Back in the saddle..

...and it feels great! I will get round to posting about the actual race day in Tarbes but first I wanted to update you on what has happened over the past two days.

Sunday I decided to put Czarko on the lunge to see how he was moving. At first, he was very lazy and looked slightly stiff but after a minute or two, he decided to let loose and was pulling me around! Once he had started to canter, it was very difficult to get him to stop - to say the least. Nonetheless, it did make me confident he was feeling good and that he had recovered well.



Following this, I decided to take him out for a short ride around the block on Monday just to make sure everything was well. Our 'block' consists of mainly road work and a soft track approximately half a mile long. We took it steady on the road and introduced what was meant to be a short, controlled canter on the soft track. On the transition to canter, Czarko had other ideas and decided to throw and massive shy at nothing. From then, he was on his toes the whole way down the track and was very much enjoying throwing his legs out in extended trot. He threw a stride of canter in every other stride of trot and it was an all round quite interesting and crazy ride - by this point I was quite sure that he was feeling good and ready to get on with the rest of the season.


I went to bed thinking about what to do with the rest of the season and woke up with a decision - Cirencester! I entered yesterday so we will be doing a bit of training to keep Czarko's fitness up and tackle the ride in a couple of weeks!

Friday 26th - Day of the pre-ride vetting

On this day the horses were fed by 7am so mum did the duties again and I brought her some breakfast at 8am when I got there instead of her coming back to the hotel to then go straight back to the venue. She stayed there along with Julie (Penny’s mum) and they groomed our horses for us so when we were to get them out, they wouldn’t be dirty (we were representing Great Britain you know! They weren’t allowed to be seen dirty!) Anyway, like the day before, we took the horses out for an hour’s ride but picked up the pace slightly doing some cantering in places. We managed to get further round the yellow loop this time which allowed us to see more of the terrain and what to expect. We picked up on some useful factors such as tracks with huge rocks and were able to avoid them on race day which undoubtedly in my case avoided lameness problems. Everything was going well until the end of our ride where something went wrong with one of the horses. Thankfully, the rider was very quick on their toes and recognised the problem straight away which resulted in it being sorted. This disturbed the mood tremendously as this was the day of the initial vetting and we were all unsure on whether the horse would continue. Nonetheless, the horse went back to its normal self and we are all able to relax (slightly) and crack on with the pre-ride vetting. 

All of the horses were bathed and put into their stables for the lock down between 12-2 which gave us all a chance to grab some lunch and get dressed appropriately for the vetting which was to be at 3pm. We all got back to the venue and started plaiting using red, white and blue ribbon to show our patriotic manner. All of the horses looked very smart and behaved well under the gazebos for the vetting and passed with flying colours. The horses were then taken off to graze in-hand for the rest of the day up until 8pm, so the rest of us got to work on preparing the vet gate and hold area. Philip and Sam (the driver) thought they would tackle my gazebo without using the instructions and quickly failed. Out came the instructions and my nanny and I came to their rescue by helping them with the assembly – a gazebo that decided it would fall apart at one side whenever you added another pole the other side. Once everything was where it should be, we had the all important riders meeting with the Chef and team vet. This was when we decided how we would start and ride the race. The decision was that we would start at the back to avoid getting caught up with the other riders and maximise the chance of breaks. Everyone was happy with the decision and felt more confident that our race would be under control rather than a mad rush. 

 

Stupidly, I got a mild case of heat stroke and started to fade away towards the end of the day. Looking back on things, I definitely got carried away with organising everything for the morning and did a lot of lifting and moving in the heat without drinking enough water which resulted in how I ended up feeling – s**t. I got a McDonald’s for dinner and retired back to my room quite early on to get an early night. Before I went to bed, team physio Lee Clark kindly strapped my hip up with Kinesio Tape in order to support it throughout the race. I had a disease in my hip when I was younger called ‘Perthes Diease’ which has resulted in me having a 4” pin in my hip ever since. This means I get a lot of pain in my hip which also shoots down my leg and the tape was there to just optimise support and do its best to minimise pain. Once Lee had finished, I got into bed, set my alarm for 3:30 and went to bed.

Thursday 25th - Day of the opening ceremony

Mum kindly offered to feed Czarko for me so she went off to the venue along with other selected crew to feed the horses by 08:00 while the rest of us had breakfast. When they had returned and had their food, we all went down to the venue to get the horses out of the stables by 09:00 to be walked around and checked by the team management. By 10:00, we had all tacked up and were ready to go out for a ride to exercise the horses. We went out for a hour and explored the start of the yellow (first) loop. We learnt a lot about the ground and what the ride was likely to be like. It was quite rutty and the first tracks were narrow and quite slippy but worse than that was that THE FLIES WERE AWFUL and driving the horses mad! Nevertheless the horses were all very well and happy to be out stretching their legs properly – some of their behaviour did make us wonder what kind of ride we were in for on Saturday, I for one did wonder whether I was likely to have any breaks at all... 

The horses were washed down and back in their stables for 12 noon for the stable lock down from 12-2. This gave us time to go back to the hotel, have a quick dip in the pool and get ready for the opening ceremony which was to be held in town at 4pm. We got back to the stables by 2pm to give the horses a chance to get out of their stables and check them over but by 3pm, they were back in again in order for us to get to the opening ceremony by 15:30. We planned to drive there altogether but there was a miscommunication which meant Penny and I along with our crew were left behind and had to follow a Swedish car there. Luckily the Swedish lead us right to where we needed to be despite the fact that the town was unbelievably complicated to navigate our way around. We found the rest of the team and made our way to the arena where we were parading. The temperatures were soaring and we were dressed in our team GB polos along with white jods and chaps. We paraded around the arena for what felt like forever and we all very uncomfortable with the heat. We had finished around 5pm but went back to the hotel for another dip in the pool to cool off due to there being another stable lock down between 5 and 6.

We ensured we were back by 6pm to get the horses out but what I saw when I arrived to get Czarko out was very shocking. He had been in the stable from 3-6 which was the hottest part of the day and the way the sun shone through the stable made it a sun trap with nowhere for him to cool down or get in the shade. What I saw was Czarko dripping with sweat from head to toe and he was not the only one – Lottie was like it too but luckily was not so sweaty. Fortunately, the other two horses were opposite Czarko and Lottie and therefore had plenty of shade to keep cool in. It panicked me quite a lot and I rushed him to the hosing area to cool him down. In the three hours he was in the stable, he was sweating that much and it just goes to show how hot it was out there.  

We kept the horses out as late as we possibly could to keep them out of the heat but due to the stabling rules, we had to have them back in the stables by 8pm and we had to be out by 9pm. Everyone individually went back to the hotel to get some food and I personally went out for dinner with my grandparents and my boyfriend along with his parents. My grandparents had arrived about lunchtime and we just about ready to have dinner when I was after changing hotel to be closer to the one I was staying in, and also because the hotel they were originally booked in to was not as they were expecting. We ended up going to get dinner at the new hotel they had checked in to which was walking distance away from mine which all went down very well.

Wednesday 24th - Arrival in Tarbes!

We met at the stables at 6am in order to feed and walk the horses and have them on the lorry ready to leave by 7am on the last leg of the journey to Tarbes. We saw the lorry off and went back to the hotel to pack our stuff up and get ready to go. We were hoping to pick up some breakfast from the hotel before we left but there was nobody to be seen so I had to settle with one breadstick for breakfast that I bought from a service station. The journey to Tarbes seemed very long but all of us riders managed to arrive at the hotel at about the same time. We checked in and dumped our bags into the rooms and then set off to the venue with hopes to arrive before the lorry. We went in convoy and initially followed Penny’s satnav but it somehow took us in completely the wrong direction. Failing this, we then changed the lead car to the Theodorous with Martin as the driver – they took us in a more accurate direction but still failed in getting us to where we needed to be. By now, we had wasted quite some time and the lorry had beaten us to the venue. In a last attempt to get there, I took over with my trusty phone and used google maps, success! We were only a little while after the lorry and the horses had been unloaded and were being walked around by the time we had pulled up.

Once the horses had stretched their legs and had a graze we trotted them up individually in front of the team vet, physio and farrier so they could check for any problems. All was fine and we moved on to get the horses checked officially before we could take them into the stable area. Once this was done, the horses were introduced to their stables and then moved into the treatment boxes to be re-hydrated. This was done to reduce any chance of de-hydration after hours of travelling they endured and give them the best chances of being in best condition before race day.

It was around 20:30 by the time we had sorted everything out and settled the horses. My crew and I were very tired so we decided to grab a McDonald’s and call it a night. My boyfriend (Dave) and his parents had also arrived on this day (actually before us as they got the 6am flight from Gatwick) so I met Dave at the hotel we were staying in, ate our McDonald’s and went to bed ready for what would be another relatively early morning.

Tuesday 23rd - Second day of the adventure!

Tuesday was an early start. We met at the stables at 5:30 in order to feed the horses and give them a leg stretch before loading them on the lorry for their long journey to Payre. Czarko was to be loaded onto the lorry first, I was quite apprehensive about whether he would load sensibly having always travelled him in a trailer but he did me proud and walked straight in. The rest of the horses behaved equally as well and we were on schedule to catch the 8:25 ferry from Dover to Calais.

 

The journey was successful for everyone and the majority of us arrived at the stables in Payre at approximately 19:30 after checking into our hotel. The horses arrived shortly after us at about 20:45 and we got to work on unloading them and giving them a walk to stretch their legs. Once we had fed the horses and got them settled into the stables for the night, we all headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back it was pushing for 22:00 and in the ghost town we were staying ...there were no restaurants open and the closest place selling food was 20km away! With that, I decided to go to bed after having no dinner. To make situations worse, the hotel we were staying had no warm water so I was welcomed to bed after a freezing cold shower. Nevertheless, the bed was comfy and I managed to have a good nights sleep.

 

 

Monday 22nd - First day of the Adventure to Tarbes!

I got up nice and early as I had a lot to organise before we left on our first leg of the journey to Hythe. Firstly, I went to the yard to feed Czarko and put him into the field for a couple of hours to stretch his legs before travelling to the lairage. I then had a few things to pick up such as some fresh apples and carrots to spoil Czarko with so I headed down to my local Sainsbury’s for some last minute shopping. While I was there, I managed to spot a new bikini that I just had to buy and also converted some pounds to euros.  

I then drove back to the yard where I got to work on bathing Czarko so he was squeaky clean for his adventure to France. It took me an hour or so to bath him and pack everything into the back of the trailer and then another half hour to make sure there was nothing I had forgotten! Finally, I was sure there was nothing else I could sqeeze into the car nor trailer and got Czarko loaded and were on our way by 11:00.  

Our journey to Hythe was very straight forward with one stop at the services and we arrived at the lairage at 3pm. We were the first ones there so had the first pick of the stables that were reserved for us. The stables were very spacious and the bedding very deep – Czarko was impressed and settled in very quickly.

 

 

Penny was the next to arrive with her horse Lucy an hour or so after us and while we were waiting for the other team members, we made good use of the tea and coffee provided. Eventually, everybody had arrived and the horses were checked by team vet Georgina and team farrier Glynn. It was when Georgina arrived that we were made aware of the fact that the other two team members Brett and Kate were not to be travelling with us due to their horses sustaining injuries. This was shocking news and set us all back however we pulled together and just accepted – it’s all part of being in the horsey world!  

Once the horses were walked, fed and put to bed, we all headed back to our accommodation (or tents for the Theodorous) and tried for an early night. Much to our disappointment, this was not to be! We had an almighty lightning storm what seemed to be directly above us and within minutes the streets were flooded. The constant banging of the thunder and the drumming of the rain woke me up at 2am and was enough to keep me awake for an hour or so. It was all very exciting for those of us that were in buildings and watching the display out of our window, however I’m not sure it was something quite so thrilling for the Theodorous who ended up soaked through!

 

 

This photo was taken on my phone at 2am when I woke up. The lightning storm was so bad that it lit the sky up like this to make it look like day-time when it was actually pitch black.

We are back.

After a very long and stressful week in Tarbes for the Young Rider World Endurance Championships, we are all back in one piece and just beginning to wind down!

Today is my second day home and I have just about managed to get everything back to normal. All the washing has been done, tidying up done and my first day back to work was yesterday so there has been no time to think about much. I am now sat down in front of the TV and have found a few minutes to digest just what Czarko and I have achieved. Needless to say, I am so proud of Czarko for keeping focussed and pulling out all the stops to complete the race with all the odds against us such as the humid weather conditions and nobody around us to give us any motivation. We finished 47th out of the 84 starters and were part of the nearly 60% to complete which demonstrates just how challenging to race was.

When I have a bit longer than a few minutes, I will write a detailed post about all my experiences in Tarbes to share with you...

We leave tomorrow!

I am finally settling down to TRY and sleep before we begin our journey to the Young Rider World Endurance Championships tomorrow. Today has been a busy day filled with:

Clipping - Czarko has been fully clipped to increase our chances of cooling him down as quickly as possible in each vet gate to get his heart rate down and in and out of the vet gate rapidly.

Packing - I hope I have packed everything! I manage to keep thinking of little things to add here and there but the bulk of it is done and ready to go to Dover to meet the other team members and go on the lorry.

Arranging: There has been some changes in the crew so it has been going around in my head 'who will be best to be where' and what crew I will have in certain places. I am lucky enough to be able to have a road crew and a vet gate crew reducing the chances of my crew not getting back to the vet gate before I do!

Buying - I went and spent out on bits and pieces such as a 'spare' girth and another girth sleeve along with john whitaker union jack brushing boots with the thought going through my mind 'it's a once in a lifetime opportunity - JUST BUY IT'. Not the best to have I must say but nevertheless, Czarko will look the part!

Stressing: It all sank in today that this is all actually happening and that we are leaving tomorrow. So stress is on board and hanging around for the journey by the looks of things.

This will be my last post until we get back from france as I will be very tied up with the ongoings over there, wish me luck!

Gallops Training

I mostly train across the New Forest as I have direct riding access from where Czarko is kept but we did venture up to the gallops by Stone Henge today to do some training. I found it difficult to find gallops close to us where the ground maintenance men were happy for us to train - apparently endurance riders like to go 'up and down' and 'make their job very hard'. 

Anyway after many phone calls I managed to find a suitable place to train...only 1 hour away from where Czarko lives. We were supposed to be training today anyway but I managed to secure last minute booking which was a lovely surprise. I had no experience of 'gallop training' before due to my difficulty finding a suitable venue so it was nice to do something new. 

The gallop was about 1 mile uphill so was perfect for cardiovascular training and it helped me work Carko very hard getting his heart and breathing rate up. This provided us with a perfect opportunity to monitor Czarko's pulse after every gallop. We were pleased to see that his pulse stayed at a steady rate and did not change after each time he went up.

As it was getting on for midday, we decided not to overdo it and took him up the gallop 6 times. My riding time was 1 hour so I came away feeling happy that this would improve Czarko's ability to climb hills as well as strengthen his breathing whilst traveling fast. 

30 degrees C and counting

It's still lingering! Impressive weather means we are still benefiting in training for Tarbes. Yesterday saw Czarko and I train for two hours in the New Forest with two crew stops. At both stops, Czarko's pulse was taken so I could monitor how well he was coping with the heat. It measured:
First stop: 63bpm (after two sloshes)
Second stop: 59bpm (after two sloshes)
We recorded temperatures of up to 31 degrees so was perfect conditions for me to be able to pick up on anything Czarko may struggle with. Since completing three 120km races this season alone, I am sure Czarko is fit enough to run the distance but what I am weary of, is how he will cope and recover in the heat. In order to increase his performance and recovery times, Czarko is to be fed supplements such as Protexin's 'Recover Aid' and 'Gut Balancer' to support him with recovery along with Science Supplements' electrolytes to replace what is lost through sweating.

We are both very thankful to the sponsors and are confident they will help us enormously in achieving as best we can in Tarbes!

Sponsorship!

Things are going well with regards to preparation for Tarbes. A massive thank you goes out to the following for their great support in the form of sponsorship:

Just Chaps (chaps)
Science Supplements (electrolytes & energex)
Protexin (recover aid & quick fix)
Hidez Suits (Compression Suits)
Pioneer Endurance (Bridle & Breastplate)
Toggi (GBR Clothing)
Chelwood Rosette Co. (Riding Tights)
Horsehage (Haylage)

All very much appreciated - here is Czarko wearing his Hidez Compression Suit and Pioneer Bridle...

Training update

Finally!! Britain has blessed us with some prefect weather for training, this heat wave could not have come at a better time! We have been told to expect temperatures of 30-40 degrees C in Tarbes for the World Championships so Czarko and I have been training hard in the heat to acclimatize.

On Friday, Czarko was lunged in an exercise sheet for half an hour and his temperature measured 37.7 (however this was measured using a new thermometer so I'm unsure how correct this was). I have been lunging him 2-3 times per week depending on my work schedule to give him consistant exercise.

Today we did 2 hours of canter training across the forest. I finished work at 15:45 and went straight to Czarko to make the most of the hot weather. I was delighted to find it was still 26 degrees C at 16:30. I was crewed half way by Mum so was able to take Czarko's temperature to get a gage of what he was running at. He measured 39.1 degrees C after a quick slosh which confirmed to me he was making the most out of the hot weather.

Furthermore, I have changed the pattern of stabling for Czarko this summer. Usually, he would spend the day in his stable out of the heat and would go out over night when the temperatures drop. However this summer, he has been staying out during the day to increase his heat tolerance with hopes that he won't find Tarbes to be too much of a drastic weather change. He seems to be coping with these alterations well and has been having plenty of electrolytes to keep him in good condition.

So far, I'm happy with our training and Czarko seems to be responding well to it. His muscle cover is continuously increasing and he seems to be more willing in himself every day - a horse that loves his job!

Shopping for Tarbes!

So... I know the stereotype for a horse rider is 'rich and posh' and well quite frankly, I wish this was true! But being a horse rider myself, I am proof that this is not so. I wouldn't say I am 'poor' or 'unfortunate', I'd say I'm just a bit pushed for money. However, I would like to take this time to thank my family for their incredible support over the years of my competing within endurance and other disciplines previous to that.

I am lucky enough that my mum sold her caravan in order for me to raise enough money to fund our trip to Tarbes for the World Championships this summer. I also received generous contributions from my Grandparents and my Dad for which I will be eternally greatful. As I work full-time, I do manage to fund my competitions each month throughout the year but I truly wouldn't have been able to consider this great opportunity if it was not for my loved ones, what a lucky girl I am!

After all of the hard work put in to raise the money needed (cake sale, selling old tack, selling caravan, endless hours working/overtime etc), Mum and I decided to go shopping today to purchase all of the things on my shopping list...and we did it in style!

 We were frantic about red, white and blue and managed to fill up the whole car with various bits and pieces. It's surprising how much can be spent in one day-although our justification was that "Czarko is worth every penny". We are sure we will be representing Great Britain in style, or we'd like to think so anyway!

Our Best Results

Race Rides only

10^th May 2013 – Royal Windsor Endurance 120km** Race – 7^th

13^th April 2013 – Haywood Oaks 120km** Race – 1^st

24^th March 2013 – Kings Forest 120km** Race – 2^nd

6^th October 2012 – Red Dragon 160km Race (2day) – 3^rd

16^th September 2012 – College Ride 100km Race – 1^st                                      

30^th June 2012 – Kings Forest National Champions 80km* Race – 1^st

10^th June 2012 – Three Rivers 80km Race – 1^st

1^st October 2011 – Red Dragon 80km Race – 1^st

30^th July 2011 – Cirencester Park 80km Race – 1^st

Czarko's Training plan

This is the training plan I have put together for Czarko between the Selections at Wimpole and the day we leave for France.

16^th June – Wimpole 80km

23^rd/24^th June – Lunge

25^th June – Ride (1-2 hours)

28^th June – Ride (1-2 hours)/gallops

3^rd July – Ride (2-3 hours)

6^th/7^th July – Long ride (3+ hours)

11^th July – Lunge

15^th/16^th – Gallops/Long ride

19^th – Lunge/short ride

22^nd – Lunge/short ride

I don't religiously stick to this but I use it to remind myself what exercise he needs to be doing each day. I find this useful to keep on top of his training other wise it starts to get difficult juggling full-time work as well as my commitments to Czarko's fitness. It is also good motivation - it is easier for me to stick to a plan rather than take each day as it comes (I'm very good at putting things off until the next day when coming home from work tired) If I went on this basis, Czarko and I would never have achieved what we have so far.

I have already strayed slightly from this plan...it is now the 5th July and Czarko has been lightly exercised every day for the past three days. Today will be his day off and we will be going to the gallops tomorrow for some respiration training. Another thing I have to consider is that we are due to have a heat wave this week - this is perfect preparation for France. I'm now having to think carefully about how to train in the heat to build up Czarko's tolerance. As long as I don't exercise him too hard straight away and just build him up slowly to get him used to it, I can then be confident he won't be out of his comfort zone on race day in temperatures we have been told may reach 40 degrees.

My First Post!

So here it is... I have decided to start blogging! My name is Lauren Mills, I am an international Endurance rider recently selected to represent Great Britain in the Young Rider World Endurance Championships 2013 in Tarbes, South France. I am aged 19, currently working full-time for SWAST (South Western Ambulance Service) as a 111 Call Advisor whilst living in the rural Village, Bransgore.

As an Endurance Rider, I recognize how interesting it is to read about what fellow competitors are doing so I thought I'd share what I get up to - not only with regards to training my horse Czarko, but I suppose with any other relevant life activities too.

I suppose I better expand a little bit on who I am and what I have done in my life so far. Well, I did all of the usual education (nursery, primary school, secondary school) right up to sixth form where I studied A-Level English Language, Media, Geography and Graphics. Ringwood Secondary school and Sixth form is where I chose to study along with most of my friends when we moved on from Bransgore Primary School. I worked with horses for approximately one year at a Private Yard before moving on to work in Haskins Garden Centre in Ferndown where I endured Restaurant and Customer Service duties. I left Haskins aged 18 after being successful in an interview with the NHS to work as an OOH (Out of Hours) Call Handler in the summer of 2012. SWAST then got the 'go ahead' to launch the 111 Service which gave me the opportunity to work in the Job Role I am now.

With regards to the 'horsey' part of my life... I was born into a family with a passion of horses so it was inevitable I was going to be an equestrian girl. Both my mum and nanny love horses and they have always been a part of their life so there was no getting out of it! I received my first pony at 5 years old from Father Christmas on Christmas Day - we did the normal duties of going to tend my mum's horses at the stables and there I found 'Dusty' in the stable next door to my mum's decorated in tinsel. From that day, I have never looked back and have competed ever since. I spent my junior years competing in Show Jumping, mounted games, eventing and was a member of the West Hants Pony club. I was very successful in my local area on my second New Forest Pony 'Sara' and got myself into the 'Bournemouth Echo' newspaper due to my victory at Ellingham Show where I won the Show Jumping class in a 'jump-off' in very testing weather conditions.

I came across Czarko three years ago though a family friend, Carole. I was lucky enough that in the summer of 2010, she decided Czarko was too much of a handful for her and she was not getting the best out of him. At this time, I wasn't looking for another horse as I already had an Arabian horse 'Messenger Man' that my parents had bought me from Ascot Sales to compete in Endurance with. However, for whatever reason, my mum and I decided to go and view Czarko and just fell in love with him. It didn't take much convincing and again, my parents were kind enough to buy Czarko for me (best decision they ever made!), and Manny (Messenger Man) went on to be owned solely by my mum.

From there, Czarko and I developed an instant connection and got on like a house on fire. We both enjoy galloping tremendous speeds and he settled into his new home with me very well. Of course, I had no idea what he was capable of or where we may be in three years time - being on the team to represent our country was a mere dream but hey, I guess we are proof that dreams really do come true!

Anyway, I think that just about covers it! I promise to try and remember I have created this blog and keep it updated with events, training and other activities I find myself indulging in. Bye for now!