Making History

It was a long night last night. The Tevis Cup was running, and I kept springing up from my bed to check on my riders status on the computer. It was a history making event last night as Jas Schearer-Mcmahon and her 12 year old Akhal Teke gelding MV Patrickhan made the accomplishment of crossing the finish line at McCann Stadium. Patrick is the first purebred Akhal Teke in history to complete the Tevis. There have been others in the past who have attempted it, (with one highbred mare actually finishing it), but Patrick made all of the Akhal Teke world fans very proud last night.

The Tevis was run in a very different and somewhat odd way this year. The ride is usually held at the beginning of July when the weather is scorchingly hot - but due to an unusually high snowpack in the Sierra mountains this year - it was moved back to October. This unfortunately created another problem; as a couple of days before the ride was scheduled to begin - it snowed at Robie Park, the starting point of the ride. So the event coordinators had to re-route the ride backwards with a loop half way out and back this year. It was interesting to see the updates and keep track of people on the Tevis website: http://www.teviscup.org/

Cathy and Monica made the trip down to Auburn to help support Jas and Patrick. It will be great to hear the stories and view Monica's pictures when they return from the trip. It's a good idea to have a competent supporting ground crew available for the Tevis, as there is a lot of confusion and chaos with this big of a ride. Contestants need all the help that they can get, and Jas had the whole Akhal Teke community backing her. There were enough donations that came in to the Co-op site to cover most of her expenses for the Tevis: http://akhaltekebreeders.com/default.aspx

Another thing that makes Jas and Patrick very special - is that they are the only Akhal Teke horse and rider team in AERC history to earn a BC (best condition) at an endurance ride. Patrick won the best condition title at the Turkey Creek 50 mile ride last year. Generally BC's are given out to heavyweight riders who place in the top 10 as finishers. Jas is in the lightweight category, so it is a very hard earned accomplishment to earn that title.

A photo of Jas and Patrick (above) shortly before the start of the Tevis ride in Auburn. Patrick has the exotic hooded eye that Astrakhan is known for passing on to his offspring. Patrick was a breeding stallion up until just a few years ago, but due to an accidental fire at a vet lab - he has very limited foals produced. But, the switch from a breeding stallion into a performance gelding has proved to be a good move, as Patrick has accomplished quite a bit as a long distance horse.

Kudos to Jas and Patrick for a job very well done!

The official tracking results of Jas and Patricks journey thru the Tevis ride are listed below:

Query results for Rider #157 (Shearer-McMahon, Jas)
Information generated 10/9/11 9:29:10 am (UTC-0700)

Auburn - Start
Departed
10/8/11 6:30 am
0 miles

Lower Quarry - East
Departed
10/8/11 7:30 am
10.1 miles

River Crossing - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:06 am
16.6 miles

Franciscos - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:33 am
20.1 miles

Franciscos - East
Departed
10/8/11 8:54 am
20.1 miles

Cal 2 - East
Arrived
10/8/11 9:54 am
29.1 miles

Cal 2 - East
Departed
10/8/11 10:04 am
29.1 miles

Foresthill - East
Arrived
10/8/11 12:00 pm
38.6 miles

Foresthill - East
Departed
10/8/11 1:08 pm
38.6 miles

Chicken Hawk/Volcano - East
Arrived
10/8/11 2:07 pm
42.7 miles

Mosquito Ridge Road
Departed
10/8/11 2:14 pm
50 miles

Chicken Hawk/Volcano - West
Departed
10/8/11 4:59 pm
57.3 miles

Foresthill - West
Arrived
10/8/11 5:45 pm
61.4 miles

Foresthill - West
Departed
10/8/11 6:54 pm
61.4 miles

Cal 2 - West
Arrived
10/8/11 8:53 pm
70.4 miles

Franciscos - West
Departed
10/8/11 11:07 pm
79.9 miles

River Crossing - West
Departed
10/8/11 11:47 pm
83.4 miles

Lower Quarry - West
Arrived
10/9/11 12:55 am
89.9 miles

Lower Quarry - West
Departed
10/9/11 1:10 am
89.9 miles

McCann Stadium - Finish
Arrived
10/9/11 2:56 am
100 miles