Getting a decent night’s sleep before an endurance ride can seem nearly impossible. Being away from your familiar bed is bad enough, but ride camp brings with it plenty of worries to keep you awake for hours.
Everyone keeps telling you how important it is to be well-rested so you can support your horse over the miles. But how? This post covers strategies and products for getting better sleep in ride camp.
You know the feeling:
The chatty group at the next trailer has finally wandered off to bed. Everyone’s lights are out. The temperature is finally dropping. You’re wearing your favorite pajamas. Still, you can’t seem to get comfortable.
You squint at your watch. Only 2:30? Also, 2:30 already?
You’re going to feel terrible tomorrow. Fifty miles on no sleep? Brutal.
Fifty miles. Is your horse ready?
OMG, he’s clattering his water bucket out there. He can’t be out of water, can he? Did he eat enough?
Yes, there, you can hear him munching. He’s okay. If only you could sleep…
Prepare Ahead to Reduce Anxiety
Often, the thing that keeps us awake in ride camp is a barrage of anxious thoughts. Will we wake up on time? Will we remember everything important?
Fortunately, releasing those worries is easy with the help of some simple tricks:
Set Two Alarms ~ If you tend to worry about oversleeping, set not only the alarm on your phone, but also a backup. I keep an inexpensive alarm clock in my LQ for precisely this purpose. I’ve never actually needed it, but it makes me feel better ~ especially on multi-days when my phone battery might run low.
Fill a Remember-Me Box ~ Ride morning comes with a lot of last-minute preparation. I tend to obsessively run through a mental to-do list overnight, so making a Remember-Me Box the night before relieves that stress.
A Remember-Me Box is simply a collection of items you need to use before mounting up in the morning. Mine always contains electrolytes, sunscreen, Body Glide, Desitin (to thwart heat rash under my half chaps), sunglasses, and Aleve. Knowing everything is in one place, pre-remembered, frees up my brain to settle into sleep.
Make Checklists ~ You can further offload planning energy by making lists for yourself. Even the simple things, like what you’re going to eat for breakfast, can be jotted down on paper and dismissed from your whirling thoughts.
Practice at Home ~ Think about what makes you nervous before rides. Do you tend to fret about using unfamiliar gear, like your camp stove or LQ heater? Is your horse hard to mount because she won’t stand still? Practice those friction points at home so they no longer worry you in camp.
Minimize Sensory Input
Ride camp can be a distracting place. Horses clatter their panels, rattle buckets and Hi-Ties, snort in the dust, and holler for their buddies. Riders slam porta-potty doors, run generators, and stay up for one more drink with friends. If you’re in bed early because you’ll be up at 3:30 to start a 100-miler, it’s probably still light out as well.
Below are my favorite ways to minimize these intrusions. Pro tip: Get used to them at home so they feel comforting and familiar at the ride.
Eye Masks ~ I love a good eye mask! The cheap ones are annoying and let light through, but a quality mask like the Sleepmaster is surprisingly comfortable, won’t tangle in your hair, and doesn’t shift on your face. If it’s not too hot out, this cordless heated eye mask feels lovely; try it if your eyes tend to get dry from dust and wind!
Ear Plugs ~ Those dime-a-dozen, compressible foam ear plugs are indispensable if you’re trying to get to sleep while other riders are still up. However, you may not like them if you’re worried about missing your alarm or sleeping through horse trouble in the night.
Sleepphones ~ As an alternative, consider cordless sleepphones (I like these by Acoustic Sheep). Made for comfort when lying down, they won’t block incoming sound, but they’ll give you something to listen to as a gentle distraction. Music, a sleep story, or guided meditation will give your mind something to do besides worry.
Practice Routines
Sleep experts talk a lot about bedtime routines. Obviously, being away from home has a way of disrupting our usual habits. There are things we can do, though, to prepare our minds to shut down when we need them to.
Here are some portable bedtime routines you can take to camp:
Meditation ~ Ride camp at 11 p.m. probably isn’t the place or time to learn to meditate. However, if you’ve practiced at home, doing a familiar body scan or breathing exercise can be just what you need to ease into sleep.
Early Bedtime ~ If you normally get to bed late, settling in at 9:00 in ride camp in order to get plenty of rest before the big event probably isn’t going to work. Consider adjusting your routine at home to prepare you for the schedule you’ll keep at rides.
Non-Alcoholic Nightcap ~ A mug of something warm and familiar makes a soothing bedtime habit. My favorite is Four Sigmatic’s Calm Organic Cacao, which is made with reishi mushrooms but tastes like Mexican hot chocolate. You only add ½ cup of water, so it won’t wake you up in the night to pee.
Replace Harmful Substances with Helpful Ones
As endurance riders, we’re always thinking about the impact of travel stress on our horses. We don’t always think about how that same stress plays out in ourselves ~ including how we may lean on substances to help us relax.
It’s not unusual for us to grab an afternoon soda or post-drive beer, or maybe nosh an extra stack of Oreos after dinner in camp. Unfortunately, while those treats may suppress our stress in the moment, they’re known to interfere with sleep.
Caffeine ~ Ah, caffeine. I have no problem using a well-timed, appropriate dose of caffeine to support the physical effort of endurance riding. However, too much Mountain Dew or iced Frappuccino on the hot afternoon before your ride isn’t going to help you sleep.
For most people, the half-life of caffeine is about six hours. If you have a whack of it at 4 p.m., 50% will still be in your system when you’re bedding down at 10:00. It won’t be completely out of your system until 2 in the morning. If you’re a slow caffiene metabolizer, it’ll take even longer.
Alcohol ~ I’ve been known to have an afternoon beer in ride camp to chill out after the long drive. I’ve also been known to have wine with dinner. However, the more I pay attention to alcohol’s effects, the more I realize how much it impacts my sleep.
Despite the common belief that alcohol helps us get to sleep, it actually just sedates us and lowers sleep quality. It’s common for people to wake up around 2 a.m. after a few evening drinks, due to the timeline of alcohol metabolism (not to mention its diuretic effect). There’s no worse time to deal with nervous thoughts than in the wee hours. Better to skip the booze and sleep through them if you can.
Sugar ~ Research demonstrates that excess sugar consumption leads to increased restlessness and decreased deep sleep. Eating sugar close to bedtime causes your energy level to increase when it should be dropping. Additionally, some popular sweets (like chocolate) contain caffiene.
Here are my favorite chill-out substances to use instead:
Four Sigmatic’s Calm Organic Cacao ~ This tasty beverage is an evening staple in the Sweaty Equestrian household. It’s made of reishi mushrooms but tastes like hot chocolate with a pinch of cinnamon, despite being low in sugar.
Reishi is an adaptogen that promotes calmness and is used around the world to promote quality sleep. Research on reishi is limited, but I can’t deny that the Four Sigmatic product does seem to improve sleep (as measured by Garmin and Oura devices) for me and Mr. Sweaty.
Unlike many reishi products, which taste quite earthy, this one is delicious. Think rich, Mexican hot chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. You make it with just a half-cup of water, so it’s not going to keep you running to the porta-potty all night.
If you want to try it, you can get $20 off your order for being a Sweaty Equestrian reader. The discount will work on any Four Sigmatic product, but if it’s the cacao you want, just type “calm cacao” in the search box and it’ll pop up.
Vibrant Blue Oil Parasympathetic Blend ~ This might get a little woo-woo for some of you, but hang with me. I’m not much of a believer in essential oils, but my personal experience with this product actually bears out its claim that its blend of clove and lime oils stimulates the vagus nerve.
Why should you care?
Well, vagus nerve stimulation triggers the body’s parasympathetic nervous system. This is the “rest and digest” mode that promotes everything from good gut health to quality sleep. Many meditative breathing techniques target the vagus nerve, and there are even devices that can be surgically implanted to stimulate it. It’s a thing.
The Vibrant Blue product is easy to use. Just dab a couple drops of the oil on your mastoid bone. That’s the hard lump of skull just behind your ear. You may find that it helps you sleep.
Also, if you tend to get constipated when travelling, it can help with that as well. Don’t worry ~ it’s not a laxative ~ it just signals your gut to keep calm and gurgle on.
My readers can get a bottle of Parasympathetic Blend for just $15.
Accept that You Might Not Sleep
Finally, try to let go of the pressure to sleep. Instead of getting more and more stressed as the dark hours tick by (OMG, I have to get to sleep NOW), accept that it may not happen. Go ahead and read for a while, or listen to music, or meditate without specifically targeting sleep. Maybe even go outside and sit beside your horse under the stars.
You’re going to be okay. Your circadian rhythm and adrenaline will take over come morning. You’ll forget all about the restless night and enjoy a fabulous ride.
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