Sloshing : In Endurance terms is when your crew hand up water to be poured over the horse whilst mounted out on course. It can be on the move or standing still at a crew point. Crew points are designated areas out on an Endurance circuit where your crew (a team of mobile grooms) can meet you to cool, feed and water the horse and rider. The crew can carry spares so if you lose a shoe or break a bit of tack they are allowed to help you when you are away from the venue but only at the designated points.
Sloshing is an important aspect of training the endurance horse because the more relaxed your horse can be about being cooled the better the recoveries will be, the less hectic your crew points will be and the more efficient you can become as a team. The way you train your horses to slosh and how you do it at competition will vary, dependent upon your personal preference, the amount of crew you have, what your horse is willing to tolerate and of course weather conditions.
It took quite a while for Tissy to be comfortable with a slosh, my crew used to have to bucket and sponge her instead at a crew point but we practiced hard because I knew I wanted to race at FEI level, and if you’re fighting for a placing, stopping on the last loop is out of the question and not being able to cool her would put us at a disadvantage.
Just remember that although this is how I like to train my horses to slosh, everyone will be different and I’m sure there are many other ways and loads of tips and tricks you can learn from other riders. So be sure to do everything safely with your goals in mind and good luck with the slosh training.
Beth Endurance 