Tevis Cup

The Western States Trail Ride, popularly called The Tevis Cup is a 100-mile endurance ride. The amateur event has been held annually since 1955. The ride is held in Placer County, California, starting at 5:15 a.m. at Robie Equestrian Park (coord|39|14|20|N|120|10|39|W|type:landmark) near the town of Truckee, across the crest of the Sierra Nevada near the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, and ending at 5:15 a.m. near the fairgrounds in Auburn. There are mandatory 60-minute rest stops and veterinarian checks at Robinson Flat (30 milepost) and Foresthill (70 milepost).

Each rider who completes the 100-mile course within the 24-hour limit and whose mount is judged "fit to continue" is awarded a silver Completion Award Buckle. The ride is sanctioned by AERC, the American Endurance Ride Conference.

The 52nd annual ride was held Saturday, August 5, 2006; the date was selected to take advantage of the full moonlight. 194 riders departed Robie Park, and 87 riders completed the 100-ride to Auburn, so the completion rate was about 45%. The 2006 Tevis Cup winner (first-place finisher at 10:23 PM) was John Crandell of Virginia, who rode an 8-year old Arabian gelding named "Heraldic." The next morning, a team of veterinarians judged the top ten horses for condition, and Heraldic also won the coveted Haggin Cup for "best condition," thus achieving a rare double-trophy status.

The 53rd annual ride occurred Saturday, July 28, 2007. There were 184 starting horses, but only 95 horses completed the ride. The 2007 Tevis Cup was won by Jeremy Reynolds, and the 2007 Haggin Cup was won by John Crandell.

Some historical Tevis statistics: As of 2007, the record number of belt buckles for one individual rider is 28 (earned by Barbara White). As of the 53rd Tevis ride in 2007, there have have been 8,751 starters and 4,763 finishers, with an overall completion rate of about 54%. The average first-place time for the Tevis Cup winner is 10:46, with an average moving rate of about 7.3 miles per hour. Of the Tevis Cup winners in the past 53 years, exactly 50%-50% have been men/women (counting three years when there were ties). Of the Tevis Cup winning horses, 71% have been geldings, 22% mares, and 7% stallions.

The 2008 Tevis Cup was originally scheduled for Saturday, July 19, 2008. However, on July 9, 2008 the Western States Trail Foundation and the US Forest Service held a meeting and agreed that the 2008 ride should be cancelled because of the American River Complex wildfires (part of the Summer 2008 California wildfires) that have been burning in the area since June 21, 2008.

See also

*Endurance riding
*Arabian horse
*Western States Endurance Run

External links

* [http://www.teviscup.net/ Tevis Cup Ride Homepage]
* [http://www.aerc.org American Endurance Ride Conference]
* [http://www.robiefoundation.org/park.htm Robie Equestrian Park]