Cartfall
Oct. 14, 2009, 06:02 PM
We are having a record breaking heat wave right now. We have been in the high 90s the last 8 days. We are expecting a front that will drop us into the low 80s this weekend---boy will that feel good!!!
It is pretty difficult to get time in harness that isn;t hot as hades, much less get the hours and distances I need to train for Competitive Distance. This past weekend, I was body clipping my horse at 5:45 am before we left to meet some folks at a trail head. Not a good job just functional.
I arrived early although not as early as I had hoped-- got in the cart and out by 7:30. Had 5 miles already when I met up with the rest of the group. We did an additional 12 miles or so. We really slowed down our pace to get 4 hours in harness.
Zanzer is not a great drinker when he is harness. He has this work ethic I guess that while he is working he doesn;t eat or drink. The State Forest we drove in has water tanks out in several places. He would play in the water but not drink. So this day I had brought along a soft bucket with a small bag of alfalfa and beat pulp. When we arrived at one of the watering stations, I put about a cup of the mixture in the water and let it soak for a minute. Got the bag around his bit and boy did he slurp that up. I think I have found a way to get the boy to drink. He won;t drink a large amount but any helps.
One of the things we do to cool out the horses is sponge them with water and scape it off. This ain;t easy in harness--so I just threw buckets of water all ofer hime and then scraped the best I could. That little 10 minute break did wonders for him and his step picked up a good bit.
In the actual CTD, we have an enforced 20 minute break usually about 12 or 15 miles in. A vet checks the metabolics and watches the horses trot off checking for lameness. Any horse that does not make the 64 pulse after 10 minutes is held for another 10 minutes, and again if they do not make it. Any horse that can;t come down to 64 after 30 minutes is pulled.
My plan at the actual rides are to pull the cart off, drop his bridle and offer him the beet pulp/alfalfa mix. Cool him off by throwing water on him.
We can take more than 20 minutes if we choose to--I plan on taking whatever time it takes to give him a rest and a bit of food.
We then have a flyby waterstop about 20 miles out, with 5 to go. That one depends on how we are doing-- his attitude, his energy,
We have 5 hrs to do 25 miles in. As the drivers go out first, we are on the trail by by first barely light--say 6:30 sometimes. That has us in by 11:30 which can be warmish or down right hot. We have a 30 minute window after the 5 hours where we can complete with time penalties.
The horses sweat an incredible amount if it is hot. They need electrolyte replacement. This can;t be done unless the horse drinks. So we do a lot of pre-hydration the days before the ride. Putting salt and electrolytes in the days before so they will drink plenty.
Once we cross the finish line, we have 20 minutes to get to our trailer,s unhitch and return for our CRI . That is a cardio recovery index. The horse pulse is taken, they are trotting in hand out for 150 feet or so and trotted back. Once one minute has passed from the time they left for the trot out, they must recover the original pulse or no more than 4 beats higher or will lose points.
Then we are done until 90 minutes later for the final vet check.
Zanzer is going to his first 25 mile CTD on Oct 24 and then we have a 27 mile on Nov 7. They are awfully close together but few CTRs have a driving divisions here. I think we are ready. If we need the extra time, we will use it. No point pushing the boy.
Wish us well.
It is pretty difficult to get time in harness that isn;t hot as hades, much less get the hours and distances I need to train for Competitive Distance. This past weekend, I was body clipping my horse at 5:45 am before we left to meet some folks at a trail head. Not a good job just functional.
I arrived early although not as early as I had hoped-- got in the cart and out by 7:30. Had 5 miles already when I met up with the rest of the group. We did an additional 12 miles or so. We really slowed down our pace to get 4 hours in harness.
Zanzer is not a great drinker when he is harness. He has this work ethic I guess that while he is working he doesn;t eat or drink. The State Forest we drove in has water tanks out in several places. He would play in the water but not drink. So this day I had brought along a soft bucket with a small bag of alfalfa and beat pulp. When we arrived at one of the watering stations, I put about a cup of the mixture in the water and let it soak for a minute. Got the bag around his bit and boy did he slurp that up. I think I have found a way to get the boy to drink. He won;t drink a large amount but any helps.
One of the things we do to cool out the horses is sponge them with water and scape it off. This ain;t easy in harness--so I just threw buckets of water all ofer hime and then scraped the best I could. That little 10 minute break did wonders for him and his step picked up a good bit.
In the actual CTD, we have an enforced 20 minute break usually about 12 or 15 miles in. A vet checks the metabolics and watches the horses trot off checking for lameness. Any horse that does not make the 64 pulse after 10 minutes is held for another 10 minutes, and again if they do not make it. Any horse that can;t come down to 64 after 30 minutes is pulled.
My plan at the actual rides are to pull the cart off, drop his bridle and offer him the beet pulp/alfalfa mix. Cool him off by throwing water on him.
We can take more than 20 minutes if we choose to--I plan on taking whatever time it takes to give him a rest and a bit of food.
We then have a flyby waterstop about 20 miles out, with 5 to go. That one depends on how we are doing-- his attitude, his energy,
We have 5 hrs to do 25 miles in. As the drivers go out first, we are on the trail by by first barely light--say 6:30 sometimes. That has us in by 11:30 which can be warmish or down right hot. We have a 30 minute window after the 5 hours where we can complete with time penalties.
The horses sweat an incredible amount if it is hot. They need electrolyte replacement. This can;t be done unless the horse drinks. So we do a lot of pre-hydration the days before the ride. Putting salt and electrolytes in the days before so they will drink plenty.
Once we cross the finish line, we have 20 minutes to get to our trailer,s unhitch and return for our CRI . That is a cardio recovery index. The horse pulse is taken, they are trotting in hand out for 150 feet or so and trotted back. Once one minute has passed from the time they left for the trot out, they must recover the original pulse or no more than 4 beats higher or will lose points.
Then we are done until 90 minutes later for the final vet check.
Zanzer is going to his first 25 mile CTD on Oct 24 and then we have a 27 mile on Nov 7. They are awfully close together but few CTRs have a driving divisions here. I think we are ready. If we need the extra time, we will use it. No point pushing the boy.
Wish us well.