Re: Tevis Cup Ride

["jsalas" <jsalas@tampabay.rr.com>]

Oh my Julie, you read my post all wrong. I know you were referring to what I wrote because you almost quote me. My kids and I drove all the way from Florida just to watch this race. I have never been to a ride quite like it in the past 8 years that I have been endurance riding. First of all, I was not bashing any thing about this ride. I was in awe, overwhelmed, excited to be there and thought it was everything I expected it to be. I was very impressed with the vets. I was at the ride meeting Friday night. The vet there said he thought the main reason so many horses get pulled at the fist check is because everyone is so hyped and they get the horse hyped and by the time they get to the check, the horse is already exhausted. He strongly advised the riders to take it easy and just keep a nice steady pace. Good advice. He also said he would like to see a 60% finish rate. But I always want to know "why"? Why can't more horses finish? Is it the trail, weather, training, breeding, what? What can we do, the vets, owners,  and riders to help our horses compete safer?? Why is the finish rate so low? Yes, some horses have finished several times, won and got BC. That is a handful compared to the amount of horses that have started this ride. Athletes and coaches are always trying to improve time, distance, speed or points. We spend millions of dollars researching body movement, recovery, heart size and nutrition trying to be better. My observation of the horses the next day was absolutely correct. They were dead tired. Why shouldn't they be? What is wrong with that statement?? Since I didn't have any pictures, I was  trying to give everyone a description. I wasn't questioning their condition, just commenting on how tired they were. We did see two horses move, they pinned their ears when we can by as if to say "If you bring anything but food into this stall, you will be sorry!". Listen, after I did my first marathon, I wolfed down a rack of ribs and some keylime pie and then practically went into a coma for the next 12 hours.  I only questioned whether or not I wanted to put myself and my horse thorough that. I know that feeling and I am not saying that is torture, it is just a tough ride. As far as the condition of the stalls, they most certainly had large rocks or limestone on the floor. They were not soft dirt. Big deal. That is what I saw and I am guessing that is why we saw so many bags of shavings and bales of straw. I wasn't implying they were crappy stalls, I have seen worse. I simply stated that after a ride like that, those horses need quilt top mattresses.  I also said I only saw one horse with an IV and frankly I was surprised. I pictured a triage with IV bags everywhere after all I had read about this ride. I watched the BC judging also. The Shagya Arab looked the best to me. I did see two that were a tad lame and the rest just looked really stiff, as well they had a right to be. I also heard the stories you and the other people were sharing. My kids and I enjoyed everything about the ride. That is all we have talked about for the past 2 weeks. It is the toughest ride we have ever been to , no doubt about that! My hat is off to all those teams who attempted this journey. I think the staff and volunteers did an excellent job. It looked well organized to me. As tough as the ride is, as much as I hate driving in those mountains, and the idea of being away from home for a month, I would still like to attempt this ride one day. However, I am very glad I watched first, before I attempt to ride. My apologies to you and anyone involved with this ride who misunderstood my comments. For someone who has never witnessed a ride of this magnitude, you really can't imagine what you are going to see until you get there. I truly enjoyed every minute of being there, and thought it was a grand ride. Lisa Salas, The Odd FArm