Ridecamp: [RC] BSF 30LD

 We (Carol and I) went up on Thursday for the ride on Friday.

I had planned on riding both LD's, but as best plans go - we only
barely made it through the ride on Fri. Finished with about 45
minutes to spare.
Omni and   I did not have the best day. He was not in the best of
shape. I had thought he was  OK for a 30. I had planned on riding slow
with Carol and her horse - who had less conditioning days then Omni.

Well that was a mistake. Seems riding slow did create more problems then
it prevented. We had to make up time on the back half of the 15 mile
loop. NOT good when it was hot. He did not drink very well on this loop.

He finished but he was not right. Had it been a 50 I would have
pulled at the 30 mile VC. We took almost a full 30 minutes to recover,
we  messed up on the time, had a 58 at exactly 30 minutes after we
finished. NOT good planning. I was really beat also.

Guess it will take longer to get back in shape- for both of us.
So I pulled from day 2 and now only plan on doing LDs for the rest of
this year. We need LOTS more work.
I also think he has some problems with being one sided, guess he
still has latent issues also. So the chiropractor will be coming soon.

Now- Carol and Raz on the other hand had a GREAT ride. This was Carol's
first ride in well over a year. This was the horse that shied all the
time and dumped her a number of times last year. He was sent to 'boot
camp' with a local trainer Sue Turner, ( also a rider). She - 'de-shied'
his butt. Changed his bit and Carol has not been off him (dumped) all summer.
He has tried but she stopped him every time. They had about the best
ride in years. He did great with the heat and just kept on going.
Recoveries were great and he ate  and drank better then Omni. So she
has decided to keep him.. hehehe.
This horse is one of the 'naturals' He is so well balanced and takes
great care of himself, the type of horse I always wanted but never
had.. he is too small for me.  HE has NO problems with confirmation or
way of going, and never stops drinking or eating..just a natural
athletic horse.
On the other hand Omni has to be made- He has to to be managed from
our conditioning rides to the pre-ride to the ride itself. He take
lots of work to to get in shape.   I have to watch things like his
feeding program, shoeing and over all physical condition.
When the chiro comes out - Omni takes 45 minutes, Raz takes 5 to go
over- nothing ever wrong with him.
Guess I have to face it and go look for a replacement, at least one to
startup now.

Carol was in better shape then I was. She
was going to ride Sat- but woke up and decided she has too many stiff
muscles and was worried about riding poorly and causing a problem for
him. So she quit on a good note.
We loaded up and went home. When we let them out in the field they both
took off at a dead run and trotted sound. At least that was good.

We did the scales to see what they weighed. Omni was 1135 FAT before
and 1075 after -60 pnd loss - that was too much.
Raz was 960 to start and finished at 920, which per Dr Ken is about
right - 40 pnd loss. Shows the problem when a horses fails to drink
and eat enough.

It was really great to see all the riders again after not being to any
rides since Jan - expect Biltmore.. ( then that one rained all weekend).
We did not visit all over camp as is our normal MO, we just hung around
our small camp with a few friends we have not seen all year.
and drank a few beers..hi Howard!
It was great to be back.
The ride was  just great. Trails are nice but not real easy on Fri.
 Karen runs a super ride, as Tina said - it sure is one of the SE top
rides. There wont be enough room to park next year. I still have a
real problem maneuvering this truck and trailer.
Now its back to work and get ready for the Biltmore Fall 30 at the end
of Sept.
Roger Rittenhouse



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