Tevis Forum 2024

8 - TEVIS FORUM 2024 www.teviscup.org mounting. For 8 months, every time I would get on Pj, he would violently spin. I rode Pj 6 days a week and after I took him to endurance rides, I did not rest him. Pj went straight back to work after his races. After I did the 75-mile ride at Racing Stripes in 2022, things got better. Pj would walk off when I would get on him at home and would only spin when I wouldmount him at different places. I decided to take Pj to Tevis 2022. I had a lot of people question why I would take such a “freaky” horse to such a challenging and demanding ride, but Pj’s behavior outside of the initial mount was good. Pj was the type of horse where all hands and feet needed to be always in the ride. If I did not move too quickly, Pj behaved well. Tevis 2022 went great, and we placed 12th overall. This was Pj’s first 100 and it was clear that day that 100 miles was Pj’s best distance. After Tevis 2022, I completed another 100 and while we were getting ready to do another 50 in March 2023, I had a bad ride on Pj. My mom and I were doing our last long training ride until the race and Pj was just having an off day. Pj was being violently spooky and kicking out at things. He was just being very sensitive. I decided to get off him and let my mom go on. After she was out of sight and had been gone for a bit, I decided to get back on Pj and do a shorter ride. I mounted Pj and he started losing his mind and was warning he was about to run off. As I was dismounting, Pj ran off. I called my mom to come help me find him. We found him and caught him. Pj had been running around for a few miles and was very hot and sweaty. I decided to get back on himand finish my ride. The moment I was seated, Pj took off, but this time through the woods. I belly flopped off him and just cried. My heart was shattered as Pj was just back to his old ways. I had put in a lot of time and money at this point, and it was such a disap- pointment. We were only 4 months away from Tevis 2023. I tried to ride Pj 2 more times after that day, and he just was not okay with a rider anymore. I called Dan and Dan said bring him. Pj spent another 30 days at Dan’s and Dan told me that he had to use a little bit of “tough love” this time. I picked Pj up and we were back to him standing like a perfect gentleman for every mount. The training for Tevis began. Going into Tevis 2023 I was a bit nervous. Pj had had an injury to one of his hind legs and I had missed out on a couple of races. Be- tween Tevis 2022 and Tevis 2023, Pj completed a 100 in October and a 50 in May. Pj did well at the race in May, but it was not his best ride. In June, Pj began to have some sweating issues and he was sore in his coffin joints. I really debated taking him to Tevis 2023. It took a couple of weeks to get Pj sweating normally again and I was paranoid about the sore coffin joints and injury to his back leg. I missed a lot of important training during these couple of weeks. Pj felt amaz- ing our last 2 weeks before heading to California, so I decided to go ahead and take him. The morning of Tevis was chilly and there was a lot going on. A lot of horses, a lot of people, and shining lights. Pj got very amped up and I was nervous to get on him. I was unable to get him to stand still and he was getting more worked as I walked him around. For a split-second Pj stopped and I decided it was now or never. I was prepared for Pj to do something wild, but he stood like a perfect an- gel. Once I am on Pj, I know that we are good to go. Pj was fired up on our mile walk to the starting line. He was prancing and in complete racehorse mode. Pj is typically completely calm and will walk on a loose rein. Not (continued on page76) 2 0 2 3 H a g g i n C u p R e c i p i e n t Haley moquin and i’m HoT n boTHered (continued from page 7) Kathie's Cinches & More Hand-made Mohair Cinches and Girths Plus other Mohair Tack and Gift Items kathiescinches.com 408-506-0147