail. Dusty threw Mather and
took off.
"Here I was out in nowhere and without my horse," says Mather.
"But his whole world centered around me. Dusty ran about 50 feet, stopped
and looked back at me."
Mather broke his foot during a training ride last year, but since there
was nobody around to lend medical assistance, he did what needed to be done: He
got back in the saddle and rode to civilization.
Another time during a training ride, he was leading his horse on foot
along a steep canyon trail when the horse took a fall.
"He stepped into a slough area. It gave way and spun him right
down," says Mather. "He went tumbling all the way to the
bottom."
After Dusty found a new home, Mather acquired Czaruska from a friend.
"The hardest-trotting horse to ride in the world, beat you to a
pulp," he says. "He was a wonderful horse, but awful to ride. A big,
strong, fast horse, he introduced me to speed."
Czaruska finished the 1996 Tevis Cup and Mather later gave thoe horse to
a friend, making way for Dance on Hallany. Of his three Tevis Cup Arabians, the
unpredictable, destructive Dusty has proved the most memorable.
Years after Dusty had a new owner, Mather would encounter his old horse
at a fundraising trail ride in Foresthill. Urged to, "Go say 'Hello' to
Dusty," he approached the Arabian.
Says Mather with a chuckle, "Dusty turned around and bit me!"
Tevis Cup Ride
WHAT: A
100-mile endurance race on horseback over the Sierra START: 5:15 a.m. Aug. 5 from RobieEquestrianPark near Truckee BEST PLACE TO WATCH: Foresthill
mill site veterinarian checkpoint. Fastest teams begin arriving around
midafternoon Aug. 5. Also, Foresthill's main street as riders leave the
vet-check area FINISH: Aug. 6 (for most riders)
at the "Auburn Overlook" near McCann Stadium at the Gold Country
Fairgrounds in Auburn.
Top 10 usually begin finishing around 8 p.m. Aug. 5. Teams must finish by 5:15
a.m. Aug. 6. AWARDS: The ceremony is at 3 p.m.
Aug. 6 at the FarrellWrennPark
area at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn.
Before the ceremony, there will be a picnic-style banquet at the site starting
at noon INFORMATION: www.foothill.net/tevis
About the writer:
The Bee's Dan Vierria can be
reached at (916) 321-1119 or dvierria@xxxxxxxxxx.
Mather gallops the Arabian horse, which he calls George for
short, during their workout. Sacramento
Bee/Kevin German
Chuck Mather leads Dance on Hallany – a.k.a.
George – to the barn in Weimar
after their workout Tuesday. Sacramento
Bee/Kevin German
