Newbie to competitive trail riding - with update

[clm08]

I am going to my first "taste of endurance" ride this weekend, only a 8 mile one. My horse should handle it well, the distance is short and terrain shouldn't be an issue (but I've never ridden at that site). He has been ridden indoors all winter and has been doing a variety of work since the weather and footing improved in the past 6 weeks, from dressage to jumping, to hour long hacks at mostly walk/trot, and a few canter and trot sets every other week or so.
I am also taking my older horse to be ridden by a young rider. That horse has also been ridden all winter, and 4-6 times a week in the 6 weeks, mostly easy hacks for an hour, ponied or ridden, mainly at walk, some trot, and a little of canter uphill. Is this conditioning adequate for an older guy (he is 24)? I know he can easily go 8 miles, but I have no idea of what the time expectation should be, especially because he is also small, short strided, and lazy! :)
How do I rate the ride? I will go at the pace that is the best for the older guy as I don't want to leave him behind.
Any advice and other general pointers are appreciated. I am looking forward to this new experience!

[busterwells]

I have previously done 2 endurance rides with my horses. The one I did last year was 16 miles and we were given 4 hours to finish the ride. So maybe this will help you to estimate how long 8 miles should take. I think I rode mine as much as you ride yours, but I did slower the pace because the terrain was much rougher than I normally rode with my horses. We did trot the ride alot and my daughter and I came in at exactly the 4 hour mark. So I know that others must have cantered more than we did.

I think your horses should be fine with the amount of riding you do as long as the terrain is not real rough. Also it depends on the breed of horses you have, there are some breeds that do well at these rides without as much riding time and working out. Arabians are one for example. My Pony of America did really well on the ride, as my big Appendix Quarter did not place as well. (Mainly because of pulse rates and muscle tiredness)

Our ride had an informative meeting the night before to go over the map of the trail and also what was expected of us and our horsed during and after the ride.

Hope this helps.

[clm08]

Thanks for the info, Busterwells, it is helpful to know that 16 miles are covered in 4 h so we should be able to do the 8 miles in about 2 h. Forgot to mention both of my horses are Arabs, so they should be okay as far as breed goes. As far as I understand, there is a vet check half way thru the course, and another at the end, is that right?

It will be interesting to see how the 2 of them do, one is taller and has a big ground covering trot, and the other is only 14.2h and usually needs to canter to keep up. So I will be holding my horse back to a gentle jog to make sure the other one doesn't get sour from being left behind.

[busterwells]

Thanks for the info, Busterwells, it is helpful to know that 16 miles are covered in 4 h so we should be able to do the 8 miles in about 2 h. Forgot to mention both of my horses are Arabs, so they should be okay as far as breed goes. As far as I understand, there is a vet check half way thru the course, and another at the end, is that right?

It will be interesting to see how the 2 of them do, one is taller and has a big ground covering trot, and the other is only 14.2h and usually needs to canter to keep up. So I will be holding my horse back to a gentle jog to make sure the other one doesn't get sour from being left behind.

Yes, there are 2 vet checks as you mentioned in the middle and at the end.
Make sure you pay attention on the map when the vet check is arriving and slow the horses down before you get there so you get their pulse rate down. If you pulse rate is over 60 (if I remember correctly) they will make you take a timed break and come back to check the pulse again and will repeat this until you pass. Someone told me at the ride, letting my horse munch on grass while waiting to check the pulse will up their pulse rate. (Probably the same with drinking)

Take extra buckets and sponges, so you can cool them down at the vet check. At our ride, they would load everything you wanted waiting for you at the first vet check on a truck and had it waiting there for you. (Fly spray also)

Make sure that you point out carefully any knicks or marks from previously injuries when you vet check in before the ride starts. They will take points off for anything they think may have happened while you were on the ride.

Check out your map carefully and know all the landmarks along the way before you start. Knowing where you are along the ride helps tremendously so you can pace your horse accordingly. My daughter and I made one mistake when we had to take a loop and we went the wrong direction on the loop, it was marked very confusing. Luckily we realized right away and turned around before we lost too much time.

Relax and have fun, I find that everyone on these rides were very helpful along the way.

I will answer any other questions.

[clm08]

I appreciate your pointers and willingness to answer all of my questions!
A few more (sorry for being so naive):
1. Do organizers normally provide water at the vet checks so all we need to do is fill up the buckets?
2. Do you untack the horses to sponge them off?
3. What extra stuff should we bring along - my horses are barefoot, and I don't have any hoof boots, so I won't worry about a boot for a lost shoe. But first aid things for the horses? Humans? Electrolytes?

It's supposed to be cool this weekend, 40's-low 60's, and it is only 8 miles, so I don't expect the horses to be dehydrated or too sweaty.

Thanks for the advice to slow down before getting to the vet checks, it will be easier to walk them in then to try and keep them from grazing while waiting for pulse to come down. I have 2 Arab pigs! :lol:

[busterwells]

I appreciate your pointers and willingness to answer all of my questions!
A few more (sorry for being so naive):
1. Do organizers normally provide water at the vet checks so all we need to do is fill up the buckets?
2. Do you untack the horses to sponge them off?
3. What extra stuff should we bring along - my horses are barefoot, and I don't have any hoof boots, so I won't worry about a boot for a lost shoe. But first aid things for the horses? Humans? Electrolytes?

It's supposed to be cool this weekend, 40's-low 60's, and it is only 8 miles, so I don't expect the horses to be dehydrated or too sweaty.

Thanks for the advice to slow down before getting to the vet checks, it will be easier to walk them in then to try and keep them from grazing while waiting for pulse to come down. I have 2 Arab pigs! :lol:

Just so you know as I answer these questions, I also am a newbie to these rides as I have only done 2, so others may have more detailed advice from more experience.

But:

They will provide the water at the vet check for you.

I did not untack as I don't think there is enough time permitted to do that. And we only sponged down our horses because our ride was in July and it was in extreme heat so we were trying to cool them down.

I did not take first aid along on the ride but might be smart to have in trailer. If your horse needs first aid they will probably pull the horse from the ride anyways. They will come and pick your horse up in a trailer and take it back to the site where it will recieve first aid there. They gave us an emergency number on our map to call if our horses needed attention.

We purchased a big water tank to keep at our site to fill our buckets so we didn't need to keep walking a long distance to keep refilling buckets at the trailer.

We brought our MEN to help us at the end of the ride, they took our tack and were waiting with water buckets. (no water until after pulse taken though, which is first.) You will need to be able to trot your horse on the ground on a lead rope at the end vet check without tack on so they can see how your horse is moving at the end of the ride and they will deduct points or not depending on how your horse moves after the ride (muscle weakness and such.) And on willingness to move on the rope. So, make sure you work on ground manners also and running with your horse on the ground in a large
circle and his willingness to come with you in a trot.

I don't think you need to be really concerned though as this in only an 8 mile ride. This will be a good experience to start out with. Some of the people I went with did a 50 mile. WOW !!!! 25 on Sat and 25 on Sun.

I will help as much as I can. As, I know how it feels to go into the unknown.

[clm08]

A quick update on my first "taste of endurance ride" - it was actually a taste of competitive trail riding. Didn't know until we got there and learned the difference between the two.
Since it was an intro to the sport to newbies like myself, the organizers were great explaining the rules, and dividing the groups and assigning a leader and a helper for each group. The leader in my group set the pace, explained the strategies, warned about places where footing was an issue, kept us in the correct path (thank goodness, because it was not very straight forward and involved lots of turns, requiring good navigational skills!), and slowed us down at the end for horses to recover their P & Rs .
I was amazed at how fast a "working trot" is! My only point of reference is in dressage, but a working trot in endurance is more like an extended trot in dressage, at least for my horses! I didn't think my horses could keep that rhythm for over an hour, let alone true endurance riders who do that for hours and hours or almost a full day! I certainly gained a lot of respect for endurance/competitive trail riders.
I was very proud of both my horses, they finished in great shape, even the 24-yr old, and my younger one ended up with the best score of the day. Who knows, maybe we found a new career for my eventer? :)

[mustangtrailrider]

Well Congratulations are in order then. Way to go. I bet it is addicting. I have my first short LD in a couple of weeks. It is only 10 mi and our horses did 6.6 today without any difficulties. I am so excited.

MTR

[matryoshka]

Congratulations on a great ride! It's smart to get your feet wet this way and learn about the sport. You learn a ton about your horse, too. Hopefully they gave you a good idea about how fast these rides actually go. There is no lollygagging.

mustangtrailrider, I hope you also have a great ride.

[mustangtrailrider]

Thank you. I can't wait.

[busterwells]

It was great to hear that you had a great ride and placed so well. It was also interesting to hear about your ride. I have never been on one that provided a leader for the group, we have always rode on our own and sent our separately.

Hopefully this is a start for new experiences for you. Hooray!!!!!

[clm08]

Thanks to all for your kind words! I really enjoyed myself and learned a lot.
Busterwells, this wasn't a true CTR, just an intro to beginners like myself, and the organizers were wonderful providing the guidance - and guide to navigate our first CTR. I think it gave us all a lot of confidence and set us up for success, I am very thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to my next one. Now I just need to wrestle my horse away from my daughter, who competes him in eventing...