Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

current weather in Las Cruces is mid 60's for high temps, low 40's  
for low temps. no freezing. the weather does keep us humble....

Steph

On Jan 4, 2008, at 9:30 AM, Truman Prevatt wrote:

> One of the challenges of the endurance season in Florida is the  
> weather. It is easier to deal with the 80 degree days we can get  
> once awhile in the winter - you just clip and use water - than to  
> deal with the weather in the teens we can get every once in awhile.  
> Steph might recall the Osceola ride in 2000 which was sub 20 when  
> we started off.
>
> In the cold everything becomes a major issue. The water buckets  
> freeze. The water is cold and some horses don't tend to drink as  
> well in the cold. You don't have enough on the horse and they can  
> fail to warm up properly and cramp. You have too much and they  
> sweat and get cold from loss of heat. They need more energy to stay  
> warm - particularly if clipped or if wet when it is in the 20's  
> than in the 60's. Normally cold is from a front moving through  
> which is accompanied with Northwest winter winds - which add to the  
> problems.
>
> They can cramp if you don't get the blankets on soon enough. They  
> can sweat and get cold if you get them on too soon. Some horses do  
> fine in cold weather - I've ridden one where it didn't matter. Some  
> just don't do well in cold weather - I've been riding one for 12  
> years that just hates cold weather. On top of that none of this  
> addresses the impact of the cold on the rider - all the same issues.
>
> Personally I'd rather deal with 80 degrees than 30 degrees any day  
> of the week.
>
> Truman
>
> Steph Teeter wrote:
> > Sandy - the answer to your question regarding FEI and checking the  
> > course - there isn't a committee, but there is a 'Technical  
> > Delegate' person whose job it is to ensure a safe and fair course.  
> > They typically go to the ride site a little early, and work  
> > closely with the manager.
> >
> > On a personal note - I really don't want to point any fingers  
> > though. The weather is such a wild card in our sport. IF it hadn't  
> > been so cold the glowbars would have been brighter. Once the sun  
> > was up we had no problem following the course. I'm not sure why  
> > the first hold was shortened so much - perhaps also because of the  
> > cold as well. This was a real problem/mistake in my opinion, but  
> > that alone wouldn't account for everything. There were a lot of  
> > lameness pulls - but the speed wasn't excessive and the footing  
> > was good. It's endurance. horses.
> >
> > Steph
>
>
> --
>
> “It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter  
> how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong”  
> Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics


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