Ride Report - Poplar Park 40km

After Lion’s Tail (read that ride report here) I was unsure whether to progress with another endurance ride before the end of the season or to take a break and start again in the Spring.

After some deliberation and lots of conversations with friends the decision was made to just ‘go for it’. In an odd way, I felt more confident than ever with Spice after Lion’s Tail. Sometimes you need to get through some bad experiences just to realise you really can cope.

I do have FEI ambitions for Spice so whilst some friends suggested I ‘just’ do a 32km with him, I felt we should do a 40km to make it a worthwhile trip (Poplar Park is about 3hrs away from home).

My entry went in and then I didn’t really have a chance to think much about it because I was organising the Concrete Cows endurance ride the weekend before. I took Spice for a 33km route check 3 weeks pre-Poplar and beyond that we only got a couple of rides and pole work sessions in.

The weather forecast for Poplar was disgusting – a yellow weather warning for rain! I’m not remotely ashamed to admit that I’m a fair-weather rider and have NEVER ridden Spice in the rain before. My sister and crew, Pheobe, did ask me if I was sure that I wanted to go. Was it worth the travel time, the fuel cost to go and do a 40km in that weather? But once I’ve made a decision I’m quite dedicated and it takes a lot to deter me.

I made sure that I had everything packed the day before inclusive of two waterproof sheets, two fleece rugs, a thermatex, the (in)famous Back on Track rug and the Rambo towel rug. I also charged two garmins (one for spare) and packed myself a complete change of clothes and lots of different coats so that I had a choice in the morning.

The 4.30am alarm always comes too soon but I was up and out, hitched up and loaded by 5:12am (my yard is 10mins away from my house so I was impressed with my own morning efficiencies). Spice is such a pleasure in this respect, I didn’t even question that he would load in the dark (despite us never practicing this before!). He ate his breakfast on the journey and travelled the 3hrs seamlessly.

We made it to the venue for 8.30am so we were on track. This was Spice’s first time attending a ride completely solo and he was quite excited when we pulled the ramp down. It was raining quite a bit already so we left him to peruse the venue from within the trailer whilst I went to check in, collect our paperwork and bib.

Pre-ride vetting was disappointingly not as calm and collected as at Lion’s Tail but the rain was bucketing it down and the race ride had just started. Bad timing on our behalf but with the venue being so visible, it made no odds, as he could see the race riders warming up whilst we were at the trailer anyway.

Importantly he did stand still for his HR to be taken without too much bribery and did a most beautiful trot up. Starting HR of 48. Still progress compared to his very first ride.

Tacking up also caused quite a bit of stress. The rain was relentless and he wasn’t so keen on standing still. The waterproof rug fell off in a bit of a saga at one point so we gave up trying to keep it on his bum and so he just had to get wet.

I decided to get on at the start line rather than at the trailer. I felt it would be best to move forwards as soon as I got on rather than have to navigate the parking field (and all the people/horses/vehicles) so we hand-walked him down to the start. Per chance, Carla (who was also parked next to us) was heading down to start the 40km too and very kindly offered to start with us.

Getting on was also a bit frantic which was disappointing because we’ve practiced standing still and mounting relentlessly over the years but the weather was just sooo unhelpful. Once I was on he was strong and forward but I could tell he was just keen to get going. I didn’t feel there was any risk of leaping so we progressed in trot with Carla straight away. I would normally like to do a much longer warm up than this but the weather conditions and Spice’s keenness meant the safest option was just to trot quietly on.

I then realised I’d forgotten to put my garmin on so had to ride to feel rather than the watch – possibly the first time since I was about 14 that I’ve done this!

The first part of the course is through the x-country course and bless my little non-spooking Arabian he led (our little group of horses by this point) through and past everything without a single look at anything!

Once out onto more of the course he continued in a very strong and forward vein, but I felt completely safe despite questioning my life choices as the rain continued to hit us in the face and make visibility a challenge.

Before long, Carla suggested the first canter and Spice obliged with a lovely smooth transition followed by a nice in-hand canter. I was so pleased with how strong and balanced he was feeling. The progress this year is just worlds apart.

Soon we were at the first crew point and the rain had actually eased up. It was oddly mild so none of us were cold despite the dampness of the day and we took the opportunity to slosh the horses. Neither horse accepted a drink though!

By 25km in we were riding as a three and I really hoped that Spice would consider a drink at the crew point but he was still too keen. For the first time ever we also had to go past pigs. I was so proud of Spice once again as he calmly and maturely went past the pigs without too much fuss at all.

Unfortunately, it was just as we were going past the very first field of pigs that we had the first other rider come cantering up behind us. Despite ample green and red ribbons (indicating novice and kicks (though he doesn’t actually kick)) the rider got right up behind Spice ☹ once past this field of pigs the rider then cantered off which upset Spice massively again.

However, unlike at Lion’s Tail, the outburst lasted no more than 10 seconds. He tried to leap forward and go with the horse but didn’t take a hold, and then he tried to some more sideways leaping but also didn’t really get anywhere and then quickly settled. I was so proud of again what a huge improvement this was from the last ride and how he’d learned that he doesn’t have to go with every overtaking horse and also that keeping all four feet on the ground is the correct life choice.

After this mini-saga my confidence bloomed again as I knew that I could manage him. It’s so rewarding to see the improvement in a young horse!

We continued our ride uneventfully having some nice canters along the endless sandy tracks but mostly trotting because Spice isn’t yet sufficiently schooled to take alternating lead legs.

Unfortunately, the rain intensified again and visibility became very poor. He got his head down but kept his ears pricked and he continued to pull me onwards – taking no notice if the other horses were keeping up or not. This level of independence is great to see so early on into his career. It’s lovely to know that when we get to racing he’s already showing signs of not worrying about keeping company.

Overall, I’d say Spice led for 90% of the ride, but the best feeling was really in the last 10km when the other two horses started to lose motivation on the repetition and in the heavy rain whereas Spice truly didn’t waver.

Of course, it can’t all be spot on and one thing Spice really needs to learn is to drink (and maybe eat) at the crew points when he’s offered. 40km is not so far and on a mild day I don’t think much of a horse not drinking but as we hope to increase the distance next year he is going to have to start taking a bit better care of himself metabolically (more on this later).

The final vetting plan for this ride was different from his previous two rides. For his first ride I didn’t even know if he would pass the vetting as I was concerned about his behaviour and then on the second one I was so pleasantly surprised about how calm he was at the venue that we even managed a G2! However for this ride, I asked Pheobe if we could crew him in the VG area and vet ASAP. I wanted to have a little practice at more speedy vetting in anticipation for the 2023 season.

Across the line and a walk across the VG area we untacked swiftly but his HR was 72. This is far higher than Chip’s would be so Pheobe and I both laughed and said “well, not every horse has the same heart as Chip”!

Spice then started to get muscle tremors (possibly adrenaline shakes or something more serious?) (like shivering but he’s not actually cold) which he’s also had at the previous two rides too so we began in-hand walking which seems to fix the issue.

He then went for a wee, began to eat his Perform & Restore Mash and his HR was 68. Goodness, these recoveries are poor ☹

Then I suddenly remembered that eating makes their HR go up so we held his head up for HR62 and I said right in we go.

Into vetting and the muscle tremors were still there – our line vet didn’t have much to say other than ‘it’s hard to hear his heart over the shakes’ but his HR was 58. Trotted up with an A but scored a 2 for dehydration and B for gut sounds.

A pass, and novice qualifications completed BUT we have some work to do to manage his metabolic status.

Interestingly with the shakes, these have only happened at the three endurance rides he’s done but NOT at the 33km training ride. Which made me think it seems specifically happening at the venue atmosphere rather than from the exercise effort? At Kings Forest and Lion’s Tail because we took a slow pace to get to vetting the shakes had resolved before we made it to the vet whereas at Poplar the shakes didn’t stop until we were back at the trailer after vetting.

I decided to contact some experienced endurance vets to ask their opinion. I’ve seen horses shake in excitement pre-ride before but not after.

The consensus was definitely that this is unusual but a couple of possibilities:

- electrolyte imbalance

- adrenaline shakes

- neurological issue

- precursor to tying up

Investigation required – bloods to check Ca, Mg, Phos levels but ideally need to be taken at the time of the shakes or very soon after.

I then had a little lightbulb moment and thought I should consult Pat Harris (European Specialist in Veterinary Clinical & Comparative Nutrition) because if this is an electrolyte imbalance (or a precursor to tying up) that really it ought to be a diet related fix.

A call was booked with Pat and we had a really in-depth chat about Spice. We discussed the possibility of PSSM-2, tying up, calcium:phosphorus ratio, adrenaline, stress, absorption issues, ulcers and innate personality.

A fascinating chat to say the least but we have come up with a plan. Firstly, we have a dressage competition in a couple of weeks’ time, and we are going to see if he get’s these shakes after the test. The test being just 4 mins long I’m not expecting anything however, if he does then I think we can say that it’s an excitement/adrenaline/stress related response to the venue atmosphere. Should he get the shakes, I will call the vet to take bloods that day.

Assuming the dressage is uneventful I’m going to take him to a pleasure ride in December. The distance will be just 16km but again it will be a little test to see how he responds to the venue atmosphere at a much lower distance. Again, with the vet on hand to take bloods if he does get the shakes.

Should both the pleasure ride and the dressage comp be successful (no shakes) then we will take some pre-season bloods early into 2023 (before training picks up) and see what’s going on and just check that everything at base is normal. We will specifically look at Ca, Mg, Phos and AST/CK too.

Then we will plan a 50km training ride (30/20) and take bloods (regardless of shaking status ahah) that night to see what’s going on.

We will also aim to take a urine sample a month before his first competition next season. This will allow for a week to get the results and then a couple of weeks to make any necessary changes to his diet (for example providing more bioavailable calcium).

To take the positives, his recovery from these shakes is swift and it doesn’t appear to be leaving any lasting negative effects e.g. scoring A for action, no muscle tightness/soreness. Having seen quite a few horse’s tye up I’m also quite confident that this isn’t a precursor but I definitely don’t want to be complacent. I’m sort of hoping it’s his own unique way of expressing his anxiety/excitement at the event and that he’ll ‘grow out of it’ but I don’t want to ignore the issue and then have a problem at a longer distance.

For now, Pat and I have agreed to keep his feeding the same, continuing to supplement no more than 1,000 iu of vitamin E for his current workload (minimal) and see how we get on with the dressage and pleasure ride.

I feel really excited to up the distance with Spice next year as he gave me such a positive and forward ride. I’m really confident he can complete 80kms with ease so we just need to tackle this little (or potentially major) metabolic concern. Luckily we have time on our side for investigation and a great team to support us.

The other project for the winter is tackling lead leg changes in the canter. Because Spice’s backing process took such a long time we didn’t actually get to cantering until this year and because we then struggled with hard ground over the summer (no arena) we just haven’t focused on this at all. He’s been politely cantering about here and there now without fuss but definitely preferring left lead canter than right.

I first raised this concern with my physio in June but we couldn’t find any muscular reason for the dominance. We had a look at him on the lunge too and he still chose to take left lead canter on the right circle 2/3 times. Baby imbalance and asymmetry is of course a factor but my analytical brain thinks there must be more to this.

Spice had physio this week (10 days after Poplar) and we discussed the issue again. Positively, he was in a really good place having not had a physio session for 8 weeks and we were both really pleased with how he’s moving and how he’s really started to engage his core in not only trot but walk too!

My physio feels that lead legs in canter are actually more reflective on hind end asymmetries than front leg issues. She found some tension on the gluteal tongue on the LH vs RH but actually he was pretty good everywhere else. Certainly his muscles aren’t presenting as a horse who’s particularly uneven.

So the strategy in this regard is:

- Hill trotting – strengthen the hamstrings and glutes even more

- Leg yielding to build more bicep fem and provide more stability through his hips

- Schooling!

- Travers work to get control of the hind end even more!

I’m quite keen on schooling overall but I know I have mental blocks with Spice especially after our accident. We’ve made huge progress in so many areas but I know that the way I ride Spice isn’t as positive as it should be in the arena and he of course picks up on this. We’ve certainly never cantered in an arena yet.

We have the big caveat of having conformational concerns with his too straight hocks and thus strain on his suspensories too that means we don’t want to be doing too much circle work or working on too soft a surface either!

I hold my hands up to say I’m not that confident in my own convictions when it comes to schooling (any horse) and really benefit from having someone on the ground to give me pointers/reassurance and coaching. I’ve booked a lesson for the end of November and we are heading to the gallops on the 11th December for a coached session with Maggie Pattinson (please come along for a fun session – contact On the Hoof Dt to book).

Overall, I’m so pleased that I persevered with Spice as I feel he’s showing so much promise for the sport. He gave me a phenomenal ride at Poplar and his fastest to date 12.5kmph (no watch to slow me down) as I wouldn’t have let him ride that fast otherwise! I like to complete qualifiers really slowly!

Anyway, an exciting winter ahead with some key areas to focus on – nice to have these little projects and hopefully I will be able to report back in the Spring on our progress!