I don't know that I recommend it but one summer I
got up at 3 or 4 AM and drove over 100 miles anumber of times so I
could vet in and start a 50 at 7 or 8 AM. This was a seasoned horse, 100
mile finisher, also some 2 day rides. Often drove home several hours
after finishing the ride.
This horse completed 3500 miles without a pull so
didn't seem to bother him any. We were mostly riding to finish mid pack or
so.
I've done it with a few other horses as well
without any problems, but not as many times.
My area is usually blessed with enough rides within
a distance this is possible.
I know others that have driven all night to a ride
the next day. Seemed to work for them, but might be a little
much.
Depends on the horse, trailer, roads, driver, goals
for the ride.
I think there is a time limit to how late you can
start a ride???
(running your own business can be demanding time
wise)
I am finding that I frequently am unable to get
out of work in time to get to rides on Friday afternoons or early evenings as
I'd like (5:00 pm is when my boss lets me go and I can't ask to leave early on
a semi-frequent basis). When I was doing LD, I didn't fret too much
about arriving at a ride shortly before it began the day of the race; however
I've moved "up" to 50s (on an experienced horse) and am not sure arriving the
day of a race will be so kind to my horse now.
If a race is being ridden more as a ride, i.e.
conservatively, is there any reason one could not simply trailer to a ride the
day of the event and give the horse an hour or two to recover from
the trailer ride before starting? Starting late is OK, as I
know my mare will have no trouble completing most rides well within time (even
with a late start). She trailers well and often, and I'd plan to
simply ride these types of rides for completion. What are folks'
thoughts/experiences on this? I'd trailer no more than 5-6 hours
before such a ride.
