Re: RC: Caradeno SO

[owens <owensall@sierranet.net>]

Dear Lari;
Thank you so much for writing about Deno.  I had no idea that there was
any sort of "rumor mill" about him, and so I am glad that I opened the
Pandora's box on this.
My question on his whereabouts was simply due to trying to keep tabs on
him for his former owner, who loved him dearly.  She had to sell him due
to circumstances beyond her control, after bringing him along correctly
to be the champion he became.  When she comes to visit next week, I hope
to have lots of e-mails from people who have known this great horse.  It
would mean a lot to her.
Katee
> 
> It's great how endurance folks care about our endurance legends!  To set
> rumors at rest, let me tell you about Caradeno.  After completing about
> 2600 miles of competition  in 50 and 100 mile endurance races under five
> riders since 1991, he has WON 7 big  races, came second on five more, and
> placed in the top ten on 85% of his races.  Since I bought him in 1994, he
> has completed twelve prestigious races, winning three of them, coming
> second by a minute on two others, and placed in the top ten on all his
> races except one on which I voluntarily stayed with my daughter, when her
> horse coliced in the middle of a 100 miler.  Caradeno lost 2 1/2 hours of
> riding time, but still placed 15th out of about 60 horses on the Swanton
> Pacific 100.
> 
> In 1996, Caradeno was primed to do the Race of Champions.  He was bathed,
> braided, and blanketed to put into the trailer, then put into my outdoor
> riding arena with Chardonnay, another ROC champion, so he wouldn't get
> dirty overnight.   When I led him out the next morning, he was dead lame at
> the walk, clearly the victim of a kick.  Dr. Bob Shugart suspected it was
> on the outside of his right hind, on the side of the cannon bone.  I loaded
> him up, since I was filled with diesel  and everything, and took him to Dr.
> Kerry Ridgway's, where we were already planning to spend our first night on
> the road.  Kerry couldn't determine what was the matter, or fix it.  So,
> the next morning, I trailered him to Dr. Jamie Kerr's, who had sonographic
> and radiographic equipment.  Jamie also couldn't determine the cause.  I
> left Caradeno there, and drove on to the Race of Champions to volunteer to
> help Susan produce the race, and to deliver Chardonnay, who top tenned.,
> leased to Brazil.  Picked Caradeno up on my way home, still lame.  A couple
> weeks later, after pasture rest, he was 100%.  Brook Sample, from
> Australia, had leased him for the Kansas World Cup, and came 6 weeks early
> to get to know his horse.  For the first 3 weeks, all was well.  Then
> Caradeno had a "hitch to his 'git along".  We still put him in the trailer
> to go to Kansas, hoping he'd recover on the way.  Not to be.  He vetted in,
> much to my surprise, as he was clearly off on the right hind.  At the first
> vet check, he was pulled, although very much better than he'd been the day
> before, pre-race.   Hey, these things happen!   And Brook was a complete
> gentleman and horseman, taking the vissisitudes of life with perfect
> composure and concern for his horse.   The whole way back to California, he
> continued to minister to his horse, massaging and walking and etc him as if
> the big competition was yet to come.  After a few weeks off, Caradeno was
> sound again, but I continued to have him monitered and treated, not knowing
> for sure what had been the matter.  In the spring, Dr. Bob Shugart saw him
> again, pointed out the outside splint that had developed on the right hind,
> and reckoned that he'd been right all along......Caradeno had been kicked
> by Chardonnay the night before loaded into the trailer.
> 
> The next year, Camilla Johansoon, an exchange student from Sweden, rode
> Caradeno to a top ten finish on the Lake Wahsoe 100.  Later in the season,
> Susie Morril from Oregon duplicated the feat by finishing top ten on a big
> 100 in Oregon.  She volunteered to ride him in the Cosequin Challenge when
> I refused to lease him to a foreign rider who would not "obey" my
> instructions to ride for a completion, not a top ten.  Unfortunately, Susie
> and Caradeno pulled at 55 miles with a stone bruise on the left fore, in
> good company, as only 22 out of about 80 some horses completed.  He was
> left "back east" because an "off shore" buyer was interested in him at mega
> thousands of dollars.  This person did not buy him, but you all read about
> Linda Cowles' rides on him last fall......she really enjoyed the horse, and
> told it like she felt it.   Caradeno spent the winter at my fiance's 150
> acre paradise pasture in Pennsylvania.  This spring, folks emailed me about
> buying him, and I offered a month long free lease to try him out, excluding
> competition, at 10% of his previous asking price.  The prospective buyer
> decided not to try him, after hearing through the "grape vine" that
> Caradeno was questionably sound.
> 
> My reason for writing this missive?   To let everybody know what's
> happening with Caradeno, because this terrific horse doesn't deserve the
> gristle of the rumor mill.  Will he stay sound forever?   I have no idea!
> Is he capable of winning any given endurance race on any given day of the
> year? YES!!!  Why am I selling him, instead of semi-retiring him for use at
> my vacation ranch?  Because he is not happy on a "rent string".   For an
> experienced, relaxed rider, he is a pussycat.  I ride him on a loose rein,
> I mark trail with him, I saw branches above his head and let the limbs fall
> on his neck.   Susie,  Camilla, and Linda do the same.  But if a novice
> rider gooses him with a heel.......he's gone.  If a tense rider clutches
> him with his knee.....he's gone.   My hope for Caradeno is to partner with
> a rider who wants to experience what the BEST has to offer.  I want someone
> to enjoy this  horse as much as he has the potential to be enjoyed.
> 
> Lari
> 
> Lari Shea                                       http://www.horse-vacation.com
> Ricochet Ridge Ranch                    Riding Vacations on the Mendocino Coast
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