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[RC] Fwd: Fw: [FoxtrottersOfColor] Strider's first LD!! - DeAnn Schnepple


Forwarded with the permission of Amber Applegate.






From: "Amber" <rackinfool@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "DeAnn Schnepple" <endurancehome@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Fw: [FoxtrottersOfColor] Strider's first LD!!
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:11:52 -0700

Hey, just got back from the first ride of the season, and Strider's very first ride.

He turned four on monday, the 14th and we did the LD at Grizzly Mt. in Central Oregon on the 19th.

There were 54 starts in the LD. We finished 24th and our completion time was 3:35!! Woo Hoo is for sure!

Gads, this was the funnest ride yet. The RM had the trails marked absolutely divine. The course was easy, this is in the desert so I kept asking where the "hill climbs" were. At one point I asked a seasoned rider if there were any climbs and she said yes this is it.

Now as you all know, we have been training in MOUNTAINS up to 4400+ elevation, so I had to chuckle under my breath, but this was a perfect first ride for a young horse.

All A's and B's on the vet card. Took a little longer for him to recover at the end, eight minutes, and that cost us some placing.

Strider stayed in gait the entire time, learned how to canter, and we "Tried" to do some dogwalking, but he was not into it at all. He is very competitive. His HR stayed steady during the ride. It was just about perfect.

We met some fantastic riders and Sat. nite I partied hardy with four gals from the Portland area and we were screaming with stories and laughter. One was DeAnn, my partner in crime, literally!

I also was passing out business cards like hotcakes! You can't believe how many ppl want to know more about the TWH. Even the Vet asked for my card as he has a friend in Montana looking for TWH mares.

Gave some pony rides on Strider on Sunday, and that had lots of ppl taking note and of course the "gaited grin" prevailed.

Strider was an awesome ambassador for the Gaited breeds, and especially the TWH. He rode with his tail up as high as all the ayrabs and he just looked super! Everyone was quite impressed, especially me!!

I just can't give enough credit to the Ride Managers for putting on such an awesome ride. There were over 150 entries and everything went so smooth and everyone was in such good spirits, they served dinner and continental breakfast on Sunday, of which I am proud to say, I resisted the donots. I lost another two pounds, and really stuck to my diet. Except Sat. night when we all got drunk! Hey, I deserved it. Besides we were all laughing so hard, it worked off the calories of the booze. Dang we girls had a hoot!

the scenery was just beautiful. High desert with the many HUGE snow capped mountains all around us. Lovely, lovely, lovely!!

Okay, here is a downfall and one reason I think it took Strider so long to recover. He normally recovers in less than six minutes.

Remember a couple of months ago when he was "clogged" up? he was straining to pee? And we had the discussion on beet pulp?

Well, I took him off all beet pulp after that happened and he did not have it again until at the hold on this ride. I shredded up carrots, apples and soaked beet pulp in the morning and sent it out in my crew bag.

At the hold, Strider ate the beet pulp and I noticed at about the last four miles, he was wanting to stop and walk, then he couldn't stand being left behind and he would speed up. I started wondering about this, and just let him slow when he wanted to.

After completion and back in his corral, he started this straining to pee again. Two riders with lots of experience told me they thought he was tying up and to get him to the Vet. We went to the Vet and he said he is not tying up but is showing slight signs of colic.

Hmmmm. He gave him a shot of banamine and said that would relax his tummy. He said the stretching was not him trying to pee but trying to relieve the pain from the cramping.

Immediately the beet pulp became the culprit. Not since I took him off of it the last time has he done this stretching. Now with the beet pulp, doing the same thing.

That night while hootin it up, one of the gals told me that she knows three people whose horses were doing the same thing, not at this ride but some other time, and the light went on in her head that all three women are heavy into the beet pulp, and they had not a clue as to why their horses were cramping up, she too thinks it the beet pulp.

I will not feed it again to Strider. I kept thinking of what Truman said about seeing more horses having problems since we started adding beet pulp. Also, when Strider was first sick a few months ago, the first thing my Vet said is are you feeding him beet pulp? I said yes, and he said he sees more horses with this problem and all are on beet pulp.

So, just something to think about.

That was my ride and it was just a blast!!

amber

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