A Sad State of Affairs

["Joan Dowis" <jrd@foothill.net>]

Hi, folks --

The post about the saddle missing at Foresthill on Tevis reminded me about
something that happened at Robie Park this year.  At the vet-in, each rider
must weigh in with tack.  Although Tevis is currently not requiring a
minimum riding weight for the Tevis Cup and Haggin Cup winners and top ten,
we still are accumulating weight statistics and verifying fw, lw, etc.
There is a large tarp on the ground for riders to put down their tack while
vetting the horses.  One of our Tevis board members who was riding the ride
put his tack and his brand new (as in never worn) helmet on the tarp.  When
he returned, the helmet was gone.  Later in the afternoon, a broken and
dirty helmet was found sitting on the tarp.

I was just in the Tevis office yesterday and looked in the "lost and found"
bin; there was no saddle, nor was there a brand new helmet, although the old
used broken helmet was there.

I have been involved in endurance since 1978.  Until recently, never have I
ever known problems at ridecamps with stealing things nor worried about
locking things up in camp when leaving on an endurance ride.  I do recall in
the last couple of years, also at Foresthill, where someone swiped a brand
new horse blanket which had been left on the ground at a crew spot just a
couple of minutes before.  This may be a problem due to the fact that this
vet stop is right on the main road through Foresthill, and accessible to
anyone, but the helmet incident at Robie Park is a horse of a different
color.

What has happened to honesty and integrity in endurance riding?  And I'm not
talking about cheating on the trail.  That's a whole different subject.

Joan Dowis
Tevis Board Member