Del Oro English Teacher Izzy Watson & her horse Walter completed the Tevis Cup Race...100 miles in one day through the Sierras. Great Job Izzy!
How long have you been teaching? This upcoming year will be my fourth year teaching. What have been your roles with PUHSD? I have been an English teacher (9th/10th grade); varsity girls tennis head coach (2022, 2023); jv boys tennis coach (2022); advisor for various clubs; WINGS advisor; and drama teacher (2024). How long have you been riding horses? I started riding horses when I was around 8, but I only started doing endurance riding/racing two years ago. What made you decide to do the Tevis? I decided to do Tevis because it is like the Super Bowl or Olympics of endurance riding. It is an iconic ride
that people travel from all over the world to do (this year, 21 states and 6 countries were represented). It is a challenging course where, on average, only 50% of the field completes the ride. This year, only 40% did. I felt confident enough in myself and my horse that we were ready to take it on. Is there an experience that happened during the race that stands out? An experience from the ride that stands out was riding at night. Even though there was a full moon, I couldn’t always see where we were going, so there were moments when I had to just trust my horse completely that he wouldn’t send us off the edge of the cliffs. We were leading our group at that point and moving quickly, so it was an exciting part of the ride. We rode through the home stretch, Auburn, at that point, and I knew we were going to make it. Another highlight of the ride was the volunteers. There were over 1000 volunteers throughout the ride and all of them were absolutely fantastic. What do you like to do when you aren’t teaching, coaching, or riding? When I’m not teaching, coaching, or riding, sometimes I have time to play tennis or read.
For more information about the Tevis Cup, click here. in 20 out of the 25 rides he’s completed. In his career, he has raced over 1500 miles. He loves bananas. Anything else you’d like to add? My horse’s name is Walter. He’s a 9-year-old Arabian. This is his third Tevis completion. He’s placed in the Top Ten
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