The Road to the Tevis Cup, Post #7: Why the Tevis Cup?

Of all the goals I could have set for myself (and Fantazia), why have I chosen the Tevis Cup, one of the most grueling endurance events?

1. It’s relatively close

I suppose the biggest reason is practical: I live about six hours from Robie Park, where the race starts. If I lived anywhere near Wyoming, I’d be aiming for Big Horn; I’d probably prefer it to Tevis, because so much fuss happens at Tevis. From what I’ve seen lurking on Facebook endurance pages (AERC page), Big Horn is a lot quieter, with fewer volunteers, competitors, etc. If I lived on the east coast, I’d want to do Old Dominion, an old prestigious 100-mile ride in Virginia

Fortunately, I live in California now (see my About me), because Tevis has held a certain mystique for me ever since I was a child. I grew up showing Morgan horses, but although I trained primarily in arenas, I had loads of fun exploring the hundreds of acres of cattle ranches accessible from my parents’ place. I had a few very good trail horses (mares!) and spent a lot of time trotting and galloping along dirt roads and up and down hills. Occasionally I would dream of endurance, but I had far too much going on in my life already.

2. I’ve toyed with the idea of endurance for a long time

Still, every time someone mentioned Tevis, I would think, some day. Then, when I was riding race horses on the track near Madrid, Spain, I would occasionally hear people talk of “raids”, the Spanish term for endurance racing. Some Thoroughbreds were sold as endurance prospects. I had a filly that I thought would be ideal–she was hard as nails, had a huge trot, but was far too slow to be competitive on the track. If my life on the track hadn’t gone sideways, I might have tried endurance with her.

When I started boarding my mare Lady (Fantazia’s full sister) with my soon-to-be close friend Melissa (see this post about her mare Misty), endurance became more than a vague dream. Melissa didn’t have any trouble convincing me that it would be fun to train together. We had a great time conditioning our mares, and we learned a lot. Sadly, life happened to both of us in different ways, and we ended up attending only three rides together. We completed an intro and two LDs (Lady was lame after the second–twisted Easyboot Glove–so she was pulled), but that was it.

Melissa has started to focus on Working Equitation. I had to take a break from any type of competition, due to busyness and limited financial resources. But I was determined to pick it up again as soon as I could.

3. Yes, there is a mystique about the Tevis Cup

It’s just cool. It’s in the Sierra Nevada, alongside ridges and cliffs. Horse people who don’t even do endurance say wistfully, I’d like to try it someday. One of my mom’s childhood friends did try it. By her account, she didn’t really train, and only made it to Robinson Flat, if recall correctly.

Family tales and Dr. Murray Fowler

Whenever my dad hears me mention my Tevis plans, he tells the story of the people he knew who were part of the original Tevis crowd. He started studying zoology at UC Davis in the 60s and jumped ship with an ABD and lots of stories in 1972. Some of the stories involve Murray Fowler. Dr. Fowler was an exotic animal expert (and Sacramento Zoo veterinarian for decades). My dad assured me that Murray Fowler had not only ridden Tevis at least once, but had also been an essential part of its Tevis.

It took me some time to track down online evidence of his involvement, but I did find some. Dr. Fowler completed Tevis in 1961. Some broken web links suggest that he mentions Tevis in his autobiography, Hummingbirds to Elephants and Other Tales. (I’ve ordered the book for my father, so I will soon have a look myself!) The last bit of evidence I found was an Endurance.net Consider This blog post on Vetting the Tevis. It appears Murray Fowler became chief veterinarian in 1959 (before my father would have met him).

4. It’s a real challenge, but possible…

I hope! Given that I am an endurance newbie, I’ve got a lot to learn. It might be over-ambitious to aim for 2021/2022. But I enjoy a challenge, as long as I can see a clear path to meeting it. We’ll see what i am writing in six months time, but at the moment, I can see a (long, difficult, but doable) path to completing Tevis.

Previous Road to Tevis posts:

Introducing Fantazia

Fantazia’s first three weeks

When I met Fantazia

How to calculate the grade of hills

The manure fork incident

Week 8 Training Update

Next Road to the Tevis post:

The Road to the Tevis Cup, Post #8: What to do about a broken rein