For this episode, I have a returning guest in Stevie Delahunt. You may remember that she was on my podcast last November. We had just met at the Journey On Podcast Summit and realized that we were two kindred spirits. I simply had to have her back after she just completed the Tevis Cup, a 100-mile endurance ride on the Western States Trail in California. This ride is legendary, with only 50% of the entrants completing the full race. This year, only 40% of the riders made it “under the banner”. Stevie was one of those riders, along with 3 other riders competing on her horses.
In this conversation, we explored what it takes to ride for almost 24 hours through some of the most difficult trails to be found anywhere. If you are a regular listener to this podcast, you know that we deeply explored the mental side of the game, as well as the physical preparation it takes to take on such a feat. She shared what it was like in the dark moments (literally, dark moments because about 1/3 of the ride is done in the dark) to be present with herself and her horse. She also gave her perspective on fear, intuition, and how she makes decisions when the stakes are high.
In the end, I’ve concluded that Stevie is a teacher of grit. I know she has helped me find more resilience and courage than I knew I had.
Here’s what Stevie says about herself:
Stevie Delahunt graduated Michigan State University with two degrees and an intent to pursue law school at Georgetown University where she had been accepted. She switched gears and went to the French Pastry School of Chicago to learn how to do wedding cakes and set up shop in the Windy City.
While in Chicago she learned of the world’s toughest horse race, the Mongol Derby, and she again let life guide her into constant change. On the other side of successfully completing the Mongol Derby she took a job with a startup company in Rhode Island and learned coding and marketing for the online business.
The endeavor in the world of start-ups gave her strong leadership skills and an education in business models she applied to starting her second and current business of horse related retreats.
Stevie’s current business encompasses several facets of the horse world including beginner riding instruction, advanced Bootcamp style retreats for riders wishing to participate in difficult horse riding survival races around the world, horse shoeing, and endurance racing with horses which includes doing the worlds toughest one day one hundred mile horse race; the Tevis Cup.
Stevie believes that adversity is a necessary part of life and being prepared for adversity as well as creating it for oneself is essential and is a tool she uses in teaching both horses and humans, both young and old.
I hope you enjoy this podcast with Stevie Delahunt and as always, please share this episode with your colleagues and friends.
Additional Topics
- Endurance horse riding with a returning guest who completed the Tevis cup.
- Trust, partnership, and perseverance in endurance riding.
- Tools for overcoming challenges in endurance riding.
- Mental tools for endurance horse riding, including staying composed during dark and challenging sections of the ride.
- Using intuition and emotional readiness in endurance riding.
- Pushing horses to their limits and trusting their resilience.
- Trust, balance, and coaching in endurance sports.
- Horse and rider support during a 100-mile endurance race.
- Trust, coachability, and mental toughness in horseback riding.
- Empowering horses through active listening and trust.
- The importance of flexibility and enjoyment in relationships and goals.
- Endurance riding, Tevis Cup, and the importance of enjoying the process.
- Tevis Cup horse race experience with emphasis on communication and trust between rider and horse.
- Accepting compliments and self-care during a challenging horseback ride.
- Confusion and decision-making during a horse endurance ride.
- Decision-making and responsibility in parenting and endurance riding.
- Horse riding experience with mixed signals and fall.
- Pushing boundaries and making tough decisions as a teacher/coach.
- Recognizing and managing fear-based intuition.
- Following intuition vs. stories in horse training.
- Horse deaths at Tevis Cup, focusing on causes and prevention.
- Recognizing and overcoming judgment towards others.
- Fear, death, and living life to the fullest.
- Endurance riding, fearlessness, and internal guidance systems.