A crewing report, tonic for the soul :) Lots of pics

EstherYoung

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We weren't due to go to Silk Willoughby but a friend of ours had lost her transport for the weekend so we said we'd take her horse for her and crew them.

Her horse, Charlie, had never been in a backwards facing lorry with a window in the back before, and he got a bit worried and stompy going over the Humber Bridge, but then he settled and he was a very good boy. We were driving in convoy with some other friends of ours, and after a couple of hours we arrived at the venue where we met the fourth of our charges for the day.

Taaqib was up first, he was doing the longest 66km class and vetted fine. He is a little straight Egyptian boy, who was bred by the lady who bred our Spud and Felix, so he has a very proud granny cheering on his every move. Ally's husband was crewing Ally and Taaqib, but we had to keep an eye out on the route for them too as it was turning out to be a very hot day.
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Our three then went off to vet. We had Charlie, a welsh x TB who was doing the 40km, Venus, a welsh x arab who was doing the 40km, and Monkey, a little Spanish dude who was doing the 30km.
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Venus trotted up first. She's a youngster, and this was her first 40km. She was seriously injured as a 2yo so the fact that she is sound at all is a miracle:
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The Charlie trotted up. He's a funny boy.
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Monkey was also passed fit to start and we headed out to the first crew point. After squinting and squinting we saw them coming over the hill:
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After crewing them, we headed off to our next point. The route was a mixture of bridleways, farm tracks, and roads with big wide Lincolnshire verges:
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As Monkey was doing the shorter loop, he wasn't doing the top loop so it was just Charlie and Venus this time:
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A quick crew stop and they were on their way again:
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On to the next crew point and we say Monkey again:
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A drink and a slosh for Monkey and they headed for home
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(to be continued....)
 

EstherYoung

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Then little Taaqib arrived, nearly at the end of his first loop, and still going strong:
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And then Charlie and Venus arrived. Because of the recent heavy rain, some of the going was not the best so they were taking it steady:
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It was very hot so we made sure they were well cooled off:
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When we got back to the venue, Monkey had already passed with a grade one. So we crewed our two and got them to the vet.
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Both passed sound at a very creditable 11 point sommat kph. Smiles all round :)

Then we waited for Taaqib to come in off his last loop. His riding companion had dropped out at half way so he had to do the last loop completely on his own. They never saw another horse, but he ticked along quite happily.

They arrived back at the venue ('he looks better than me', says Ally):
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20 minutes mooching and we took him over to vet:
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Pass and smiles, and a grade one to boot :) :) :)
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An absolutely fantastic weekend, four out of four round and sound. It was just what we needed to remind ourselves why we are involved in this wonderful sport and why it is worth fighting for.
 

ArcticFox

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brill report. :D

knowing nothing about endurance, I'm guessing the stop points where the horses are offered water and water chucked on them to cool down/freshen up, are brief 2 min stops? I'm only asking as I'd probably want to get off for a leg stretch and back rest for the horse, but if its only for a min or two then no time?


or is it worse to dismount then remount the horse? maybe more twisting on their back?

no criticism as I know nothing about endurance, just asking out of interest

great photos :D I think I'd be sunburnt riding with no sleeves for so long. :)
 

EstherYoung

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Tarr Steps, Monkey is ace, isn't he :) Arctic Fox, you can do what you like on the trail as long as you follow the route. I've been known to get off and run for chunks, as you say it gives the horse's back a rest. You can generally make use of handy gates etc to get back on.
 

TarrSteps

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If I knew a horse that I thought might excel at that game but isn't really 'marketable' right now, how might i go about finding an experienced person to advise?
 

EstherYoung

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TarrSteps, have a word with your local group. Good endurance horses tend to be those that are interested in what is round the next corner, and are happy and confident on their own and in company.
 

OwnedbyJoe

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Lovely report and as you say, a tonic for the soul.
I'm also interested in the differences between this and the rides we have over here in Oz: we have checkpoints at our rides about every 10-15km, where there is strapping water available and drinking water + carrots and lucerne hay for the horses, but these are not "crewed" i.e. support crews are not allowed to attend them. The checkpoints are staffed by volunteers who will bring you a drink/hold your horse while you nip off into the trees for a pee, but that's all. In fact, there is no outside assistance from crew allowed apart from at ride base when you finish the ride (or leg, if doing the longer distances where they are broken into legs of not more than 40km).
 

EstherYoung

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On most of ours the crews are allowed out on course, and they can either crew anywhere (within reason) or at set points. Some rides have communal crew points manned by helpers if it's places it would be impractical to get crews to (ie deep inside a private forest). Depends on the ride really.
 

Clannad48

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TarrSteps, have a word with your local group. Good endurance horses tend to be those that are interested in what is round the next corner, and are happy and confident on their own and in company.

Just wanted to add that my daughter has recently taken up endurance. She did a Try Before You Buy Ride and was overwhelmed by how helpful, friendly and sociable the competitors/stewards/secretary and everyone else was. A total change from the competitive world of sj and dressage. Maybe because you are not in direct competition with other people. She recently did her first 'competitive' ride which again was very friendly, sadly the horse failed the final vetting but this was due to more training required (too high heartbeat (68) - possibly due to being overexcited). I am also happy to drive over an hour away for what is basically a day out, rather than the 2 minutes for a sj class ofr 4 mins for a dressage class.
 

paulineh

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TarrSteps. Depending where in Surrey you are will depend which Local group you would be in. The Mid South group are running a training/Pleasure ride in August at Tilford. The distances will be 9k,16k and 32k. Everyone is helpful and nice.

Anyone thinking at having a go at some Endurance, please do not worry about what is going on at the top end of our wonderful sport. Our own Elite riders care greatly about their horses and our sport.
 

humblepie

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Always enjoy reading different reports and love the picture of the three heading off to the vet check. Lovely report and well done with them all.
 
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