Road to the Tevis Cup Post #22: How to enter the Tevis Cup

I’ve been wondering about when and how to enter the Tevis Cup for several months. So much has been going on in my life (and generally) that I haven’t asked on the Facebook AERC page. Fortunately, another curious Tevis newbie asked today (thank you for your post, Samina!) So here we go. I will update this when the entry is available, and with my own experience after I actually enter… If I do so!

Update: There is now an online entry form! And you must enter online. Click here to enter the Tevis Cup 2023: Online entry. (https://teviscup.org/about-the-ride/entering-the-ride/ride-entry/)

When to enter the Tevis Cup

Entries will be available on January 1st. However, to enter, the rider must have 300 endurance miles. (The only rule about horses is that they must be 72 months old.) I have 50 endurance miles. I had planned to have ridden Fantazia 100-150 additional miles this fall, but due to (not riding in) wildfires and COVID-19, that hasn’t happened.

See the brief information page about ride registration.

My current best-case scenario for completing 250 miles

If COVID and weather permit (and neither Fantazia nor I get injured), I plan to enter the following rides:

1. Fire Mountain (50 miles on January 17 RESCHEDULED for April 10-11 (tentative))
2. Laurel Mountain Pioneer (50 miles on Feb 4th, and horse permitting, 50 on the 6th)
3. Twenty Mule Team ride (Feb 27, 65 miles)… I’ve been wanting to do this one for years!
4. Eastern Mojave Pioneer (March 10-13; I would like to do two days here too, but might skip it because it’s a bit further away.)
5. Cuyama Oaks Pioneer (This is the closest and most convenient ride for me to attend. I would like to do two days of 50s or 55s, on March 25 and 27th)
6. Montana de Oro (June 5th, 50 miles; another easy drive that goes near a friend’s place in Paso Robles)

There are other rides I’d love to attend, but they are further away, so we’ll see. I won’t ride after Montana de Oro if we are doing Tevis. If we don’t I will probably do the Redwood or Cuneo Creek ride, which for me (and Fantazia) would be very close to our old homes in Humboldt County.

If we successfully completed 50 miles at Fire mountain, 50 or 100 at Laurel Mt, 65 at 20 Mule Team, and 50 or 100 at either Eastern Mojave or New Cuyama, I would have 300 endurance miles by mid-April (I’ve got 50). For me, when to enter will be then!

How to enter the Tevis Cup

Send in the entry and fees… just like anything else 😉 But it would be nice to know some details. It’s not as easy as one would think to google “Tevis entry” and find the latest registration form. I did find the 2018 form here. Googling “Tevis Cup Signature Entry” brought up the 2019 form here). Crysta Turnage shared a part of the 2019 form on Facebook and has allowed me to post it (with the caveat that prices may well go up for 2021). It looks the same as the 2018 form.

You save $100 by entering approximately four weeks before the race. I’m not worried about that… I’ll enter as soon as I can, and hope I’m not put on the wait-list. Entries are capped at 210 (with 10 held for foreign entries at the discretion of the organizers).

Other stuff on the entry fees form

You can purchase meals for the night before the ride and the awards banquet. I’ll do that if I enter.

You also need to reserve a stall or campsite, unless you want to gamble on getting a free site. This may be the worst thing about not being able to enter in January… the stalls may be full by the time I have 300 miles.

The Tevis Buckle debate

You will notice on the entry form that you have the option to purchase a Tevis belt buckle pre-ride, for $160. You only get it if you finish. If you wait to purchase after you finish, you will have to pay $250.

When I told my cutting horse world boyfriend about this, he was horrified… In his world, you get a buckle if you win. You don’t pay for it (apart from the entry fees) and you don’t get it unless you score highest in your division. I am not sure what bothers him the most, that anyone who finishes can get a buckle, or that they try to “trick” participants into buying one they may never receive by offering them at a cheaper price before the ride.

Tevis buckles were once given as awards. Then they were a nonoptional part of the entry fee. I don’t know when the changes happened. I don’t have a strong opinion about the new practice of everyone-can-and-is-encouraged-to-buy-a-buckle-they-may-never-receive. It does bother me that I will have to make that decision upon entering.

On the one hand, even though I’ve been told that pre-purchasing the buckle is supposed to be lucky, I feel like it could jinx it. Yes, either way it’s superstitious.

But at the moment, with the way the past year has been going, I cannot help but feel that my chances of making it to the ride are very limited. Might as well just wait on the buckle, even if I enter (you get your entry fee back, minus a $30 processing fee, if you cancel two weeks before the ride).

On the other hand, I might not want the buckle right after the ride, even if I am euphoric with having completed Tevis. After all, I never wear belt buckles. So…

The Tevis Cup Signature Entry

The image above shows the standard entry fee form. I have been told that the standard entry does not cover the expense per rider. (Where does all the money go?) In a way, the up-front buckle purchase is a way of covering expenses in addition to sponsorships.

You can also support Tevis by purchasing a Signature Entry for $1500. It covers entry, buckle, stall for four nights (and two bags of shavings), dinner tickets, and swag (see pic below for 2019 package). You can write off $800 of it. If I have the money, I’ll do this (but I probably won’t).

Back to the buckle debate

My boyfriend, after fully expressing his dismay at the Tevis buckle policy, told me “but if you enter, pre-purchase the buckle.”

I said, “Why?”

He told me, “Because I know that if you enter, you will finish.”

I guess that’s why I keep him 😉

I still don’t know if I will be doing Tevis in 2021. If I don’t ride, I will most definitely volunteer. That is the best way to learn about a ride.