Re: tevis help

[Debbyly <Debbyly@aol.com>]

Samm-

You sent this to me directly, not through ridecamp, but I thought others
preparing to ride Tevis might also be interested.  (Samm won an entry to Tevis
and I offered to give her any input I could.)

You are in for a great adventure.  I think you are doing the right thing by
doing some aerobic triathlon type training.  It will be extremely helpful to
your horse if you can get off and run or walk some of the infamous canyons.
You hit them in the heat of the day and they can be tough.  You do NOT need to
be fast.  A steady slow jog on the steep downhills and a steady walk on the
steep uphills.  Tailing the uphills is an excellent idea.  If you haven't
trained your horse to tail, I would highly advise it.  When you get to the top
of the long steep hill at Devil's Thumb your horse will be fresh if you tail
while the other horses who have carried a rider up that hill will be very
tired and will take a long time to recover .

Try to get as much heat training as you can.   It is usually quite hot
although it is a much drier heat than what you are used to.

Tevis is a ride for the tough, not necessarily the fast.  If you can maintain
a moderate steady pace all day you will do fine.  Many people start out too
fast and then fade.  The pull rate for failure to recover at the first major
vet check at 30 miles is very high.

The first half of the ride is very rocky.  I would recommend pads or easy
boots.

You need to be very careful about taking care of yourself, eating, drinking
and keeping from getting too hot.  Carry lots of water and keep yourself and
your horse wet as much as you can.  Carry a sponge on a string so you can drop
it in the water whenever you cross a stream without getting off your horse.
Practice this so the horse doesn't the sponge is a water monster out to eat
him.

Feel free to ask me any specific questions as you go along in your
preparations.

Debby