Endurance

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Darcey22

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Hi there
I rather fancy having a go at endurance. I would start with the pleasure rides and then maybe a TBYB GER but I don’t have a crew. Is it possible to do this solo and if so how? How does your horse get water half way round? Any tips appreciated
 
I'm a regular, and have ridden many events without crew. You can manage easily at 24, 32 and even 40km without crew unless it is a heatwave. Just ride steady within the times allowed. If its very hot you will always find someone at a crew point to offer your horse a drink. We are a freindly bunch. Vist www.endurancegb.co.uk and find your local group contact, and check out endurance riders uk FB group.
 
Definitely don't need crew for pleasure ride level. There are often people looking for someone to ride with on the facebook pages but it's easy enough to do the rides alone.
 
You might find it useful to look at Groen Equestrian's content, she has a membership group but posts some good free stuff too I think; she's that rare beast, a specialist endurance coach.
 
I've crewed for my daughter a lot. As a previous poster said endurance people are very friendly and it's easy to find people to ride with if you wish and also often people to help crew but honestly there are usually water ponits on the way and you wouldn't have a thirsty horse. They drink surprisingly little I have found until you start to really get up the distances. There will often be someone to offer a slosh as well if the horse is hot.
 
You'll be fine at pleasure and novice level. Set up your water and drinks for post ride before you go and don't be afraid to ask nicely for a spare slosh, every crew I know would happily hand one over. You can also slosh before the ride so you start off cool.
If you're staying over or have time, you can whizz round to the crew points in your car and leave yourself a small stash of water/lidded bucket but this really won't be necessary unless you have a particularly hot horse or have hot weather. Just ride steadily and be well set up for when you get back.

Top tip for keeping water cool while it's out by the trailer: drape a uv reflective fly rug over the buckets and tubs. Makes a huge difference, and if you have a hot horse, put the fly rug on and slosh through it, keeps the water much cooler!
 
Have a look at Beth Endurance on youtube. She has videos detailing what she takes to rides for the horse snd herself as well as her tack and her training. She trains from backing to competition so has a lot of information on her channel.
 
I've only done up to 25 Km, but even at that level all the EGB rides have water at the check points. I was offered a slosh at two 20 Km rides I did. As said, you only need a crew if you need electrolytes/slosh feeds for longer distances. I've done a couple by myself with no problems.
 
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