WATER, WATER, WATER, WATER (was: RM.... and Metabolic pulls at Tevis)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net

Marianne Stroud-Gabinni said:

> From one desert RM to another: WATER, WATER, WATER, WATER.  My
> first RM experience was with our 50 km when the water truck
> got stuck in the sand and I had to get water out to 100 horses
> and riders on the second loop FAST.

From one desert endurance rider to another.  You don't need this
much water.  If your 50 km (~31 miles) ride had two loops of 
approximately the same length, there is sufficient water if it 
is only provided at the vet check (I am assuming that because 
you speak of them as loops that the vet check is between the
loops).

The Silver State Point to Point (here in the Nevada desert) on days 2 and 3 has water available at ~15 miles (24 km), 25 miles
(40 km), 35 miles (56 km), and 50 miles (80 km, the finish).  On
day 1 it is at ~15 miles (24 km), ~33 miles (50 km), ~35 miles 
(the vet check), ~ 48 miles (77 km), and 50 miles (the finish).
"No sponging or scooping please, water is in short supply."

Rarely ever do horses get in to metabolic trouble at this ride.

Lest you think that the Egyptian desert is different from the
Nevada desert (it is in many ways) or Egyptian horses have different
water requirements than California/Nevada horses, I recall
having ridden from Giza to Saqqara and back (~ 30 km each way, 
if my recollection is correct), watering the horses only at the 
mid-way point at Saqqara....on the Fourth of July (temperature
was approx 110 deg F/43 deg C).

The way to keep horses from getting in to metabolic trouble at
such rides is to tell the riders where the water is on the 
course, its limited availability, and to ride accordingly.  

You'd be surprised how well people can take care of their own
horses (no matter how experienced the rider or the horse) if 
they are told that they have to...because there is no other option.  Water every 25 km (~15 miles) is plenty often enough 
if riders just don't ride their horses beyond the conditions
as explained to them.

Just this past weekend four of us did a training ride (~30 miles/
50 km) that included climbing from 6,800' (~2,000 m) up over an 
11,490'(~3,500 m) peak along a 10,000' ridge over 7 more peaks
from 10,200' to 10,700' and back down to 6,800' with one water
stop at approx 25 miles (my horse drank at 5 miles but nobody
else's did) where the horses got to stick their noses in a mud
puddle and suck up MAYBE a gallon of water (due to the dry winter
all the other springs and creeks were dry).  And due to the
difficulty of the terrain (the narrowness and rockiness of the
trail) we were out there for 8 1/2 hours.

Were the horses thirsty at the end?  Yep, you bet (the four of
them pretty much polished of and entire Drycamp).  Were they in metabolic trouble?  Nope.  Did we have ANY metabolic problems?
Nope.  Were the horses animated and willing as they trotted down
the last mile of the trail (pretty much the only part of the 
trail that could be trotted on)? Absolutely.

Horses CAN go a long ways and a long time without water if their
riders ride them according to those conditions.  As far as I am 
concerned, ride manager's responsibility is not to provide "water
water water water" but rather to tell the riders where the water
is and let them ride accordingly.  Out in these parts we regularly
go on 25 mile training/conditioning rides with little or no 
water for the horses.  And to quote the Duck (head vet at my
first multi-day ride, Death Valley), "I assume you have all
ridden your horses NOT at an endurance ride." (I.e.  I assume
you all know how to take care of your own damn horses and don't
expect ride management and the veterinarian to do it for you?
After all, you do that when you are not at a ride.)

The way to keep metabolic crashes from happening at rides is to
have fewer vet checks, fewer vets, less rider amenities, less crew acces, and a tough trail.  Then more riders will realize that the metabolic condition of their horses is their own responsibility and ride accordingly.  The more veterinary control and more veterinary treatment required or available, the 
more trouble horses are going to get in.

Do more vet checks, more water stops, more rider amenities, more
crew assistance lead to faster riding times?  Probably.  But I
don't consider faster riding times to be a goal.  In endurance 
riding, ride managers should be most interested in establishing
not a fast ride, but a true test of endurance, both of horse and
rider.  Otherwise, it is not an endurance ride.  Its just a series
of sprints from water stop to water stop, from vet check to vet
check.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  There SHOULD be a stigma attached to having your horse need
IV fluid therapy at a ride.  It is a sure fire indication that the
horse was overridden for conditions (either trail conditions or 
the horse's condition).  Does that mean that I think it could never
happen to me or to my horse? No.  But if it did happen, I would
consider it the same as wearing a big sign on my forehead that 
says "I'M STUPID; I OVERRODE MY HORSE."  And I would like to think
that I cared enough about my horse to get it the treatment that
it needs no matter what sign it means I will have emblazoned on
my forehead for my stupidity.