# Tevis 100 mile ride



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

*part two*

A lot of the Tevis trail has iconic places, but none so famous as Cougar Rock. The pictures are nothing short of horrifying so not surprising that many people chose to take the bypass and go around it versus over it. But I had heard that it was no worse than a lot of the OD trails and both Little Claire and I wanted those pictures! We got super lucky and had finally broken free of the big crowd a couple miles before the Rock, so had the trail basically to ourselves but for a lovely woman named Katie (who was local and thus shared her knowledge of both the trail and the local history of the areas we rode through).











How ironic that I didn't find Cougar Rock to be nearly as scary as a lot of other trail that we covered. While I don't like heights, that wasn't a factor here as you were focused on the ground in front of you. Sultan never hesitated, just did his lovely jog-trot exactly where I directed him and went up and over. I was about bursting with pride looking at the photos of others, with horses spooking and leaping and in general looking very scary.. one fellow NE rider's horse refused to go up it at all!! To look at Sultan's, you could see his confidence and the ease with which he tackled Cougar Rock:










































































What more can you ask of a partner?


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

*part 3*

Next up was the canyons. I don't have many pictures as I was too busy riding to be able to think about the still camera. I did use the helmetcam, so hopefully some footage will turn out well. The higher-up stuff was nicer footing but scary as hell as the trail was only about a foot wide.. and it was a loooooong way down. 











The canyons themselves were less scary from a heights perspective, as they were crazy with switchbacks, but they had a lot of rolling rocks and dust.










It was here that I started noticing that Sultan wasn't quite himself on the downhills.. he just didn't move as freely as he should have. I got off and walked all the downhills.. my body did not appreciate hiking 4 miles in such terrain! Was so happy to get down to the swinging bridge, and even got brave enough to ride across it. No pics of that yet as the prof hasn't gotten the proofs up anywhere I could find yet.

Eventually made my way to the Foresthill check, which was the second hour hold. I discussed what I had been feeling with the vet who did our exam and he agreed he was a bit shorter on that leg, but did a thorough check and felt it was something high, so likely muscle. Sultan had the best metabolics and gut sounds of any horse he had checked so far, so encouraged me to massage the hind end to see if I could work the issue out.











The universe was kind and sent us some help in the form of a professional equine massage therapist, who I was thrilled to have evaluate and work on Sultan. Unfortunately, she felt the source of the problem was the same thing I did.. the bite mark on his side was hot to the touch and quite swollen. He likely had been moving differently to try to protect that area, leading to soreness in his back and hind end. After the hold period, he was no better, so I called it a day there at mile 68.











Only got home yesterday so haven't have a chance to work on the video. Will post that when I finally get it done!


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Fascinating! Thanks for allowing us a glimpse into an endurance ride


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

What an amazing experience!! Sultan is beautiful, and you look like you're having such a blast <3


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

I kept refreshing the Tevis facebook page, and the AERC facebook page watching all the people talking about it on Saturday. I am so sorry to hear about the bug bite! 

What an experience, I would do it just for a pic on Cougar rock.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Phantom, I've been eagerly awaiting this post. I got chills seeing those pictures of Cougar Rock. The first time I ever heard about endurance riding, it was when I saw a Tevis documentary several years ago- and I just couldn't believe horses and riders could _do _that. And now to get this kind of insight from someone who's been through it, well, it's just really incredible. Thank you for taking the time to share with the rest of us.

Sorry to hear that Sultan's discomfort was because of such a frustrating injury- but glad that he's totally fine for the long term.


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

egrogan said:


> Phantom, I've been eagerly awaiting this post. I got chills seeing those pictures of Cougar Rock. The first time I ever heard about endurance riding, it was when I saw a Tevis documentary several years ago- and I just couldn't believe horses and riders could _do _that. And now to get this kind of insight from someone who's been through it, well, it's just really incredible. Thank you for taking the time to share with the rest of us.
> 
> Sorry to hear that Sultan's discomfort was because of such a frustrating injury- but glad that he's totally fine for the long term.


Thank you for linking to the documentary. That was pretty neat.

I have wanted to endurance ride for years but haven't due to cost. Now our 2 oldest dd's want to ride with.


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## Comfortably Numb (Jul 16, 2013)

Doing more than a 100km in a day is a fantastic achievement in itself and even more so in such a difficult terrain - congrats! 
I am wondering, were there any western saddles that you saw among the many starters? In Europe you would not see them, but since they are a lot more popular in the US I decided to ask.
Also, I am curious - how does this ride rank amongst others you have done in terms of difficulty level?


With regard to the Inside Info video above - it is amusing how people bravely ascertain that this is the most difficult endurance ride in the world - as if they have been everywhere, seen it all and done it all.  Otherwise nice to watch - there is another on youtube simply called The Tevis Cup.


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## Monkey (Dec 26, 2013)

Wow, that's amazing! Thank you for sharing the pictures!


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Drifting said:


> I am so sorry to hear about the bug bite!


It wasn't a bug bite. It was a huge bite mark (that broke skin) from one of the horses he was turned out with (and wasn't supposed to be).

I would be a lot less frustrated and disappointed had it been a bug bite, as those are not always preventable. This 100% was.




Comfortably Numb said:


> I am wondering, were there any western saddles that you saw among the many starters?
> 
> Also, I am curious - how does this ride rank amongst others you have done in terms of difficulty level?


I did not see any western saddles, though certainly possible there were some. Generally you don't see many at endurance rides, at least on the East Coast.

In terms of ranking.. I think its very hard to compare, in all honesty. A lot of the issue for this ride, for me, was dealing with the massive crowds. The trail itself, while certainly not easy, I don't think is any harder than say the Old Dominion 100 (in fact, the footing at Tevis is in general much nicer)... but at the OD you don't have 100 other people (literally) all around you at every given moment. The stress of not only dealing with your own horse and self, but also all the others around you was very draining for me. 

The other thing that makes it very difficult is the need to not only have crew, but have multiple people crewing as trailers need to be moved and crew spots gotten, etc. It would be impossible for one person to be able to do all the things necessary.. in fact, one Tevis veteran that I spoke with said she had figured out that having at least 2 trucks and trailers and another separate truck was ideal, as well as at least 4 people, and triple of anything you might need, so one set can be with each trailer and one set with the truck.. who the hell has that much stuff?!


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Ha.. sorry I totally meant horse bite. Oops. I imagine it was very frustrating. Would you try again some year?

Did your junior have to pull too?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Drifting said:


> Ha.. sorry I totally meant horse bite. Oops. I imagine it was very frustrating. Would you try again some year?
> 
> Did your junior have to pull too?


Doubt I would ever go back. I ride because its fun.. and while I don't expect 100% to be fun, I am not even sure that 5% of this ride was fun.. so why the heck do it?

I was able to find another sponsor for the junior, so she did finish.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Wow, that was so experience Dawn!!! Love the pictures of your ride up Cougar's Rock. So sorry that poor old Sultan was bit so hard as to cause you to pull. Dang...that must have hurt! 

I was telling my barn manager about your ride today. She rides endurance and the season is about to start here next month. I am going to let her read this!


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## Comfortably Numb (Jul 16, 2013)

> I did not see any western saddles, though certainly possible there were some. Generally you don't see many at endurance rides, at least on the East Coast.
> 
> In terms of ranking.. I think its very hard to compare, in all honesty. A lot of the issue for this ride, for me, was dealing with the massive crowds. The trail itself, while certainly not easy, I don't think is any harder than say the Old Dominion 100 (in fact, the footing at Tevis is in general much nicer)... but at the OD you don't have 100 other people (literally) all around you at every given moment. The stress of not only dealing with your own horse and self, but also all the others around you was very draining for me.
> 
> The other thing that makes it very difficult is the need to not only have crew, but have multiple people crewing as trailers need to be moved and crew spots gotten, etc. It would be impossible for one person to be able to do all the things necessary.. in fact, one Tevis veteran that I spoke with said she had figured out that having at least 2 trucks and trailers and another separate truck was ideal, as well as at least 4 people, and triple of anything you might need, so one set can be with each trailer and one set with the truck.. who the hell has that much stuff?!


Thank you - I fully understand the traffic issue and that craziness does not sound as the most appealing part of the experience. The number of trucks and trailers, people and horses - can imagine that sucks up some energy that could otherwise be going to better uses.
Still given all the marketing around Tevis Cup and the almost "legendary" status of that race (at least in the US), it is probably a good sensation to do it once, to know you have been there and to be able to tell the story (with nice pictures to boot). 

This short video is from Babolna Derby. A popular endurance ride in Hungary, draws participants from a number of countries, but is not one of the big FEI-Middle-East-sponsored-big-money-awarding rides. This is the image endurance has for me and most regular folks around here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6KikcmXeZk


I asked about the western saddle as we are just learning to go out in the field with my 5yo mare (started under saddle this past Spring). I had never ridden in a Western before, but find it quite comfortable and actually safer - a couple of times she exploded and I am pretty sure in English I would have been out. The reason why we went to Western is that she showed a strong dislike for a Prestige, a Kieffer and a Wintec, but is going just fine in the cheap Western thing and is finding her feet fast.


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## NightFell (Dec 3, 2014)

What an amazing experience and opportunity. I'm sure if not for that bite, you and Sultan would have certainly finished the ride in great form- and the pictures of Cougar Rock, totally got the chills! My goal is do Tevis one day; I'm still a long ways from it haha but reading this was inspirational and I'm going to keep working hard


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Great job of riding and taking care of Sultan. Those cougar rock pictures are amazing!


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## grayshell38 (Mar 9, 2009)

I am sorry to hear that the reason you had to pull was due to something completely preventable. That is the worst. 

As far as the difficulty of just the course alone, there are three rides in America that are considered the most difficult and well know. They are Tevis, Old Dominion, and Big Horn. 

I have spoken to people that have done all three or at least two of them. While Tevis is very popular and well known, it seems to be generally considered the easier course of the three. However, as PH has experienced, the outside forces can make it miserable. 

Big Horn is constantly said to be harder than Tevis. I almost always hear "If you can do Big Horn, you can do Tevis." There is a loop on the 100 mile that is called Shag Nasty. And it deserves that name!!

Old Dominion seems to have a reputation for being hot, humid, straight up or straight down with tons of rocks. A well known rider from the mountain region went and completed, but said he was never going back!

My friend from South Africa said that even overseas people know about Big Horn. So it is partially opinion as well as luck.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

That is so cool! Look at you both rockin' that Cougar Rock. You both make it look so easy!

Hope he feels better very soon!


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Where is the Big Horn? Do you have a link?


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## Regula (Jan 23, 2012)

Just out of interest, can anyone start at any endurance race? Or is there a qualification process?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Regula said:


> Just out of interest, can anyone start at any endurance race? Or is there a qualification process?


For this particular race, there are some qualifications you need to meet. However, for most of them there is no human qualification process. Your horse, however, must meet the minimum age requirements (4yo to start an LD, 5yo to start a 50).


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

And finally, the video!


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Loved seeing the rider dismounted and holding onto her horse's tail to get up that incline...that would be me given the chance!

What a cool video! Gave me chills!


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

What an amazing experience and what a great job your horse did! It was a thrill just reading about it and seeing the pictures! Thank you very much for sharing something most of us can't really imagine. But the traffic jams...wow.


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## Comfortably Numb (Jul 16, 2013)

phantomhorse13 said:


> And finally, the video!
> 
> http://youtu.be/iwpolRQYDqI


Thanks for sharing - would love to do the Tevis trail - on a non-Tevis Cup day. 

I can safely say, I have never ridden such a difficult terrain for the length of time. Terrain apart, the traffic in the beginning of the video was nothing short of absurd! Conclusion: your horse (of course in combination with the rider) is amazing!


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## Comfortably Numb (Jul 16, 2013)

Regula said:


> Just out of interest, can anyone start at any endurance race? Or is there a qualification process?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I know there are not too many FEI races in North America, but there both horse and rider need to qualify - beginning with two completions of 40km/25mi races. Then they can go on to endurance-length events, starting with 80km/50mi. Qualification criterion is independent for horse and rider (no need to qualify and race as a couple). I think validity is for two years - a longer break than that mandates fresh qualification.
Age restriction is 5 as far as I remember.


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## TheOtherHorse (Aug 5, 2012)

What a fun adventure! Loved the video.


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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Loved the video! The traffic was insane, I can only imagine going at a good clip only to have to slow down because of others in front of you. I'd be cursing up a storm. 

Beautiful Scenery.


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Thank to you PH13 my girls definitely want to do endurance riding. 

They have been interested in it but since you had posted in the "Share you ride...." they are now trying to figure out how we can do it.

The scary thing for us is $

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us!


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## Jana F (Feb 13, 2015)

Very nicely done!


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## hollysjubilee (Nov 2, 2012)

Thanks for sharing! I have a friend from CO who does the Tevis every year. I guess the traffic jams don't deter her, but they would be the worst part for me, too, and I would not want to be in the crush. I don't even go on fund-raiser trail rides with people I don't know because I've seen and heard about the wrecks that could have been prevented with some common sense.
Beautiful country . . . I love CA. Your horse and you, both, have an amazing partnership. Great job.


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