Does it depend upon the length of the ride? I’m looking at an intro ride, which is 12 miles. I’m nervous about my autoimmune diseases, but I’d like to aim for this ride. What would you recommend someone does to prepare for a ride like this one?
My pony and I can go five miles right now. She handles the mileage fine, and she off roads great!
Great list 
My quick answers for now.
A lot of this type of stuff is very individual trial and error.
Chaffing: I find the best thing is to figure out what clothes, shoes, tack work best and don’t rub far in advance. I personally like tech fabrics for my own clothes, I ride in trail running shoes and use stirrup cages and I have real sheepskin on my saddles to cover both the seat and the stirrup leathers. Staying as dry as possible is important too. My favorite product for chaffing is something called Salty Britches.
Chapstick- I only use it in winter but I also live in an area where the humidity is ridiculous. I know a lot of riders carry it in an easy to reach pommel bag type spot
Electolytes- as far a horses go, you kind of have to figure out what works for each horse and it can get pretty complicated. My Morgans I have to elyte very heavily when its warm out. I like EnduraMax. I do doctor it up a bit. I usually add something to buffer a bit like ProCMC and something to make it taste good like baby food carrots or date syrup. Things like NoSalt or CMPK can be added/ given if your horse’s pulse is hanging or they seem a little muscle tight. Timing is also important but very individualized. For instance if you have a horse that really dislikes being electrolyted, giving them right before going into the vet check might be a bad idea because it might spike their heart rate.
I do carry a sponge on my saddle. The main thing is PRACTICE before hand. I’ve seen some wrecks that came from swinging a sponge around when a horse had never had it done before. Sponging along the trail when the weather calls for it can really help your horse stay cool.
People water- I use a bottle holder on my saddle for endurance or CTR and the backpack style if I’m doing ride and tie. I prefer the water on my saddle. I usually have two bottles and I prefer a bottle that has a sport top so I don’t have to deal with a lid. Anything left in my bottles at the end of the loop get squirted over my horse’s neck/ shoulders during the last 1/4 mile into camp to help with cooling
Hoof hardner. I don’t generally use anything other than Durasole occasionally. My Morgans have feet like rocks. I do know several people who swear by Hoof Armor
Human fitness- whatever you need to be able to stay balanced and comfortable in the saddle for however many hours you are doing and run your horse for the vet. I do a lot of strength training, hiking and trail running. But I also know people who just wing it for the shorter distances and then put up with the soreness for a couple days afterwards lol
Pulse- I use a stethoscope (some people use a digital one) placed just behind the left elbow and count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.
Vet check- you are unmounted for vet checks, most of the time untacked. Sometimes vets may tell you at the pre-ride meeting that you can leave tack on for a vet check like if the weather is cold or you are doing a short vet check (called a gate and go)
Yes, definitely the length of ride makes a difference.
I think time in the saddle is as important as miles. For an intro ride, there’s no time limit, so I would aim for however long you think it will take you to finish 12 miles. So if you think it will take you 2 hours, make sure you are comfortable riding for 2 hours straight.
I hope you get to do the intro!
That’s why I mentioned electrolytes. All the experienced riders immediately go to 'it depends on the horse" but really, for an intro ride of 12-25miles a basic “these are electrolyte brands commonly used, and a place to start is X at y time, and z time. And make sure you have extras as the vets will advise if they feel your horse needs more help.” is what the newbies want to know. At those short distances, when trying to learn the sport they don’t want to know if extra potassium or magnesium or whatever would be the thing that gets them pulsed down two minutes faster at the end.
That is a very good point
I think electrolyting is also one of those things that should be practiced at home so that you know you can get it into your horse and not just on yourself lol
This!
I think this goes for all “newbie intro” discussions. We don’t want to know The Best Way to shave off minuscule seconds or what have you - that is always “it depends”. We want to know that usually you do electrolytes in X manner at Y times, and a lot of people use ABC brand. And a brief overview of the Why of it all.
I mean, based on context clues it sounds like y’all are using tubes given orally vs a supplement added to their regular feed? When I think of “electrolytes” I’m thinking of a supp I can hide in breakfast! That’s a whole different ball game from trying to get my horse to take a tube of Wormer Adjacent Torture Substance, and definitely something I’d need to experiment with!
Yes, the tubes given orally like dewormer.
You can either mix your own up and use a 60cc dosing syringe (or some people re-use the big dewormer syringes but I’ve never had luck with that) or you can use the premade paste tubes (which gets $$$ fast)
When I mix up my own, I make it tasty (adding carrot baby food and date syrup) and I give it at home after conditioning rides too- this helps them not be as fussy about it I think. Sometimes I just give then a dosing syringe full of applesauce afterward to reinforce that it isn’t always bad.
Also after you’ve given the electrolytes and they’ve actually swallowed it, I rinse their mouths with a syringe or two of just water. Sometimes all of that salt can be harsh on the inside of their mouths
Most of the daily, feed additive, electrolytes are woefully insufficient for endurance. Around here Mad Barn Performance XL is the most commonly used powder form. Some people just mix with water or juice, I buy the snack packaged, 100ml applesauce cups (can be used up before they need refrigeration) and mix 1/3 snack cup with my electrolytes, and administer via 60cc, catheter tip syringe. I am training my lease to accept syringes by giving him just applesauce via syringe. I will add increasing amounts of plain salt later on.
For MB Performance XL a basic starting point is 2 scoops the night before the ride, 2 the morning of, 2 after each loop, and 2 in the evening. If it’s a hot day and the loops are 10+ miles, give 2 scoops mid loop. Generally there will be water available around the halfway point, and it’s a good opportunity to hop off, sponge your horse, and give electrolytes after they’ve had the opportunity to drink (after because giving liquid before can affect the horse’s thirst reflex and they might drink less).
Using that base plan you can note the conditions of the ride (temperature, humidity, trail flat vs hilly, etc) and if the vet advised extra elytes at any point. You can always ask the vet for recommendations of what to do to help your horse. It’s worth asking if there are any marks below As or any minuses in gut sounds.
I’ve used MB and Enduramax powder. Riders getting competitive at longer distances will often make their own elyte mixes to be able to respond to specific warning signs, but that’s way beyond what a newbie needs (or wants) to know.
Wow this is so interesting! Especially as a study in what a newbie may hear (electrolytes = salt or some supp you do 1x a day in feed) vs what someone who knows what they’re doing may hear/mean (see the above post lol). It’s these kinds of things that are very good to at least touch on if you’re doing a presentation to people thinking about getting involved. You may not have time to go over it all, but a quick overview of what one might do on a 12 miler might cover the basics.
I don’t think my area has a ton of endurance, and if it does it’s very much not advertised to the general horse public in the area. But maybe someday I’ll take one of my giant TBs and see what happens!
How awful! I’m so sorry this happened to your horse.
I actually Rider Optioned on day 2 of my two 25s in two days attempt because my horse was tired. He passed the vet all As and pluses (your horse must be checked by the vet even if you’re choosing not to continue). In thinking about it afterwards I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have gotten tired that fast if I had given him more electrolytes. It was a deceptively hot day, with humidity that fooled you into feeling cool, and my horse was a great drinker.
I still might have Rider Optioned, but I quiit before completing the first loop. Technically we finished the loop, but I quit at the last water trough and handwalked back. It was further from ride camp than I’d thought and I should have called for a pick up. The slow pace with frequent pauses for grass, during which I picked as much as he ate and then gave it to him as we walked on, allowed him to recover on trail so the vet couldn’t see the signs that made me quit.
I never got the chance to test my theory as the next competition was his last. At that one I opted to do 12, 13, and 12 mile rides over the two days as I didn’t think he was ready to do two 25s in beast hill country that soon after failing to do two 25s on flat land. (The 13 was a training, night ride to give riders the opportunity to ride with a mentor and experience riding endurance in the dark.)
This contains a context for endurance riding generally that I am very interested in knowing about.
What kind of horse (and human) issues should not be brought to a ride? Newbies tend not to realize the level of stress that will be incurred, until they do it a few times.
But we can understand that there are certain horse and human conditions that should preclude an endurance ride. Either an individual ride, or endurance riding overall.
A list of “when not to go” would be greatly appreciated by a beginner. If your horse is prone to ___; if you are prone to ___; endurance may not be right for you and/or your horse. If your horse is currently having certain hoof problems. If your horse is on full ulcer treatment. And so on.
The list may seem intuitive to those with experience. But it isn’t, necessarily, for those who don’t have the endurance background.
If you are pulled or pull yourself there may not always be a trailer to haul you two out right there. You may need to lead your horse a mile or two to get a ride. Something to consider is you maybe have it in you to continue on (maybe toss your cookies before rider-optioning out and see if you might have a few more miles left in you). Just be able to contribute to the horse’s performance, not drag him down with you.
Your horse should be able to let strange horses pass in either direction without losing it, maintain a regular pace without hauling the rider’s arms out of their sockets and without requiring a constant reminder to go forward. They should be able to stand in a line nose to tail without a fuss (there can be waiting for a vet at the check if a bunch come in at once), jogin hand, allow a stranger to examine them and use a stethoscope on them (as detailed in an earlier post), accept water on them (sponged or poured), and accept syringed electrolytes. They should be okay eating, drinking, peeing and pooping away from home. They should be able to stand while you mount in the middle of nowhere, off random objects if you need a step to get up.
If they need their also competing buddy with them to do this that’s fine. You can then work on independence once the horse is good with the routine.
The rider should be reasonably confident they can control their horse in those situations. They should be able to ride comfortably for hours in their tack and clothing setup. They should be able to speak up and ask for what they need from riders around them without blocking those riders from riding their rides (things like letting someone pass, waiting while a rider mounts up, waiting while a horse finishes drinking). They should be able to keep track of time (for things like how many minutes until you must be at the vet, what your out time for the next loop is so you can be on your horse at the line waiting for the go), heart rate/pulse parameters for their ride, which colour loops they’re riding in what order. Writing these things down is not cheating - I had a whiteboard I wrote on for my first few rides.
Most equine medications are banned in competition. My senior couldn’t compete because of his heaves meds, though his pergolide would have been allowed. He did do a training ride.
One of the rides I did a couple years ago hosted a vet “round table” type discussion on elytes. The vets asked anyone attending to bring a container of their electrolytes. They took each container and went over why or why not the electrolyte worked for endurance. It was sooo interesting. One that really surprised me (and the vets as well) as being good what the SmartPak pelleted electrolytes (IDK if they’re avail in Canada) and my horses will actually eat them straight out of my hand. I really like them for before and after rides but I prefer my syringe mix that I can adjust for during
All of this and yes, write down the loops and parameters because you will likely forget! I use a sharpie on my arm
One thing I’ve noticed when I’ve mentored people is that they can sometimes have a problem learning not to micromanage their horse’s every step (I’m looking at you my dressage friends lol). You have to let your horse take over some of the responsibility. I forget who said it but I like the premise of you pick the pace and the horse picks the gait (obviously this doesn’t work in all situations).
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