My Rocky Rode to Tevis '27

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My Rocky Rode to Tevis '27 With only 3 years of endurance riding under my belt, I have set a goal of getting to Tevis in 2027.

Somehow September came and went in the blink of an eye and I missed the monthly update! So here we are in Oct which put...
10/08/2026

Somehow September came and went in the blink of an eye and I missed the monthly update! So here we are in Oct which puts us exactly half way to our Tevis destination..As usual the past month has been a rollercoaster ride. Some of the highs were strengthening Little Man's stifle (lots and lots of slow down hill walks, trots on flat ground, backing up hills, tail pulls, ground poles, etc, etc). Finally he has been almost 2 months without a stifle slip and is able to carry his gaits longer. He competed in his first 3 day 100 CTR at GMHA distance days and completed! He placed 4th out of 14 horses and had the best average pulse over the 3 days of any of the competitors. And not a single stifle slip!! I was elated to have Little Man do so well. Unfortunately Rumor was also supposed to compete that weekend and when we arrived to vet in he was deemed off in his right front and not allowed to start. My vet checked him 2 days later and confirmed he was sound so we headed off to the Hector Half Hundred that weekend and he was amazing - finishing in 2nd place and winning high vet! While Sept ended on a high note, Oct started on a low one. Both Little Man and Rumor were entered in the 50 at the Mustang Memorial in NJ on Oct 3rd. A beautiful cool day with flat trails had both horses feeling a little too good and moving out at a fast pace. Unfortunately I think I underestimated how difficult the sand could be on them. Both horses were pulled before the finish. Thankfully both of them had minor issues and will be fully back to work after a week's rest. Nonetheless having them both be pulled has left me questioning how much and how often we should compete and if I'm asking for too much speed in competitions. It's time to step back and reassess my training and rest periods. At this point my plan is to have Little Man & Rumor both do a SLOW 50 at GMHA's fall endurance ride and then head to Broxton Bridge for our final attempt at a 1 day 100 for both horses this year. A lot rests on this ride. IF both horses complete the 100 I will start putting together the logistics for Tevis! But if neither makes it I will be retitling my page to "My Rocky Rode to Tevis '28..

It's hard to believe that the end of summer is here! And that means that we are 40% of the way through our training to g...
08/24/2026

It's hard to believe that the end of summer is here! And that means that we are 40% of the way through our training to get to Tevis '27. And with all the great footage from the live feed this year it was easy to get even more motivated (as if I needed that)! Despite the enthusiasm and determination there are times when I feel like I will never be ready, and then I think that most people attempting Tevis for the first time probably feel the same way. Of the 3 horses that I train and condition I believe that Rumor and Little Man are the 2 that will go. Cruiser, my Kentucky Mtn, is a sweet boy, with the best brain. He wants to please and is a steady eddy that rarely, if ever, spooks at anything. He rides the trails like he owns them and from that perspective he would be my first pick but he just doesn't have the drive the other two do. He makes a great CTR horse but wouldn't be my first pick for longer endurance competitions. Little Man has come a long way this year and we have had several demanding 50's and back to back 30's where he excelled. However his stifle still needs strengthening and as a result he was pulled from the VT 100 just before the mid way mark. That was extremely disappointing but you know what they say about if at first you don't succeed... Hence we will be attempting the 3 day 100 over Labor Day weekend. Rumor, the Rocky Mountain, has been exceptional on his return to work after his recovery from deep digital flexor tendon tendonities caused by his back hooves being at the wrong angle to his cannon bone. He is the smallest horse with the biggest engine I have ever ridden! My friends that own Arabians joke that when he walks their horses have to trot to keep up and when he trots they have to canter! And once he gets going he doesn't want to stop no matter the height or length of the incline or distance of the ride. He completed a two day 60 CTR in August and will also attempt his first 3 day 100 over Labor Day. After that we will compete in some 50's in Oct and then head down south for another attempt at a 100 mile endurance ride in Nov/December. Hopefully the 2nd time will bring a better result!

07/21/2026

A lot has happened in the past month. Unfortunately not all of it was good. The parts that were good included Rumor returning to competition and completing his first 25 mile endurance at the Vermont 100 Endurance Ride with an excellent score sheet and looking great the next day! In preparation for his first 100 Little Man completed back to back 30's on July 4th & 5th at the Maine Firecracker ride. He placed 3rd on Saturday and 1st on Sunday and felt great all weekend. We then did a mock night ride with an experienced 100 mile rider, my good friend Geneva Soule. He was fantastic. The glowsticks and head lamps didn't phase him in the least. He's such a solid guy! I felt good going into the VT 100. He had 3 successful 50's and the 2 day 60 under his belt and I was confident he was ready. Unfortunately, the bad news is we got pulled at the 45 mile mark. Little Man started out like a fire breathing dragon, but once the adrenaline of the first few miles wore off he quickly faded and was not forward like he always is. His stifle slipped a few times and he developed back soreness that resulted in us being pulled at the second hold. This has been a recurring issue that I thought was resolved but it appears not. Some very tough decisions regarding his ability to be an endurance horse may have to be made. He is wonderful in every way and will always have a special place in my heart and barn, but his future might be limited to light trail riding. This is TBD, but I will never knowingly ask him to participate in a sport that would cause him to be uncomfortable, or worse yet, in pain. While I have Little Man assessed and give him some time off to recover and heal I will be taking Rumor to do two days of 30's at the beginning of August in Maine. Rumor, my Rocky Mountain, loves the sport and is the most forward of all my horses. He devours the trail and never wants to stop, but he is also a very nervous guy and nothing is easy with him!

05/24/2026

This post is a little later in the month than I thought it would be, but it's been a very busy month!. I am a big believer that we learn more from our failures than our successes..needless to say I learned a lot in May! First up was Cruisers first two day 75 in early May. He was amazing and flawless over both days. He vetted in beautifully at the end of the 40 on Saturday and felt and looked great on Sunday as well. This video was taken about 5 miles before the finish. The stars were aligned for us to complete our first 75 and for Cruiser to have a great experience. as we crossed the finish line, the day felt very hot to me, and I cooled Cruiser down with cold water everywhere, including above the cannon bone on his back legs.. that turned out to be a tough lesson that I will never forget as cruiser immediately seized up in his hindquarters and he failed his final vet check! he literally gave me everything, and I gave him cramps in exchange😞.. next up was little man's third 50 at the Bare bones event in Reading Vermont. This is an extremely tough course with over 3300 feet of elevation and nothing but inclines and declines- you're either going up or going down or sometimes crossing the top, but there are no level Miles. I decided for this event that I would let Little man set his own pace. I would not ask him for anything but I would not hold him back. We flew through the first 25 miles of a very tough course averaging 9 mph. We came into the hold at the 25 in first place and he vetted down beautifully. The second 15 miles was extremely fast as well and we were tied for first coming into the hold and Little man passed the vet check and we were cleared to go for the final 10, but as I watched him during the mandatory 45 minute hold I knew he had given me everything and he didn't have any gas left in the tank. I decided that it was time to call it a day and pulled him. We probably could've stayed in the hold a lot longer and let him rest and would've secured a third place because the other riders were over an hour and a half behind us. But I want Little man to know I will never ask for more than he can give me. it was another valuable lesson, but not a mistake! Finally Rumor, the Rocky, has been cleared to start going gradually back to work. My hope is to have three horses fit enough for Tevis and be able to pick the top two when the time comes. I will slowly start building rumor up with a goal to get him to at least a 75 by winter.

04/12/2026

Hard to believe that we are 4 months into our Tevis journey, which means we've completed 20% of our training. Ride season in New England started in late March and both horses completed their first two 50's finishing in top 10 at both events. First up was Rabbit Run in NJ and then Foxcatcher in Maryland last weekend. Last year Foxcatcher was our first ever 50 and I wanted to use the previous years results as a benchmark for how much the horse's conditioning had improved. Unfortunately mother nature had a different idea...We were coming from 32 degrees and snowy over the weeks leading up to Foxcatcher and during the ride the temps rocketed up to over 80 and with the sun beating down it felt even hotter. We made the decision to slow down and get the completion rather than push for speed. Thankfully lot's of great natural water holes were available to take advantage of. This was a good test of my electrolyte protocol, which was difficult to get right last year, but now I seem to be on top of it. The only item lacking was potassium. Little Man, as a big black horse, could have used some as his heart rate hovered at 60 for a very long time at the finish. Lesson learned! The video is of us at around the 47 mile marker. Both horses were moving nicely and I felt like they had another 25 in them if asked.
The Rocky Mtn (Rumor) has finally been cleared to return to work slowly. It was determined with X-rays that his back feet needed to grow out to correct the angle to his coffin bone. As a result of having the wrong angle he had developed some very minor tendonitis in his deep tissue flexor tendon. Very gradually he will be returned to work with the hope of getting a really late season 50 in - possibly a long haul South over the winter..

03/13/2026

Another challenging month for training with lots of snow and more ice and winter just wanting to hang on. Some days my dream seems completely crazy and impossible and other days I’m confident it’s doable. Currently both horses have a resting heart rate of 28 and they both have a heart rate that skips a beat at rest. With our first competition next weekend, I’ve been working on some trot outs on off days to make sure my horses will actually trot and not pace when presenting for a CTR or BC. Last year, both horses were extremely pacey and doing 50 miles was not fun for either of us. Now, thanks to Gaye Derusso Gaited Horse Training with Gaye DeRusso The Majestic Rider for getting the ch*****ne Kentucky Mountain to develop a beautiful running walk and Saddle gate and Ivy Starnes for her clinic in New Hampshire that I brought Little man to and then followed up with lessons so that he’s now doing a beautiful saddle gate and rack. Both have been wonderful coaches and I highly encourage anyone with gated horses who isn’t sure what they’re doing to take virtual lessons. I am also grateful to all the people who are far more experienced than I am who have reached out and offered advice. It’s been incredibly helpful and truly appreciated! Now that my horses are using their bodies properly and are in condition, we are starting to work on speed for the first time. I found out Little man has a lot of it when he decided to bolt on me! But who can blame him when he’s in great shape and has no place to let loose! Thankfully, we are both OK. But that was definitely one of those days when I thought my dream was crazy. A 50 mile endurance next weekend should help to get some of that out of him😳. Good luckGeneva Soule who will be riding Little man while I’m on Cruiser.

It’s been one month since I set up my FB Page and declared my intention to enter Tevis ’27. Making that declaration acc...
02/10/2026

It’s been one month since I set up my FB Page and declared my intention to enter Tevis ’27. Making that declaration accomplished two objectives. First, it established a clear goal and timeline without which I would have a dream to accomplish Tevis - someday. Once I set a goal, I almost always achieve it! Second it connected me with Tevis experienced gaited horse riders who have been very gracious about sharing their experiences and providing suggestions for conditioning. Thank you to everyone who reached out! This has been impactful as I have already adjusted my conditioning routine. I’ve incorporated additional rest days into the horse’s schedules, and I am focused more on hill work and less on distance and speed.

The last month has been a bit of a challenge with the weather being extremely frigid and snowy for most of it. Despite the snow and low temps (I have a firm rule not to condition below 20 degrees, and between 20-25 only if the humidity is over 75), I still managed to get Little Man (the black Racking/Rocky horse pictured on the left) out for 74.5 miles, and Cruiser (Kentrucky Mtn on the right) for 67miles. Rumor, the Rocky Mtn in the middle will start his conditioning in mid-March. Cruiser now has a resting heart rate of 29 and Little Man’s is 34. It is my goal to have all 3 horses fit enough to enter Tevis. IF they all stay healthy and uninjured (okay, that would be a miracle), I would look to pick up 2 catch riders and enter all 3.

The biggest beneficiary of my conditioning so far has been me! I want to have the ability to run next to my horse for 10-15 miles if/when needed so I have gotten back into a workout routine and managed to run 33 miles over the last month! That's a long way from zero over the past year..

Finally, because I’m a numbers person. I am breaking down the months into percentages of training completed. I started conditioning in mid Dec ’25. With Tevis being held in mid July ’27 - that’s 19 months. Each month represents approximately 5.25% of my conditioning journey. Therefore, I am 10.5% of the way to Tevis ’27!

01/11/2026

Many of you that know me, know that I aspire to compete in The Tevis Cup with one of my gaited horses. I have created this FB page to chronicle my journey with an aim to compete in '27. I will update my progress monthly, the good the bad and the ugly along with my successes and failures.
For those of my friends that aren't familiar with endurance, The Tevis Cup is considered one of the Top 10 toughest endurance events (Time magazine). Starting near Truckee and ending in Auburn, the course spans 100 miles through the Sierra Nevada mountains.
I only have 3 years of endurance experience under my belt, so I will welcome suggestions for improvement in conditioning, nutrition, competitive scheduling, etc - especially from fellow endurance riders that compete on gaited horses.
I have 2 gaited horses that I will be conditioning for Tevis. The first is a 9 year old Racking/Rocky mountain (Little Man) that will be entering his 4th year of endurance this season. He has completed several 50 mile events - including Gobble 'til you wobble in Ohio in November. Our goal for this season will be be complete a 100 mile event, which I hope will be the VT 100 in July. The 2nd horse is a 10 year old trail experienced Rocky Mountain that started in endurance last year and finished with a 50 mile endurance completion at the end of the '25 season.
Our '26 season will begin with the 25 mile CTR in NJ at the Bunny Hop on March 21st followed by the 30 mile endurance Rabbit Run on March 22nd.
We began conditioning in mid December and currently have a 5 day every 2 weeks target (in VT in Jan/Feb its very weather dependent). One day of HIIT that's 4-5 miles, two days of speed work on a relatively flat road/trail targeting 10 - 12 mph for one hour, one day of L*D (started at 13 miles today) and one day of walking hills.
Not all the conditioning is for the horse! I will also need to get in better shape and plan on running 15-20 miles/week. At week two I hit 8 miles!
Look forward to reconnecting in Mid Feb with how we are progressing!

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Sunderland, VT
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