Countdown to Tevis

It's Wednesday night before Tevis.  I'm at Sue's after packing most of the day, everything from my stuff to the horse stuff, the trailer, etc.  I'm sleeping in a Winnebago RV which will be coming up with us for everyone to sleep in as well as the pop-top camper on Sue's truck that will be pulling the trailer.  We have quite an entourage coming up with us to crew.  I don't even know everyone's name yet, I've been so busy.  There are two people from Oregon staying here too, who will be riding, Paul Latoilais (sp?) and Molly Farkas, who rode Tevis way back in '68.  Last Monday we all rode to Poverty Bar, the river crossing site, and the river was low enough for us to practice crossing.  It was up to their bellies and I dipped my feet in to cool them off.  It has been very hot this week but is supposed to cool off  a little on ride day.  Its been in the mid to upper 90's.

Yesterday we went to the Auburn Fairgrounds to get Sweetie's boots glued on by the EZ Boot people.  None other than Jeremy Reynolds, last year's winner, prepared her hooves and glued them on with Garrett Ford's. help. Garrett is the owner of the company and the 2010 Haggin Cup winner for best condition.  Everyone commented on how big Sweetie is.  I am probably one of the shortest people on the ride and somehow ended up on one of the biggest horses.  I gave Sweetie's hooves a once over with the grinder beforehand and she was very uncooperative.  It was approaching 100 degrees  and the sweat was pouring down my face by the time I was done.  I told her she better be good for the other guys, and for the most part she was.  It was a relief to finally have her boots glued on and ready for the ride.  It will be nice not to have to worry about them staying on like the other boots.

Also staying at Sue's is Darolyn Butler, a world class endurance rider from Texas who rides all of her horses barefoot or with boots, depending on the terrain.  She also brought horses for a couple of Australian riders, one of whom  just showed up to share the RV, which sleeps five.  It is getting towards midnight, so I better wind this up for now.  I will report on the details of the Wild West Multiday  Ride on my next installment.  In the meantime, I'll post a picture from the ride.  It was just north of Nevada City, California in the Tahoe National Forest.  The scenery was gorgeous.  More tomorrow.