The Countdown Begins!

RIDE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Typically, this final Ride Director’s EBlast goes over what to expect at Tevis: the agenda for Ride Week, traditions, the check in at Robie, the awards banquet on Sunday, etc. We have all that covered in the Tevis Rider’s E Packet which is now available on the website.

If you are riding, crewing, volunteering, or spectating, please log in to our newly updated and beautiful website. Thanks go out to Lucy Trumbull and Crysta Turnage, as well as all their assistants, for creating such a beautiful and useful site for the Western States Trail Foundation.

Thanks also goes to Jean Hixon and Luanne Holmsen, the superstars who staff the Tevis office, who are tirelessly processing the entries.

Our entire organization is committed to starting (and finishing!) as many qualified riders on the morning of July 16, 2022 as possible. If you have any glitches with the website or the entry form, please reach out by email to Jean or Luanne (wstf@teviscup.org). We have backup systems ready to go.

Yep! We can always use more volunteers. We typically staff up to 800 volunteer positions. Let us know if you are a rider and can take pulses, keep the mashes going for horses in a hurry, or are interested in keeping water flowing to cool out hot horses. Please send us your information by completing the form online. Become part of the magic of Tevis—it’s just that easy.

On behalf of the 29 members of the Western States Board of Governors, the ride committee and the community of Auburn, we look forward to seeing you on July 16 for the start of the 66th Annual Tevis Cup Ride!

Chuck Stalley

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

“Twas three weeks before Tevis, and all through the barn…”

Looking back, I remember those times. I had put in the work: Fifties, multi-days, speed work, the Falcon Trail at 110 degrees plus. Everything perfect. It was time to bubble wrap my horse and pray to the Granite Chief for nothing to go wrong.

Nowadays, on the organizational side of this amazing adventure, there are the questions and worries of a different kind. Have we all done the work? Is the trail clear and safe? Are the ribbons all up? Do we have enough troughs, hay, water, glowbars, volunteers, stethoscopes, vets, SOS riders, radio operators?

Putting on the Tevis is an intricate, complex, exacting process. Behind the 700-odd volunteers each with a vital job, there are vet stop head volunteers each with a mission and a plan. In the background, there is a thirty-odd member Board of Governors that meet and plan year round to make this event the ride of a lifetime for well over a hundred riders from all over the world. Almost all of those Governors have silver buckles, several have dozens. They know what it means to challenge this trail and finish in the wee hours at McCann Stadium.

And over seeing it all is a logistical mastermind. In his 13th year, he is our Ride Director, Chuck Stalley.

If you are riding this year, remember the effort we all have put in so that you might have the ride of a lifetime.

Best of luck. We are all riding with you.

Jeff Herten

TRAIL REPORT

TRAIL IS CLEAR – still more brushing to do but it’s happening over the next two weeks. The entire trail has been logged out and verified clear from start to finish. If you are pre-riding, we are asking trail users to carry nippers or hand saw to help us continue to cut back as much of the brush and poison oak at rider and face level as possible. For more information, please reference the pre-riding page of the Tevis website.

TRAILBED WORK REMAINING TO BE COMPLETED PRE-TEVIS: In El Dorado Canyon (on trail between Deadwood and El Dorado Creek Bridge, before Michigan Bluff) there is a VERY narrow portion of trail 0.2 miles prior to Kaput Springs. This section is 3’ long and is only 15” wide. Please use caution.

2022 RESEARCH PROJECT

Do Intravenous Fluids the Day Before the Ride Affect Electrolyte / Hydration Status and Elimination?

The Western States Trail Foundation consistently seeks to support research projects to better understand and help the horses competing in the sport of endurance.

This year’s research study will focus on the amount of dehydration and electrolyte loss a horse undergoes before the ride and determining whether giving IV fluids on Friday (the day before the event) will improve hydration and electrolyte concentrations during competition.

Brief Description:
A blinded, randomized clinical trial to compare the effects of 10L of balanced, isotonic crystalloid fluid compared to placebo. Blood samples will be collected from all participating* horses at home (prior to transport to the ride), prior to intravenous fluid administration (Friday), following intravenous fluid administration (Friday), the morning before the ride starts (Saturday), and then at Mile 13 (High Camp), Mile 36 (Robinson Flat), Mile 68 (Foresthill), and Mile 100 (Auburn/Finish).

Significance:
Intravenous fluids are administered to endurance horses the day before the ride at many large competitions around the world. The benefits of this practice are completely unknown. It is unclear whether this treatment offers an advantage to specific horses or has little effect on hydration or finishing status.

This ground-breaking research project should yield some important information after the blood and vet scores of the participant horses are studied by the veterinarian researchers. The results of this study will benefit both the horses and the sport of endurance riding.

(* Riders – our esteemed vet team is looking for volunteers, please see your e-packet for details if you are interested in participating.)

HELP MAKE TEVIS AMAZING!

Volunteers are needed along the trail from before the Ride in Truckee to after the Ride in Auburn, and everything in between.

• Have horse experience?
• Like to camp out in the mountains?
• Rather sleep in your own bed or stay in a motel?
• No experience but just want to see what this exciting historic event is all about?

We have something for everybody! All you need is a desire to have fun while helping make the 2022 Tevis Cup a success.

Go online and fill out our Volunteer Sign Up form today!

WEBSITE NEWS

• The Rider List has been augmented with more information about each horse (height, color, number of Tevis finishes, etc), along with the rider’s number of Tevis finishes.
  • This year we have two riders going for their 1,000 mile buckles, two horses going for their 5^th completions (qualifying them for the Robie Cup), and one rider going for their 25^th finish!
• Tevis 2022 Trail Tracks – Find all the links on the Checkpoint Locations Page:
  • If you’re riding, you can download the GPS track of this year’s route to load into your favorite GPS app or unit.
  • If you aren’t actually out on the trail, but want to follow along at home, there’s also a KMZ file that you can load into Google Earth.
  • Or if that’s too much trouble, there’s an interactive Google Maps option right there on the webpage. If you click in the top right corner, it’ll expand to fill the page, and you can either open the bookmarks bar on the left, or click on each vet check / water stop / landmark to learn more about each location.
• For Ride Day, we’ve compiled a list of handy links so you’ll have everything at your fingertips. Some links may not be active until ride day, but bookmark the page ahead of the Day so you’re not scrambling to find the link you need

2022 TEVIS ED RIDE RECAP

Riders this year experienced the heat of the canyons on Saturday followed by a rainy start to their ride to Drivers Flat on Sunday. The low clouds settled in the canyon along Cal 2 made for a magical ride, rarely experienced in mid-June.

Of the 31 riders who participated this year, 13 are Tevis bound! They are much more prepared for Tevis this year than riders who didn’t attend the three-day Tevis Educational Ride. Lady Luck won’t have to work as hard to get them to the finish line!

Best wishes and hopes for sweet success to our Tevis Ed Riders this year:
Tierney Beloberk, Monica Bennett, Karri Bruskotter, Pete Davies, Jacqueline Debets, Elizabeth Grimshaw, Rebecca Jones, Andrew Marlen, Scott Stewart, Kinley Thunehorst, Mary Vredenberg, and Terry Zygalinski.