Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'd find out what he wants to do.  Does he want to stay as busy as possible 
or is he the type who would rather just sit back and watch?  Would you be 
willing to allow him to do the vet check duties on your horse for you to get 
him really involved and, maybe, fall in love with the horses that surround 
him while he's waiting in line (hopefully he won't fall in love with one of 
the female riders in line with him).

It is difficult to keep a crew person busy if they're just waiting for one 
horse and rider.  Unless the ride has away vet checks and he's willing to 
drive to them.  That does keep one busy.  Otherwise, he'll be doing a lot of 
waiting.  Might want to find some friends (ones whom you trust) to keep him 
company during that time.  Another idea is to have him volunteer as a pulse 
taker or a scribe for a vet.  You would, of course, have to prep him in 
advance so he qualifies for these duties.  That does keep a person busy and 
many end up falling in love with the sport and horses even if they didn't 
feel that way prior to the experience.

Oh, yea, warn him about that finish line.  It seems to get quite a few new 
folks into problems lately at some of our rides.  Explain to him that 
sometimes the riders trot their horses for 49 miles and race like they're at 
the DErby the last mile.

cya,
Howard


> From: sharon1359@xxxxxxxxxxx
> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [RC] Re: [RC]   Instructions for newbie crew-people?
> Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:52:53 -0400
>
> I'm sorry, I guess I was unclear before.  Last summer was my first 
> season... I
> did 6 CTRs and a 50-mile endurance ride.
>
> So I do already have a pretty good idea what I would need, but I'm afraid 
> I'll
> forget something in the telling.  ;)  Not only that, but I haven't been 
> doing
> this so long that I can't use this as an opportunity to learn from the 
> Pros!
>
> -Sharon K.
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------
> Jonni wrote:
>
> The duties of a crew person are completely based on what the rider needs
> them to do. Being a rider that rarely has a crew, I keep the duties very
> minimal when the hubby does come along. Help carry water buckets? Make a
> lunch for me? Give the horse some hay? You need to decide how much help you
> need. And until that very first 50 mile ride, you may not know. I will tell
> you this. Very often, riders get stressed and "grumpy" at rides, and they
> verbally take it out on the loved one who is crewing. We snap orders at
> them, and if things are not going well that day, somehow we think it is the
> crews fault. I have gotten better over the years, but still try to remember
> to tell my hubby before the ride, that I apologize now, for anything I say
> or do during the weekend that is not pleasant.
>
> After you do a couple CTR's, where you will have to do 99% of the horse 
> care
> anyway, you might have a better idea just how much you will need him to do
> for you at the endurance ride. If the vet checks are in camp at the
> endurance ride, he has even less to do, as he won't even need to drive out
> to the check with your crew bag.
>
> Jonni in TX
>
>
> ============================================================
> Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough
> ~  Theodore Roosevelt
>
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Arabians were bred for years primarily as a war horse and those
requirements are similar to what we do today with endurance riding. 
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