Re: RC: Crewless (was Cavalry Riding)

["Tamara Habberley" <tamarahabberley@hotmail.com>]

Hi

Im really glad you sent this email to every one in ridecamp. Im copying of 
your recomendations to use for myslef next season.

Over here (England) we have two Endurance societies with diametrically 
opposed views of the value of crews.

One, BERA,allows riders only to compete above 30 miles in both CTRs or ERs 
with a crew. It also only allows 'Gold' series riders ie. those who have 
completed a 50 mile CTR to ride without a crew in 30 mile rides.  Which to 
me seems daft as the 40s invitably return to the venue for mid ride vetting. 
Although I have not heard of a crewless rider being prevented from starting 
with BERA the crew has to be named on the vet sheet and present at the 
intial vetting.

The other society EHPS allows riders to compete without a crew at what ever 
distance they wish. This seems sensible to me as if the horse is fatigued or 
dehydrated it will be spotted and eliminated at the mid way vetting. 
Obviously a crew for a 100 ER would be recomended for the horses sake 
though.

Personally I like to have a crew so if I come of some one can still drive me 
and horse back home. However as my crew is not going to be available much 
next year guess which socities rides I will enter!

Iv also found the few crewless rides Iv done much more stress free as I dont 
have grumpy crew memember whose got up aty the crack of dawn ( Husband!), 
can ride my own ride without interference and have a greater sense of 
acheivement.

Once again my thanks for sharing some useful advice.

Tamara

>From: Farafix@aol.com
>To: Kenzie_Kelly@spc.com
>CC: ridecamp@endurance.net
>Subject: RC:  Crewless (was Cavalry Riding)
>Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 11:19:56 EST
>
>Kenzie,
>
>Having a pit crew is a luxury for me (& how nice it is when I have one!), 
>so
>the key to riding crewless is organization.  First thing is to check out
>where the pit stops are.  Some rides have all the pit stops back at base
>camp, so that's a good one to try (you'll have to check with your SE riders
>on rides in your area, or check with the ride manager --- sometimes the
>routes are changed yr to yr).  Some rides may have the pit stop just a mile
>or 2 from camp (like Ft Valley & No Frills) so that's doable -- have to
>unhitch the trailer to bring stuff out to pit stop the night before.
>When you pack up, have all the stuff for your overnight camping area ---
>water, hay, blankets, grain, rider food, clothing.  Then have all the stuff
>you'll need for the pit stop packed separately in waterproof containers, as
>well as extra water buckets and water.  I have a rubbermaid tub that has
>rumprug, extra set of reins, extra easy boot, extra metal shoes, dry
>electrolytes & syringe, blanket scraps for throwing over rump, full
>lighweight blanket, stethescope, extra stirrup leather, and small to medium
>towels and sponges.  My friend also has extra saddle pad in her box.  If it
>looks like it will be rainy or cold, I may throw in some extra socks and
>gloves in the box. I should add an extra girth to the box (to do for next
>yr!)  I have several 5 gallon buckets with lids that I put out the night
>before (leave the lid on loosely--- will keep other horses from drinking 
>your
>water).  I also have 2 5 gallon plastic gas containers for water (that have
>never had gas in them) to refill buckets or to refill my ice chests.  I 
>have
>about a 3 gallon bucket with lid with grain (again, leave the lid on 
>loosely
>so your grain doesn't get eaten by others).  I've added a lightweight grain
>bucket as a luxury this yr as the horse slobbers so much water into the 
>grain
>that the grain bucket gets pretty mushy by the end of the ride --- I throw
>some grain into the grain feeder as soon as I get in.  Also a bag of 
>carrots
>as some carrots are good to entice the horse to eat.  A plastic garbage bag
>with hay (in case it rains --- hay won't get so wet the horse won't eat it
>--- my horse goes right into the plastic bag for the hay) & again the 
>plastic
>bag helps to prevent the hay from getting pilfered.  I have 2-3 small 
>coolers
>that I fill with ice & water the night before if it's going to be a hot 
>ride.
>  The small coolers are easy to move around the horse to cool him off as 
>he's
>gobbling down food & water.  I prepare syringes of electrolytes before 
>going
>to the ride.  I carry one in a plastic ziplock bag (in case the plunger 
>comes
>off & all that gunk comes out, at least it's in the plastic & doesn't get 
>all
>over the inside of my pommel pack).  I leave as many syringes plus one as I
>think I'll need with my pit crew stuff.  A lawn chair is nice if the
>rubbermaid boxes are too light to sit on.  I bring SlimFast drinks (throw
>into the coolers) & SlimFast bars to eat as they fill me up & are easy to 
>get
>down, maybe throw some apples in the horse box as I can get those down &
>horse likes them.  Don't forget food for yourself.  I can carry enough
>gatorade in my camelback to last a whole ride.  My friend uses bottles, so
>she puts some gatorade bottles in her ice chest to refill bottles.
>When I started out I made lists of stuff I needed for the rides.  Now it's
>sort of routine, so I don't use them, but it was helpful at first.
>I carry an extra sponge on a string, all ready to hook up if the one on the
>saddle rips off.  An easyboot, one syringe of electrolytes in ziplog bag, a
>variety of snaps and clips for quick repairs, cheap plastic rain poncho 
>that
>scrunches up real small   This is in a pommel pack.  In a waistback I have
>map, if given out by ride managmnt (in ziplock bag), rider card (in ziplock
>bag), gum, tissues (in bag --- for emergency calls of nature), chapstick,
>hoofpick, shoestring for emergency repairs, small jackknife, whistle (got
>that at a ride --- in case you fall off the horse to help rescuers find 
>you).
>  I use a camelback, so I don't carry any water bottles.  You want some 
>means
>of carrying water for you --- I used to throw some small ones in the pommel
>pack.  I had a pommel pack with bottle holders on either end --- the 
>bottles
>liked to pop out, and it put a lot of stress on the fastners which
>periodically ripped out -- so check them frequently for wear if you use 
>this
>setup.  Some riders have bottle holders in their waistpacks --- my friend
>uses this & she doesn't lose her bottles.
>You want to get to camp early enough to get set up, check in and vet in, 
>and
>get your pit stop set up.  I also bring my kids little red wagon for 
>hauling
>stuff around in to get setup.
>If it's going to be cold and rainy, or threatens rain, you may want to tie 
>a
>rumprug on the back of the saddle.
>This is just the stuff for the pit stop.  You'll need other stuff at your
>campsite --- learned the hardway to always have waterproof blankets and
>clothing --- even if forecast is for sun!!
>
>Good luck,
>Nancy
>Md
>
>
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