Two quick notes: I’m writing up this blog while watching the amazing AP Davies Tevis 2026 Vlog! It’s so cool to watch new folks come into this sport because of her coverage (and peep me trying to keep the Robinson Flat pulse to vet line running smoothly at 44:04!) Also, it was incredibly validating to all the little efforts I’m putting in to hear The Sweaty Equestrian discuss those efforts in her recent podcast. The numbers on the scale aren’t really budging (yet!) but this is such a lift!

It’s a good thing I have this blog and FB memories to reassure me that the August slump is a real thing. Other than riding around the orchards and down to the river, I haven’t hauled Tarma out for an actual conditioning ride since July 26th, a whopping 22 days ago! A combination of factors has worked against us; first our Tevis volunteering, then smoky skies, then time off to recover from smoky skies, and now the herds at the barn are shifting and Tarma’s in with a sexy (but too young for her) redheaded gelding that she’s gone into full blown heat for. I’ve washed her crack down more often than I’ve ridden this week, alas. She’s not normally had heats this bad, but apparently she just really wants another baby. No ma’am! Another foal is not in Tarma’s future, but tell her hormones that. It’s days like these it would really nice to have a B team, like some other endurance riders can swing.

Due to the above, my focus for the past month has been mostly on myself: my gear, my fitness, and learning everything I can about the Tevis trail. I’ve been reading ride stories from this year’s finishers and gathering details about how folks prepare for Tevis and certain sections of the trail. I’ve gone full nerd and created a focus wall in my home office, tracking each month’s efforts and focus areas, aimed to Tevis 2027 (or, at this point, at least the Tevis Education Ride).

I’m developing a go/no go list of things we’ll need to be capable of to send in a Tevis entry, including but not limited to:

• Can I run downhill 5 miles? Can I do that and then ride 5 miles? Can I do both when it’s hot out?
• Complete a longer and/or Pioneer Ride: Can we do a 75 miler? Or can we complete a 75 or 100 mile weekend (50 miler one day, 25 or 50 miler the next day?)
• Can I shave 10 pounds off my saddle and gear?
• Can I shave 25 pounds off myself?
• Can I keep glue on shoes on Tarma for a full cycle, and keep her feet looking pretty good?
• Can I find a good rotation of pads for my sensitive unicorn mare’s back?
• Can we get our moving average up closer to 8-9mph and hold it there, and how much does that ask of Tarma to do so?
• How do I practice dealing with the sleep deprivation and still manage to be functional?
• What recovery modalities does Tarma enjoy best (that I can transport to ride camp)?
• Can I find a way to carry water on myself that doesn’t drive me absolutely batty with noise and rubbing?

Volunteering at Tevis and being in the thick of things at Robinson Flat gave me so much homework, and jazzed me right up. You never know when the big details or the smallest items may make or break a ride like Tevis; one of the usual top finishers “gave up” this year’s win over shoe/hoof boot troubles late in the ride. What a badass Sonoma Blakely is, finishing in just a sports bra cause she used her shirt to protect her horse’s hoof when all else failed! There are tales of a certain kind of cookie coming in clutch at Foresthill; a bunch of teams had repurposed chemical sprayers to get horses cooled off quicker with a minimum of water; phones dying at critical points and always, always rocks with your horses name out there.

As for our next steps, I’m aiming to do a 75 mile weekend at the Old Selam Pioneer ride in Idaho in a few weeks; a 50 miler one day, and a 25 miler the next day. We were ready for this fitness wise at Santiam, and I should have just jiggered some better hoof protection up and done the second day 25 anyway. I have vague ideas for after that ride if we’re overall successful. There’s a ride in Southern California I’ve always wanted to do after Thanskgiving, the Turkey Chaser put on by the Love This Horse Rescue, but that would be a second long trip in a year; two days drive down, a rest day, ride two days, a rest day, and two days drive back. We may just slide into winter conditioning, focusing on climbing as many hills as we can find (and then me running down them).