RE: Pain Releif in Hard Rides

[Cheryl Newbanks <horsetrails@inficad.com>]

On Wednesday, January 06, 1999 11:20 AM, CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com 
[SMTP:CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com] wrote:
>
> Agreed about the going home to frolic in the pasture vs. going on another
> ride.  The problem is that with many minor chronic problems and often 
with
> metabolic problems, they "look" just fine on Monday.  If your horse needs 
the
> bute, you need to lay off at least a month to 6 weeks, IMO.  (I like 
intervals
> at least that long in first season horses, too, for the same reason...)
>
> Heidi

I agree with Heidi about time off.  After a 50, any 50 I give my horse 10 
days to 2 weeks off, mainly because there may be an almost injury that I 
didn't notice that this amount of time off would usually help.  For after 
25's I used to give him a week off when I first started him, but now that 
he is up to 50 the 25 distance is pretty easy for him.  Time off after 
rides is as important as the conditioning effort we put into our horses, if 
not more important.  I plan on riding Blue for years to come and I believe 
that with a good amount of rest after a competition we should be able to 
achieve that.

So forget the bute people, if you feel you HAVE to bute after a ride then 
you need to re-evaluate your program.  I also do massage, stretches, and 
rub legs down with linament after competition.  Good old fashion hand 
walking every few hours helps too.

                                  Cheryl Newbanks
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