[RC] My Ft Valley ride - We were ADR... - Laura Hayes
After last week's third place and BC at Allegany
Shut Up and Ride, my mare ran around the pasture all week like a wild woman -
herding the youngsters and my two sheep, and playing the Boss Mare
role to the hilt. I feed her by taking her bucket to the field and she
eats while the others watch in envy - not daring to come close. It works
for this situation, but leaves alot to be desired in the management
area....especially if you have a hard to catch horse.
"E" had won and was BC at the Ft Valley 2/day
100 last year, and I love the trail. I thought it would
be a fabulous weekend, and we would enjoy the views, enjoy the company and add
another 100 miles to her record....
We had to run her down to catch her to leave for
the ride - the old Natural Horsemanship "keep them moving until they come to
you" game. She gets that about every 6 months. The field she was in
was 8 or 9 acres, but between my husband and I we managed to get her to give up
in 15 or 20 minutes, but she was sweaty under her blanket and breathing
hard. After letting her cool, we loaded up and drove the 7 hours south to
Virginia. My horses always travel with hay and water in front of them, and
she made good use of it all, getting off the trailer in her usual opinionated
fashion - twirling her head and trying to drag me around to get a good look at
ridecamp.
I got up throughout the night to check, water, and
walk her. At 2 AM I was letting her graze...she ate and dragged me- a
good sign, but had some loose manure. She doesn't normally do this even
when excited. In talking to my vet husband, we decided she may have had a
problem with the second cut grass hay I brought along. I had been giving
them some in the run in, but because there is still so much grass, they haven't
been eating it much. We decided to go ahead as all other systems were
saying go.
The first leg was 20 miles with the first 9 of
those being gravel road. She started much more in control than usual and I
was thinking it was the 50 miles the week before, or maybe, just maybe, all the
work I have been doing with her is paying off and she is learning. (BTW, at the
last ride, I had a friend tell me I should just let her run instead of fighting
with her to start in control.......good grief)
She went along well and drank more than usual for a
first leg. The rocks were atrocious and *I* was stressing over that, but
otherwise she felt great - very forward and willing with her ears up. At
one point someone lost their horse and it went trotting by us, riderless (it
came back and we got them reunited without problems) but "E" tried to bite
it as it went by - a typical move for this girl!
I was alone coming down the road into the 20
mile check and though she was moving right out, all of a sudden I thought she
felt a little off, but when we walked in, took a huge drink from the trough and
she was still at 72 heart rate - I knew she wasn't right. Mind you, this
was only two minutes into the gate, but knowing her, she would normally have
been at perimeters or below by that point. I truly believe she has one of
those *freak* hearts. In three minutes she was 60, but there was nagging doubt
in my mind already.
Her trot out was less than stellar and her CRI was
60/68. WHOA! She is a 60/56 kind of girl all day long!!
Suddenly I thought of the catching game we had gone through the day
before, resulting in a sweaty mare and the hay change- the
pieces fit.
A conversation with a friend the night before about
her horse being recently treated, kept playing through my mind..."I didn't
listen to all the signs" she had said, in a way that broke my heart. Well,
it made me listen. That was it. We were done.
Besides having a slightly painful splint, we were very definitely ADR - ain't
doin' right.
She was not eating much either, and had a 'sad'
look in her eye. Sigh....I felt like poop just thinking about how she
felt.
She is home now- we borrowed some course cut hay
for the ride home after she began to eat and perk up to normal. I can
see her out my window, in her field, herding sheep as I type.
People were so nice, but really, I was not 'really'
disappointed. I have read and written too many reports lately of WORSE
situations. The signs were there - we listened. We will be back
again on a better day. Listen to your horse. She/he speaks volumes in a
whisper.
