We Finished the Tevis Cup Virtual Ride!

 We Finished the Tevis Cup Virtual Ride!

We Finished the Virtual Tevis Cup!

I knew I would be finishing my 100 miles in 100 days on this ride, since I only had just over 2 miles to go.

When I got to the barn, I told Ellen, and I also told her it was rather anti-climactic.  I actually was a little sad that it would be over for me.  This has been a lot of fun to have a goal when I ride.  Every so often, I would reach a milestone, and then I could read about what I would be doing if I was actually riding in the real Tevis Cup.  

It was just Ellen and me, going out for a quick ride because it was a work day for her.  We decided to do a lot of cantering.  Since Cole canters so much faster than Dante, it would mean I would be spending much of the time by myself.  I would canter a section of trail, wait for her to catch up and then canter the next section.  I am so glad that Dante doesn't mind us cantering faster than him.

I didn't know where the Tevis finish line would be for me, so I decided to celebrate it at the second river crossing where we were going to turn around to go home.  This last stretch of trail is so terrific for cantering, that we have called it "The Canter Stretch" for many, many years.

I said goodbye to Ellen and Dante, and we took off at a canter.  And what a fine canter it was.  It was  very fast and yet controlled.  Cole and I were a team.  I didn't feel like a passenger as I sometimes do when he canters.  I felt like we were one.  It was lovely.

We slowed down before we got to the end, and I asked him to just trot.  He did so willingly.  Suddenly, I got it in my head that this would be the perfect "Black Stallion Moment."  "The Black Stallion" is our favorite horse movie.  (If you've never seen it--you must.")  When Alec tames The Black and is riding him on the beach, he stretches his arms out as they gallop.  This was my moment--even though we were only trotting.

I dropped the reins, put my arms out and breathed in the happiness of the moment.  I thought of my old horse, Cruiser, the one I should have been riding the Tevis Cup on and smiled.  He was with me in my heart.

And then Cole, as if to remind me that he wasn't Cruiser, but an awesome horse in his own right, started, (in true Cole fashion for loving to perform,) to do his show trot.  His show trot is his big, impulsive, springy trot that any dressage competitor would kill for.  He performs it very collected--reins not needed.  As I posted along with no reins, his trot got bigger and bigger.  He was doing a "Full Cole Train" trot.

As with Alec on The Black, I suddenly was in the scene where he is riding The Black in a race--and I can hear the applause of the crowd--though no one was there to see this private moment.  Alec then flashes back to beach, where it is just the two of them--just as it was just the two of us, riding as one--for the joy of the moment.

(I think I may have seen the movie a few too many times.)

We arrived at the river, turned around and waited for Ellen to catch up with us.  What a wonderful experience.

We finished 41st out of 993 riders and it took us 32:25.  It really made me appreciate how much the real riders do when I consider that they do it all in less than 24 hours in one day.

There is still time to sign up and do it yourself.  It goes on until November 8.