Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Tevis 2006 - Fall from Cougar Rock




Tasha Duncan on Rambo Bay
2006 Tevis Cup ride was cut short when Rambo Bay, a almost 16 hand Arab slipped on Cougar Rock. In one of the pictures you can see that Tasha is out of the left stirrup, I think that is the point when she kind of just stepped off of him.
The pictures are in reverse order, so start from the bottom.
Rambo had a slight laceration which was treated at the Red Star vet station. Rambo actually vetted through sound by Dr. Melissa Ribley, but after a discusson with Tasha they decided that Rambo, who had lost that sparkle in his eye, shoud probably opt for a trailer ride.
I feel bad for Tasha, as it was I who suggested that she do the Rock. Below is the first email account of the fall to several groups I belong to.
Email Post
Yes this was the Tevis Cup week end, but ours got cut a little short. Takes many months to get ready, and sometimes a year. Not sure if you have seen the horses going over Cougar rock or not but looks quite dangerous, actually I tell everybody it is just the camera angle and it is a piece of cake, as I have two pictures and one go around (trail around Cougar rock). I had advised my young 18 year old rider that if you do Tevis you must have at least one picture of yourself and steed going over Cougar rock, so even if you get pulled you still have your picture.

Well, Rambo slipped and started to go over backwards, Tosha was able to kind of step off the horse as he went over. Rambo landed on his side, not sure if he went over completely backwards or not. Anyway, Rambo is not a horse that sticks around after an incident. Tosha had enough wits about her to capture him rather quickly. Rambo was bleeding a little on the left front and right rear, and had the scrapes with skin missing that you would expect from having fallen down a granite boulder. Tosha did a quick basement, no immediate medical attention was necessary, she started walking the rest of the way to Red Star, which I think is about 6 miles, I may be wrong and have not check. Tosha has both ankles in support braces due to the soreness and inflammation she gets on 100 mile rides, so the walking is not the best.

Crew is waiting at Robinson, takes hours before we hear anything. We have our ears glued to the radio chatter and listen for her number, which we never hear. I learned from a friend, Robert Palmerai, that Tosha and Rambo had fallen off of Cougar rock and that Rambo was pretty banged up.

We had arrived at Robinson at 8am, at about 1PM they had closed down Red Star and everybody was making the trek back to Robinson, and still no official word from Red Star as to there whereabouts or condition. Tosha's mother is part of the crew, and new to these kind of events, so I will let your imagination run wild................I kept walking out the trial leading into Robinson, asking everybody if they knew what had happened. Most of the comments I got were that they had gone around Cougar rock. One comment received when I asked if they had heard of someone falling over on Cougar rock was, " Which one!".

The head vet for Red Star, Melissa Ribley, stopped and talked to me as she was during out and told me what was happening with Rambo. She said that Rambo was one of the toughest horses she had ever seen and that they had treated him for lacerations and scrapes. She said that he did pass the vet exam and that Tosha could of continued on but after a short conversation they decided that Rambo, who had lost that sparkle in his eye, should probably be tailored. Dr. Ribley spent most of the time telling me what a fine young responsible lady she thought my rider was and that she commented on her adult and mature behavior and how well she took care of her horse.

Rambo was the very last horse and vehicle out of Red Star. They had lots of pulls at Red Star this year, I think more then any other years, I think it was into the 20's, and usually it is just a few. They have to take all of the metabolic out before minor injuries.

So at about 3PM our horse and rider is pulled from the depths of the Sierra Nevada's, the Tevis god appeased, and have left us with a healthy horse and rider and another year to get ready.

Once back in Foresthill we talked to one of the photographers who was at Cougar rock. He said that there were lots of video cameras there this year and that someone has to have this on video. If anybody knows about rider #67 on a big bay horse going over Cougar rock, please contact me....

Got lots more, but that's it...