Volunteering for the Tevis Cup (Road to Tevis #128)

I had hoped to ride Tevis in 2021. (Read my very first Road to Tevis post!) Although I didn’t have the prerequisite 300 miles by that time, the real problem was that I overtrained my mare Fantazia (which is why we hadn’t completed my planned rides). Since then, volunteering for the Tevis Cup has been a persistent goal. I finally did so this year, as a in-timer at Francisco’s.

I certainly learned a lot, but mainly I had a great time.

Read my write up of the results!

Jump to:

Signing up to volunteer for Tevis
Exploring Robie Equestrian Park on Friday
The long wait at Francisco’s
Details of my job as in-timer
Volunteering for the Tevis Cup
Take home

Read another blogpost from a Tevis volunteer: The Road to Tevis: Actual Tevis. Jamethiel Morse volunteered as a horse transporter (far braver than I am!)

Signing up to volunteer for Tevis

I signed up to volunteer for Tevis on June 1st. (Click here for the volunteering page!) That’s pretty late when the ride is on July 12th, and I knew from the feedback received on the AERC Facebook page that many sites would be full. I was most interested in voluteering at Robie so I could see the vet-in and start. They already had sufficient volunteers there.

Most experienced Tevis people recommended sites where crews were not allowed. Overall, I got more recommendations for Deadwood and Francisco’s. (You can read my post and the great replies here: AERC Facebook page post.) Sési Catalano, the Tevis Volunteer Coordinator, assigned me to Francisco’s and put me in touch with Anna Plaxco, the Head Volunteer there.

Sési warned that there was no cell coverage, in case I needed it. Mostly, I do need cell coverage (though my phone does satellite texting). But I thought it would be nice to have about 18 hours of difficult communication. Sési also said that bears would not be a problem 😉

Where should I sleep?

Bears?!

Once I knew I was going to volunteer, I asked in a Facebook post whether there would be trees at Robie Park that I could hang a hammock from.

Boy did that post inspire a lot of comments! BEARS! DUST! Long line of rigs to get stuck in on my way out Saturday morning. I am not worried by bears. (Why would they go for stringy human when they can get juicy mash with little effort?) Dust, on the other hand, and a slow dusty road out convinced me. I would have liked to see the start, but not that much!

After communicating with Anna, who said there were trees at Francisco’s and a campground (Ruck-a-Chucky Campground), I decided to stay there after volunteering Saturday night. I had just booked a hotel in Auburn for Friday night when Dannan Stamper offered to let me crash at her house in Colfax. I accepted with thanks–I always enjoy meeting someone new, especially someone who was familiar with Tevis! We even had dinner when I got back from Robie Park.

Above: My experience volunteering for the Tevis Cup began with a visit to Robie Park on Friday.

Exploring Robie Equestrian Park on Friday

Despite my best intentions of getting an early start, I didn’t get to Robie until 3:30. (In my defense, it’s six and a half hour drive, even in a car going as fast as I could safely go.) Most people had already vetted in. It was quiet. I parked near the entrance and followed the Head Volunteer signs to her trailer, but there was no one around. I then went straight to the vendors.

My first stop was Reactor Panel. I had had a Reactor Panel saddle that I loved for myself, but couldn’t fit to Fantazia, despite spending a long time speaking with Dana Gasner, RP fitter and representative. (Read about it in my post, Finding the right saddle.) I’d still love an RP saddle! When I stopped at their booth, it was Dana herself I ended up chatting with–we realized as soon as I told my story.

RP donates a saddle to raffle at Tevis, so I made my way to the Tevis Store trailer to buy tickets. I bought four. I didn’t win. I should have bought 25! Next time…

Above: The Tevis Store trailer. They sell all sorts of useful things a rider might need at the last minute, plus souvenirs. I bought raffle tickets to (not) win a Reactor Panel saddle.

Getting the lay of the land

After deciding not to purchase anything, I explored Robie Park. I figured that if I ever made it with a horse, it would be better to know where things are.

Robie Park is big–160 acres per the Tevis site. With a full field (210 participants), I am sure that it would seem more occupied. As it was, few rigs were obvious. Of course, there are so many trees it’s easy to get some privacy, bit it’s also very spread out. I walked along the main “roads” and around one loop for medium sized rigs. There was a lot of space!

Above: In the first picture, many vets and no one vetting in! They are on one side of the Nick and Moreen Mansfield Memorial Arena (sign in th second photo, with flags). Finally, the backbone of any ride is the water delivery system!

The important places–check-in, vetting area, and vendor space–are evident as soon as you get to Robie. There are port-a-potties and horse troughs everywhere, and plenty of signs telling you where to go. The trail itself leads out from where you enter. Pen 1 is between the entrance and the start. It’s not big. Even if River gets fast enough to earn Pen 1, I don’t think I could start there. Too many opportunities to get cranky and kick other horses!

Above: In the first picture you can see Pen 1. In the second, the sign at the start. You can see it easily from he road as you drive out.

What did the horses look like?

I wish I had had arrived to see everyone vet it… but I would probbaly have gotten bored. Quite a few of the horses I had already seen anyway… and I was familiar with two of the four mules, though I saw no mules while volunteering for Tevis. None made it to Francisco’s. The horses I did see came in many shapes and sizes, with wide-ranging body conditions.

Above: A small slide show of Robie Park. Notice how well the trees hide the trailers!

I probably should have put more effort into finding people I knew to wish them luck, but it was hot and dusty. And they were probably busy and nervous! I did find one horse I particularly wanted to see, WT Bezarif, my foal Scheherazade‘s sire. His owner and rider Kassandra Dimaggio took some great pictures of me with “Taser”!

Above: WT Bezarif is a very sweet stallion, and an amazing endurance horse. He ended up completing Tevis for the third time, this time in 10th place.

The long wait at Francisco’s

After a lovely evening and slow morning talking with Dannan, I headed first to Auburn (to sit in my car and take care of business) and then to Francisco’s. Volunteers were supposed to be there by two, and I was very early, arriving just after one. That’s okay. I knew there would be things to do.

Before hiking up the hill to the checkpoint area, I parked in the best spot at the Ruck-a-Chucky campground. The first campsite is right on the American River, and there was a convenient copse of trees near the water where I would hang my hammock.

Above: I found the perfect spot to hang my hammock, which I had bought years ago in Merida, Mexico.

After setting up my campsite, I walked up the road to the Francisco’s staging area. It’s a long walk in the heat… about 0.6 miles. The path the horses and riders take out of Francisco’s is much shorter, and comes out (if you cut towards the river) just below the campground, practically at my campsite. It’s only 0.15 miles, but it’s steep (ish), with about 115′ elevation gain. Not that much, but I must’ve gone up that path ten times. My thighs hurt the next day!

Setting up was a team effort

Although Anna and Paul had already done most of the work to bring everything needed to Francisco’s, there was still plenty to do. When I arrived there weren’t many people. I helped set up the food tent and some other tents. I brought my chair, bug spray, and a sweater up. The sweater was definitely not needed until the middle of the night. It was 94F when I checked mid-afternoon, and it didn’t really cool down till after 10pm.

Above: I took the first photo from my in-timer chair across Francisco’s before the commotion started. In the second picture, you can see that volunteering for the Tevis Cup can involve pounding in (and pulling out) very tall t-posts!

Around 5:15 we ate dinner. It was a potluck, with a variety of yummy macaroni and cheese dishes provided. By the time I signed up, the only space was for lemon bars, which was fine with me. I make lemon bars all the time! I had been drinking liquids all day because of the heat. At dinner I stuffed myself. Figured I’d need it.

The ride was slower than expected…

It really was a long wait. Anna had told us to expect the frontrunners around 7-7:30. Tara (my fellow in-timer) and I were at our post by 7:15. We talked over what we would do and sorted out our papers and waited. And waited some more. Being an in-timer involves a lot of waiting, even when the race is fast!

My job as in-timer

When I completed the volunteer form, I had said I could do timing, pulse-taking, scribing, or helping riders. Basically, I can do just about anything. Most of my volunteering happened before I started blogging, but I did write a few posts about the AHA Distance Horse Nationals and Owl Hoot Spook, held at the Franks (second post).

When we lived in Oklahoma, I would drive up to Alanna and Gunnar Frank’s to volunteer for their rides. One of the most memorable was a night ride when I scribed for Dr. Jim Baldwin. I loved scribing for Jim. He was fast, efficient, and didn’t miss anything. He never hesitated to tell riders how to handle their horses. (Antsy horses that stepped on people made him very cranky.) Jim would pull a horse that was upside down on CRI (6-8 bpm above the first on the second pulse).

I love scribing, but didn’t expect to be assigned at that late date, with no local scribing experience. My second favorite is pulse-taking, because it’s very easy. In-timing is not the easiest job!

What does an in-timer do?

Tara Fitzgerald and I were in-timers. We had help from Anna’s son, thank goodness. He got rider numbers and gave them the cards.

In-timing involves writing down the time when a rider arrives at the control checkpoint on a card/piece of paper that you give to the rider. When there is a timed hold (e.g., one hour or 30 minute required hold), you will also have pulse-down time.

Regardless of whether it is the finish, a hold, or a trot-by, pulse down, or vet-and-go (as was Francisco’s), any horse that fails to pulse down within 30 minutes of arrival at the checkpoint is disqualified. (Take home: do not approach a checkpoint or finish before you are certain your horse will pulse down. Most rides provide water a quarter mile or so from the checkpoint or finish. Hang out there until your horse is ready!)

You may have three times: arrival (in-time), pulse-time, and out-time. When I did timing in Oklahoma, we had clocks that you hit the button and they gave you the in-time and out-time on separate displays. This made life easier because you could then copy it onto the cards (and the clocks keep records).

Above: The set-up for in-timers at the point of rider entry to the checkpoint. In the second picture you can see the clock and a lamp we never used because it was too bright. As you can see, it was 7:15 when I took the photo and there was no sign of Tevis participants yet.

Tevis is more complicated!

As a vet-and-go checkpoint, Francisco’s was easier than a hold. We just had to write the in-time on the cards and give them to riders. However, keeping time at Tevis is more difficult than at a normal ride for a few reasons. First, there are two in-timers and each writes arrival time for each horse and rider on a separate sheet. (Later the two are compared and reconciled if there are disparities.)

Second, the in-timers have to keep the radioperson updated. For the first ten riders, we had to fill out a sheet and give it to radio control as each rider or group of riders arrived. After the top ten, we were instructed to give radio control a sheet after every ten riders. However, Head Timer Joyce Driggers picked up our papers more frequently, which made it easier.

Finally, Tevis is big. This was a low-entry year, with only 105 horse and rider pairs starting, but that’s still a lot of horses. Only 55 made it to us at Francisco’s, which made it easier for us.

We did have a cool atomic clock!

Above: The frontrunners! Heather and Jeremy Reynolds closely followed by Jenna Harrison (not in picture), arrived to Francisco’s just after 8PM.

Volunteering for the Tevis Cup

Chaotic would be the best adjective to describe volunteering at Tevis! I loved it. Even in a year with half the allowed entries, there was so much going on. After the volunteer potluck, officials started driving in. What had seemed a spacious area became clogged with the vehicles of vets/judges, radio operator, the ride director, and many other officials. And that was before the actual horse and rider teams arrived!

I was glad that crews are not allowed at Francisco’s. That would have made it a bit more confusing, especially for first-time volunteers. (Although as an in-timer, my job would not have been very different.) It actually wasn’t too bad, and the activity made the long wait more interesting.

The first five riders

Volunteering for the Tevis Cup got really exciting when the first riders finally came in at 8:05. By this time I was constantly looking down the road and occasionally hallucinating horses and riders. (The horse and rider mirages continued well into the night… There are big gaps between competitors!)

It was not too much of a surprise to see Heather and Jeremy Reynolds come in first. (They would end up finishing together.) They immediately set to work cooling their horses, Sonic and Treasure. Both vetted out well and were on their way in little more than 20 minutes.

Jenna Harrison came in immediately behind the Reynolds, but her horse Kong was struggling. Rumor was his pulse went back up after being down, and stayed up past the 30 minutes he had to reach criteria. His official status on the Tevis Pull page is lame, but those are not finalized. I didn’t see the trot out. Either way, Kong was pulled unfortunately.

The next two riders, Karen Donley and Suzanne Huff, came in at 8:52. Karen and her horse Miss Crossfire (Red) were in and out in ten minutes. Both Tara and I thought that Suzanne and her horse had been pulled, because we thought they were there for a long time. It appears we were confused; their rider page reports them leaving Francisco’s at 9:04. Turned out they finished third!

See my videos of the first five riders arriving at Francisco’s in this YouTube short.

Above: Between the first and second group of five, we were entertained by the extrication of an unlucky truck from a stealth ditch. Been there, done that!

The next five riders

We had to wait nearly an hour for the next two riders, Kelsey Mayo and Kassandra DiMaggio (Yay Taser!), who came in at 9:48. Both horses (OneSun, who finished 8th, and WT Bezarif, who finished 10th) looked great and were out in less than 20 minutes. See a video of them trotting out together!

Above: The 6th and 7th horse and rider pairs to arrive at Francisco’s, Kelsey Mayo and OneSun (left) and Kassandra DiMaggio and WT Bezarif

The next four riders came in pretty much one after the other. Nicole Wertz and John Perry came in together at 9:55. Nicole and “Sammy” would arrive 6th; John and “Diva” would come in 9th and win the Haggin Cup. John and Diva left Francisco’s at 10:11, with Nicole and Sammy just a minute later.

Suzanne Hayes and her gelding “Ace” finished off the top ten arrivals to Francisco’s at 9:56. They were out at 10:12 and ended up placing 5th in Auburn.

Above: Tevis participants vetting at Francisco’s. Left or top, the vetting area at 12:10AM. Right (or bottom), vets at work at 1:22AM.

The rest of the horses that made it to Francisco’s came in slowly

The 11th horse and rider pair to reach us (Laura Rye and “Shak”) was only a minute behind Suzanne and Ace at 9:57. However, they did not leave until 40 minutes had passed, and were pulled at Lower Quarry.

The next pair came in at 10:04; the last eleven riders came in all in a bunch between 1:27 and 1:31 AM. All well before the cut-off time of 1:45! Of the 55 horses that made it to Francisco’s, only five were pulled. Those that were pulled were led down the road to the trailers waiting at the Ruck-a-Chucky campground to take them to Auburn or Loomis Veterinary Clinic, if further care was needed. (I am not sure if any had to go to the clinic.)

Above: A brief video taken at 1:44AM, after my job as in-timer was done, with all horses in at Francisco’s.

Wrapping up the night

Once all the horses were in, Tara and I made sure our in-timer sheets were in agreement. We turned in the last sheet to the radio operator. Tara had taken charge of that job the entire night, thank goodness! She had experience doing in-timing last year. I just made sure to double check the in-times and numbers (and even then we mistook 115 and 15!)

I had posted my final list of riders, which I thought was kinda cool… but was asked to take it down. I have done so, though nothing there was secret (it’s all available on the Tevis website, if you look at individual riders.)

Of course, volunteering at Francisco’s didn’t end when the final participants came in. At minimum, we had to wait for the sweep riders from Foresthill to come in. (The onward sweep riders had arrived long before the final Tevis participants.) Once Tara and I had finished our job, we cleared our area and folded up the tents.

Above: Intergalactic Equine’s team just before leaving Francisco’s. All five made it to Lower Quarry, and three finished. Last year four of their team started and finished! (Read my post Summary of the 2024 Tevis Cup results.)

The last the horses were out around 2AM, and the sweep riders followed them. After that, we all helped pack up what needed to be done before bed. (E.g., food because bears.) I headed down the steep path to the campground around 2:45. By three, I had wrapped myself into my hammock.

Above: The moon! The first three pictures are looking down the road from Francisco’s towards where the riders would come. The final photo is of the American River just below where I hung my tent.

The next morning

I was woken the next morning at 6AM by my very full bladder. My fault! I had drunk continuously the day and night before, everything from electrolytes to orange juice from our tree at home to coffee. Important for hydration, not so great for sleeping in! I put it off as long as I could, but by 6:20 I had to get up.

Once I was out of the hammock there was no way I was going to get back in to my sleeping cocoon. Too much trouble to get everything adjusted just right! I ended up packing up and heading back up to Francisco’s to help finish cleaning up.

Above: This deer was not too bothered by the remaining humans Sunday morning. Pretty sure I heard her in the bushes the night before too!

I was happy to join the skeleton crew of volunteers who were till there in helping Anna and Paul take everything down and load it into trucks. I had nothing to do till the Haggin Cup judging at 10AM. (To be covered in my next blog post!) Yes, I was tired and sore (from hiking up that hill so many times), but it was good to move and be useful.

Take home

Volunteering for the Tevis Cup was a lot of fun. If I lived closer, I would do it every year… except for those that I ride, if I ever do! In fact. most of the volunteers at Francisco’s were local. Anna told me I was probably the person who had travelled furthest.

I learned a lot about how the ride was managed, and what there is available to horses and riders. Despite the fact that almost everyone I have talked with thinks a bare minimum of three people are needed to crew for each rider (most seem to think five are essential), it really seems that it could be done with fewer. There is food for horses and riders all along the ride!

You do need someone to drive your rig from Robie to Auburn. One more would be nice… and yeah, if I ever get there, I’ll probably opt for three, after talking with Dannan! But not five.

It’s a tough ride. I’ll wait till I ride the trail before opining on its technical difficulty, but one thing I can say is that it is HOT. The heat will be difficult. It was 94F at Francisco’s at 6PM. Horses–especially the front runners–were hot.

But I still plan to ride Tevis some day!

River would be fantastic when it comes to the heat. She has a very low heart rate and sweats well. But she’s slow… and I don’t want to be riding to make the cut-off times! We’ll just have to wait and see… but I still want to ride Tevis some day.

After visiting Robie Park, I had my doubts. All the fuss, the crews, the quantity of horses… (Though this would have been a great year to ride, with “only” 105!) I really like to ride endurance because it takes me away from the fuss and organizational requirements of horse shows. Still, Tevis is a once-in-a-lifetime (for me anyway; not gonna be one of those repeat competitors) experience that I don’t want to miss.

I am, still, on the road to the Tevis Cup. (Five years, 128 blog posts, and counting…)

Above: I don’t know who these are (feel free to let me know), but they were among the rider and horse teams to vet through in the week hours of Sunday, at 12:10AM and 1:22AM.