FW: [RidersoftheDustyTombs] FW: WATER, WATER, WATER, WATER (was: RM.... and Metabolic pulls at Tevis)

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <gabbani@starnet.com.eg>]

I passed on Kat's thoughts about distances between water stops to our local
endurance list, and this was one response that we got. I thought it was
worth sharing with Ridecamp.
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
gabbani@starnet.com.eg

-----Original Message-----
From: Kate Coffield [mailto:kate@aucegypt.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 3:44 PM
To: RidersoftheDustyTombs@egroups.comSubject: Re: [RidersoftheDustyTombs]
FW: WATER, WATER, WATER, WATER
(was: RM.... and Metabolic pulls at Tevis)


With all due respect to our Stateside ride management consultant...

>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).

Typical Giza-to-Saqqara rides are more like ~18-20km each way,
depending on routing--surely not 30 unless you go via Libya. I've
done many of those treks, and they tend to be on flat ground, walk
with a few short bursts of full gallop. Hardly most folks' idea of
endurance until recently, when our riders started blazing new trails.
Egyptian horses' water requirements are indeed relatively low under
normal desert conditions, even in hottest weather,but our event
conditions are NOT normal, for reasons Maryanne mentioned.

>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.

Endurance is brand new in Egypt as of March, and many riders lack the
experience to "ride accordingly". Others lack even the inclination,
viewing the ride as a "race" no matter what they're told. In a few
extreme cases, the only way to keep a horse out of metabolic trouble
is to shoot the rider before the event.

>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.

YOU might be surprised at how big those "ifs" are for novices or for
those whose mentalities are geared toward "winning a race", no matter
what is explained. Thus Maryanne's very apt reference to
"competition-induced mental retardation".

>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.

Given riders who cannot be "told" or "let", a concerned ride manager
will do whatever necessary to prevent horses from collapsing. If this
means frantically pouring hundreds of little bottles of spring water
into enormous barrels (as Maryanne and I and others did for the 50km
ride), so be it.

>(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.)

Now, here that would be a very silly assumption. Many riders are used
to just riding, leaving all the care of their damn horses to a damn
groom. We're hoping endurance will gradually improve horse-awareness,
but it won't happen overnight. We've only been doing this since March
and have decades of habit to overcome.

>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.

You mean on the NEXT tough trail, littered with the bones of dead
horses from the previous one? Sure, maybe then things will start to
sink in for those who haven't lost their mounts or otherwise been
traumatized enough to abandon the sport. It's far too early to apply
Darwinist/Machiavellian approaches.

>The more veterinary control and more veterinary treatment required or
>available, the more trouble horses are going to get in.

They will get into the same amount of trouble. The essential
difference lies in whether or not they will get out of it.

>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.

Right, and the fewer the water stops and vet checks, the longer and
faster the sprints. Where does that get us?

>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).

Sensitivity to stigmata is relative to thoughtful horsemanship and
common sense. On our 50km, one rider abandoned his collapsing mount,
IV and all, to a groom and the caretaker of a nearby monument. He
then got busy arranging to truck the horse out via a back road to
avoid the final vet check and followup treatment. The scheme was
unsuccessful, but presumably, for at least one bozo, the greatest
stigma was attached to crossing the finish line on foot. Had Maryanne
not pulled him, taken his saddle, and brought the vet to set the IV,
he would have pushed the horse until it dropped. (We confiscated his
dressage whip, too.)

Kate

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