www.endurance.net/international/USA/2026TevisCup/
By Rebecca Lengtat
August 5 2026
My heart is so full as I think about our Tevis ride. 100 miles, in 24 hours in the Sierra Nevadas, Crazy? We were blessed every step of the way. God was with us. We have amazing friends, family, and horses. That any horse can get through this ride is surprising to me. It was truly hard. It was rock after rock and hill after hill. It never let up. There are very few places to make up time. In that way, it is brutal. It is like the hard parts of every endurance ride we have done all thrown together in one. Most of the trail seemed to be narrow trail with sheer drop offs. I can't say for sure, because I didn't see it in the light, but it seems like 80% of the night riding was narrow trail along cliffs as well. The river crossing was so much fun. It was way deeper than I expected, and on my 14 hand horse, it felt like he was only occasionally touching ground as he launched forward, practically swimming. Both of the girls said that they wanted to do Tevis again just to do that river crossing. I admit crossing a deep river at night, in a lane of glow sticks, was pretty cool. The best part about this ride was the harmony between our team of horses and riders. Many people told us it was a bad idea for the four of us to try to ride the ride together. Some said it was not really possible. But we knew others had done it, and we felt it was the best thing for us. At chicken hawk, we even picked up an extra junior, making us a team of five. Many thought that was a bad decision too, but on my part I knew God was in control. As we went down the trail toward the end we discussed the fact that we felt our horses enjoyed going together in a familiar herd. For these horses had done many rides together. Our thought was that there were two adults there to hopefully get the girls through the ride, but it ended up being so much more than that. It was a blessing to all of us. There was no friction, there was no irritation, it was a good day all around. I was proud of each rider and their attitudes. That really was a miracle in itself. This ride should have been full of tension and stress but it really was not for us. It is true we were very much chasing cutoffs. Our crew, family and friends told us how stressed they were watching us chasing these cutoffs. Out on the trail, however, we did not really feel it. We talked about it and kept an eye on it and we reminded each other that we needed to keep moving, but we knew the timeline, we knew where we were, we knew we were cutting it close, but our horses were doing an impressive job of pulsing down quickly. We wished that we had gone faster in the beginning, but we were confident that we could get it done. Honestly, when we talked about it, we could think of very few places we could have gone much faster than we had gone. I will tell a story with more detail later but there were many places that we had to ride faster than we normally would have in those trail conditions. The two Canyons were steep. Very steep. We ended up needing to trot a lot of the second Canyon to have any dream of making the cutoff time. My horse is a panter and I can hear him breathing. I could hear the horse behind me panting just as hard. It was hot. The heat was not bothering me but of course it was hard on my hard-working horse. I honestly thought there was no way that all four horses would pulse down after climbing that Canyon at a trot. It was so nice to climb out of that Canyon and see my son Roark standing there with bags of ice water to dump on our horses. I am very glad that he was there. We then had another mile and a half though that we had to do to get to the vet check. Ideally we would have walked it but we didn't have time. The horses looked and acted l8ke they felt well though, so we had hope. Surprisingly they all pulsed in quickly at chicken hawk.
The night riding was amazing. We all loved it. We knew going into it we were prepared for it. Our horses had all done plenty of night riding, and had proved themselves to be good at it. But never had we ridden at night along Cliff sides with drop offs like we did that night. Roriana and Rowdy led most of the ride. All of the horses in our group are confident enough to lead, and would have gotten us through, but Rowdy seems to excel at it so we let him lead. It was very dark before the moon came up. I turned my headlamp on the red light, looked over the side of the cliff, and then decided maybe it was best to just keep it off. My horse could see in the dark and he was doing a great job, I perhaps did not need to see in the dark. Even at a steady trot the miles seem to go very slowly in the dark. The last one and a half miles to make cut off into Cal2 seemed to take forever. But to ride into it was beautiful.
Then on to Francisco's. That was an odd one. Our mileage on our GPS did not seem to be matching up with where we thought Francisco's was supposed to be. We got around the corner and thought we should see it and we could see nothing. I think this was the only time we were seriously concerned about cutoffs. We saw something, in the distance, that we thought must be it, but it was way too far in a distance. So we trotted, through the dark, on questionable ground, and somehow we made it.
We were of course warned that we were cutting it close but we only had a couple of miles to get to the river. We knew, after we got to the river, that Roriana and Rowdy and my horse Vision had seen the rest of the trail. Lucy Trumbull was kind enough to ride my horse and take Roriana out on that trail a couple weeks before Tevis. Roriana has always had a special ability to remember the details of the trail. I knew once we hit that trail she would fly where she could. We loved the river. They had it lit up like a runway down to the river and through the river. Again I was surprised at how deep it was, but it was refreshing and very fun to cross. I understand why it was the girl's favorite part. It might have been mine as well.
We truly flew any place we could once we were across the river. All day Roriana and Rowdy had proved that they belonged there. They are an amazing team. They both really have a gift for the details of a trail. Rowdy is a true Mustang who very rarely trips. Normally she has to be very careful to ride at a speed that my horse can handle. This was the point though for them to truly shine. They had to ride fast and my horse would just have to deal with it. Remember, it is dark, and we can't see a thing. It was our only chance however to make cut off. We got into lower quarry with just minutes to spare. Four of our horses sped through the vet check but one was hanging. It was decided at that point that I would ride ahead with Roriana and our extra Junior. We hated to leave our friends, but we were only 6 miles from the finish and it was the only thing that made sense at that point.
We were able to relax a little after we crossed Highway 49. We knew we had enough time to make it. We knew our horses would pulse down when we got there. We rode at a good pace until we hit a long line of horses. Yes our time was cutting it close, but we were going to make it so we settled in behind them. Honestly, that last mile was long. Roriana knew where the finish line was, but I did not. I kept expecting that I should see it or hear it. Once we did see it, it was an amazing sight. What a blessing we had made it. We were greeted by our family and crew. Our extra Junior was reunited with her family who are praising God for her finish. Rory and Roark walked with us to McCann Stadium to do our final Victory lap. I rode the final victory lap together with my daughter. It was surreal. What a blessing. What a privilege. I am so thankful that we did this ride. We were so happy too to see one of our friends do her victory lap just minutes after us. Her horse had to canter parts of that final trail, alone, in the dark with no headlamp, to make it, but she did. There was not a perfect ending to this ride for us but still, it was a blessing. Vision looked so good at the end. The vet told us that Rowdy looked amazing and had great metabolics, but he was hoof sore and off in his front end. It was sad but Roriana handled it so well. She is determined to try again.
I am so thankful to our Heavenly Father for our safety. I am so thankful for the friends we rode with. My heart is full. I can’t think of better people to ride with. We mesh so well, and are so like minded, in our approach to riding endurance. It is like we were of one mind. I have so much respect for them and so thankful to them. I am so glad that we decided to ride this ride together.
I am so thankful for our crew that came down from Oregon to help us with this ride. Darlene, Siri, and Loretta were amazing. They knew things we had no clue about. I am certain we couldn't have done it without them.
I am so thankful that Rory and Roark were there to support us and crew for us. They both know us and they know our horses. They're both physically fit and able to take on the burden of running around and carrying things. I was so thankful that they both were there. I haven't spent this much time with my adult son in years and it was a special gift in and of itself.
We had SO MUCH support from friends and family. So many people were following us and rooting for us. So many nice things were said about our family. It makes our hearts full and so thankful. THANK YOU!!!
I talk so much about Rowdy and how special he is. His partnership with Roriana is like no other. You have all heard it so now I'm going to brag on my horse for a minute. SCA Vision is so special. I chose him. We were buying another horse, SCA Pursuit, from a breeder in Manitoba, Canada, Carl Fudge. His daughter, Ashley , sent me a video of Pursuit out in the field. But there was another horse, a little gray, that kept hogging the camera. I pointed that horse out to Rory and said, "I want that one." Rory made Carl an offer, and Carl very much wanted Vision to go to an endurance home, so he agreed. I am so thankful that he did. Vision has been special from the beginning. He is so calm, so willing, so safe, so easy. You hardly have to think about him, he is so easy. Because of his short stature he is easy to overlook in a crowd of horses but if you pause, and really look, you will see a beautiful and incredible horse. He is well built, he is so kind, and he is so willing. He has no desire to be a fast horse, but he is consistent, brave, reliable, and he has the heart to not quit on you. Most of all he is SAFE. What a special guy he is. We love this horse and are so thankful for him. He was a blessing to us all. I honestly never had a desire to do Tevis myself. It was Roriana's dream. It seemed impossible though.
Who would ride with her? It would not have been me, had it not been for this special little horse coming into our lives. This was the first horse I have owned that I was ready to say yes to Tevis with. He proved himself this weekend. Pause a moment and give him a second look. SCA Vision is small but mighty. He is a 100 mile horse! He is a mighty TEVIS horse!
