RE: Karen's Questions #8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

["Marci Cunningham" <mcunningham@calcot.com>]

8:  What do you look for in an endurance prospect?  Is size important?

Other than overall athletic conformation, I like to see certain bloodlines
in a horse's pedigree.  I am partial to Sierra Fadwah+/ as my experience
with his offspring has been very good.  The older I get the shorter I like
my horses.  Fifteen hands is an easy size for me to get on and off of.
Moonshyne and Koztarr are both taller than that and they seem to get taller
as the day goes on, Torch is 15 hands and stays that same size all day long.

9:  Do you lay off your horse after the season?

Out here in California we can go to rides 12 months out of the year if we
want to.  I usually don't do any rides in December but I don't totally lay
off my horses.  I gave Koztarr a couple months off 2 years ago and he got so
fat I thought he would explode.  Since I don't ride my horses that fast at
endurance rides I don't think they need as much time off as a Top 10 horse.

10:  What is your preferred plan for the day before the ride?

I used to never ride out on the trail after I arrived at basecamp but now I
usually go for a short, maybe 15 or 20 minute ride.  If I don't arrive early
enough to do that I don't loose any sleep over it.  I like to warm my horse
up by walking around for about 15 minutes before the start.  I try to stay
away from the start area and let the hot shoes start without me.  Then we
take off on our merry way at a relaxed pace.

11:  How do you deal with tie-up, thumps, dehydration, other metabolic
problems?

I deal with them by trying to avoid them like the plague.  I have never had
a tie-up at a ride, however one horse tied-up at home after too much time
off without any work after a ride.  On the first ride after two weeks off we
had a minor tie-up episode confirmed by blood work.  Now I try not to give
this horse more than a week off after an endurance ride.  I've never had
experience with thumps.  Another horse has had 2 metabolic pulls (in 1500
miles) which I attribute to my stupidity.  I now judiciously manage this
horse's feed and water intake with adequate electrolye usage and the
addition of beet pulp to his diet before and during the ride.  My mares take
better care of themselves than my gelding.  Anyone else had this experience?

12:  Favorite rides, positive changes in the sport?

I like multiday rides.  The old Capital to Capital ride in the '80s went
from Carson City to Sacramento (200 miles) over 4 days and was my first
multiday ride.  The middle two days were over the Tevis trail and at the
time I swore I would never be able to ride that stretch of trail in 24
hours.  Well, never say never, as I was able to finish Tevis in 1993.  I was
also able to ride the first Outlaw Trail ride and felt like a pioneer riding
those trails.  I'm glad there is so much information available for those
interested in learning about the sport, especially on the internet, but the
very best way to learn about this sport is at an endurance ride on the back
of a horse.

13:  How did so many of the early riders complete ride after ride without
the HRM, custom electrolytes, improved tack and advanced endurance research?

Although I am relatively new to the sport, only having started in 1983,  I
think the success of some early riders was due to their thorough knowledge
of their horses.  They couldn't rely on mechanical means to tell them about
performance so they had to rely on intuitive judgement though some of it
might have been dumb luck.  Have you ever found that sometimes the more you
know the more problems you have?  Sometimes I find my self wanting to adhere
to the KISS method (Keep it simple, stupid)  I first rode in my old english
riding pants with knee socks and tennis shoes and half chaps though I heard
many stories of men and women wearing pantihose under their jeans.  Maybe
some who rode in the 1970's can enlighten us.

Happy Trails to all,
Marci Cunningham
AERC 1455