CREWING
Having a crew is a great way to include your family & friends in your hobby. Crew basically are you & your horse’s helpers for the day. They will assist you at the start with taking the horse to the vetting (if there is one for the class you have entered) help you to tack up & get you to the start line. Once you are on course they will drive around to pre-arranged points to meet you to offer your horse a drink & to cool it down. They should also make sure the rider is well hydrated & comfortable. At the finish the crew will help to untack & prepare the horse for the final vetting.
For the pre-ride vetting you & your crew should take your horse & your vet sheet with sections 1,2 & 3 already completed to the farrier to have his shoes checked. Riding barefoot or with hoof boots is permitted. If your horse wears boots they must be removed for the farriers inspection. The farrier will then tick the box on your vet sheet to say he has seen the horse. Then you go to the vetting area where the vet steward will tell you where to stand. Only two people are allowed to accompany each horse into the vetting area so if you have a large crew some will have to watch from behind the ropes. Give your vet sheet to the vet writer & remove any rugs from the horse. The vet will have a quick look just to check the horse is in a suitable condition to attempt the distance you have entered. When asked to trot either the rider or the crew can trot the horse but whoever is doing it should be wearing the number bib. Trot the horse in a straight line all the way to the cone, walk around the cone then when your horse is in a straight line facing the vet ask it to trot again. Don’t hold the lead rein tight, it needs some slack so the horse can move its’ head naturally.
After vetting leave your vet sheet with the vet steward & take the horse back to your trailer to be tacked up. Once ready to start give your start card (given to you by the ride secretary) to the starter. These are used so organisers know exactly who is out on course at any time. Don’t forget that you & your crew must start your stop watches (or check the time if your not using a stop watch) as you pass the start line. Once you are out riding the crew will drive to ‘crew points’ to meet you. Crew Points are often suggested by the ride organiser but be aware there are sometime areas were crewing is prohibited due to lack of parking or other reasons. Don’t let your crew go to a non-crewing area as you will be eliminated. non crewing areas will be made clear in the ride details posted out to you. When you arrive at the crew point the first thing to do is let your crew offer the horse a drink. This can be either plain water but sugar beet water is also popular. If you have a large crew it is often better if other jobs such as sloshing are not done for a few seconds as if too much is going on it can discourage a horse from drinking. Be careful of what design of bucket you use, some buckets with metal loop handles can be hazardous as your horses’ bit could become hooked onto them. Once your horse has his had a drink sloshing can begin.
Sloshing involves pouring cold water over the horse to cool it down. Old fabric conditioner bottles are popular for this. Sloshing must be practised at home prior to your first ride. Most experienced horses love a slosh but don’t expect a novice to understand what you are doing. Remember that the clock is still running whilst you are crewing so although it is great for the horse to have a ‘pit stop’ don’t stand there for ages.
When you arrive back at the finish take the time card from the time keeper as it will tell you when you have to go to your vetting. Your crew should have drinking water, cooling/washing water, a sweat scraper & rugs ready by your trailer. Untack the horse & offer him a drink. Drinking is an absolute priority so encourage him to drink by not attacking him with sloshes, sponges or anything else that might put him off. Some horses are fussy about what they drink. You may have to try different things before you find your horses favourite. Asking other crews what drinks their horse prefers is a useful way of getting ideas. The horse then needs to be cooled & made comfortable. The amount of water used for cooling varies enormously between horses & depends on weather, distance travelled & many other factors. Pour water onto your horse & let it trickle down so it runs off his tummy. Put your hand under the tummy so you can feel the temperature of the water coming off. If the water is warm put more on, if not then you probably don’t need to put any more on & you may need to consider putting a lightweight rug on. If you have a stethoscope or heart rate monitor use it to check what the heart rate is. Some horses change very quickly & can go from too hot to too cold in a matter of minutes so ask your crew to be very aware of how your horse is & keep checking him constantly. If your horse has got muddy then give him a clean so he will feel better & so the vets can see the mud is not covering anything up. During this time it is important that you keep any eye on the clock. You have to present your horse back to the vet with 30 minutes of finishing. If you present late you will be eliminated. A couple of minutes before you need to present to the vet just have a steady wander over to the vetting area, don’t do anything suddenly or your horses heart rate may start to go back up. Take a rug with you to the vetting, just in case. One of your crew must speak to the vet steward & inform them your horse is ready to be vetted. If there is a queue or if horses in a longer distance class are there they will get priority so you may have to wait but as long as you have informed the vet steward you are there within your 30 minutes, you won’t get eliminated for vetting after 30 minutes.
The post-ride vetting is exactly the same as the pre-ride vetting.
Once vetting has been completed take the horse back to the trailer & allow him to eat & relax. You must wait at least 30 minutes so the results can be calculated before you can claim your rosette so let your horse have a munch on the grass & perhaps a little wander around to keep him comfortable. He may still keep cooling so keep checking him as he may need more rugs.
Crewing is great fun & a brilliant way to learn more about horses. All crews are very friendly & will be keen to offer advice to new novice crews. If you are new to Endurance offer yourself as a crew to an experienced rider, you will enjoy the day & learn enough to start you off in Endurance.
For the pre-ride vetting you & your crew should take your horse & your vet sheet with sections 1,2 & 3 already completed to the farrier to have his shoes checked. Riding barefoot or with hoof boots is permitted. If your horse wears boots they must be removed for the farriers inspection. The farrier will then tick the box on your vet sheet to say he has seen the horse. Then you go to the vetting area where the vet steward will tell you where to stand. Only two people are allowed to accompany each horse into the vetting area so if you have a large crew some will have to watch from behind the ropes. Give your vet sheet to the vet writer & remove any rugs from the horse. The vet will have a quick look just to check the horse is in a suitable condition to attempt the distance you have entered. When asked to trot either the rider or the crew can trot the horse but whoever is doing it should be wearing the number bib. Trot the horse in a straight line all the way to the cone, walk around the cone then when your horse is in a straight line facing the vet ask it to trot again. Don’t hold the lead rein tight, it needs some slack so the horse can move its’ head naturally.
After vetting leave your vet sheet with the vet steward & take the horse back to your trailer to be tacked up. Once ready to start give your start card (given to you by the ride secretary) to the starter. These are used so organisers know exactly who is out on course at any time. Don’t forget that you & your crew must start your stop watches (or check the time if your not using a stop watch) as you pass the start line. Once you are out riding the crew will drive to ‘crew points’ to meet you. Crew Points are often suggested by the ride organiser but be aware there are sometime areas were crewing is prohibited due to lack of parking or other reasons. Don’t let your crew go to a non-crewing area as you will be eliminated. non crewing areas will be made clear in the ride details posted out to you. When you arrive at the crew point the first thing to do is let your crew offer the horse a drink. This can be either plain water but sugar beet water is also popular. If you have a large crew it is often better if other jobs such as sloshing are not done for a few seconds as if too much is going on it can discourage a horse from drinking. Be careful of what design of bucket you use, some buckets with metal loop handles can be hazardous as your horses’ bit could become hooked onto them. Once your horse has his had a drink sloshing can begin.
Sloshing involves pouring cold water over the horse to cool it down. Old fabric conditioner bottles are popular for this. Sloshing must be practised at home prior to your first ride. Most experienced horses love a slosh but don’t expect a novice to understand what you are doing. Remember that the clock is still running whilst you are crewing so although it is great for the horse to have a ‘pit stop’ don’t stand there for ages.
When you arrive back at the finish take the time card from the time keeper as it will tell you when you have to go to your vetting. Your crew should have drinking water, cooling/washing water, a sweat scraper & rugs ready by your trailer. Untack the horse & offer him a drink. Drinking is an absolute priority so encourage him to drink by not attacking him with sloshes, sponges or anything else that might put him off. Some horses are fussy about what they drink. You may have to try different things before you find your horses favourite. Asking other crews what drinks their horse prefers is a useful way of getting ideas. The horse then needs to be cooled & made comfortable. The amount of water used for cooling varies enormously between horses & depends on weather, distance travelled & many other factors. Pour water onto your horse & let it trickle down so it runs off his tummy. Put your hand under the tummy so you can feel the temperature of the water coming off. If the water is warm put more on, if not then you probably don’t need to put any more on & you may need to consider putting a lightweight rug on. If you have a stethoscope or heart rate monitor use it to check what the heart rate is. Some horses change very quickly & can go from too hot to too cold in a matter of minutes so ask your crew to be very aware of how your horse is & keep checking him constantly. If your horse has got muddy then give him a clean so he will feel better & so the vets can see the mud is not covering anything up. During this time it is important that you keep any eye on the clock. You have to present your horse back to the vet with 30 minutes of finishing. If you present late you will be eliminated. A couple of minutes before you need to present to the vet just have a steady wander over to the vetting area, don’t do anything suddenly or your horses heart rate may start to go back up. Take a rug with you to the vetting, just in case. One of your crew must speak to the vet steward & inform them your horse is ready to be vetted. If there is a queue or if horses in a longer distance class are there they will get priority so you may have to wait but as long as you have informed the vet steward you are there within your 30 minutes, you won’t get eliminated for vetting after 30 minutes.
The post-ride vetting is exactly the same as the pre-ride vetting.
Once vetting has been completed take the horse back to the trailer & allow him to eat & relax. You must wait at least 30 minutes so the results can be calculated before you can claim your rosette so let your horse have a munch on the grass & perhaps a little wander around to keep him comfortable. He may still keep cooling so keep checking him as he may need more rugs.
Crewing is great fun & a brilliant way to learn more about horses. All crews are very friendly & will be keen to offer advice to new novice crews. If you are new to Endurance offer yourself as a crew to an experienced rider, you will enjoy the day & learn enough to start you off in Endurance.