With a harness horse they warm up 1 to 2 times before the race. After each
warm up we loosen their girth, take bridle off, then sponge off and scrape,
give them drinks every 5 minutes and if they are blowing we sometimes walk
them around till their heart rate comes down and breathing is normal. We
keep a cooler on them so they don't totally cool down in between breezes and
we usually wait 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the weather before they go
back out. We don't feed them anything, but we do water and electrolite
them. Mainly because they aren't out there for hours on end. A race only
takes 15 minutes and warm ups the same. We of course check all equipment and
shoes too. One thing that differs is we don't go by heart rate but we go by
how hard they are blowing and body temperatures. I like the way endurance
is more accurate with heart rates and capilary (wish I had spell check!)
refills.
O.K., after the race we give them a good 2 bucket bath usually the rinse has
tuttles in it to help prevent tyeing up and stiffness. Then we hand walk
them with a cooler on and cool them out for however long it takes. They get
drinks every 5 minutes and as they cool out more they get bigger drinks.
They aren't put away until they are completely dry and done drinking. Then
we curry them, brush them down, rub and wrap legs, pack feet with ocean mud
and general grooming. After about 2 hours we feed a good bran mash with
whatever grains and supplements they are eating, wet their hay and add
electrolites to water.
So what do you think? Is it similiar? I'd love to crew for the Prescott AZ
ride that is coming up if anyone is going. It would be a good experience
for me.
Cheryl in AZ