Show Prep for the Heat

This weekend is our second rated show of the season! With being gone last weekend and TC being a bit too lumpy to do much until Tuesday morning, show prep mostly happened in the evenings this week.

TC had an overgrown bridle path that needs trimming, his mane was way too thick last time I braided it so it needs to be pulled, he also grows feathers like he's part friesian or something. I also need to finish packing the trailer, put gas in the truck, switch out my hitch so I can give Andy his back, panic a little bit about having to remember three tests, and wash everything that I haven't washed yet.

We'll be in this arena this time (ring 2, which was not going on
last time we were there)

Plus, it is going to be 105 degrees on Saturday (only 90 on Sunday so I think we're okay for our 11:30 time at 1-3, just one test), so I need to figure out what to do heat-wise. PLEASE give me your holy-shit-I-might-have-to-ride-in-that-heat tips.

Here's what I've got going for me so far:

I got a small battery powered fan that clips onto the manger out of TC's reach. It's not very powerful, but I figure any increase in airflow inside the trailer is good. It's not a very far drive (30 minutes maybe) and I will leave his window down with just the bars so hopefully he gets some airflow that way too. I'm thinking about getting a larger battery operated fan to put on the outside of the trailer so he has some airflow out there too while he is tied between classes.

I also am going to get a couple more buckets for my trailer. He's going to have two buckets of cold water in front of him at all times, one with electrolytes and one without. I also will have a third bucket with an alcohol and water mixture (how do I make this??) so that it dries quicker than with just water.

I'm bringing a ton of ice, as well as a cooler with a bunch of ice packs too, plus cold water for me to drink. I haven't decided what to do about my show coat situation. I need to wear my back brace, and I guess I could wear my white one and put it over my show shirt... I think I might just wear my coat unless I legit think I'm going to die of heat stroke. Unfortunately I don't have anyone coming with me (who is dedicated to just me, I do know people there) to hand it to me... I dunno, will need to think about it.

Most importantly, we're going to be doing a ten minute warm up. He just needs to trot and canter and then go in. The training is there, no need to push all the buttons and exhaust him.

Um when is it cold again?

My first ride is at 12:30, which is a really shitty time. Luckily the heat here seems to be the worst around 4-5pm (the show is over by 2pm), so I'm really hoping that it's only like... 90 degrees when we ride. That's still INSANITY.

Here's my ideal plan:

8:00 - drive my car to the show to check in (less time for TC to be at the facility)
8:30 - check in
8:45 - drive home
9:15 - hitch up trailer
9:45 - hose off with cold water
10:00 - tie up under fan and braid
10:30 - hose off again with cold water
10:45 - put back in stall (which has fan) with some grain and pull trailer out of parking spot
11:00 - load into trailer, drive to facility
11:30 - park at facility and unload
11:40 - make alcohol mixture, then sponge off all over
11:50 - put on tack
12:00 - sponge off with alcohol mixture before getting on
12:10 - get on, walk to warm up ring
12:20 - walk over to the show ring, sponge off chest and between legs with alcohol mixture
12:27 - into the show ring

Afterward hopefully I can hop off and sponge him immediately, get him back to the trailer to pull his tack and sponge again. Then he'll have to hang out at the trailer, hopefully I can find shade, but if not, we'll go stand rudely in the barns or under some trees before having to get on again. I don't plan on warming up for my second test for longer than 5 minutes.

I've never shown, or even really ridden him, in this kind of heat. Please let me know what else I should be doing to help TC stay cool. I'm really worried about it and I will for sure be scratching if he doesn't seem right.

I kind of wish that I hadn't have signed up at this point, which is not an unusual feeling for me to have right before a horse show, but this time the tests aren't stressing me out, it's the heat!!

Switching Schedules & Summer Heat

TC used to board in a pretty warm area, given that you could get to the beach in an hour. But that heat is nothing compared to where we're living now. And it's not even gotten hot yet!

We may have hit the 100s for a week here and there, but we were in an area that always got windy in the afternoons and always got pretty cold overnight. So essentially, aside from a few days a year, if you rode at 7:30am or at 6:30pm, you were pretty good temperature-wise. 

I'm just now getting my first dose of the central valley heat up here- it was 95 for a few days last weekend- and I do not like it.

Summer means beach rides maybe??

Monday morning for the trail ride, it stayed nice and cool until the end (we finished around 11), then started to get hot. I had lunch with Kate where it was pretty miserable outside, then headed home and was going to ride TC when it cooled down.

It did not cool down. I got to the barn around 5 and it was 96, but there was no wind at all, so it felt much hotter. I hosed him down and went inside, thinking that I'd ride in the evening. It was still 89 degrees at 8pm when I decided to just go feed him and try again Tuesday morning.

This week is my first week doing my 9/80, where I work 9 hours a day Tuesday through Friday, and then have every other Monday off and every other Monday I work 8 hours. We do this through summer term since work slows down a bit. It's ten weeks, so five Mondays off! I decided to flip my schedule to riding in the morning for the summer too. First, that's the only time that it's remotely cool enough to work the horse and second, it means that I'll hit less traffic so the 9 hours a day doesn't feel so bad. 

Riding Tuesday morning (high = 97) was rough even at 6:30am! I was on by 6:40, started working him just before 7, stopped working him at 7:30, and got off of him at 7:45. By 7:15 it was in the 70s and the sun was beating down on us. And this isn't even the summer heat! 

Last summer, this place got hot but at least there was often wind

Luckily Horse Expo is happening soon so I'll be researching all the summer things. I have one pair of tights, that I was going to reserve for wearing on the hottest days or where I had to ride in the afternoons, though I think I may need more pairs. I definitely need to get a helmet with better ventilation (definitely need recommendations, I have a more oval shaped head so a lot of helmets don't fit me well, only the COs seem to and they're hot as hell). I think I'm going to nix the gloves for the summer too. They have holes in them where my reins go anyway so it's not like they're doing anything.

And then I need to figure out what to do with TC heat-wise. He's already on electrolytes so nutritionally I'm not worried about him. He also has a fan. I'm thinking about rinsing him off in the evenings when I get home from work, it's not the heat of the day but again, it's still in the 80s at like 7:30-8pm so I'm sure he'd appreciate being cooled down. 

Any summer advice for me and for the horse is appreciated! I'm more worried about him, as I live on site and can jump in the shower before heading to work.