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RE: [RC] was rearing - now sluggish - Don Huston

Hi Mike,
I have ridden 5 different horses during the last 18 years on endurance and 25-30mi hacks. The ones that slowed normally on cooler days slowed even more on hot days and I was never worried because I knew their history and after walking a bit they would perk up even if it was still hot as long as they were sweating and not being ridden beyond their conditioning. Not perking up in 10-15min is my horse telling me something. I would go with your gut feelings, if you are concerned about how the horse is doing then check it out.
The last time (Jan.07) I pushed my horse, because I was being stupid and thought he was just being lazy during the last 5 miles of a 50, I almost caused him to colic. I felt like a real shithead. Poor guy had no appetite like usual and stood around looking like I had abused him which is exactly what I had just done. He was fine in about 4-5 hours.
IMHO horses do not lie. Some have less desire to push ahead thru heat and stress and it's up to me to read them and ride appropriately. Sometimes I get stupid and fail my horse. So far the damage has been minimal and I try to use those failures as warning signs for me to not get stupid again.
Another thing I do is experiment with different ways to motivate my horses. A light touch with spurs has always worked well until this latest guy I got from the track. He has minimal response to spurs. What will make him leap into action is a loud "haa" or a whistle or a crop. Can you say "loud bang of the starting gate" and "jockey with a crop"? Took me 2-3 years to figure that one out tho. The reason it is important to have a good "motivator" is to use it to test to see if my horse is recovering after walking a bit. If I am not over riding my horse he will jump back into action after walking for awhile. I try real hard to maintain that attitude in my horse but sometimes I fail like last Jan.
So...what I'm trying to say is ...I try to ride my horse such that he will perk up in 10-15 minutes of walking, not later. IMHO perking up later means I'm riding my horse beyond his conditioning or something else is wrong.
Don Huston

At 08:28 AM 9/13/2007 Thursday, you wrote:
Don,
 
Don't horses get poopy on hot afternoons of long rides, perk up later?
 

Regards,

Mike Sherrell
Grizzly Analytical
707 887 2919; fax 707 887 9834
www.grizzlyanalytical.com
-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [ mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Don Huston
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 12:01 AM
To: mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [RC] was rearing - now sluggish
Hello Mike,
Just guessing here and tossing around ideas. I would do some testing before I would push the horse. A complete blood panel including Lyme Disease to see if he has some underlying problem like low glucose or whatever. When he gets sluggish jump off and check heart rate (should drop to 60 in 10-15 min or you are riding him beyond his conditioning level) and respiration (if higher than heart rate he is having trouble cooling), check rectal temp (102 is max IMHO, 103 no more riding and start sponging down to 100). Also could be a low grade type of road founder where he is fine for a while then just won't move out. If you get him onto softer footing does he immediately go better? If so, he is telling you something. And of course there is what you are feeding him which I would not change until I got my vet's analysis of the blood work. Good Luck because it's always nice to have some.
Don Huston
At 06:37 PM 9/12/2007 Wednesday, you wrote:
Varies. Usually we go on big loops, like 5 miles across, so I'm not sure if he knows when we start to arc back. Also, it's been real hot lately, and I try to set it up so that there's breeze in our faces on the return, which is the hotter time of the day, so he's going to feel better on the way back. Further complicating, anything that gives him a spurt of adrenaline, including some kinds of stumbles, will crank him up. Actually he's usually but not always at his goingest for the first mile. But hard or gravelly footing will slow him down too.
 
I think he's conditioned well enough to go at a good gait for 25-30 miles in 7 hours (i.e., about 4 hours of gaiting, the rest walking or being led or just stopped). What I'm worried about is forcing him to go like that in the heat. My plan is to wait for the cool of fall and see how he goes; if he drags then I'll tentatively conclude it's not the heat and I can just force him on. The mares I had previously, about once every couple of years I had to really smack them on the butt with something like a crop when they started to drag; they were just checking that I might have gotten soft in my old age, and then they'd trundle along at a steady clip all day long, as long as it was level good footing, for another year or two. This gelding, though, I haven't done that to, as I'm still trying to sort out his psychology and physiology. It's different. I've only been doing these long, flat loops since this spring. Before that it was somewhat shorter out-and-backs, mainly.
Regards,
Mike Sherrell
Grizzly Analytical
707 887 2919; fax 707 887 9834
www.grizzlyanalytical.com
-----Original Message-----
From: mary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [ mailto:mary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 5:40 PM
Cc: mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: was rearing - now sluggish
.. ..  but is your horse sluggish when you turn around to head home?
Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif

Don Huston at cox dot net
SanDiego, Calif