Page 59

NVLife_JulyAug_2012

Western States Trail, a ride that soon became known as the Tevis Cup. It remains the most difficult of any 100-mile ride in the world because of the severe terrain, high altitude, and 100-degree temperatures. Endurance riding was first brought to Europe in the 1960s. Today there are over 7,000 endurance horse riders in the United States. They race over remote, often rough terrain that takes considerable skill, equestrian expertise and tactics to traverse successfully. These are timed events with strict veterinary controls along the way to ensure the welfare of the riders’ equine partners. Jennifer’s love for horses began when she was kid; she participated in her first endurance race in 1989 and has since logged over 8,000 miles racing. Barry, a former Apple and AOL executive, claims to be a late bloomer in the horse world; he started racing in 1999 and has logged 4,000 racing miles. Wanting to up his ante in the racing world, Barry turned to Jennifer and bought her horse, Kann Sam Count. “Sam was a much higher caliber racing horse,” joked Barry. Now the couple has four high-level racing horses; Stella and Bearcat race at the 100-mile level, while Czoe and Tiki race the 50-mile level. Czoe is expected to do her first 100-mile race later this summer. Jenni Smith has been training and riding Bearcat, and will be competing on him on August 4 for the challenging Tevis Cup. Jennifer will be riding Czoe. “This will be my eighth Tevis Cup,” she said. “My best ranking has been ninth place out of over 200 riders. My goal is to win the cup someday.” “There is an incredible sense of accomplishment to go and finish that race,” added Jennifer. “There is so much history, and it’s so magical. I go through so many emotions.” “Jennifer is modest,” admired Barry. “I have watched her race with great Jenni Smith of Moraga on BA Bearcat calm and precision—starting slowly and strategically moving up to finish rides with Team Tamber Bey on a regular basis. strong.” photo by Jennifer Waitte The duo will compete in the 2012 Tevis Cup. Though Jennifer has not yet won the coveted Tevis Cup, she has won numerous national championships and has competed internationally. winery and give the horses a rest. She currently holds the course record for the 20 Mule Team Course in Depending on the terrain and difficulty of the course, said Barry, they Ridgecrest, and she also won the Yosemite Gold Cup in April, with Tamber usually average between nine and ten miles per hour, including breaks. There Bey team member Jenni Smith coming in second. “I’m gearing up to are one to five mandatory checkpoints along the course to check the horses’ compete internationally again,” said Jennifer. The couple has definitely physical metabolic ranges. According to Jennifer, horses need to drink every logged in countless saddle miles and often competes together. five miles during a race, whether it be from a natural source like a stream or They have raced on four continents in every possible terrain, so they find a trough put out by course officials. “One of the most challenging things in a it hard to say which race is their favorite. “There are so many races and they race is to see the unseen,” said Jennifer. “To monitor the horse for metabolic are all so different, with challenges and rewards,” said Jennifer. “We have issues that might not be apparent. A horse can’t talk to us and tell us they are ridden to the edge of the Grand Canyon; we rode through the Redwoods. getting a cramp or they are dehydrated.” The times that I have had my best moments are always the times when I’ve “There are dangers as well, like wrecks on the trail,” said Jennifer. “A horse gotten away from the group. There is a whole lot of energy, but it’s also very can trip, or the rider falls off. The Tevis Cup is especially challenging because peaceful and I’m in tune with my horse.” it can run fifteen to twenty hours or more, with riders finishing at 3 a.m. in Fellow riders Jenni Smith and Cris Jones are also part of Team Tamber the dark. A horse’s eyes are huge, so they see well at night. The key is trusting Bey. The group recently raced sixty-five miles in Ridgecrest and placed your horse.” fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, with Alex Bridges substituting for Cris. “It’s A surprising fact about the Tamber Bey horses is that Jennifer does not rare to have an entire team finish together, let alone all finish in the top ten,” believe in horseshoes. Instead she equips the Arabians with tennis shoe-like said Barry. “To keep four horses in the top ten is a challenge because every hoof covers with rubber soles to help prevent slippage. This is becoming a horse needs to be at the same condition level.” popular trend. She deems that a hard steel shoe hinders the horse rather than Team Tamber Bey’s competitive horses are all Arabians because, as Barry protects it. pointed out, they are the marathon runners of the horseracing world—small, When Barry is not racing with Jennifer, he is often there as part of the lean and fast. “We train the horses like any other long distance sport,” said support crew. “It’s great to have him to ride with,” said Jennifer. “Our horses Barry. “We take the horses on short, fast training rides and then long, slow work as a team and they enjoy being together.” rides. We do a lot of hill training to build their cardio and stamina. Horses can race as long as they are sound, like any other top athlete.” To keep up on all equestrian activities that the Waittes are involved in, log onto tamberbey.com, click on News and Events, then click Horsin’ Around Unlike people, horses can stay in shape for over a month as long as they at the top. Barry often updates this page with fun clips from recent races. Or are getting some kind of activity. The Waittes compete January through stop by their tasting room on Adams Street in St. Helena, next to the Napa September and take the last three months off, to tend to harvest at the Valley Roasting Company. J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2 57


NVLife_JulyAug_2012
To see the actual publication please follow the link above