Tevis Ride Story

[DreamWeaver <karen@chaton.gardnerville.nv.us>]

Gosh, where to start.  We had such a great time on the ride this weekend.
We left Friday morning at 6 a.m. to head up to Robie Park, in Truckee.  The
only last minute glich is that my original crew cancelled on me on
Thursday, so had to find another friend to fill in at the last minute
(someone who has never crewed before, or been to the Tevis).  I knew I'd be
okay as long as they got my stuff where it needed to be.  We got a really
nice campsite next to our friends and Weav's buddy Goofy.  It was nice to
be out of the way a bit and not in the center of traffic.  There is so much
red dirt in this park that you get filthy just looking at it.  

As soon as we could, we checked in and then went over to vet in.  On the
way over I met Susan Garlinghouse who gave me a good luck Tevis Angel.
Thanx Susan!  She and her husband David measured all of the horses in the
vet line while we were waiting.  She said that Weav's body score would be a
5.5, and said that he wasn't fat but just right.  We finally worked our way
up to the vet and everything checked out great...till I trotted him out.
Prior to trotting out the vet asked me 'is there anything we need to know
about this horse', and I told him that yes, he paddles slightly with his
left front.  I was asked to re-trot him, then to trot him in circles with
the head vet watching.  Dr. Benson said he was okay to start, and the other
vet wrote down a B- on my vet card.  I asked him why, was the horse lame,
sore, off...or what?  He said, 'well, he is paddling slightly with his left
front'.  I sure wasn't going to start a horse that was a B- on gait though.
 I contemplated whether or not I should go home and get my other horse.  I
decided I would take Weav out for a pre-ride for a couple of hours and see
how he felt.  I did that, and he felt just great so I took him over to
another vet (one who knows my horse) and re-checked him and was told "go
ahead and start, he's just fine".   Though I still didn't stop worrying.
What if something really was wrong and there was something more than his
usual way of going?  

In the meantime, my friend Pat from Gardnerville was supposed to have left
an hour after we did and late in the afternoon still had not arrived.  By 3
p.m. we were sure something had to be wrong.  Not long after, her husband
showed up.  He said that Pat, the horse, and the trailer were at Boomtown
(and had been for several hours), and the truck, minus a working
transmission, had made it to the start of Robie Park (where it was Found On
the Road Dead) and had walked and hitch-hiked the rest of the way in.  My
husband disconnected our truck from the trailer and they headed out to go
pick up the horse and trailer.  They got to the stranded truck and tried to
get the hitch (we have a receiver, but no ball since we tow a gooseneck),
and found that it was locked and couldn't get it off.  So an hour after
they left, they arrived back in camp to pick up some tools to try and cut
it off.  As it turned out, they just borrowed another hitch (ball) from
Conrad Briggs and they were shortly on their way again.  In the meantime, a
few people arrived in camp that had passed Pat's trailer but didn't see her
or the horse since they were tucked away up in the trees (this was a couple
of miles West of Boomtown in I-80).  They arrived back in camp after we
were walking back from the ride meeting.  I yelled at them to get the horse
down there fast and try to find a vet, since everybody was leaving for the
night.  They lucked out and were able to vet in with only seconds to
spare...talk about cutting it close!  One more trip for them back to the
start of the park where their truck was to get stuff out of the trailer for
the night.  Talk about having a bad day!  (Pat and Lady finished 24th!) :))

The ride itself was very spectacular.  It is something that one has to
experience in order to appreciate what it really means to complete the
Tevis.  There is nothing that you can read, nothing anybody can tell you
that can even come close to relating the magnificance of this ride.  To me,
the best part wasn't the scenery or the ruggedness and difficulty of
terrain, but rather how the horses are so eager to continue and so willing
to give us their all.  

There was a lot of miles of narrow trail with drop-offs and cliffs.  I had
no idea that there was that much.  I sure wouldn't want to ride a clumsy or
spooky horse on that trail. (we passed 1 rattlesnake and 2 deer)  Though
I'm sure that anybody who saw Weaver take his victory lap probably wondered
how that crazy horse made it thru the ride <g>.  I think he was saving it
all up for when he had an audience.  

Riding into Foresthill was really neat.  Both sides of the street were
lined with people who were cheering and clapping as we went by.  I think it
made the horses feel special :). 

The parking at Foresthill was a great big disaster.  People parked in no
parking zones (apparently illiterate people), they parked blocking other
peoples rigs and crew vehicles (including ours). My husband was so upset by
how rude other people were that he said he will never crew for me on this
ride again.  <sigh>  

Overall, most of the riders are very nice, the crews are terrific and of
course the volunteers really make the ride special.  They help us out so
much along the way.  At Michigan Bluff they held our horses for us, offered
hay and bran mashes (does your horse want corn in that?)...filled up our
bottles with gatorade or water and they had snacks for us too.  I filled up
my camelback three times between Robinson's Flat and Foresthill and kept
draining it dry.  I also carried four water bottles.  Staying hydrated
really helped and made a big difference.  

Because of the hematoma on my leg, I didn't get off at all during the ride.
 Seemed to work fine for the horse.  I didn't use a crupper, and only a
breastcollar after Foresthill for the glow-sticks....saddle didn't seem to
move around too much....his back scores were all A's entire ride and the
massage therapist said he was in great shape and did not find any sore
spots. (she said he would be able to go do an english pleasure class on
Sunday afternoon)  The worst thing is that he had a small swelling where
his heart monitor electrode went on his girth.  I didn't electrolyte alot,
probably half as much as some others.  Didn't want to do anything different
than I normally do.  I think the easy boots went a long way towards getting
him thru this ride.  His feet look terrific, and with the vetwrap his heel
bulbs look great...the boots are also in great shape.  You would never know
they had 100 miles on them.  I lent Nick an extra size 1 I had at Michigan
Bluff.  Shatta had lost a shoe on his hind foot, which he got fixed at the
next check.  He returned it to me as we were leaving Foresthill and I
almost gave it to my crew to put back in the trailer then had a second
thought...remembering what it said on the back of my shirt "carry an
easyboot or get a sense of humor"...and thought better of it and clipped it
onto my saddle.  (didn't need it, but better to have it anyway).  I always
knew that carrying an extra size 1 and size 2 would come in handy!  

Let's see....my biggest mistake...would have to be that I rode on the left
diagonal too much.  Tried to pay attention to that and did a better job in
the second half I think.  Also, I worried too much about what one vet who
didn't even know my horse thought when I knew he (the horse) was fine.  The
best thing I did....was using a camelback and drinking tons.  I did not try
anything new otherwise...no matter how tempting, we kept everything the
same as we have all season.  

My last second fill in crew person did a really great job.  Before I had
even gotten up on Sunday morning, she had already walked my horse, cleaned
him up, removed his easy boots, and made sure everything was okay.  Is that
cool or what?  

Happy Trails,

Karen
in Gardnerville
& Weaver, 1805 miles....paddling his way thru!! 
& Rocky...who may get to do it next year ;)