O'Leno ride, dehydration, easy boots

[Mike & Karen <mgehringer@marketshare52.com>]

O'Leno (a Florida CTR) was such a fun ride!  The weather was nice and
cool for this area and the trails were pretty.  My horse was happy to go
and I found myself grinning ear to ear heading down the trail.  What a
pleasure!  I was also very excited to win the Horsemanship award.  I'm
pretty new to distance riding and was just stunned to have that honor. 
Much credit should go to Becky Siler and Edie Whiting who have given me
many helpful tips.  People in this sport are so generous with sharing
their insights and it sure is appreciated.

My horse did have a slight bit of dehydration however.  This concerns me
because I gave her electrolytes (2 ozs enduralytes pre-ride, 4ozs during
the ride) and she drank really well.  Her pulse was 40 at the vet stop
and 40 at the finish. Seminole feed had a scale set up so I weighed her
pre-ride/post-ride and she lost about 50 lbs.  That sure seems like a
lot.  Any ideas on how to improve in this area?  The only piece of
advise that Susan G has given me that I've yet to implement is
pro-biotics.  Would that help?  She does poop a good bit on the trail.

Also, about these easy boot posts, I've used them for about a year
because no farrier was able to keep my horse from getting bruised soles
(unless she had pads on constantly).  My mare has kind of flat soles and
they stay too wet and soft here despite many different potions and loads
of dirt in her stall (she can't stay there all the time).  Easy boots
kept my horse sound.  However recently Anna was foot sore again and my
vet recommended shoes.  I have a new farrier so I thought I'd try
again.  He did a wonderful job and she moves better now than ever. 
Truly hit new speeds of trot I'd never experienced.  So my new opinion
is that easy boots are great but a good farrier is better still.

Karen Gehringer
Ormond Beach, Fl