# Crewing?



## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

prairiewindlady said:


> Okay, I have a couple of general questions about endurance...I have searched here and googled as well but haven't really come up with an answer thus far, so I hope you don't mind my asking here!
> 
> My main question concerns crewing. I am looking into entering a couple of limited distance rides this summer/fall but unfortunately I can't really count on getting any support/help. How many stops/vet checks do you generally encounter in a 25-miler? Would it be feasible for me to go it alone?
> 
> ...


Quick answer - will post with more detail later

The number one thing you need to do is volunteer at a ride and take in as much as you can. This will teach you more than riding in any ride or many rides. Even an experienced rider learns things volunteering in different aspects.

You don't need a crew for most rides. I don't have one, and most people I know don't have one. Some rides are more difficult than others to go without a crew, but I've never felt limited.

Weight divisions are a formality. Dn't worry about it,


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## HappyHoofPrints (Jan 11, 2013)

You will have a vet-in check the day before the ride. Usually 2 checks during a LD and the final after the ride within a certain amount of time to earn a "completion". I didn't have crews for LDs or 50's but really appreciated the one time I did have crew for a 50. Because he was really impressed with what all us crazies were doing with our beloved horses and I ended up marrying him ))) Just be sure to take care of yourself!! so you can take care of your horsey best friend!


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

prairiewindlady said:


> My main question concerns crewing. I am looking into entering a couple of limited distance rides this summer/fall but unfortunately I can't really count on getting any support/help. How many stops/vet checks do you generally encounter in a 25-miler? Would it be feasible for me to go it alone?
> 
> Also could someone enlighten me on weight divisions? Is it just a formality? Or do I even have to be concerned with that in LDs?
> 
> Thank you in advance for your help!


Basically, crewing is a luxury that means you get to sit down and rest when you get back from a ride on holds and when it's over. It means that instead of having to carry water, clean your horse, give it nutrients, replace supplies in your bags, etc., you get to relax until your hold is up. However, there is no reason you can't do all this yourself, and I prefer to because it's part of the sport for me. Here's my "streamlined" routine:

Night before: Check in and pay. Vet in. Eat some breakfast. Pack saddle bags. Double check all the tack is where I need it to be. Put my easy boots on loosely and anything that involves (taping, rasping, picking, cleaning, etc). Throw check to make sure horses have plenty of hay for overnight. Prepare my bucket of beet pulp and nutrients to soak overnight. Bring keep water buckets full - make sure they're full before bed.

Middle of the night: hear funny noise; check on horses; go back to bed. Hear hoof beats; check on horses; go back to bed. Get up to pee; check on horses; throw more hay; go back to bed. Hear LOTS of hoof beats, snorts, and voices; check on horses; catch random unknown horse and friends; return to owner; check on horses again and fix buckets that have been knocked over; go back to bed. 

Ride day: Alarm goes off about 2 hours before the ride; lay there and feel guilty that I don't want to get up because the horses need their breakfast; get up and give them their beet pulp and throw another flake of hay; prepare second bucket of beet pulp to soak in the trailer; go back to bed. Alarm goes off an hour before the ride begins; get up and get dressed, start tacking up, check hoof boots and tighten them, get on 15 minutes prior to ride intending to warm up, realize I forgot something, go back and get it, get back on, check time, realize the ride is starting and I'm at the trailer, trot up the the starting line and check out, and off we go!

Holds: Get off and loosen up tack, lead in at a walk, pulse down, sponge, vet check, ask vet anything I am curious about (if he's not busy), tie up at trailer, make sure water buckets are full, bring out the beet pulp, throw hay, check horse to make sure he's ok and there's nothing I need to worry about, check easy boots, usually leave tack on (unless there is a reason it needs to be pulled), throw on blanket over saddle if it's chilly/wet. Finally get to sit down, eat a granola bar or something light, refill water, drink all the water, refill it again, pack the saddle bag. Go back in trailer/tent, sit/lay down, remember to remove my helmet, realize I only have about 15 minutes of my hold left, drag self up after 5 minutes, unblanket horse and tighten cinch, double check all gear, get on, go to the hold area, wait a minute or two, then start again.

End of race: About the same as at the hold, except I pull tack and have to do all the grooming for BC showing, including washing, brushing, combing and trying to get my horse to look amazing even though I'm a scrub. It takes the whole time to get them ready in time, especially since you're going to want to sponge down EVERYTHING since they should look clean, and then have enough time to hopefully dry out. Then, I finally get to tie my horse back up with all his munchies and SLEEP until dinner.

If it's an out vet check, you have to adjust all of these things in order to stick your "hold" bag in the trailer, including packing a bale of hay, all supplies and snacks you'll want at mid-ride, and soaked beet pulp poses a special problem, but can usually be solved with a bucket with a tight lid since you don't want it spilling on the trailer when they take it wherever it needs to be. When you get to the vet check, the bags will be spread out and you'll need to locate yours and possibly regroup your things if you had more than one bag/bucket that got separated. I haven't even mentioned electrolytes for humans or horses because I haven't started using them yet.

This is a typical 25 for me. I have done one 50, and that was about the same, just longer  And so you need more supplies. You can see how an extra set of hands or two would help with all of that and take a lot of the work out, but I really don't mind it. It's kinda fun being "you and your horse against the world" and it gives a whole new meaning to the word "endurance".

You'll typically have 1 vet check in an LD, usually about halfway. However, I did have one or two where we went almost 20 miles, maybe more, and so the last "loop" felt like a quick jog - it was maybe 5 or 6 miles? They shouldn't be that lopsided, but it's not unheard of!

As far as weight divisions, the one you declare for AERC may have some sort of grouping effect, but your weight at rides only matters if you're doing BC. In which case, you weigh yourself at the ride with all of your tack (make sure those water bottles are FULL!!) and they base the score off of that weight, not what you declared. The heavier you are, the better it counts. I've seen where the only difference in the BC award was the fact that the winner weighed 230 with all her tack, whereas the girl who got first place was a junior riding bareback and in a halter, so she came in at 85 lbs haha. She didn't stand a chance! Generally, as a featherweight, I don't either no matter how I place. Oh well - it's always a good idea to show for it if you come in top 10! I've learned a lot about the process, my horse, and how we've truly done on a ride by going back for BC. Usually, the vet can be quite a bit more descriptive in what he sees in your horse and how your horse is doing when you go back since he's not swamped with horses coming in from the ride.


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

On another note, I only take one horse to rides so I'm with him (or we're both in camp) at all times. If I had a second horse, I would absolutely feel more comfortable and more able to focus on the task at hand if I knew there was someone at camp to keep an eye on my horse. Maybe as they (and I) become more experienced, that'll change. However, I've had to rescue more than one horse when it's owner was in the middle of a ride on another one. Be kind at rides, because we all appreciate when someone else is looking out for us as well, especially when we don't have an assigned crew to take care of things when we're not there.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

you dont need crew, especialy for an LD, Ive never seen an LD with more than one hold. Just pic a ride and go, tell the RM your a new rider this is your first LD, they will team you up, ask around for a turtle rider. IE someone that is looking for a completion and will be riding at a slower pace. After the evenign riders meeting there will be a new comers briefing, let you know everything. From the outside it seems confusing but it really isnt that bad. Once you do one you'll be fine. Just get your horse in shape, get out and ride , thats the hard part. Look at AERC calandar I see you are in NC, what ride were you looking to do your first on ? Leatherwood is tough terrain but a good ride, Broxton in SC is easyier terrain and a good ride also. You have alot of rides close to you. 
DOnt worry about weight class. just check the block when you register. I have never seen weight class awards or standings.


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## prairiewindlady (Sep 20, 2011)

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer and spell things out for me - you don't know how much I appreciate it! 

Currently, I am hoping to volunteer at one of the spring rides (possibly Sand Hills in April and/or at the Biltmore in May) and possibly riding at Blue Ridge in June myself (fingers crossed!)


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Crew shouldn't be necessary for an LD assuming your horse has at least half a brain. I think jilly's explanation was a great one in terms of being prepared. You will find 95% of people at rides are wonderful, and if you find you have forgotten something or need a hand, anybody around will be willing to help you if you just ask. I am an expert at the can-u-watch-my-mare-while-I-go-pee question (which is generally the only time I need crew. Dream would likely just stand and eat even if she was unattended, but I have never been brave enough to take that chance!

Weight divisions only matter if/when you start getting competitive with placement. Until then, don't worry about it. Just check the box where your weight with tack falls.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

Sandhills or Biltmore would be ok to go work. I wouldnt recommend either as a first ride. Cant speak for Blueridge, last year I think they had away vet checks, which arnt so bad once you have done a few rides, you realize you dont need much. I choose Leatherwood over Blueridge based on the perceived level of professionalism of the ride staff and ride announcement.


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## prairiewindlady (Sep 20, 2011)

Thanks for the info Joe! My main concern about Leatherwood is that I am conditioning him in an area that has few hills and I worry that a ride in the mountains might take too much out of him. I'm hoping that Blue Ridge will be a little easier, not to mention it is slightly closer.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

blue ridge and leatherwood are the same terrain. they are only about 20 minutes apart, Its tough for us flatlanders, just have to make a point to head to some terrain once a month or so once you get in conditioning. LW is also a few weeks earlier, might be cooler, I see the next ride is Broxton, no way in hades I'll ever go back there in july. bout it till Sep back in Biltmore. They do have an LD, and it isnt FEI, so would be a good one to aim for. Biltmore is easier terrain than LW or BR, or any of the VA rides. I havent ironed out my ride schedule, my horse hurt her foot and isnt rideable for another month. Really killing my conditioning. I wont do any more 80 degree rides with my current horse and was hoping to do 5 or 6 LD's this year but doesnt look like it will happen


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

Just a caution - I'm not sure what training you're conditioning and riding on, but when I mentioned to my vet that I wasn't getting a whole lot of hill work since I didn't have a trailer and the BLM in my area is pretty flat, he was pretty adamant that that would not get a horse ready for an endurance ride and I would be setting my horse up for problems during the rides. He recommended getting hill work about once per week so you could build up ligaments, strength, respiration, etc. You don't want to overdo it, and I've had difficulty getting even that much in and haven't been the best about it, but you need to get it in where possible for sure so your horse isn't completely overwhelmed and doesn't injure itself when it's suddenly doing hills/mountains in addition to all the other stressors of the ride (including additional distance).


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

condition is condition, hills can help but dont beat yourself up over it, just realize its gonna be slower. there are things you can do, make some tracks with logs to step over, in fact put some in your field along a bottleneck the horses have to walk across all the time. Big thing is to ride , add distance then more distance than add speed. One good thing about LW is camp is at the low ground, so all loops, climb out of camp, then come down hill to camp, so basically the last 1/4 or so of each loop is all easy coast down hill, makes it easier on the horses to pulse down at the checks.


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## prairiewindlady (Sep 20, 2011)

Oh wow, I didn't realize BR and LW were so close! (I might aim for LW then The area where I am has a few rolling hills but nothing extreme. Like you jillybean, I don't have a trailer so am not able to really get out much. However, I do lunge him on a gentle hillside about twice a week in hopes that that will help. I also know of some trails about 3-4 miles from here that we visit occasionally that are more 'hilly' than we are typically used to 

I hope your mare recovers quickly Joe!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

yeh you definitely gonna need a trailer, long ride to LW, plenty of places to train in your area, Uwaharri forest, LW, Brimerage, several state parks, You have alot more terrain to ride close by than I do,


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

Not having a trailer can be tricky, but in the end, I've managed to do just fine without one and know people that have gone even 10 years before they were ever able to get a trailer. I guess it all depends on the resources and people around you whether you'll need your own! I'm excited for this year as my boarder is letting me ride her horse along with mine and is happy to drive me to all the rides and crew for me so she can get out and have some horsey fun herself!

As for whether or not you need to condition on hills, I was passing on what the experienced head vet in my area said about trying to do endurance without doing at least somewhat regular hill conditioning. They don't need to be steep, but any hills help! Personally, I think I'll take the advice of my vet and make sure he's got at least decent hill work worked into his conditioning before I deem my horse race ready.

As for adding speed, a working trot (8-9mph) is best, and, per the "1000-mile or 2 years" philosophy, I wouldn't try to be fast or competitive until my horse reaches those marks. That's what ruins horses in this sport - something I've seen too many times at rides when a horse's life is put at risk simply because they wanted to "top ten". I don't push my horse at rides - I treat it like a really long conditioning ride with a lot of company.


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