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Emmo
Bronze Member
Wales
132 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Mar 2012 : 10:54:44 AM
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We are taking Elliot to his first pleasure ride on 18th March at Wentwood where he will be doing 18k. We are not complete newbies to endurance, having crewed for a friend for many years at advanced level but this is the first time we have taken one of our own horses and actually ridden.
Are there any hints/tips that you could offer that may help us along?Any pieces of tack/equipment that you could recommend?
We will be taking spares of most things plus a first aid kid, plenty of water and feed. He is also unshod (5yrs old, never been shod)
How far do you think he will be able to go unshod, thinking ahead?
Seem to have very conflicting advise as far as shoeing is concerned.
It is very exciting taking our own out for the first time and i hope it all goes smoothly!!
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BeckyBoodle
Gold Member
Australia
795 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2012 : 11:42:20 AM
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Don't have any advice to offer, but hope it goes well. You might see my girl there on her first training ride - she is on loan. If you do see a black arab mare, it could well be Eba. She is about the same stage as your horse although she has just turned six, and Janet who has her might be ablevto offer some good advice going forward.
B |
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Etoile
Silver Member
275 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2012 : 5:11:13 PM
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Good luck  I am sure that you'll both have a great time. Sounds as though you're taking the right stuff - water and food definitely a good idea - mine always like the food but are a bit more dubious about drinking the water. I'm sure having crewed before you'll know everything that you need, but we always take some hot water, as our boys are both wimps and prefer having legs, head and girth sponged off with warm water.
We took the shoes off our two last winter, and they were both barefoot last season, though we competed in boots. How far he can go without any hoof protection (boots or shoes) will be down to the individual horse. We've seen quite a few people competing unshod (both without hoof protection and with boots), up to distances of at least 80km. Googling will give you a lot of information about endurance and barefoot (including the South African perseverence stud who regularly compete in 160km ER's barefoot). People on both sides of the shod/barefoot fence can get very vehement, but it really comes down to what suits you and your horse. As he's only 5 and you're just starting pleasure rides it's probably not something that you're going to have to worry about for a while, so just relax and enjoy. |
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Emmo
Bronze Member
Wales
132 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2012 : 7:27:09 PM
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Thank you both for your replies. I have looked a lot into barefoot riding in general and it does certainly seem to be a personal preference. How he goes with longer distances will have to be played by ear. We are not against putting shoes so will just keep an eye on how he manages. If you were to hear him walking on the road you would swear he was shod from the sound his feet make thay are so hard!
Hayley has now found someone to ride with at Wentwood through the facebook endurance group so that will be great, both for her and Elliot.
I didnt think there would be a vetting for pleasure rides but it seems that there is? That will be our first big hurdle as Elliot can NOT stand still for a second 
Etoile, he is not a fan of water either so don't think he will take to slosh bottles very kindly!
Becky, will keep an eye out for your mare |
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Etoile
Silver Member
275 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2012 : 8:28:07 PM
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Salad wasn't a fan of water either (he still views anything we offer him to drink with deep suspicion), but initially when we started taking him to pleasure rides we only took hot water as we felt that he wouldn't be very keen on doing it again if we started throwing cold water at him straight away! We left the sloshing and the cold water until later on when it was a lot warmer and he was working harder and sweating more.
Pleasure rides run by the groups don't have the vetting, but NCR's run in conjunction with competitive rides do have the vetting. However, it's only a trot up, you don't get the heart rate taken or the various other checks that they do (dehydration, checking them over etc.), so he won't have to stand still. However, we found that if you time going to the vetting when it's quiet and ask very politely the vets are usually willing to take a heart rate for you, it gives you the opportunity to practice before you start competitive rides. |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2012 : 10:55:35 PM
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Enjoy! And you probably don't need to worry about sloshing for a pleasure ride in March, I have 2 who are convinced you are trying to kill them with slosh bottles  , have found sponging with water at the end the least traumatic, with scraping excess water off immediately - it's the dribbling water they hate. |
  Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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arabianrio
Gold Member
England
1300 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2012 : 2:41:20 PM
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As Etoile says the vetting is usually limited to a trot up at a Pleasure ride so don't worry about having to stand still for long for vet - although you may have to wait for your turn.
Have a great time and enjoy...agree with Callisto about water and sloshing....mine is still very wary of it. |
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Emmo
Bronze Member
Wales
132 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2012 : 10:03:38 PM
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Yes, I was thinking ahead about the slosh bottles, though i wouldn't put it passed our weather system to throw in a mini heat wave in March!
Hayley has been hacking out using her phone's GPS to try and get an idea of his pace at walk/trot ect. I will go and get him a green ribbon for his tail on the weekend so he is clearly marked as being a baby.
Another question though, does a human heart rate monitor work on a horse? We do have a stethoscope (SP?) but it can be hard trying to follow him around bent over and trying to count.... |
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Callisto
Platinum Member
6905 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2012 : 10:13:53 PM
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Yes a human heart monitor works on a horse if you can get the strap around their chest. To calculate your speed on the ride calculate your minimum and maximum time to to get to various points on your talk round, then you can monitor your progress on route. Either get a watch with a 24 hour stopwatch and set it off when you start or set a conventional watch to midday as you start to calculate your elapsed time. Don't forget you will be penalised for being too fast as well as too slow
If you can listen to his heart with a stethoscope for 15 seconds you can multiply by 4 to get an indication of his heart rate. |
Zahkira (GR Amaretto x Taffetta)
Linda
East Sussex |
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Zawadi
Junior Member
Wales
32 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2012 : 10:16:47 PM
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Agree with all the above.
Be cautious with sloshing this time of year (and September and October!). Last Sunday Takwenya and I did the 67km at March Hares, and I didn't put a drop of water on her all day. Yes, I admit, the first 40km circuit was done in rain and sleet until near the end - but the second circuit was quite sunny though cold. We started halfway down the class, and overtook everyone ahead - cantered most of the 2nd circuit. As I said, I didn't put any water on her at all - just the thermatex the moment the saddle was off. I final vetted after about 10 minutes and she had a pulse of 45.
Enjoy Wentwood ! I'd be doing it if Zawadi was fit enough, but Takwenya has had all the fitness work during the adverse weather and is a few weeks behind - fit enough I hope by Bwlch Raid, which will be a fabulous ride to judge by the taster Fiona gave me when we rode most of it back in February.
Chris. |
Edited by - Zawadi on 09 Mar 2012 10:18:13 PM |
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Emmo
Bronze Member
Wales
132 Posts |
Posted - 10 Mar 2012 : 12:22:01 PM
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Chris - Well done on your ride last Sunday in what sounds like very testing weather conditions. We didn't plan on sloshing next week i was just thinking ahead. It will be his first ride and he is only doing the 18k.
We are also hoping to do the Bwlch Raid as it is fairly local to us and we have known Fiona many years, we will see how he goes at Wentwood.
We have had so much info thrown at us by Pam it's hard to remember it all but its only a bit of fun. Thank you all for the replies |
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Our first pleasure ride!
