Ride report - three shires 80km

I’m keen to keep this ride report brief as I know I have a tendency to make these blogs rather long! However, I do always feel that any good story needs context! Luckily for you, I’ve blogged after every ride so I only need to update you since our last one in October at Poplar Park. You can read the one here to get up to date. I just read it myself and gave myself ‘all the feels’ for how much we have progressed.

If you’ve not got time for that (and really who does) then to recap we needed to find out about the muscle tremors/shakes, work on our canter leads and get him to start eating/drinking at rides – and the plan was a whole winter to work on it!

Whilst the winter work was a resounding success (mostly) there were also some real challenges and many times where I felt completely overwhelmed and that Spice was in fact regressing rather than improving.

We attended a couple of dressage competitions in November. Spice’s main trigger to his excitement and thus the shakes seems to be other horses. I thought that this environment would be suitably boring (going around in circles) that it would work in our favour. Looking back at it now, it probably wasn’t that bad but he was certainly significantly more hyped than I wanted him to be and the muscle tremors were there as much as ever. Which in many respects, was a relief because we then had confirmation that the tremors weren’t related to exercise effort and instead a very direct correlation to his excitement levels.

We also attended a pleasure ride in December and whilst he started off beautifully calm, overtaking others without issue, as soon as we got caught up by another rider he was so strong and absolutely wouldn’t let them go on without him. The return to the venue got even more exciting as all the routes (short and long) amalgamated for the last 5km in and so it was extremely busy (honestly a horse or two every 100-200m) and Spice was beside himself. We came into the venue at a sideways canter ☹ the shakes at the trailer were horrendous.

I really began to wonder if we were habitualising the negative behaviour rather than the good behaviour. We also went to quite a few pole clinics, gallops sessions and 1-2-1 lessons where tacking up was becoming tricky. He just wouldn’t stand still for long enough with his eyes on stalks looking at everyone else! (Should add that tacking up at home is and always has been absolutely no problem).

What’s been frustrating is that our challenges were becoming almost exclusively on the ground as he was being really great to ride. Focused in his work and making such good progress in his balance, rhythm and core strength.

It was a bit of a disheartening time to be honest because we’d finish what ever activity we were doing in a really great frame of mind but in the same breath I would be even more worried for the next time about how I was going to manage him on the ground on my own wherever we went.

I had long chats with my coaches and instructors about what we could do to break the ‘cycle’ as it did very much feel like we were stuck in a rut with this. I decided to try some Science Supplements ProKalm exclusively on the days we were travelling and also actually try travelling tacked up if the journey was not too long.

We had a bit of a turnaround in January using this approach and whilst not ‘fixed’ there was significant improvement!

At the end of January Spice completed his first ‘long training’ with a 50km at our favourite Kings Forest. My friend rode him whilst I rode Chip. It was Spice’s first ‘vet gate’ training, first ride over 40km and also first-time group riding. He blew me away with his positive mental attitude on course, his agility in going up front, behind or mid pack. He looked absolutely fabulous and behaved impeccably. Whilst he didn’t eat anything in the mock vet gate, he did have a drink and I gave him an EnerGex syringe to ensure he had some carbohydrates in his system for the second loop. At the end of training he tucked in well to some hay and even a small amount of hard feed.

After that training he was a due a couple of weeks rest and I think the combination of a bit harder work and some rest time worked really well for his busy brain as our next few extra curricular outings all seemed less anxious. Though the ProKalm definitely seemed be making a difference too!

At the beginning of March (5 weeks after the 50km) I took him to an Anglian Distance Riders pleasure ride. Having not been exposed to that many horses since December I was really hoping to see some improvement in his attitude to it all. Thankfully everything continued in the right direction. I managed to tack up relatively easily and got on for our first loop without bother. He was an absolute delight to ride as we managed to get out first and enjoy the entire first loop completely solo. He was settled and forward, yet light and responsive. It was absolutely wonderful.

On the second loop we encountered a lot more horses but he really held it together so much better than he ever had before and I was so encouraged by his progress. He even ate some hay back at the trailer at the end!

The rest of March and April continued in a similar vein and I was feeling significantly more positive about how he would handle the 80km at Three Shires. I also decided to introduce some GastroKind to his diet in March which seemed to settle his appetite at home.

Despite the anxious behaviour on the ground over winter, the training itself had been faultless and I was over the moon with how much stronger he was feeling in his body and how much his muscle tone had improved. I was confident in his ability to complete the distance, despite never competing at more than 40km or training at more than a 50km.

As the final week drew near I started to have my usual feelings of doubt creep in. My overriding concerns were about the vettings. How was he going to be at the venue with all the other horses? Would we even be allowed to start if he got the muscle tremors? Would we get his HR down in the VG quickly enough?

I wasn’t at all worried about the ride itself, I knew he’d be just great.

Initially, I didn’t have a ride buddy planned but Esther Groen contacted me and very kindly offered to ride together and I was happy to take up the offer. It’s always much nicer to ride these long distances in company!

Three Shires Way is one of our closest rides and it was lovely to not have to leave the yard until 6.30am. It meant for a leisurely 5am alarm and a not too rushed morning. Spice actually ate ALL his breakfast despite getting the trailer out (which usually triggers him and he stops eating). He had a whole syringe of ProKalm as well and we were on our way.

Arriving at the venue as the third horse of the day, I was very impressed and reassured by how calmly he unloaded and actually began eating grass! However, as the venue started to fill up (quite tightly due to parking limitations) his energy started to rise and we ended up having to keep him at the far side of the field as he was getting increasingly wired.

Despite this and a very unforgiving vet, we did manage to get him through the pre-ride on HR58. There was a heck of a lot going on and we always knew this was going to be a problem area for him.

Tacking up was also actually fine, always easier with crew to help too than being solo all the time! Once my bum was in the saddle I was completely chilled again and really looking forward to enjoying the ride.

Esther was an exceedingly good ride buddy and allowed us to take it in turns to lead which for most of the first loop happened to be Spice as he’s such a keeno! The route rode so well and as we were 2nd and 3rd horse out on course, the tracks were mostly perfect! We got lots of long canters in but the speed aim was just 12kmph so we also trotted a lot to keep our pace steady. Spice’s easy lope is 20kmph so we can’t let him do that for too long as we would be getting ahead of ourselves!

At each of the crew points we took sloshes as despite a wet weather forecast we were spoilt with a 13°C day and intermittent sun/cloud cover. Watt (Esther’s horse) began drinking when offered towards the end of the first loop and even drank out of a few muddy puddles – ‘chocolate milk’ as Esther calls it. Spice wasn’t yet ready to follow suite, but I always knew that it would be a miracle if he did drink on the first loop.

The loop went by really quickly and was so enjoyable. We did get overtaken by a group of horses in the last 10km to home but other than getting strong, Spice really held it together so well. It’s so lovely to ride a horse that doesn’t spook or buck – just so much easier to ride and energy efficient too!

The only challenge we had on the loop was his saddle slipping back. I was having this issue with his old saddle and I think the real challenge is his new found lean and fit body tends to chuck everything back – new saddle included! Luckily the lovely Amy of Jeremey Rudge Saddlery had come along with us for the day as she wanted to see endurance in the flesh. This meant we had a plan in the VG !

There was no designated hold area at the venue for the VG and we were all allowed to crew at our trailers. However, Esther and I had parked in different location due to lorries needing to go on the concrete so we made a quick change to our VG plan - my crew would bring a few items over to Esther’s lorry and then we could try to vet the boys together.

I did however stick to the original plan to get off and walk the last 400m into the venue to start getting Spice to unwind. I was so pleasantly surprised by how quickly he recovered despite all the goings on of the venue. Stopping at Esther’s lorry rather than going back into the parking field was definitely the right choice as it was much quieter there. He recovered remarkably quickly and with the help of crew we were actually ready to go before Esther had managed to completely untack (not easy crewless)!

None of us actually took any notice of our presentation time but we think it was around the 5min mark which given the venue layout I was actually more than happy with. It wouldn’t have been possible to present in much less than 3mins simply due to the space of the venue.

Half-way vet on 62HR and a straight A card. I was just so happy that given all my worrying about getting through the vettings that we managed it! No he absolutely wasn’t perfect about standing still but he held it together well and it’s all a learning for him. We just have to hope that through repetition he starts to get the hang of it all.

We had a lovely long 40min hold time and since most of our things were at the trailer we parted company for the recovery period, with Esther heading back to her lorry. Both Spice and Watt didn’t care at all about being separated and I was particularly happy with Spice for this as it’s important he doesn’t get attached to any horses for his future racing career.

In anticipation of low appetite from Spice I had packed nine (yes nine) different feeds with me. The aim was to get him to eat his two usual feeds, Perform & Restore Mash and Ulca Power Cubes. But if those were not appealing then we would offer some others. We had a range of cubes/pellets and mashes as well as one mix.

However, as expected, he actually just wanted to eat hay and grass. I had bought some very overpriced rabbit hay that had chamomile flowers in and he loved it! And the grass is still very helpful – fibre and water!

We gave him an EnerGex syringe early into our hold time as I’ve found in the past that this can stimulate some appetite but he still just wanted the forage. The hold time seemed to disappear quickly (as it always does) but because he’s such a fuss pot and wants to eat and walk constantly we realised we forgot to do some of our usual essential hold things e.g. Traumeel the legs or give him any electrolytes.

Nonetheless, we did clean his tack, swap fluffly girth cover and numnahs and I remembered to eat some Lentil Curls. Amy was able to change our girth strap placement for us which was a real bonus!

Reunited with Esther we left the VG together nice and calmly. Spice was a little unsure for the first couple hundred metres (not nappy just looking around) but then found his groove very quickly and wanted to canter again!

It was like he was happy to take me on the route now he knew where he was going and was so lovely and forward. When we got to the first road section he lost a bit of enthusiasm but this is where it was so great to have experienced company as Esther and Watt were more than happy to give us a tow at these more ‘boring’ sections.

At the first crew point (11km in) Spice had his first drink of the day – woop! And after that, drank at every opportunity and even twice at muddy puddles copying Watt! Since he hadn’t eaten any hard feed and this only being a two loop 80km he also had an EnerGex syringe at the crew point 16km in and again at 27km (ish). More than anything, I wanted there to be something going through his gut.

We had to ride the second loop a little slower than the first as the evidence of some 80+ horses passing through was clear and where the ground was wet before now it was turned over immensely and so we had to walk a few long sections. Other than these patches, we maintained our ride speed exactly as we had on the first loop.

What was especially lovely was that he never once threw the towel in or said no. Yes there were definitely a few moments were he was feeling a little tired and bored of the stones or the road but every time we were on grass he just wanted to canter. Right to the end he was offering me canter and I was just so proud of how he got on with the task at hand.

Trotting into the finish line was just the best feeling, I had a fresh enough horse under me. I was really happy with him and since the last couple of km into the venue were on the road I was also quite confident he would pass the final trot – so now just to make sure his HR was down enough!

Esther and I parted ways again for the final crewing and headed to our trailer. HR immediately was low 70s and we knew that we had 30mins so no point rushing in and then risking him getting excited by something. We prevaricated in the high 50s for quite a while and after 10mins I couldn’t hold my nerve any longer and said to my crew let’s just do it.

I’ve never in my life cared for grades, for me it’s really about passing the ride and gaining qualifications. Despite completing the first 80km of his life, Spice had plenty of energy to not stand still completely and so we finished on a HR60 whilst he had to focus on every other horse at the venue and where they were going!

His trot was just perfect and his metabolics all good too – I simply couldn’t ask for more! I was actually feeling quite emotional. I kind of knew he could do it but there were so many reasons why it also could have not worked out and also the unforeseen reasons that you can’t even account for! Like standing on someone’s lost shoe (nail side up) 3km from home! Thankfully the boy’s rock-hard feet didn’t seem to be affected.

Packing up was swift and with a less than 1hr journey back home we didn’t hang around the venue for too long as the temperature was starting to drop. Back home he ate ALL his dinner – shocked to say the least and then went into the field for a canter around with the herd! And then back for another long drink before going off grazing.

So major successes of the day;

- Round sound – always the aim

- Minimal shakes! None at the start, none at half-way vetting (some mildly in the hold) and none at the finish

- Good recovery times despite his excitement levels

- Excellent tenacity on route

- Very happy in himself both during and after the ride

Areas to work on;

- Vettings – we definitely need to work on standing still in the vettings. It’s a hard skill to teach a horse since at home he would just stand still if asked. I am hoping that my strategy of continuing to attend lots of events where there are other horses will help him to become desensitized. However, I may also look into a different halter?

- Lead canters – I was especially happy with the quality of the canters and particularly the transitions as I have worked so hard on those this winter. However, he was still left lead dominant and honestly I didn’t fight with him about it as I didn’t want to waste energy insisting. But this is something we definitely still need to work on.

- Saddle slipping back – Amy is on the case and I have been invited to the workshop to take the saddle in for adjustments and review all the adjustments we can make to the saddle. I’ve also spoken with Zoe of Pioneer Endurance and she has recommended a CD Breastplate which sounds absolutely spot on for our needs.

- Eating drinking – probably both of us! I realised at the end that all I’d eaten all day was some lentil crisps – not really great. I had drunk x2 TailWind Endurance Fuel which meant 1lt of water and 50g of carbs + electrolytes but actual physical food in my stomach – not a lot. I was so hungry the day after I can’t tell you! I was more worried than usual in the holds and again with it being just a two loop and therefore only one hold there was only really one opportunity to eat.

Our next planned 80km is a three loop so hopefully I will remember to eat a little more.

For Spice, again, I think it’s practice and I’m confident he has learned a lot from this 80km. We will continue to bring out the buffet and I’ll definitely buy the rabbit hay again! For now though, EnerGex syringes are going to be fundamental. We used 3 for that 80km and I think we could easily up that to 4 or 5 for his next one if he doesn’t eat more in the VGs.

Spice has a physio session booked for Friday 28th (5 days later) and then is having a three-week holiday. This will be complete rest in the field 24/7 with no work at all. Our plan is the 80km GER at Kings Forest 4th June which is a good 6 weeks after this one. It means we will only need to do one canter training w/c 22nd May and he should be good to go :D