Jordan Georgeson
Jul 26, 2022
A second horse has passed away due to injuries sustained in the 2022 Tevis Cup.
Jamboree, ridden by Carrie Ellinwood of Penryn, was a 17-year-old Arabian gelding that was an experienced horse in endurance riding, having completed nearly 1,000 miles during his career.
He fell near Foresthill and was attended to by vets on the course while his rider was airlifted out of the area. According to the Tevis Cup website, the fall was around the 72-mile mark and was caused by the horse getting spooked on the trail and stepping off. A few hours later, Jamboree was airlifted from the trail and sent to UC Davis on Sunday morning, where he was recovering...
Read more here:
https://goldcountrymedia.com/news/228018/second-horse-passes-away-due-to-injuries-sustained-in-tevis-cup/
We are devastated to have to share that two horses have died as a result of injuries sustained during the 2022 Tevis Cup ride.
Midmorning on Saturday, July 16, Susie Kramer and A Ali Aseel (“Steel”) were among the leaders competing in the 66th Annual Tevis Cup Ride. The pair was navigating the trail of the first steep canyon which runs between Last Chance and the Swinging Bridge. Steel fell from the trail and suffered catastrophic injuries.
Another rider alerted a radio operator stationed at the Swinging Bridge, who communicated the incident to Net Control. Emergency response was deployed from both Last Chance and Devils Thumb checkpoints down into the canyon, and search and rescue led by a veterinarian responded to the scene. Unfortunately – due to the remote and difficult location of the incident – it took some time for help to reach Susie and Steel. Once on scene, veterinarians confirmed that Steel had expired from his injuries.
Susie and Steel had come from Arizona to compete in this year’s Tevis Cup. They wore the #4 – their finish placing in the 2021 Tevis Ride. Together, they were a fit, experienced, tough, and competitive team.
Steel – a handsome 12-year-old grey Arabian gelding – had completed 2,360 miles of endurance competitions beginning in 2016. He was five for five in finishing 100-mile competitions coming into this year’s event.
This accident and the loss of Steel has been traumatic and emotional for Susie, her family, her crew, and the entire endurance community.
WSTF will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident during the coming weeks.
Please respect the privacy of the parties involved as they mourn the loss of a dear friend and partner. A hiatus of discussion on social media would be appreciated.
At approximately 10 pm on Saturday, July 16, Carrie Ellinwood and her horse Jamboree had completed about 72 miles of the 100-mile distance of the 66th annual Tevis Cup Ride. Near Cal 1 on the California Loop, Jamboree spooked and fell from the trail.
Sweep Riders of the Sierra’s (SOS) came upon the pair and radioed in the emergency to Net Control. Rescuers were dispatched to the scene and – as a first step – Carrie was evacuated to an awaiting ambulance and taken to the hospital. She was examined and released.
Due to the difficulty of the terrain, a large animal rescue team was called to the site along with the VERT (Veterinary Emergency Rescue Team) from UC Davis to attempt to extract Jamboree. This endeavor had to wait until daylight on Sunday morning. Ultimately, they decided to airlift Jamboree. A helicopter operated by the Butte County Sheriff’s Department was able to get him to a safe location in Foresthill.
He was attended to by veterinarians and transported by horse trailer to UC Davis Veterinary Hospital for further examination and care.
It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that the Tevis family reports that Jamboree unexpectedly succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning, July 22, 2022.
Jamboree and Carrie began their endurance career in 2013 and accomplished nearly 1000 endurance miles together. Jamboree was a beautiful, 17-year-old grey Arabian gelding.
WSTF will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident during the coming weeks.
Please respect the privacy of the parties involved as they mourn the loss of a dear friend and partner. A hiatus of discussion on social media would be appreciated.
Read the rest at
http://stories.endurance.net/2022/07/tevis-2022-annette-mcgyver.html
July 14
‘We just keep going’: Chico equestrian to push limits in 100-mile endurance race
Camp Fire survivor, organ donor rides in 100-mile horse race
**Turns out Cameron will be riding CH Fancy Finesse instead of Kong. But enjoy reading below about Kong and root for Cameron anyway!
Cameron Holzer already has 3 buckles, 2 with her phenomenal 13-year-old half-Shagya, half-Trakehner gelding Kong (11th and 16th place). He was a free horse when he was 3 - you know how those stories often go. He was a handful to break, and was sent home by one trainer.
Kong is a big solid horse, but he and Cameron move so lightly and effortlessly together. They’ve become a super team over the years, Kong with 2500+ miles all with Cameron, 12 100-mile completions, 22 first places, and 26 Best Conditions. They most recently won the 100-mile Wahatoya Cup in Colorado, tying with Erin Lemmons and Tuscarora John for the win.
We have several previous Tevis and Haggin winners in this year’s Tevis Cup entries: Heather Reynolds, Jeremy Reynolds, Hal Hall, Kathie Perry, Tennessee Lane, Sanoma Blakeley, Michele Roush Rowe, Potato Richardson. (I don’t think I missed anybody.)
But there’s also a couple of winning horses in the field!
SMR Filouette won Tevis in 2015 with Potato Richardson. The 21yo mare will be going for her 7th buckle and will be ridden by Colton Madeiros. MM Cody won the Haggin Cup in 2018 with Mykayla Corgnell. He’ll be ridden this year by Ken Campbell. Ozark Kaolina SWA won the Haggin Cup last year with Jeanette Mero. They’re teaming up again this year!
It’s a family affair for Kelly and her daughter Cassidy, and Kelly’s husband Jesse.
Kelly has 1 Tevis buckle and Jesse has made one attempt.
This will be 12-year-old Cassidy’s first Tevis but she is no slouch in the saddle. This enthusiastic horsewoman has over 1300 AERC endurance and LD miles, including 3 100-milers. (Can you say Big Horn 100?). Watch for her trotting out her mare Hope, who some of us would call Bitey McBiteFace. Kelly says the mare is all bluff in the trot-out, though.
This 17 year old bay Arabian has finished Tevis 6 times with Sue (her fifth buckle earned her the Robie Cup) in 6 starts. The mare has over 3000 AERC miles, and Sue has over 5400. They prepped for this year’s Tevis by finishing all 5 days of LDs at the challenging mountain ride of Spanish Peaks Pioneer in Colorado.
Meg Sleeper and Sizedoesntmatter, owned by Gwen Hall
Meg has ridden internationally around the world on many of her home bred horses, and she has over 17,000 AERC miles, but this is Meg's first ride in the Tevis Cup. She's teaming up with Gwen's gelding Sizedoesntmatter (Dakar), who has finished Tevis 3 out of 32 times, in 8th, 2nd, and 4th place with Gwen. Meg rode Dakar for the rist time at the Spanish Peaks ride in Colorado in June.
Dakar has also finished first in his last 12 of 13 Endurance rides, and that includes the 2021 AERC Nat'l Championship 100 at Fort Howes in the searing heat. And remember the 2017 AERC Nat'l Championship 100 in Colorado? He and Gwen won that one too.
If you’re betting on this year’s winner, keep an eye on: The Mother-Daughter Mero team of Jeanette and Ozark Kaolina SWA, and Reyna and Chndakas Eklipse SW will contest the Tevis Cup together again. Finishing 6th and 7th last year, Jeanette’s “Lena” went on to win the Haggin Cup (Best Condition) the next morning.
Lena has 2400 AERC miles, and has completed 7 rides this year as prep for the Tevis trail, including 3 wins and a Best Condition. Eklipse has completed 3 of 4 starts, including 2 seconds and a Best Condtion.
by Jessica Black
August 6, 2021
When I shared my post about the 2021 Tevis Cup and asked for suggestions about further blog posts, many people wanted to hear more about Ticket the mule and her rider, Shane Lesher. (See their Tevis 2021 profile.) Shane isn’t on Facebook, nor a current member of AERC, but fortunately Garden Valley Feed & Hardware, the store his wife and he own, has a Facebook page. I left a message, and a manager was kind enough to reply and forward my phone number to Shane. He called me right away, on a Saturday morning, no less. I was riding at the time, and he was camping so I agreed to call back Monday.
By the time I was done riding and working Monday, it was late afternoon. Shane and I ended up talking the next day. This gave me a bit of time to prep for the interview, but I didn’t find much. Shane was not an AERC member. That made the story that much more interesting! Talking with Shane Lesher about Ticket and Tevis
I loved interviewing Shane. His enthusiasm for the sport and his love for Ticket shone so brightly I wanted to go out and get me a mule, preferably one bred for racing, like Ticket!...
Read more here:
https://jessicaeblack.org/ticket-the-mule-and-her-rider/
The gorgeous 28-year-old, Bogus Thunder, bred and owned by Ann and Hal Hall, carried one of the sweep riders, Leslie Bisharat, out of Robinson Flat.
Bogus Thunder earned 5 Tevis buckles, carrying Ann to two finishes and Hall to three finishes, winning the Haggin Cup in 2002 when they finished second.
Bogus Thunder still has an incredible presence and as he kept looking right at me, I just fell in love with him.
Bogus Thunder was always Ann's Perfect Horse. She described him a decade ago: “He makes my heart smile. Having Bogus in the barn has been a wonderful experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been able to ride him, and for me he has been the perfect horse.”
10 Tevis buckles for Ann Hall. 1000 miles on the Tevis trail!
She rode Suzanne Hayes' gorgeous 18-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding Greenbriar Al Jabal (Atlas) to his 5th Tevis Cup finish. 500 miles on the Tevis trail!
That's her husband Hal Hall running alongside, handing off water - he's finished 30 Tevis Cups. 3000 miles om the Tevis trail!
He presented her with her 10th buckle the next morning.
Congrats Pete!!!
Lindsay Fisher rode 23-year-old Bucephalos (Dexter) beside his 19-year-old son Monk, ridden by Nancy Martin. It was Lindsay’s 8th Tevis completion, and Dexter’s first Tevis attempt and finish. It was Nancy’s first 100 miler, and Monk’s 6th Tevis completion (and he and Lindsay won the Haggin Cup in 2019). And it was maybe his slowest ride ever :)
Lindsay said the start was quite interesting for Monk, who had his nose buried in Dexter’s tail, as Monk is used to going quite a bit faster. Lindsay said, “Monk is not an easy ride and the poor gal [Nancy] kept a huge smile on her face all day even when Monk was trying to run away with her from foresthill to the finish!!! What a tough woman!!!”
The other family finishing together (within 5 minutes of the Monk gang) were Sirii Berg aboard the 16-year-old stallion HCC Elessar (Monster), beside his 7-year-old son HCC Tetherow Joe (Jojo), ridden by Sara Anderson. Both are owned by Kristen Grace, who happened to ride along and finish on Monster’s brother, 16-year-old HCC Symbol (Bingo).
Jenni Gomez had the ride on Susan Garlinghouse’s gelding, and Team John Henry turned out in full support...
they crossed the finish line in Auburn...
but alas, due to Tevis Gremlins, they were overtime so he did not get a completion.
so close, and yet so heartbreakingly far!
Jeremy Reynolds and Treasured Moments finished first in the August 24th Tevis Cup. Riding at the front of the pack of 133 riders, the two enjoyed a comfortable margin of victory at the end, finishing the 100 miles in 14 hours 48 minutes.
Second place was a nail-biter, as 3 riders popped up trail out of the dark 1 hour and 10 minutes later, with Christoph Schork and VA Blizzard of Oz nipping Vicki Holzer and SW Majestica, with Susan Kramer and A Ali Aseel another length back in fourth.
Suzanne Ford Huff and S D Expressa had been running up front with Jeremy leaving the Foresthill vet check, but they dropped back to finish fifth.
Finishing sixth and seventh were the mother-daughter duo of Jeanette and Reyna Mero. Jeanette rode Ozark Kaolena SWA (Lena) and Reyna rode Chndakas Eklipse SWA, with Lena receiving the Haggin Cup the next morning.
Jeremy is now a 4-time Tevis Cup winner (he also won the Haggin Cup 3 times previously).
Treasured Moments is an 11-year-old mare by DA Adios X Hidden Treasure, by RD Five Star, who received her 4th Tevis Buckle (her first buckle was a 3rd place and Haggin cup with Jeremy). Eight weeks previously she’d been in Italy where she and Jeremy won the 100-mile Italian Championship.
Jeanette Mero received her 4th Tevis buckle and Lena received her second. The mare has completed all but 2 of her 34 starts and she’s earned 7 Best Condition awards, including the 2019 National Championship 100 in California.
This year's heat wasn't particularly awful, though some riders did have to contend with the usual Tevis Gremlins out on trail (and before the ride). The riders and horses did have to contend with smoke from the start to several miles past the first hour vet check at Robinson Flat (36) miles but a top rider didn't consider that a factor.
63 riders finished out of 133 starters for a completion rate of 47%, which is more or less average for the Tevis Cup.
“It is not for the faint of heart: 100 hard-won miles of rock, dust, elevation, uphill (19,000 cumulative feet of climbing), downhill (22,000 cumulative feet of descending), imposing mountains, plunging canyons, wild Rivers, wilderness, extreme heat, suffocating humidity, extraordinary effort, and luck - good or bad, all in various doses, riding your horse across the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the dark and the light and the dark, all done within a 24 hour time limit. In 2010, Time magazine listed the Tevis Cup as one of the top 10 endurance competitions in the world.“
oh, but there’s more, so much more! Ride along with Merri Melde and Big Sky Quinn in their attempt at the World’s Toughest 100 mile Endurance ride, in Tevis Cup Magic.
Available on Amazon as soft cover
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0991346009
or e-book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G6J5EX6
winner of Best Book at the 2016 American Horse Publications Equine Media Awards.
Kyla has 915 AERC, EDRA, and WDRA miles, and she and Flash finished their first 100 in the December Scottsdale ReMarkable 100.
you can’t miss Flash - he’s pony-sized, but he’s got the personality of two horses put together and the determination of four, and Kyla has the biggest smile you’ll see all weekend!
(The two are pictured at City of Rocks Pioneer in June)
(The 2 of them are pictured at last year's Big Horn 100, where Suzie and Sanz won, and Ann and Atlas came 3rd)