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Hi Marta,

Welcome to the world of distance riding!  :)  The number one best thing you can do to prepare for doing your first ride in nasty heat and humidity is to get out and ride in it.  As you condition your horse in it, she will develop her cooling system to deal with the heat and humidity (you will too).  Then when you go do your LD, it will be the same conditions you've been riding in all along.  :)

 

Other things - never miss a chance to sponge your horse along the trail (and wipe the water off so that it doesn't hold heat in).  If you take a walking break, do so in the shade, not out in the sun.  When you're coming in to a vet check or the finish, slow to a walk a ways out, dismount, loosen your girth, and lead your horse in...all of this will help her to start cooling out and dropping her pulse.  If I've been moving out at a brisk pace, I might slow to a walk several hundred yards or 1/4 mile out, and dismount a couple hundred yards from the vet check when it's hot and humid.

 

You can use ice to cool the water at the hold, but be careful not to cool large muscles (rump area) too fast.  If you set your buckets in the shade, they'll be fine without ice...the water will still be cooler than your horse.  Throw water on her neck and shoulders, wipe it off, and repeat.  She'll drop her pulse even faster if you remove her saddle and pad.

 

I ride in SE Texas, where the climate is like an armpit.  <G>  Conditioning this time of year is almost a chore!  LOL

 

Good luck at your ride...and be sure to let us know how it goes!  :)

Dawn Carrie

 

On 6/5/07, Marta Kozlowska <martank@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

we're still newbies at this but i'd like to enter an LD this summer.
it'll be in the north east region and i'm expecting the worst weather
wise - hot and humid.
so what are your suggestions for competing in such weather conditions?
what are some do's and don't do's?
can i put ice in the hold buckets to cool her off at mid point?
(otherwise that water will be luke warm if not boiling hot by the time
we get to it). what else can i do to make it easier on my mare?

thanks in advance!

marta

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