Tailing up Cougar Rock
 |
From 1955 through 2017, there have been 10,365 starting entries, of which 5,615 (54%) finished. |
|
As of 2009, the Ride has been completed by 2,360 individual riders. |
|
A combined total of 177 finishes have been logged by 126 Junior Riders as of 2016. |
|
The Most Finishes by a Junior Rider is five times: Rebecca Greene, 1983 thru 1987. |
|
A minimum weight of 150 pounds, rider and tack, was required for all entries from the early 1960's through 1972. |
|
There were no weight restrictions at all from 1973 through 1975. |
|
A minimum weight of 165 pounds (74.8 kg) for rider with tack was required of winners of the Tevis Cup and Haggin Cup from 1976 through 1998. Contenders had to declare their intent to compete for the "top ten" and were weighed with their tack upon vet-in. If necessary, the rider was given added weight -- sandbags -- to carry during the ride. There are no weight requirements in effect beginning with the 1999 Ride. Riders continued to weigh in with their tack for statistical collection purposes until around 2010. |
|
The least number of riders was the first Ride in 1955: five riders -- Wendell Robie, Bill Patrick, Nick Mansfield, Dick Highfill, Pat Sewell. |
|
The most riders to start was 271 riders in 1987. |
|
A limit of 250 riders was established in 1989. |
|
Ride dates through the year 2040 are already determined. |
|
The first woman to compete, Ina Robinson, completed the Ride in its second year, 1956. |
|
|
|
The youngest rider to complete the Ride was 11 years old in 1964: Gail Gilmer. The minimum rider age of 12 years was established in 1958. Gail Gilmer's actual age was not learned until after the 1964 Ride. |
|
Two people have completed the Tevis Cup 30 times or more, Barbara White and Hal Hall. Eight other people have completed the Tevis Cup Ride 20 or more times, qualifying for the 2,000 Mile Buckle Award: Julie Suhr, John McCullough, Roxanne Greene, Sandy (Cassandra) Schuler, Potato Richardson, Kathie Perry, Patricia Chappell and Lori Stewart. |
|
Many people have completed the Ride multiple times each. Those who have completed 10 times, qualify for the 1,000 Mile Buckle. |
|
 The largest family group to complete the Ride in one year was the McCrary family with five completions. In 1979 six members of the McCrary family set out to finish The Tevis. Members of the family were Frank "Lud" and Barbara McCrary and their children Ellen, Janet, Susan McCrary Huff and Butch Huff.. Only Ellen did not finish. Five members of the family completed together a second time in 1981, only this time Ellen took Frank's place on his horse after her own horse failed the initial vet in. |
|
The record for completions by one horse is thirteen times, set in 1998 by Pat Chappel on Thunders Lightning Bar, a 20 year old Quarter Horse mare. |
|
Six horses have completed the Ride ten times or more - Buffalo Bill (Nick Mansfield), Rainraff (Sally Dargie), El Karbaj (Hal Hall), Rocky (Merv Pyorre), Shatir (Judy Houle) and Thunders Lighting Bar (Pat Chappell). |
|
 The oldest horse to complete the Ride was PL Mercury, a 27 year old arabian, ridden by Claire Godwin, DVM in 2018. |
|
The youngest horse to complete the Ride was Capella, a 3 year old 3/4 Arab mare, ridden by Drucilla Barner in the late 1950's before the minimum age requirement of 5 years was established. |
|
The heaviest known horse to complete the Ride was an Arab/Percheron called Nugget, owned by the Mayor of Reno, Nevada. Nugget finished in 1958, weighing an estimated 1,600 pounds and standing between 16 and 17 hands. |
|
The tallest horse to complete the Ride was Chief, a Saddlebred gelding,ridden by Joan Dowis in 1982. Chief is 17'2hh. |
|
 The smallest equine to complete the Ride was a hackney pony, Piece of Perfection (Flash), ridden by Kyla Law, Jr. in 2021. Flash measured 11:2. (Reportedly a shetland pony also completed in the late 1950's, but this claim is unconfirmed.) |
|
Wendel Robie's horse, Bandos, that won the first Ride in 1955, sired horses that won the Ride in 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, and 1969, and the Haggin Cup in 1965: Bandos sired Molla, Chagitai, Chief of Tahmaroo, and Hailla. At age 16 in 1956, Bandos was also the recordholder for oldest horse to win until 2017 when Auli Farwa won at age 17.27 years of age. |
|
 One rider, H. Gordon Ainsleigh, was granted a completion without a horse! He finished 3 times: twice on horseback (1971 and 1972) and once on foot (1974). This unique accomplishment became the basis for the now-famous Western States Endurance Run, the world's premier ultra-runner trail event. The Run continues annually to this day, using most of the same trails as the Tevis Ride, and is held on the last weekend of June, a few weeks prior to the Ride. |
The oldest rider to complete the Ride was 81 years old, Peter Davies riding FF Fargo in 2021.