LD / 25 mile rides - newbie with questions

[Meadow36]

I’m starting to think I may actually have a horse that would be good at endurance, and I’ve always wanted to try it. I have a 5 year old Connemara pony that I think is made of steel. He has no bottom to him. We went out for a nice 10-12 mile trek on Sunday, and he willingly and happily trotted and cantered most of the way like it was nothing. We took several walk breaks, but that was more for the benefit of my husband’s QH, who was clearly not as fit. This little guy barely broke a sweat and never even got his respiratory rate up. At the end of the ride, I felt like he had the energy to go around again. I’m going to invest in a heart monitor so I can better track his fittness and progress. I’m thinking that maybe in 2 months he’ll be ready for a 25 mile ride.

I read the Old Dominion website from start to finish and it was very informative, however I have some questions!

Questions:

1. Heart rate monitor: Suggestions? Links?

2. How many vet checks/holds are on a shorter ride (25 mi.)? How do you get your stuff there? Is it required to have someone meet you there to help you (like a groom)? Do you have to have food and water for the horse there? Will there be a hose or some other water source?

3. Do you have to be there the night before for an LD? Can you trailer in the morning of the ride (there are several that are less then an hour drive for me).

4. So the description of the finish for an LD was a little confusing - when is your “time” recorded? It sounds like you cross the finish, and then wait until your horse’s HR comes down, then visit the vet … ? So, when are you considered completed? What if your horse’s HR comes down in 5 minutes, but you are on line to see the vet for another five or ten minutes? That seems weird to me that waiting to see the vet determines your finish time.

Thanks in advance!

[candysgirl]

1. Can’t help ya, haven’t ever used one. I don’t think they’re necessary for LD rides. I will probably get one when we move up to 50s next year.

2. You’ll vet in when you get there the night before or the morning of the ride. There is typically one hold in the middle of a 25. The ones I’ve done have had a 10mi and a 15mi loop. Its varied which one is first.

Where the hold is depends on the venue. Sometimes its back near camp. Sometimes its out somewhere else. I always get there the night before the rides and if necessary will stash stuff out at the hold the night before. I usually use a plastic bin for the “stuff” if its outside of camp. I like to change my saddle pad to a clean/dry one and usually have food for both me and my horse and additional drinks for me in there, etc. If they don’t have water provided (my horse will drink anything…make sure yours will or be prepared to either cart water from home or get him used to some kind of powdered flavoring <— this is easier on you!) at the hold, I use a couple of those buckets from Home Depot with the snap on lids to take water from camp. Sometimes they have a hose and/or a trough, sometimes they don’t. Then you’ll vet in at the end.

There is no true requirement for a crew on any ride. However, some are really hard to do without one. Generally speaking, the LDs are fine to do without a crew though.

You don’t have to have anything at the hold. However, you’ll want to have food and water for your horse. Ride management can tell you if they’ll have water provided there or not. I always provide my horse with: water, small grain meal, dampened hay pellets (as much as he wants) and hay (as much as he wants. He is also allowed to eat grass if he’d prefer. On the trail, he is allowed to grab whatever he can eat. He’s great at grabbing stuff while trotting along. He doesn’t typically try while we are cantering.

3. You certainly can trailer in to most rides morning of. I would suggest at least going to the meeting the night before for your first ride though. I’ve always gone and camped even if I miss the meeting. I’m less hurried in the morning that way. Nothing is close enough to me that I want to drive in morning of though. I do watch several people trailer in when I’m first getting up. If you’re going in the morning, I would email the ride manager and let them know so the vets know they’ll have to vet someone in before the ride and what time you need to be there for that. Usually the LDs start last, but you’ll need to be there before that if you need to vet in.

4. They record your time when you cross the finish. Then you have to pulse down and they record that time. That is your official time. The vet will not be taking the pulse. There are usually 3-4 volunteers taking pulses. You generally are not waiting more than a couple minutes to pulse in, in my experience. You do usually have to wait a little longer for the vet to do the final check, but that won’t count against your time.

[Meadow36]

Do you ever worry about people stealing your “stuff” out at the hold? I would be worried about that, based on past showing experiences in other disciplines.

Is the hold area generally far from the trailer parking? Can I unhitch the truck and drive my stuff out there if it’s a bit of a distance?

Thanks for the other advice! All good to know. I wish I had a friend in this area that wants to ride with me, but none of my usual riding buddies are interested. They are all gearing up for the hunter and eventing stuff.

Also - what is the weight class thing all about? Is that for awards only? I was just reading something about it, but I never heard it mentioned before.

[Girl_endurance_ridr]

First of all congrats for starting to think about doing an LD or endurance!!

What kind of hrm are you looking for? One you ride with or a handheld? Almost all of the endurance tack shops on line sell them. I’ve gotten things from distance depot, they are really nice & helpful when you order over the phone

All rides I’ve been to, you need to bring the horse the night prior to get vetted in. I suggest staying at ridecamp the night before the ride…ridecamp can be more fun then the actual ride

The finishing order of an LD is based on the horse who pulses down first. LD is not a race like Endurance is. For example, If I galloped my horse for the last 5 miles & crossed the finish line at a gallop, it is likely my horse will have an elevated HR. Now you cross the finish line 10 min after me at a nice relaxed pace - a nice easy trott. If your horse is conditioned, it wouldn’t be unusual for his HR to be down by the time you remove his tack. While I’m still dumping water on my horse trying to get his HR down. You walk over to the vet & get you completion and 1st place because you rode smart & took care of your horse. Me, I end up in 4th because I left my brain at home that day

I also wouldn’t worry about you stuff getting stolen. A horse or two might take a few bites of your hay or feed (because another horses is always better then what they have almost everyone puts their stuff in their own little section of the crew area!!

In short, stay at camp the night before the ride. Have fun & don’t race…a nice steady pace is perfect! Don’t worry about your stuff, we are a good group of people!! Just have fun!!

[Girl_endurance_ridr]

Oh the weight class is how points are calculated. I don’t know if they do points in LD. It does not impact the overall placing. You could finish an End race 4th overall, but get 1st middle weight if no other middle weights came in before you. Some rides give awards for first in a weight class but some don’t. It’s more for end of the year points

[candysgirl]

I don’t know of anyone who has had an issue with things being stolen. I’ve never worried about it. Everyone there is too worried about their own ride to mess with your stuff.

Hold area will vary depending on the venue. Most of the ones around me are a short walk (think trailer parking to trail head type walk). If its that close, I don’t generally take anything up there. They usually have a big trough or to for him to grab a quick drink when we first get in. My bridle is a bio sidepull bridle and I generally ride bitless, though I can clip a bit on. I just leave him in that and trot him out in that. My friend who rides with a traditional bitted bridle, does bring a halter up so she can pull his bridle as soon as she gets in.

After I feed his meal before the ride, I set up his hold meal so I can just come back, tie him to the trailer, throw his cooler on if need be and then sit, eat and stretch myself.

Some of the farther holds you can definitely unhitch and drive to if you want to.

I have found Gatorade to be an amazing help to me on the rides. They have a pre ride drink that is comes in a Capri-Sun like pouch. Its not all that tasty, but I really think it does help. During the ride I make sure to drink lots of water (I generally go with Smart Water) or Propel since I don’t particularly like Gatorade and I will drink more of those. After the ride I drink one of the post workout Gatorades (they’re labeled 1, 2, 3). I’m not sure exactly what they do, but I know they make a huge difference in how I feel and how sore I get.

I typically at the very least walk the last half mile of both loops so he is already pulsed down before we get into camp. I go immediately pulse in so we don’t waste any time. If I feel a loop has been tougher than normal on him (lots of mud/deep footing/steep hills/whatever) I’ll get off and walk the last half mile or so to make sure he pulses down right away.

[malinda]

I’ve had endurance/LD people “steal” my hay by letting their horses eat it. It’s certainly annoying to come back to camp and my horse’s hay that I purposely set out for him was completely eaten - twice in one weekend! Now I keep my hay and other stuff in a hay bag or plastic bin. Endurance people are notorious for letting their horses eat anything they want at a ride. At an “Intro to Endurance” clinic that I attended, the speaker even admitted that she will let her horse eat anyone’s hay if he wanted it. I’ve also had loose dogs (even though almost every ride says dogs must be leashed, it seems nobody cares) try to steal my “human” food. You must keep a close eye on that too.

Nobody steals tack or anything expensive, just your food.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

Some rides require you to vet in the day before, so make sure you check the information for each ride.

[KarenC]

Meadow, where are you located? Some of us might know some local riders for you to hook up with. While you can certainly get through your first ride by yourself, it is always comforting to have an experienced person to help you with all the little details. While the rules are the same for every ride (if it is AERC-sanctioned), each ride is different as to the details - loops, vet checks, etc.

Before I did my first ride, I volunteered at a couple and it was extremely helpful. You can also meet people that way.

[candysgirl]

I always keep my both human and horse food in plastic bins if I’m leaving it at a hold. No one will open anything to let their horse eat it, but if hay is lying out and available it can sometimes kind of become a free for all. If its at my trailer, I always try to park at the far back of the parking area. I’d rather have to walk farther to carry water or get to the start than be in the middle of a bunch of people. I do leave hay and feed out at my trailer, but generally no one comes back to where my trailer is parked anyway.

[Meadow36]

I’m in Central FL. I really don’t want to camp overnight if the ride is close enough. I would have to buy camping equipment, get a pet sitter, etc. It would just be easier to drive in the morning of the event if they allow it. I understand for longer rides it would be necessary, but I’m no where near that. I could drive up myself for the pre-ride meeting the day before, that’s no problem. I was just on the AERC website, and I couldn’t find the list of rides! Can someone post the link? I must be missing it.

Thanks for the advice about storing hay and other belongings in plastic bins. I have a ton of those with lids, and I have 5 gallon buckets with lids. I also have a cart, albeit a small one, so I can hike my stuff up to the hold (probably in two trips) if it’s not too far from the trailer.

[Meadow36]

Nevermind about the ride link, I found it!!

[AlfalfaGirl]

I am training for my first LD ride - I have a QH so we are doing lots of walk/trotting. Poor guy has a heavy winter coat and it was so hot Sunday he was sweating up a storm. I do have the V-Max heart monitor and his rate was good.

My buddy and I are planning on riding in the Airport Express Ride in Houston, TX on February 4. We are so excited we can barely stand it but I am nervous too. Thanks for all the good info! We are trying to make sure we have all bases covered. We are taking water, hay, feed, buckets galore, etc. Can’t wait!

[Meadow36]

[QUOTE=AlfalfaGirl;6073325]
I am training for my first LD ride - I have a QH so we are doing lots of walk/trotting. Poor guy has a heavy winter coat and it was so hot Sunday he was sweating up a storm. I do have the V-Max heart monitor and his rate was good.

My buddy and I are planning on riding in the Airport Express Ride in Houston, TX on February 4. We are so excited we can barely stand it but I am nervous too. Thanks for all the good info! We are trying to make sure we have all bases covered. We are taking water, hay, feed, buckets galore, etc. Can’t wait![/QUOTE]

Good luck alfalfa girl. I am soooo tempted to enter the one that is happening this weekend; I think my boy is more then fit to do it, and if not I’ll just take it easy. It’s more for the experience anyway.

It’s the Gator Run ride, is anyone on here going?

It’s only 40 minutes from my house.