Tevis - 2001 (Kinda long)

[Dbeverly4@aol.com]

First of all....thanks to everyone who sent me their sympathy and concern 
when they heard about Harca and me going splat on the Tevis trail.

This year's Tevis was Harca's 8th start and was to be his 7th completion.  
He's only been pulled once before and that was for a muscle cramp at Robinson 
on our first attempt.  He is a big, strong, extremely competent trail horse.  
I probably owe him my life a few times over, but never as much as this time.  

We started this year's Tevis at an easy working trot, nothing too stressful.  
About 10 (or so) miles into the ride we were trotting along a narrow 
switchback type trail into Squaw Valley and came to a large slab of granite 
that spanned the trail. Nothing especially dangerous about it, we've crossed 
that spot uneventfully before. We slowed to a walk to cross it. Harca lowered 
his head and looked as he walked, suddenly he was scrambling for footing on 
the smooth surface and the next thing I knew we were going down.  I just had 
time to swing my right leg over his back to keep it from getting pinned 
beneath his body.  I landed on my back with my right leg up against his body 
(kind of in a "splits" position -- my friend Jim said it was a fine piece of 
trick riding) and my back wedged against the mountain side.  Harca was curled 
on his side, right on the edge of the trail.  He very carefully stood up 
without so much as grazing me. But, he took my right leg up with him and I 
heard my hamstring pop.  Then he stood very still and waited for me to 
untangle my legs from him (my body was underneath his barrel).  When I got my 
leg down he cautiously stepped over me and then waited for me to go to him (I 
had let go of the reins at that point).  I looked him over as best I could on 
the narrow trail and then tried to walk him to a wider spot for better 
examination.  By now, there were probably 15 riders behind us wanting to get 
by and I didn't want to risk an anxious horse going off the trail because we 
were blocking it.  So I hobbled for a bit, then realized I HAD to get on and 
ride.  Harca was not lame at all so I got on (that was when I knew that the 
damage to my right leg was worse than I thought).  We got to a wide spot and 
pulled off.  I squirted water on his hock wound and it didn't look too bad.  
Another rider gave me some vet wrap (I could have sworn I packed a roll, but 
couldn't find it) and I put ointment on the wounds and wrapped the hock one. 
The small one to the inside of his right leg looked inconsequential (turns 
out this was the bad one -- a puncture right in the area of his stifle 
joint). At this point I wasn't sure how serious the injuries were and decided 
to go on to the vet check at Lion's Ridge (7 miles farther on).  Harca was 
still sound at the trot at that vet check.  I asked Bob Dieterich (ride vet) 
to check Harca's wounds and that was when the depth of the puncture was 
discovered.  Bob told me that I needed to get Harca out of there, but 
trailers couldn't get in to that check.  We would have to walk to Red Star 
Ridge (about another 7 miles or so).  At this point I told my friends Jim 
McKibben and Bob Waugh to go on without me and Harca and I would hobble in 
(well, I was hobbling, Harca didn't know he was injured yet and was really 
mad about how slow I was going).  Bob stayed with me (thanks Bob!) until we 
came to another rider/horse who were injured and the two of us walked in 
together while Bob was able to continue at a better pace.  Finally, after an 
eterenity, we arrived at Red Star Ridge and the rescue trailer.  

Trailered into Robinson where I met with my worried family and crew.  The 
minute I saw them I broke down and cried -- the tears on top of all the dirt 
on my face just kind of turned me into a mud ball.   After some diagnostics 
by the treatment vet we made the decision to take Harca straight to UC Davis. 
 If the stifle joint was punctured it was very likely a career ending injury. 
I wanted to make sure we did everything possible to prevent a permanent 
lameness.  At this point I was praying that he would be pasture sound -- I 
was afraid to get greedy and ask for anything more.  Worrying about a 
permanent injury definitely put the ride into the proper perspective.

Once we arrived at Davis the vets there did extensive x-rays and testing of 
the joints near the puncture and it was determined that there had been no 
injury to any of the 3 joints nearby.  I hugged all of the vets and vet 
students who had helped me (I'm sure they didn't appreciate this filthy, 
stinky woman hugging them, but I did it anyway <g>).  Because of the depth of 
the puncture, they wanted to keep Harca for a week so he could be on IV 
antibiotics.  Once we got him settled into a stall he looked comfortable and 
was contentedly munching on hay while this horrible looking IV thingy hung 
out of his neck and his legs were all wrapped in bandages.  He didn't seem 
worried or stressed so I started to leave.  Well, Harca was having none of 
THAT if he had to stay there then I did too.  He started screaming and pawing 
at the stall door the minute I was out of his sight.  I went back and talked 
to him and he started eating again.  I kept trying to sneak away, but he's no 
fool and kept one eye on me while he ate.  Finally, he relaxed enough so that 
I could leave him and get myself taken care of.  

When I stopped by to visit Harca yesterday (Monday) they told me that he was 
doing really well and would probably recuperate faster at home (I think that 
translates into "he's a paint in the butt" <g>).  I was ecstatic to be able 
to take him home with me that day instead of the following Saturday.  They 
had told me that I might have to tranquilize him to clean his wounds twice 
daily and give him his oral antibiotics.  This morning when I dressed his 
wounds I didn't even tie him up -- he's a pretty good patient :)

My injuries consisted of some really spectacular bruises (I'm quite proud of 
them), a bruised kidney, torn hamstring and fractured rib.  None of the 
injuries are life threatening or even all that painful (let's hear it for 
Ibuprofen).  Harca and I should both recover to 100% soundness and I feel 
very lucky and grateful for that.

I want to thank the volunteers and vets at Red Star Ridge and Robinson Flat 
for the wonderful care they gave to both Harca and me.  Robinson  was an 
especially hectic place, and the treatment vet was having to decide who went 
first in the rescue trailers to Forest Hill (where our rigs were) or to the 
local vet clinic.  My great crew went totally under-utilized and I feel bad 
about that -- thanks to Lory and Randy Walls, and Renee Gonzales for being 
there :))

I've been thinking about what we ask of our horses and if I asked too much of 
Harca.  8 Tevis rides IS asking alot, no doubt about it.  Maybe too much.  
But then I remember the light in his eyes when we arrived at Robie Park for 
the start.  He knows why he's there and if horses could grin, he would.  I 
honestly think that if he could talk and I asked him -- he would vote yes on 
doing the Tevis.  God willing, we'll be there next year and you can bet we'll 
tip-toe over that dang slab of granite. 

Congratulations to everyone who finished this year! 

Sylvia & Harca