By Tom Sites / #77 Great / Great American Horse Race 1976 (Curtis Lewis / Dennis Underwood photo)
“That night, I dreamed of a dancing horse. The next day, I went back and bought him. I named him Jose Dante.”
Two years later, with $750 in his pocket, no crew, a $15 saddle, and almost no endurance experience, Jose and Tom started the longest organized horse race in history: The Great American Horse Race – 1,966 miles from New York to California.
The following is from a talk Tom gave about riding in the Great American Horse Race at River’s Bend Ranch in Stanley, Virginia. Listen to the Travel Grit interview with Tom Sites here.
Introduction
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.
My life lesson from the Great American Horse Race was: “With small, consistent, dedicated steps, great strides can be made.”
Tack Shop 1974 – Jose Dante: The Dancing Horse of My Dreams
I walked into a tack shop and they asked me if I was buying or selling and I said I was just looking. They said they had a horse for sale and I went to look at Joe. He was 7 years old, strawberry roan, 14’2″ with 4 white stockings and a white blaze. I went home and had a dream that night of a dancing horse, so I went back the next day and bought Jose Dante.
He was boarded off of Route 7 down from Tyson’s Corner, a suburb of Washington DC. Jose ran me down and ran straight into the traffic of Route 7. That was a scary moment. Soon after that, I left my house in Arlington with 3 other Vietnam veterans and moved to Luray, Virginia near Shenandoah River Outfitters with Jose.
Jose was a trotter and I thought him to be a Hackney Pony/Appaloosa. He had 3 gaits of trot, but had a tendency to run away with you. He did not like the bit in his mouth and when I looked in his mouth, I saw his tongue was practically cut off; that’s why he was a runaway. So I put him in a hackamore and he was like power steering after that. We rode the mountains around Luray; sometimes 25-30 miles on a weekend for fun. We’d ride over into Fort Valley and get a sandwich and a beer at the country store. I remember riding Indian Grave Ridge, Sherman’s Gap, Milams Gap, and Kennedy’s Peak; and most beautiful of all was Jack’s Notch. I knew nothing about the sport of endurance, but we just rode for fun and adventure. Jose was a good first horse.
1976 – Dreamers
The 1976 bicentennial commemorated America’s 200th birthday and celebrations were abundant. Like me, the organizers of the Great American Horse Race were BIG dreamers. They dreamt of organizing the longest horse race in history with hopes of breaking the world record. America’s Bicentennial was the perfect year/opportunity to make it happen!
March 1976 – Daring to Dream
In March of 1976, I saw an ad in Western Horseman about the Great American Horse Race (GAHR) and thought now THAT would be a great adventure to ride a horse from New York to California. The estimated advertised distance of the race was 3,000 miles, but because of delays and unforeseen management issues, the 3,000 mile distance of the GAHR was reduced to 1,966 miles. Money or the lack of it was what limited the GAHR and caused the major stress level.
There was a story of me in the Washington Post and the Voice of America got in touch with me; they asked me if I had any fears and I said, “Jose stepping on a busted coke bottle.”
Marion Maggiolo of Horse Country Saddlery in Warrenton generously let me have a saddle pad, Drive supplements, and a few other things. Thank you, Marion.
I didn’t have a horse trailer and I never thought how I would get to the start in New York and never took into consideration how I would get back from California, if I made it that far. To be honest, I lusted for adventure and couldn’t do it today.
Lois Ireland, a friend of my mother’s, gave me the $400 to get to the Herkimer County fairgrounds in Frankfort, New York. I was so grateful for her support.
I had $750 at the check-in and the GAHR entry fee was $500, but I met a guy who broke his collarbone and he sold me his entry for $250. So I had $500 to start the longest ride/race in the world; NY to CA. I was #77… a lucky number I thought.
Memorial Day 1976 – California or Bust
The ride started in Frankfort, New York on Memorial Day, 31 May 1976, and finished on 5 September 1976 in Sacramento, California and it was/is like a blur. The days were long; having hay, grain, 2 saddles, water, my gear and clothes, etc., all carried in the feed truck. I was grateful for that, but it was an obstacle to keep order of all my gear, no crew, and I had to ride and do all the things that needed to be done and take care of Jose too. There wasn’t much time for me. I was not complaining though; it was adventure!
The ride route was Frankfort, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Sacramento, California.
The first day, I rode the English saddle and on the second day, I rode the western saddle. The third day and the rest of the ride, I rode the English saddle. It was a $15 saddle.
I rode with holey jeans and long johns as I remembered what my grandfather said, “What keeps the heat in, keeps the heat out.” There is a photo of me in the GAHR on page 52 of the book The Great American Horse Race showing me and Jose in a creek cooling off his legs. I tried to take care of Jose.
The riders of the GAHR came from all over including 32 states in the USA, from Canada, Germany, Austria (a Count), France, Switzerland, Iceland, and Australia. Ages ranged from 18-70 years old. 92 starters at the starting line. Some came for the greatest adventure of their lives; some just to ride. Some had years of endurance experience including the Tevis, while others, like me, had little to no formal endurance experience. Some came for the prize money.
Personally, I was in it for the adventure despite only owning my first horse for 2 years and had never been involved in any horse event. I was out of my league, but had the gumption to try. I was the only entrant from Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.
Horse breeds included: Spanish Mustang, Arabian, Morgan, Icelandic Pony, Orlof, Mule, Appaloosa, Pony of America, Thoroughbred, Albino, Quarter Horse, Connemara Pony, Paso Fino, and mixed breed/grade horses, like Jose.
You could have had 2 horses, but I only had one, Jose Dante, the ‘Dancing’ horse from my dream. Not having a crew or trailer, I could have only taken care of one horse. Additionally, riders could be penalized for a variety of reasons. For example, if you had one horse on the ground and one horse in the trailer, it doubled your riding time. If you had no horse on the ground, it was double the time of the slowest rider of the day.
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio was a flash, yet the days were long and tiring. The trail was everything you could imagine; a lot of road and in the east, not much else.
Good Friends
I made friends with Curt and Larry Lewis and the Kansas Ski team. Curt was writing a book and taking photos and Larry was selling GAHR memorabilia/souvenirs and T-shirts. Curt was a photographer, like me, in Vietnam. Larry Lewis, his brother, was the ram rod of the Kansas Ski team and became Trail Boss organizing the route. They fed me sometimes and I was grateful. Larry also was able to cash checks for me which made life easier as contributions dribbled in. They were a Godsend to my quest; without them, I know not what I would have done.
The Kansas Ski Team was all from Wichita, Kansas that later took over marking the trail and finding places to camp for a group as big as the GAHR. The Brown Bomber, their bus, saved me many times. Things like that remain in my memory of the GAHR. Gratitude speaks.
In Ohio, Andy Peterson from Luray came to crew for me in a 1958 Chevrolet pickup truck. Andy had side boards on his truck saying the “Blue and Gray Cavalry, a Horse Riding Company in Luray.” He had a tent and supplies and I was able to have my gear somewhat organized. Andy was another Godsend. He cooked a mean buckwheat pancake wrapped up in butter and orange marmalade and it was exotic eating that on the road in the morning. Smokey Killian loved Andy’s pancakes and would stop by our camp in the morning. The Lord looked after us many times.
4th of July in Hannibal: Key to the City
We were in Hannibal for the 4th of July 1976 and it was eventful as the time I received the Key to the City. There was a small group of us who missed the showers by 10 minutes and we were 3 days dirty and had our change of clothes and toiletries under our arm. We were at the town’s 4th of July celebration and the mayor came up and asked if there was anyone from the GAHR; I was the one who went up to the mayor and said, “Thank you but all we wanted was a shower.”
End of story… We took the key to the firehall and got showers. I gave the Key to Ceci Butler because she liked it.
Hannibal was also the place where a group with Vet Dave Nicholson left the GAHR from St. Joseph to Sacramento to form the Pony Express Ride (XP Ride). This ride still goes on today and takes place yearly. As a side note, there was only 1 rider from there in the top 10.
The GAHR went on. The ride itself was full of diversity and to be able to cross the country on horseback was a very good lesson of the USA geography. All kinds of different terrain to ride through and obstacles to manage. The weather was all you could imagine: sun, rain, chills; even hurricanes. The horses became so attuned to loud noises, traffic, and roads that they could be ridden anywhere.
Close Encounters: Not Just Picking Wild Flowers
My favorite place of all was Medicine Bow National Forest outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Miles of wild flowers; all in bloom. It was absolutely breathtaking. The Sierra Nevadas in California were spectacular also.
In Logan, Utah, I’ll never forget going to Baskin Robbins getting a small sample of all 31 flavors and after I ate that, I got a Hot Fudge Sundae. I love ice cream and I’ll never forget that feast.
The scariest experience I encountered was in Ohio on a 2 lane bridge that had an incline. A tractor trailer crested the incline. When he downshifted, his engine backfired, sputtered down, and made a loud noise. Another tractor trailer was coming up the bridge from the opposite direction meeting us with only 2-3 feet of safe clearance to save ourselves. As the tractor trailer came up behind me, I stood Jose still escaping serious injury by a mere 3 feet. It happened so quickly; I didn’t have time to be scared, but I remember the event as it unfolded. One wrong move by Jose and tragedy could have happened. It later scared me.
Another experience was in Nevada along Interstate 80. We were riding along and an antelope came along running and Jose wanted to chase it. The antelope ended up running into the wire fence breaking its neck and dying instantly. I covered it with my poncho and told Andy what mile marker it was and he went out to pick it up. Roger Justice rendered it and we had meat for the camp all across Nevada after that. The meat was truly tender.
The GAHR was the brainchild of Randy Scheiding and Chuck Waggoner from Kankakee, Illinois. They had the concept, but failed with marketing and sales; therefore, they did not have the financial resources to follow through with the successful venture of the GAHR.
The ride had management problems from the start and ride management fell apart. Randy Scheiding, the organizer, was met with fisticuffs and was physically run out of camp. He did come through with the prize money of $50,000 which was put in an escrow bank account in Sacramento. He said that if we wanted the prize money, we would have to have the GAHR make it there. His intentions were pure; he was just in over his head for the lack of funding. He had a good concept, but he was a dreamer and reality took him down.
I’ll never forget when the porta potties had to leave because we couldn’t afford them. That’s when the Riders Committee was formed and managed. We introduced a $15 a day rider’s fee to be paid by each rider to cover the expenses of the vets along with other expenses.
As for the vets, Dr. Bruce Branscomb, from Elko, Nevada, was the Head Vet and the first vet to be inducted into the AERC Hall of Fame. He gave the event good vet credibility. There were 2-3 vet checks per day depending on the mileage. As far as I know, there were no horse fatalities from overriding or abuse. Vet checks were new to me, but after a while they became routine.
I saw the Amish going down the road with their buggies and they weren’t slipping or sliding on the asphalt roads, so I had an Amish farrier put on a set of shoes of Studite caulks on Jose. We rode from Millersburg, Ohio for a thousand miles; I still have that shoe to this day. The vets were looking at it in disbelief, but I took it on faith and the Lord and Studite saved us once again.
The Last Leg
Utah blended into Nevada and the lushness of Medicine Bow turned into arid terrain. The east of California turned into the last leg of our trip and it was beautiful.
In Auburn, Wendell Robie, the father of the Tevis, had a luncheon for the GAHR and I will never forget his words: “You have brought Endurance from the East to the West.”
We rode some of the Tevis trail and road. Getting into Sacramento was a dream come true… Yahoo, we made it to the end!
The Finish Line
Jose had stars on his blaze and I carried the West Virginia flag across the finish line. It was party time in America; especially with it being America’s Bicentennial. Jose finished in 28th place in very good condition.
My mother came to the finish line and we spent her birthday celebration at our completion. I’ll never forget going to her hotel room, taking a hot shower and walking out into a glass door onto the balcony. I laid down and took a nap; it was the first time I slept in a bed in 100 days. She was so proud of me—it warmed my heart.
The winner of the GAHR was Virl Norton riding Lord FauntLeroy, a mule that was a beautiful, big 16’2″ who earned the GAHR in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not within 6 months because the GAHR was won by a mule. Leroy lived after his owner, Virl, passed away and Leroy lived to be 37 years old.
Headed Home
I couldn’t wait to come home and we only stayed in Sacramento for a few days. My friend, Ted Allegri from Illinois, brought me to his house. He offered a trailer ride for Jose and said if I paid the gas, he could bring me to Luray. We loaded Jose and Ted’s horse, Monte, into the trailer and headed east. Once home, I led Jose into my house and let him drink water from the kitchen sink and took him into my bedroom. Ted hauled Jose all the way from Sacramento to Luray. I was grateful. Ted had a 2 horse trailer and only had 1 horse. I am to this day grateful to Ted for getting us home to Luray. By this time, Jose would have followed me anywhere.
At this point, Jose came home at a good weight, with good clean legs, and no swelling or splints. I’m convinced he could have turned around and done the GAHR all over again. It’s hard to say how we would have done if the ride was more than 1,966 miles.
The event was over and it took some time to acclimate ourselves into the rest of the real world.
I was home and the adventure was over except for telling stories. We didn’t win, but we didn’t lose either. We made it home from a grand adventure, the Great American Horse Race. 100 days… what a trip the Great American Horse Race was. The Dream was over and it was a good dream!
Upon reflection, the GAHR was and is the biggest endeavor of my life. I learned many things, but the most important of them all was that with small, consistent, and dedicated steps, great strides can be made.
Jose had the good fortune to go on to finish 2 Old Dominion 100 Mile One Day Rides in 1977 and 1979. He later became a kid’s horse and taught many people how to ride. Jose was one heck of a first horse and is buried at our house.
Ted Allegri, who hauled Jose back home for me, later wrote on an internet forum. He stated, “Hello to All. I am one of the last surviving riders of the GAHR and have to say without a shadow of a doubt, this life changing and once in a lifetime opportunity that I was a part of and a finisher. I truly had an exceptional horse named Monte who lived over 30 years and was a great joy to be around. It would take weeks to explain all the great times and challenges we had lived through. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it! In addition, a huge thank you to all my terrific fellow riders, crews, vets, and interns that made it so memorable and possible. Ride safe. #103”
Larry Lewis’s brother, Curt Lewis along with Dennis Underwood wrote the book, The Great American Horse Race of 1976 that has been sold out and $800 is the current asking price for the book. There is another book that is coming out with more of the story and more photos. Curt is a photographer and has done a lot of investigation and research for the new book. He is the one that answers my questions for this story.
Thank you all for coming! Thank you Friends, Family, and those I don’t know. To share an adventure that lives in the memories of old.
Tom Sites #77 Great American Horse Race
Tom Sites Describes What it was Like to Ride in the Great American Horse Race
Listen to the Travel Grit interview with Tom Sites
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