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My friend Joanne, her two boys, her mother Lollie, my three kids, and  
I have made a tradition out of hanging out at Tevis every year.  Just  
being there is exciting.  The number of people is deceptive--you'd  
never know there were so many because the whole event seems warm,  
familiar, and friendly.  We hang out at the vetting in, rider-list in  
hand, making notes about what each horse looks like, what shoes  
they're using, what saddles, how they're being handled, etc.  Ok, we  
even kinda make bets, not for money or anything, but just as a test of  
our judgment of equine and rider readiness.  We had to hide the papers  
eventually though because people kept asking us questions about where  
to put tack for the weighing in and so on.  We looked official  
apparently.

This year I had high hopes for the most perfect little black  
stallion.... He was pulled eventually, but man-oh-man, what a cool  
package.  His owner loved him--that's always puts a big star next to  
the name on my list.  Still haven't gone back through to see whether  
apparent affection between horse and rider makes a difference in  
completion rate.  I want to believe it's hugely significant but can't  
promise.  We did see a bit of ugliness at Robinson Flat where a man in  
line for the vet kept yanking his horse who was frantically stomping  
all four legs.  Hopefully most of us would look for the cause rather  
than growling and yanking the horse who was obviously uncomfortable.   
My friend Joanne kept muttering, "why doesn't he take the interference  
boots off and rinse his legs.  He's gonna get pulled.  There's no way  
his heart rate is going to get low enough.  I can't believe he's going  
to get pulled just for failing to rinse his horse's legs...."  I urged  
her to say something but agreed the guy looked way too angry and  
frustrated to be open to suggestions.  Sure enough, after a couple of  
retries, he got pulled, sound horse or no.  Crazy.

(Btw, I personally had no idea that drying sweat/water on the boots  
would pull hairs and irritate a horse so much--but that's exactly what  
was happening.  At first people went looking for biting ants, but no  
other horses were stomping.  The guy finally pulled the hinds, the  
horse immediately got less restive, but he never got around to pulling  
the fronts, nor to rinsing the legs.  Like him, I wouldn't have  
understood what was happening, but I sure as heck would have been  
yelling for help and advice....  Joanne's experienced eye and judgment  
has seen her through three Tevis's and have saved me in the very few  
rides I've done.  I kinda' doubted her at first, then watched the  
scene unfold exactly as she predicted.  We felt really bad for the guy  
and his horse--I kept thinking all day, wow, if he'd only rinsed those  
legs, he mighta had a completion.  Gorgeous, fit horse.  ugh.)

Let's see, there were so many interesting dramas--these are what make  
endurance so deeply meaningful, Tevis in particular.  Turns out we  
were picnicking right next to Melissa of "Big Girl Panties" fame--oh,  
and of unbelievably-brave-determined-and-cheerful fame as well.  We  
were the "really lame crew" who barely helped her as she and Cabo made  
their way through Tevis two years ago.  We had three exhausted  
children, one vomiting, and me who knew next to nothing about  
crewing.  Not much help.  Melissa doesn't want much help though.  She,  
like many good riders, likes to take care of her own horse for the  
most part.  Cabo looked more fit than two years ago when Melissa said  
famously, "I'll never ask him to do that again."  Hah!  He's a game  
little guy.  This year he looked as though he could have won the  
thing.  That your next goal Melissa??!!!  First Paso to win Tevis??

We also ran into Sharon and Fire.  Sharon stopped by to fill me in on  
part of the reason she and I took the wrong loop at Sunriver a few  
weeks ago--She'd had a concussion!  (My excuse?  uhhh.  Inexperience?   
Failure to distinguish "black/pink stripe and white" from "Black and  
white" ribbons? General idiocy?)  Turns out she'd probably lost  
consciousness the night before when her horse knocked her over.   
Someone mentioned that she'd moved her trailer 4 times that night  
after the accident.  She couldn't remember blacking out or moving her  
rig.  Wow.  I was SO happy to see her.  She'd not been sure about  
bringing Fire since they hadn't completed Sunriver--where he fell  
under my mare in the trailer trip back to the missed turn--we were  
doomed that day.)  Joanne and I were positive he could do Tevis.  He  
was still pulling and prancing 67 miles into Sunriver--all that cruddy  
downhill and all.  He's amazing.  We tracked 'em all day.  Sure  
enough, they did great!  Oddly Sharon and Melissa wound up pretty  
close together which made tracking them easy and fun.  Both of them  
took "ride my own ride" approach for sure.  Sharon's really good at  
that.  All through Sunriver, my first 100 attempt, she kept saying,  
don't worry about those others who are riding faster.  We're gonna'  
move up and we won't have tired horses with stressed tendons."  She  
was completely right--had we not missed the turn it was going exactly  
as she predicted.  At Tevis she took the same steady approach and  
wound up 43rd after being pretty far back initially.  She also insists  
on doing most of her own caretaking--though she had a really nice,  
effective person helping her out.  I can't remember the woman's name.   
It was kinda' funny to watch Sharon accept help actually--she and  
Melissa both are patient but deep down clearly wish they could do  
everything themselves.  That's the thing about knowing one's horse,  
you're the only one who knows them really well.

Watching both Melissa and Sharon, and listening to Joanne and her  
mother Lollie (also completed Tevis 3 times!) helped me understand why  
experienced people do so well.  One's judgment is so important.  Every  
step of the way one is making little judgment calls.  I think  
beginners who have zero pride do pretty well too.  Listening and  
respecting experience is almost, well, sorta' close to the same as  
having it yourself.  Look at the guy from England who top-tenned this  
year--I believe Tevis was his first 100 miler!  And on someone else's  
horse!  (Yes, the horse was conditioned for him, but he was wise  
enough to listen to advice and experience and wound up with a  
spectacular finish on a happy horse.  Huge admiration for that guy.   
Christopher Baker, right?)

Another learning scenario involved Fred Emigh who let his friend Mark  
Engemann ride Comet--Mark and Comet wound up coming in 10th, and Comet  
looked as though he could do it all again right then.  Fred is so  
obviously brilliant (as is Mark who must have done everything right,  
including being in great shape.  That guy looked fresh as a daisy at  
the finish line).  Just watching Fred go to work on his horse at each  
stop, listening to him and Mark discuss when Comet was ready to be  
presented to the vet, and so on was a lesson in focus, efficiency, and  
knowledge (yes, Joanne and I are TERRIBLE eavesdroppers and  
busybodies--even tried to pry info out of Fred's delighted and  
delightful mother at the finish line).  It was also a lesson in how  
fun it is to do well.  Earlier Fred told us he doesn't love Tevis  
because the results can be pretty random--well-prepared, well-ridden  
horses get pulled all the time.  So he hadn't over-committed to a top- 
ten finish, but, man, once he realized how well his team was doing,  
let's just say he was pretty happy.

Back to that notion of affection between horse and rider--watching  
Fred handle his horses is moving.  Have you ever noticed how some vets  
have a kinda' magical way of touching horses--kinda' gentle and sure?   
Fred, like my friend Joanne, has that touch.  Every move is soft,  
sure, unsurprising.  His horses never flinch.  On the other hand, the  
guy rides really competitively when he feels a horse is ready.  The  
horses seem to trust him and simply go when he asks.  He's careful  
though--his horse probably could have won the Bandit Springs 80 miler  
but that wasn't part of his plan.  And he stuck to the plan to the  
benefit of his horse who looked as good at the end as he did at the  
start.  Still don't get why they didn't get the BC.  His horse came  
into the ride with a scrape on his back--is that enough to knock one  
out?

Funny gossipy detail: a few people got funny ideas about Fred when he  
came up to Oregon for Bandit Springs.  He rode like the pro he is,  
saved me from the wiley machinations of other top ten riders (an  
interesting bunch those fast riders are), and wound up frustrating  
someone who then spread a few nasty bits of inaccuracies around camp.   
(Though I believe the producer of the rumors probably believed them to  
be true.  Most people don't lie intentionally.)  For the record--don't  
piss him off because I'll bet he will always beat you fair-and-square  
if you do.  Also, he doesn't seem to care if someone he doesn't admire  
likes him or not.  On the other hand, don't mistake his focus and  
honesty for disdain.  He took unbelievable care of me for the first 50  
miles of that ride--someone he'd never met before.  Every single  
tidbit he told me turned out to be right.  He's brave too--in all  
those miles he never mentioned once that his stirrup was irrevocably  
messed up.  He wound up having to ride all 80 miles on tiptoe.   
Agonizing I'll bet, but he didn't say a word.  Most telling of all is  
the  way he trains. Joanne watched him work with an excited mare at  
the trailer (we camped nearby):  she said the process was a lesson in  
patience.  He got the mare through the 50 miler the next day with a  
few joking comments about her witchiness, but, by days' end, she was a  
changed horse.  He didn't put up with bad behavior--allowed no  
kicking, pulling, pushing--but he wasn't tough or rough.  He gently  
and firmly taught the horse how to behave and wound up with a calmer,  
steadier beast.  Some day I'd like to buy a horse from him.  Hear that  
Fred???  Not one of the bizillion dollar ones though, k?

So, to summarize these musings:  a newbie like me is learning tons  
just by paying attention to all that goes on at Tevis:  I learned your  
odds of finishing go up tremendously if you bring a fit horse, get in  
shape yourself, have your gear figured out and organized, keep a grip  
on your emotions (stay cheerful), and above all else, LISTEN.  Listen  
to your horse for sure, but also listen to all the experience  
surrounding you.  Joanne and Lollie already know tons, but they still  
seem to learn as much as I do.  (Joanne's fascination this year was  
with hoof-protection--how the latest innovations were holding up.  My  
particular fascination was with horse handling and pastern angles.)    
Maybe that's what's so fun about this ride--there are so many smart,  
experienced people around.  It's not crowded but enough so the  
eavesdropping opportunities are awesome.  And you can't help running  
into all the characters you hear about on Ridecamp.  It's like getting  
to walk around in a novel.  My 11 year-old daughter Clara holds on to  
the trail ribbon Julie Suhr gave her a few years ago upon a chance  
encounter at Robinson Flat--Clara says I can braid it into Indy's mane  
next year when we do Tevis--but she says I can't lose it "because I  
promised Julie I'd braid it into Benny's mane when WE do Tevis."  Now  
that's a magical effect!

Mary K.
 
 

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