During the hold
The horse needs food and water, and so do you. Throw the water on the prepared bran mash, or dish out the soggy beet pulp. Add in the cut up apples. Now have a quick bite yourself, and something to drink. If you haven’t done it yet, lay away the rider card. Hit the porta-potti on the way to collect your saddle. Leave it upside down to dry a bit, or change saddle pads. Have something more to eat while doing this. Replenish water bottles (or switch to fresh full ones), add or subtract clothing, freshen sun block or repellent, and choke down a wedge of fruit.
With about 10 minutes to go, start retacking. Give yourself time to check gear, tighten the girth, add water bottles, replace bridle, and administer electrolytes if they weren’t in the mash. Get your helmet and fanny pack, mount up, and walk over to the Out timer area. Find your riding buddy, check the girth again, get the OK from the timer, and head out.
The next loop
Your horse will be much easier to control, you will know what to expect, and the second loop will be more fun. Keep in mind that your average speed may be slower, since you aren’t semi-bolting any more. It may also be hotter, or wetter, or have more climbing, or more rocky places, or once comfy clothes may start their attack. This is where the endurance part of endurance ride comes in. If it were totally easy, the six-year-old from next door would be here. But if you concentrate on the trail, and the remarkable animal under you, soon you’ll be back at camp. If you are doing the shorter distance, you are almost finished. If you still have more mileage, do the vet check and hold thing again, and keep on riding.
Finishing
For distances of 50 miles and more, when the horse crosses the finish line, the ride time stops. The horse still has to pulse down, and complete the final vet check, but the finish line is the finish.
Not so with limited distance rides. In order to discourage racing to the finish, the rule is that the ride isn’t over until the horse pulses down. Therefore, when you complete the last loop, you do exactly the same things as after the previous loop - sponge down the horse, untack if you wish, and present for P&R. This time, the “down time” will be the “finish time”. You can take your horse back to the trailer for untacking if not already done, and a bit of a washdown, or you can go directly to the vet check. When the horse passes the final check is the time to celebrate. Briefly.
And finally-
Now back to the trailer. Dump your helmet and fanny pack (aaah!), get something for the horse to eat, like another mash, get a bite for yourself, and then start cleaning up. Begin with your horse, of course.
The water you dragged to your spot yesterday has had a chance to warm up, so it will be fine to use - just avoid putting water on the large muscles of the croup and hips. If the weather is cool, drop a light blanket or fleece over your horse’s back, moving it for sponging as necessary. If you are going to use ice wraps, now is the time. Blanket or not depending on temperature, wind, and weather. After you get the horse cleaned up, freshen the hay, and deal out some more munchies.
Now clean yourself up - it will make you feel much better and is worth the effort. Even just changing shoes and socks will work a minor miracle. Comb your hair. Heaven!
And do something with the tack. At least pull the soggy pad from the saddle, and hang somewhere to dry. Wipe down bridle and bit, and any other pieces, and get them laid away. Dump the horse wash water, and leave the buckets to dry. This will make breaking camp later less of a chore.
By now, your horse’s legs are somewhat dry, so you can wrap with support bandages, if desired.
Finally you get to relax, chomp on chips, and swap stories with the other riders. And there are always stories. Check on the time for the pot-luck dinner, if there is one, then bring over your camp chair, eat and talk, and stand up with pride when you hear your name called for your completion award!