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We Are Flying Solo

June 11, 2014

17 TFS Tips For Thriving In Southern Summer

B and Solo Trail Ride Dec 2013 crop
This past December...
Ah, Carolina summer, you have returned.  I noticed your chortling embrace when I took two steps out the back door & then needed to change my shirt because all of my sweat came out at once.

OH, BUT IT'S BEAUTIFUL IN MAINE TODAY! 

I can hear the gloating from you Yankees (hee), but I can take it:  I'll be enjoying my t-shirt XC school in February while your tears freeze onto your snow shovel.  I did my time.

For my compatriots who spent their younger years chipping vehicles out of solid ice blocks & kicking giant ice cubes in the shape of five-gallon buckets & dragging full muck buckets in sleds across snow...and bolted when they got the chance--

I wanted to share our tips for living and working (oh yes, I sweat & carry heavy things all day long and then come home and -- sweat & carry heavy things; it is possible that I am stupid.  Oh wait, I own a horse; scratch that: definitely stupid) in our "included free with purchase!" sweat box.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?  HELP ME!!!

If you (and/or your horse) are new to this dance with 100% saturated air that does not produce rain, you are probably staring with dismay at your car, a mere 100 feet away from your front door, perplexed as to how to get to it & still arrive at work without looking like you LITERALLY just stepped out of the shower -- a really smelly shower with no towel.

I promise, the first summer is the worst, but that is why I am here for you, & why you obviously make smart choices by reading this ridiculous awesome blog.  We can all learn by experience, but you aren't required to.

ALL YOUR PROBLEMS, SOLVED

Humans:

(1)  Take your time:  there is a reason we do everything slowly, including speech.  Moving quickly = more sweat.  Sitting in the shade drinking iced tea beer = less sweat.

(2)  Read this postCotton is NOT your friend.  Ever.  Unless you enjoy slowly suffocating in a blanket of your own perspiration.  Stalk those amazing technical fabric running shirts (bite me, equine brands who want me to pay $50 for a t-shirt, er, bless your hearts, I’m a “normal” person, not made of disposable cash), you can find them on sale at a myriad of sporting goods/outdoor retailers for $12 or less.

(3)  Read this post.  Oh, CoolMedics, bless your heart (practice this phrase, it allows you to say anything without actually insulting someone).  Evaporative cooling is indeed a sound scientific principle – WHEN EVAPORATION ACTUALLY OCCURS.  5000% humidity, not so much.  Thick layer of soggy textiles = misery.

(4)  I wear a handkerchief under my helmet.  (1) Stops profuse sweat from running into my eyes when riding (it burns us, precioussss!) and (2) when I pull off my helmet, I immediately put my head under the hose and soak hair & fabric.  I’m aliiiive!

FivePointsHT_1561 (Medium)
Jacket-free in the arena at Five Points HT
(5)  Speaking of helmet, you better still be wearing it!!  >:(  It also keeps the ticks/spiders/branches/bird poo out of your hair, as well as said sweaty, nasty hair out of your face.  Same goes for the XC vest.  At a certain point, it’s just bloody hot no matter what.  Never compromise your safety.

(6)  Speaking of attire, seriously, skip the butler jacket unless absolutely required.  I dehydrate FAST because I sweat a lot.  Even in my awesome wicky outfit, if I don’t follow my strict hydration rules & keep eating protein, I will throw up/pass out/prefer to die.

All of our competitions at CHP will waive jackets as soon as it gets steamy out.  In addition, at ANY USEA event where all three phases occur in one day, you NEVER have to wear a jacket.  A technical, tidy polo or show shirt of your choice is fine (it doesn’t even have to be white, *gasp*).  Read the rules 

If you stubbornly refuse to part from your black coat and come down centerline red-faced & drenched in sweat and then fall off after your test due to heat exhaustion, you do not look “respectful,” you just look (well, floppy & damp) not-very-smart and I dislike having to worry about the safety of fellow competitors (yes, I’m that person).

(7)  Never forget your SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN.  And a wide-brimmed hat with a mesh top is a wonderful thing in the sun when you are not mounted.

(8)  Permanently attach a water bottle to your body or the nearest fence post/jump standard/truck hood.  When I am doing field work & riding in the evenings, I can drink 3 L of water in one day & never have to pee.  It all comes out my pores (yes, I sweat like a pig, I don’t glow, I’m not a “lady”).

If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated.  I don’t even buy bottles smaller than 1 L – I keep about six in my refrigerator and refill & rotate (REUSE YOUR BOTTLES!).  I will also never again live without an icemaker in the freezer. 

(9)  Elaboration on hydration:  I have made a rule that when traveling to a competition or lesson, I must drink 1 L of water on the way there.  NO EMPTY BOTTLE, NO EXIT TRUCK.  It’s hard, but trust me, it makes a huuuuge difference.  The next bottle is half Gatorade (G2, less sugar), half water.   

Tip from an ex-semi-pro mountain bike racer & over-educated gym rat (ha, not me):  Sports drinks by themselves are too concentrated for your body to absorb unless you are performing at like a super-marathoner level.  Or riding David O’s circles of death.  Your metabolism changes modes depending on activity level & if you don’t cut it with water, you’ll just pee it right out.

(10)  Once you go outside, stay out there.  I find it much harder to go in & out of air conditioning, having to re-adjust every time.  I put on my super-wicking outfit, grab my armful of fluids, & I don’t come back in until I am done.  Naturally, frequent drink breaks in the run-in are highly encouraged!

Solo Yadkin 08 edit
2008!  Solo had a mane...in the upper Yadkin River.
Horses:

(1)  The hottest hours of our days are from 2-5 pm, NOT noon-1 pm (we like to be different).  I try to ride after 6 pm whenever I can.  That said, you DO need to spend some time riding in the heat to heat-condition your horse.  His metabolism can adjust, but to do so, he needs to do some work in the mugginess.

But I’m wayyy past the age where I feel driven to make myself miserable just because…why?  I’m not competing at any level at the moment, my TB does not need to work every. single. day. to stay strong and fit.
 
(2)  I hose my horse before AND after I ride.  There’s nothing wrong with tacking up a wet horse, he’s going to be sweaty soon anyway.  It is CRITICAL while hosing to constantly scrape water off.

Water is a thermal insulator & you can bake your horse in an aquatic oven if you just cover him with water & let it sit there.  The heat is then trapped in his body, which can cause metabolic distress in a big fat hurry.  As you scrape, you will notice the water you are scraping off gets hot almost instantly.

Keep hosing & scraping until that water is cool, especially big muscle groups, like his haunches & neck, & large blood vessels between his hind legs and on his chest.  You can hold running cold water on his jugular vein from his throat to his chest for a few minutes for systemic cooling.

(3)  Fans for everyone.  Small, medium, large, big-ass, plug-in, battery, solar, who cares.  We have physical battles over the space in front of/under the fan.  When in doubt, BUY MOAR FANS!



(4)  Not all shade is your friend.  I prefer open-sided (or 1-2 shade walls) shelters on top of a hill for the horses (breeze, if there is one).  Don’t let the woods lure you in; angry hordes of swarming, maddening vampires await (some call them deer flies).

Lawn Mowers June 14
I didn't want to mow, so I delegated...
(5)  Fly sheets are great…until it’s 102.  The fly boots stay on, but masks & sheets come off over about 85-90.  It’s just. too. hot.  Unless you jump in the pond.  ;P

(6)   Equine electrolytes, but not for the reason you think.  Just like humans, most of the time, the equine metabolism will just pee out the salts in any electrolyte you give him, whether it be paste, or loose salt, or licky blocks.  The important thing is, it makes him thirsty.

For heavy work such as competition, or long trail rides, I’ll give 1/2 a tube before the ride and 1/2 a tube after to encourage drinking drinking drinking.  The boys have access to their favourite pink salt at all times.  Lots of sweat is good – as you probably know, if you don’t see sweat, call a vet (it’s a poem!).

(7)  Horse not drinking as much as you’d like?  Make his water trough more fun – dump in ice, throw in some apples or carrots.  Moisture-rich snacks are welcome, like watermelon, cool beet pulp or alfalfa slurry, or freezer pops (hey, Pete likes them, except for peach).   

And keep it clean:  watch for algae build-up, food dribblers, unwelcome addition of poo (horse, bird, fish) or corpses (beetles, mice, raccoons…hey, it can happen).  If he’s in a stall, multiple buckets are always a good idea.

Now I need to go eat an ice-cream sandwich before I drag some pastures while profusely worshiping the tractor’s sunshadeLet me know how you beat the heat and still have pony fun!
Bonus if you know the movie

16 comments:

  1. Great post! Love the info on the hydration and electrolytes for the ponies :)

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    1. When I can stick to my rule, it totally means the difference between finishing XC feeling like I am about to die and finishing...feeling normal!! (note: WHEN. sigh.)

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  2. As a New Englander spending my first summer in Mid-Atlantic, this advice will come in handy! It may not be Carolina hot and muggy, but Maryland summers are definitely suffocating compared to my nice, temperate Maine summers...

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    1. MD does a decent job at humid -- DC is built on a giant swamp after all! I have several awesome eventing buddies up there and in NoVA and it can indeed get rather sticky!

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  3. Awesome post! I'm in New England so I get a break from the humidity most of the summer but born and bed in NJ.... Your tips on drinking before leaving the truck... I'm taking that one!

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    1. Glad it can help! Am LOL'ing at "drinking before leaving truck" -- I mean WATER. Now what you drink before you leave the start box is up to you, hee!

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    2. Grew up in muggy, humid NJ and now live in muggy, humid MO. At least now I have an air-conditioned home (yay, parents, teaching us the meanings of suffering and humility at an early age!) All of your tips are excellent and I'll have to remember the one about cutting Gatorade. Although I must say drinking it straight BEFORE I ride really, really helps me afterwards.

      The movie is "Airplane." :-)

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    3. And RW wins it for the movie title!!! :D And yes, you can drink it straight (along with the power gels) right before you ride, but make sure you chase it with at least 1/2 bottle of water so it can metabolize. This is what I have to do to survive David circles, LOL!

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  4. NJ can be wicked hot and muggy, especially the southern parts of the state (contrary to popular belief, NJ is big enough to have a North and a South).

    I try to do horse stuff in the early morning or early evening, however sometimes the evening is worse because the heat just sits in the humid air even as the sun is disappearing.

    The hose and scrape technique is critical. It is shocking how hot the water scraping off your horse can be.

    I use minimal saddle pads and watch out for materials that trap heat. Your disdain for cotton makes sense (it will not dry), but I have found that the wicking shirts hold odors pretty badly. I make sure that I am not upwind from anyone else enjoying the fan.

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    1. LOL, I guess I figure I'm tromping around piles of horse poo and dirty horses and sweaty people, so we all smell together. They wash well though -- although I do wash everything in cold water.

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  5. Tips for anyone wearing the moisture wicking clothes (aka Under Armor or Nike wear predominantly). As the mother of a now 17 year old son who is an athlete, I have chased the issue of washing it without it yielding the same smell immediately. There are two options: 1) Sports Authority and Amazon and running stores sell a specific wash detergent for these types of clothes and it works really really well or 2) you can add white vinegar (basic kitchen vinegar) to the wash (1/2C-1C) per load. If clothes don't smell clean when pulled from the washer (no body door residue), simply soak in a tub or bucket in a mixture of water and vinegar for at least an hour to overnight, and then rewash in washing machine. You can thank me later ;0).

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  6. Stupid typo - "body odor" not door....
    Sigh

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  7. I always forget sunscreen... and I always really, really regret it later!

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    1. I swear we put it on so often at work, it's a wonder I haven't just made a skin out of it! (that sentence didn't quite come out like I meant, oh well) I have stashed a spray bottle in the feed shed, which I don't normally use, but it is handy when I need to sit on the tractor for a few hours!

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  8. Loved this post! And the Airplane pic ;)

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    1. Heee, I just re-watched it last month, it never gets old: "Stop calling me Shirley!"

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