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RE: [RC] The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race - Suzanne Avery DVMLaney, Thank you for your input. I knew folks would suggest tights and probably another saddle. You are so right once the chaffing occurs you do not have time to recover. I did get the tip of using Body Glide on a past post. Someone also suggested I use Anti Monkey Butt Powder. Do any of you folks use this powder or do you just use things like Body Glide or Vaseline? In preparation for the Santa Fe I will for sure be entering two 50 mile rides this spring. The days following these rides I will try to ride long distances at home several days in a row. I have checked the Santa Fe website for rules and regulations. The website did not answer all of my questions so I called the ride manager and he has been very helpful. By the time the ride occurs I would have completed a minimum of three 50 mile rides. My goal is to gather as much information as I possibly can about appropriate wear, gear, conditioning and tricks of the trade. I will for sure check out your newbie recommendations. I do have a book on endurance riding that I purchased years ago. I will have to dig it out. I know it does not make sense for me to try to saddle up for the Santa Fe. I am a bit green in the world of endurance riding but not so green in the general world of the horse. We do compete at Combine Driving Events and these CDEs do encompasses a marathon. Conditioning is a must or the horses will pay the price. I am all about safety for horse and rider. Willie and I will be out for the "great adventure" of the race; safety first and placing is icing on the cake but not a requirement. I love history and adventure; this ride couples both aspects. For me it is a once in a lifetime experience. Endurance saddles are so confusing, there are so many different types. Some are padded some not etc, etc. Some actually do not look comfortable at all. Is there a favorite brand that folks gravitate to? What brands do you advise to stay away from. Also, what brand of tights do folks prefer. I guess I can always wear an oversized western shirt over my rumpus. Do folks recommend chaps or 1/2 chaps for endurance riding? All of your help is much appreciated! I hope I do not clog up the list with all of these novice questions. Suzanne -----Original Message----- From: Laney Humphrey [mailto:laneyhh@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 9:50 PM To: Suzanne Avery DVM Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] The Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race First of all, congratulations, Suzanne for making the decision to live your dream. Your determination will overcome a lot of bumps in the road. It's kind of hard to know where to start with giving you info. Both aerc.org and endurance.net have lots of information for "newbies." You should definitely read it. As for what to wear: a good friend who doesn't like how she looks in jeans, rides in sweat pants. She's done it for thousands of endurance miles and says they aren't hot and she doesn't get chaffed. IMHO, don't even think of jeans for day after day 50 milers. Once your skin gets irritated, it won't have a chance to recover. And, if it makes you feel any better, none of us have perfect bodies, but we do care not to get chaffed so we wear tights. Not a fashion statement, pure necessity. Endurance people are very practical; there are no fashions or fads in this sport. As for riding in your western saddle, hmmmmmmm. You've still got time to find a saddle your horse, who has to wear it, will like better before the ride starts. Endurance riders don't a twit about fashion, but we are passionate about making everything the best possible for our horses. Endurance saddles have been developed to meet the demands of the sport. A barrel racer wouldn't compete in a roping saddle; a roper wouldn't rope in a reining saddle. Saddles really are specifically designed to meet the demands of a particular sport and to enhance the ability of the horse (& rider) to perform well in that sport. So, do your horse and yourself a big favor and find an endurance saddle that really fits both of you! Appropriate tack is often the difference between completing an endurance ride and having to pull. Believe me, you can't imagine how bad you would feel if you went to all the effort and expense to get you and your horse to the start and then have to drop out because you didn't something that sabotaged your chance of success. One final suggestion: since you really haven't "done" endurance, why not set your sights a little lower and plan to do one of the many 5 day endurance rides now offered throughout the country? You'll be plenty challenged but have a much greater chance of success, and for much less money too! OK, now a final question: have you checked out the Santa Fe Trail Horse Race website to make sure you can enter the way you think you can? Laney Suzanne Avery DVM wrote: I have joined this list a few days back to get some information on endurance riding. I must say I have had to chuckle on a few of the comments made. This list seems to put out some good information. I do not really consider myself an endurance rider although I did enter a 50 mile endurance race many years back and have entered our yearly"local" CTR. Mostly we do the sport of combined driving and just ride for fun. Combined driving is a fun sport and another alternative for those that have physical impairments like RA, Lupus or just getting up there in age. So you probably ask why in the @#$@ is this gal joining our list. Well I have always loved riding long distances and as a young girl with my first horse I rode from sun up to sun set every day. Recently several people have emailed me about the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race. I also saw the advertisement on RFD TV. Since then I have pondered and pondered about this race and finally decided come September, I will be "saddling" up for the "great adventure" an adventure of a lifetime. I am so excited about this race but also need some expert advise on what to wear and how to prepare. To start here is my first question. I am not a breecher/tight person. On the 50 mile endurance ride I rode in jeans but that was many years ago. My legs were killing me to say the least. Someone suggested I wear nylons under my jeans. This was a great suggestion. So far nylons worked fine for the CTRs I attend or any lengthy rides I go on. No more chafing or sore knees. But I am not sure I will still be intact and be able to walk at the end of the Santa Fe ride. Well if I make that far, no doubt I will probably lots of holes in my nylons. Reading about things like the Tevis ride, I know you guys are all pretty much professionals but are there any nonprofessional jean type folks out there and what do you ride in? I may have to buy a pair of tights but they are so...well.. you know "tight" :o(( I do not have the body for tights. I am also looking into riding jeans. Has anyone ever used those? Are they just like breechers only in jean material? For the ride I will be using my western saddle. My husband said I should look into an endurance saddle but my western saddle is so comfortable, even on the long CTR rides. I purchased the saddle many years ago and it really is part of me. I may consider another saddle but right now I will try my western. Has anyone ever ridden any endurance rides in western saddles. I realize they are heavier then endurance saddles. I did use an english saddle when I rode the 50 mile endurance ride. Lastly my plan is to ride one horse and bring one or two spares. The horse I am riding, Willie, is pseudo-conditioned as he has been routinely used for Combined Driving Events, CTR, pleasure riding and as a ranch horse. He has a lot of heart, speedy trot and is not a "tubbet". He has a lean type build as opposed to round build. He does pant. I have been riding him 2-4 miles and trying to do this at least every other day. The 2-4 miles consist of uphill/downhill. We walk downhill and trot uphill. We did a 14 mile ride the other day, lets of walking. He has a "power walk" so I think his walk is conditioning in itself. I sometimes hitch him to the cart and do a 10 mile loop with lots of trotting. The cart really seems to condition him also. We sometimes canter but I really like to condition him at a trot. His extension at the trot carries great speed, I feel that is all I need. As time goes on we will build on mileage. He is kept in a large pasture with lots of ravines/up/downhills so he does get daily self exercise. To condition the "spares", I have been ponying them and also riding them. They are not as conditioned as Willie but I really hope to keep them in the "spare" category but someone greater then me may have another plan. To condition myself I am walking, running and doing pushup/setups. I also need to loose weight/dieting; especially if I have to enter the world of "tights" :o(( My plan for the Santa Fe ride is to ride about 10 miles and then get off and run with the horse maybe one mile or so. I appreciate all suggestions and information you can give me.........I know, I know you are all shaking your heads at the thought of a western saddle and jeans........yup, this gal needs h-e-l-p. Suzanne; who loves the thrill of a "great adventure" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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