The first hints of dusk had begun to gather as Atlas and I slipped away from the noise and bustle, back into the silent wilderness. The world seemed somehow bigger now, more hollow and lonesome and mysterious. We’d come so far, seen so much, and yet this still felt like a kind of beginning, this solitary trot into the night.
It was in that stretch I suffered most. The descent at Eldorado was endless, the heat deeply oppressive. I later heard that it topped 110 degrees. I remember putting one foot in front of the other, telling Atlas to hang on, we must be nearly there.
Tevis. It was everything I expected. It was nothing like I expected. It was more and different than I expected. Experiencing Tevis firsthand replaced the coloring book rendering in my head with a high-resolution photograph. It changed campfire tales into a Hollywood movie. Transformed shadowy images into living beings. Reimagined me. Here is my story. …
Preparing for Tevis is just like preparing for any other endurance ride.
Okay, it’s not.
Okay, it is…but it isn’t.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to get ready for Tevis, here’s a window into the process.
Atlas leaned back on his hindquarters. I gave him his head, and his forelegs dropped over the steep ledge. The rocks shifted on the slope, but held. His hind end caught up just in time to make a sharp turn, ducking around a switchback and under a branch. Trees crowded the trail, forcing me to …
Ride Report: 2024 Strawberry Fields Forever Endurance Ride Read More »
In preparation for Tevis, Atlas and I took on the 100-miler at Mary & Anna Memorial 2024. His performance? Stellar! Except for that one thing…
There isn’t a world in which riding Tevis will be easy. However, there absolutely are ways I can prepare my body and mind for the challenge. In following along, you’ll pick up some strategies you can apply to your own endurance riding readiness. Even if you’re starting at a different level or shooting for a different endurance riding goal, the concepts still apply.
Conditioning a horse for equestrian endurance riding is an art and a science, with endless opportunities to learn. Make that horse a senior, and you add a whole new layer of complexity. This season, I’m going to take my first crack at returning an aging former endurance horse to the trail. This post considers strengths, …
I think I’ve finally figured it out. How to approach 2024, I mean. My usual proclivity for outcome-based goal-setting just didn’t sit right this New Year. Get to 12 endurance rides, enter a 100 late in the season, blah blah blah. Of course, I’d love to do those things…but I’d have loved to do them …
Raise your hand if you’ve ever set out to accomplish something, only to look back months later and realize that you’ve failed. Yeah, me too. But what if unmet goals just give us a longer journey to love?