2024 Tevis Cup - Chelsea Arnold

I knew Gus would be ready to tackle the big Tevis trail again this year, and I was itching for another buckle, so we made plans in January and plotted the best series of rides to set him up for success. All we needed was the weather to cooperate. After the last time I rode Gus in 103 degree heat at Tevis, I promised him we wouldn't do it again if it got too hot.

Well, the weather leading up to Tevis was horrific, up to 111 at our house. It cooled off just in time for Tevis, but with humidity and upper 90's, it was still going to be a very hot day. Yikes... Gus hates the heat... But we were committed, so we armed ourselves with all of the tools we know work for this horse, a better electrolyte protocol and set off for Robie Park to start the 68th running of the Tevis cup. He was clipped, his tail washed and braided so it would stay clean and he hitched a ride to Robie Park with Jay and Reyna Mero.

On start day, we came out of the top of Pen 2 and it was an alright start, typical with lots of impatient riders going too fast. I settled the big guy the best we could and tried to keep a moderate pace.

As we were heading towards the Palisades after the highway crossing, a lady yelled out that she could see air between my horse and my girth. ARGH!!! And my saddle pads were virtually out the back due to this, and my heart rate monitor was a flank strap. Bless this horse.. So here we are, me yanking my pads out the back and trotting in a line of horses holding my saddle pads with a saddle being held on by my balance and Gus's withers. Seriously... we had to stop on the side of the trail and reset everything. While the whole ride went by. Fun... Gus was a good boy, let me sort him out and off we went.

We caught up to the ride and passed a bunch of people on the climb to High camp. Gus and I spent only enough time to elyte at High camp before we took off for Granite chief. We managed to get out of the pack and had a smooth sailing all the way from there to Robinson flat. Just out by ourselves and Miguel from Mexico. Amazing.

At Cougar rock, we had no one in front of us so I gave Gus a choice at the junction, right or left... he took the right without hesitation, so to the bypass we went. Red Star came and went without issue and we hit Robinson flat and our crew of Owen and Jessie. It was hot and there was no shade, so we sat in the 97 degree heat trying to hydrate and tank up on some food.

After a delightful hour, we headed out toward the canyons. Miguel caught up to us and we made our way to Dusty Corners. While the horses ate a brief bit, the volunteers filled up my hydration pack with ice cold water. Hello! It was the best to put that on my back in the heat of the day!!! Amazing.

At Last chance, Gus vetted through perfectly and the vet asked if I had even been riding him. Just what we like to hear.... Down to the canyon we went. Holy heck it was hot... I hopped off and in short order we were down the hill. The group we were with opted not to go in the water, but I wanted Gus wet before we climbed in the heat and sun. So I turned him at the bridge and stuffed him in the water. He screamed and hollered and made himself a general nuisance because his pack was leaving him. However, the photographer had a field day taking pictures of my obnoxious grey horse. Splashing, burying his head in the water, dragging me around..... After a minute, I gave up, plunged him in a deep spot, sponged a couple of times and let him boogie to the bridge as the photographer was yelling "Best pictures ever!!!" Lol...

He powerwalked and quickly caught up to the horses ahead of us. I immediately noticed that one of the horses in the front was struggling and suggested she let him take a moment and breathe. She didn't listen and told me he had to poop and kept trying to kick him forward... but after another few switchbacks, she pulled to the side and let us pass. This horse would eventually lay down and get stuck on the trail causing a huge holdup for the riders behind her. (Thankfully he and his mama recovered and are fine).

Avery caught up to us at this point and this was her first Tevis. Her horse was hot and needed some help cooling so we hatched a plan to get through the next few checks in the heat. At Devil's thumb, we were greeted with ice cold towels and Otter pops and cool water for the horses. YES!! Bless you to all the volunteers.

I cooled Gus down and fed him some alfalfa. When he was eating strong, I grabbed a chunk of alfalfa and started walking to Deadwood with Avery. At Deadwood, we both stripped tack and cooled the horses off. It took a bit, but it was a good break and Gus ate a ton. Gus vetted through with flying colors and the vet said he had the best vet card he had seen in an hour. Woot! Go big grey! Music to my ears...

Elytes and BCAA's down the hatch and down to El Dorado canyon we went. The only thing I can say is this was the worst part of the day. It was excruciatingly hot, there was only a very hot water trough and limited 90+ degree sponge water at the base before the big climb out. We climbed out with no issues and happily had a drink of lemonade and Gus hoovered some yummy mash at Michigan Bluff.

Gus made short work of that stop and we flew down the trail by ourselves to Chicken hawk where Buz was waiting with ice and more yummies for Gus. Now we were in the rhythm... pull in, drink water, strip tack, cool Gus, let him eat and then off to the vet. We got this...

As we were cooling Gus at Chicken Hawk, Samantha Ellis from Crater Hill came over and asked if I would be willing to sponsor her juniors from Foresthill to the finish. She had someone to take them to Foresthill from Chicken hawk but no further. I immediately agreed and she promised to find me at Foresthill. We focused back on Gus and vetted through perfectly with the vet commenting on how magnificent my horse looked. Made my heart swell.

On to Foresthill where food awaited.. because by now I was starving. At Foresthill we came up the road with my good friend Sabine who was having an amazing day on her horse Ammour (who was also my very first Tevis mount!). Gus vetted through again absolutely perfectly and everyone seemed to already know that I had been willing to sponsor two juniors to the finish. Fresh hot pizza from the food truck awaited me and a few minutes to nap. I met the parents of the juniors and I could see in their eyes all the emotions of the day...fear, hope and gratitude at sending their babies off into the night and a dangerous stretch of trail with a stranger. Gus and I would do our very best to see them through safely. Glow bars on the breastcollar and my red light on my headlamp and all too soon we met up with our juniors Tierney and Amelia and headed into the night. Three good horses and riders...Here we go to Auburn.

My juniors were awesome and we headed off the hill towards Cal 2 with another lady who was riding this stretch for the first time. She ducked behind us after a few turns and Gus led the way. The trail was really overgrown with very tall weeds so it was hard to pick out the trail at times. Sometimes you could see a distinct trail and other times it was hard in the dim moonlight and murky red light. Yikes. Gus said hell no to trotting down the trail and I trust his judgement immensely. He had kept me safe so far. Luckily he has a fast power walk, so we walked and jogged down the hill and caught up to Tamara. She led the rest of the way down with her horse also making a judgment call to power walk. Normally I would have trotted all of this section but this was not that day. So be it.... better safe than sorry. We trotted when the horses told us it was safe and walked the rest. Several of the horses were having issues with the water crossings at the turns. In the murky light, they looked like black holes.

We passed Search and Rescue before Cal 2 with two riders and a single horse. My heart sunk and we didn't see who it was but knew something bad had happened. Once again reminding us of the gravity of our task. We made it safely to Cal 2, and had a quick stop, with everyone really wanting to be done with this section. Off we went with our crew of Tamara, Tierney, Amelia, and Miguel. Plunging into the darkness once again on another yucky section of trail, we kept upbeat and talking. Once we hit the road, Tamara pulled off to ride by herself and we took off on the better trail.

After what seemed like forever, we hit Francisco's. The juniors took excellent care of themselves and their horses and we all got through and ready to go back out. My stomach was thoroughly not happy now, because I was starving but nothing looked good. I downed some lemonade and watermelon and grabbed a chunk of sourdough bread which I shoved in my pocket.

After we were enroute, that sourdough bread was the best thing ever!! OMG, so good. Made me wish I had grabbed more. At the river crossing, it was DEEP! Halfway up my horse and he is tall! All of us were soaked from the knees down but it was a refreshing bit of coolness. We were counting the miles to Lower Quarry and it seemed like forever, but Tierney took the lead and her horse kept us moving toward our destination. At Lower Quarry, we all worked quickly to get our horses cooled, eating and pulsed in and vetted so we could get out of there to the finish. Off we went for Auburn up the big long climb. Gus, true to form, finally stopped pulling and decided he was tired. So the girls helped keep him motivated to get it done. As we approached the finish line, I was so utterly tired and grateful to see those lights and cheers from everyone who was up to see us cross.

Sheesh.... what a long hot day. As we made our way down to the ceremonial finish, I once again tried to ride Gus around the arena....and once again, he was like, "oh hell no lady".... mash and hay is over there. So I hopped off again and we have our second finish line photo of me walking the big grey across. LOL... love this goofy horse and immensely proud of him and all that he has accomplished. He has the heart of a lion and gets it done every time no matter how hard the task you put in front of him. He is a true war horse with 7/7 100 mile completions and 2200 endurance miles with zero pulls. We are so blessed to have found this horse and brought him along. He isn't cuddly or loving, he is all business, stoic and fairly obnoxious in his demands in life. But he will take you to the ends of the Earth and back again. And he has taught us so much... Love you, you big Gooney bird...

Huge congratulations to my juniors Tierney and Amelia on their finish, and my friend Sabine on her first Tevis finish! She and her best boy made it look easy! And so very excited and proud of Jay Mero and Reyna Mero for pulling off the ultimate sweep of the Tevis on a super hard day. 1st and 2nd place and the Haggin cup! Holy wow! I could only dream of such a day!!

Lastly my heart goes out to the riders and horses whose day on the trail ended in tragedy. This was a tough year on the trail.... 139 starters and only 56 finished. The Gus man came in 24th. That'll do....