Friday, September 9, 2011

TEVIS!



Yes, you read that correctly. I am going to Tevis! Excitement, oohs and aahhss...and then, you remember that I've been out of the saddle all summer. How can I do Tevis? How can my horse be fit? Very simply. I'm not riding it.






My good friend Jas Shearer-McMahon, of Livermore CO, has just recently thrown her hat into the ring to ride Tevis. She hadn't thought it would work, but a combination of lucky events (for her), including the date change of the ride to October, made it possible. She still wasn't sure, but I pushed her into it (ok, just a little bit of hyperbole there), telling her I'd work on fundraising and come down and personally cheer her and Patrick on.






Oh, and just to make this a bit more personal, the horse she is riding, Patrickhan, is a son of my dear boy, Astrachan. She bred Patrick when she had Khano on lease quite a few years back and Patrick has proven to be a wonderful mount. He's been brought along slowly and this year the pair has several top tens and at least one BC in the very tough mountain rides they do in the Colorado area. Now, together they've never done a 100, but Jas has and she says it's a go. I believe her. I just hope that I can be that brave in a few years.






So, me and my friends Monica and Wendy (both Teke fans), are going to drive the truck and camper down to Auburn, CA in about a month and do whatever needs doing. We've had a generous offer of a place to park the camper (thank you Steve!) and I've started fundraising for Jas. If you'd like more info on THAT project, you can go to The Breeder's Co-op website, at: http://akhaltekebreeders.com/default.aspx or you can look us up on Facebook at either The Akhal-Teke Breeder's Co-op page or on the Cascade Gold Akhal-Teke page. All monies go to Jas (we're paying our own way) to help defray costs, and anything left over the target amount will be put into a competition/scholarship fund for future high-level Teke endeavors.






I do have one photo that I will post with this - a really great photo of Jas and Patrick at the Happy Jack ride this year. The photo is by Pascal Karl and I think it says it all.






2 comments:

HHmstead said...

Hi! To a fellow PNER member! I've added you to my site as a "favorite"!
Way cool that you get to enjoy the "Tevis" experience! Take lots of photos!

Tekelady said...

Thanks! I'll be posting info about our trip to Tevis and of course, how Jas and Patrick (and the rest of our friends, Teke riders or not) do. I'm very excited to get to go. I've sure Monica Bretherton will be our designated photographer - she's much, much better at that than I am.