Karen's EasyCare & Endurance Musings

Mt. Carmel XP, 2008

I'm leaving today to go to Mt. Carmel, Utah.  This is a 3 day 155 mile ride and I am bringing Chief.  It is a long way for me to go (600+ miles one way) with just one horse, but I want to give Tigger a bit of a break after Color Country.  He tripped and clunked something into a rock on the 2nd day, and while he was able to walk in the last ten miles and trotted out sound at the finish I think it's good for him to have a month off before returning to work.  Chief on the other hand, is... well... Chief --- he did three days at Color Country without any issues.  I don't know yet how many days he will do at Mt. Carmel because I have a couple of people bringing horses for me to look at.  I may want to try one or both of them out and ride them on the ride.  Won't know till I get there! 

Chief has been to Mt. Carmel several times.  It was his first ever endurance ride.  It is a really beautiful ride - very challenging at times due to the sand, and the climbs.  The country is gorgeous and it's just spectacular to ride through.  The top photos shows riders starting to lead down the "trail of death", which is really not that scary.  Click here to see more photos from last years ride.

Do you see the light?  I love riding Chief through tunnels! 

Skin pinch test not a reliable way to gauge hydration

The researchers found that the commonly used "skin tent test" (pinching up a section of skin to note the time it takes to return to its normal position) varies greatly according to the horse's age, the humidity of the coat, and the site of the skin tested. Furthermore, it has no significant connection with the actual state of hydration in the horse, according to the study.

Click here to read more on this topic at thehorse.com

Do you have a Plan B?

I always like to have a backup plan, and more often than not, a backup plan for the backup plan. It has come in handy many times.  Especially when something happens like your backup drive fails (good thing I had 2 backups!), or when the horse you were planning on taking to a ride the next week dings up his leg.  It's always good to be prepared for when things go wrong.  I always like to think that if I prepare for the worst, it won't happen.  And then if it does, I'll be prepared.  My horse Rocky started out as Plan B.  He is currently my highest mileage horse.  Then when I got Chief, we called him Plan C.  He will soon (knocking on wood) surpass Rocky in mileage and become my highest mileage horse.  Not bad for two backup horses!  Anyway, I thought this was a pretty appropriate quote.....

“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.”—James Yorke, mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist

Barefoot Mounted Police Horses - Houston, Texas

Here is a video of a couple of the Houston Police horses on patrol.  The Houston PD has one of the largest mounted patrol units in the country - and they keep their horses barefoot.  They also use EasyCare hoof boots when needed - click here to view a photo album, and click here to read more about their hoof boot use. 

Are you at 211° and don't know it?

The Difference Between Ordinary and Extraordinary?  It’s That Little Extra.

You've probably heard this cliché at some point or another. It's a cliché for a reason – it's true.

So if the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra, what exactly is that little extra?

Think about this… at 211° water is just hot. At 212° water boils and creates steam.

Steam is the power behind the locomotive engine and the power that brought American civilization across the western frontier forever changing America's destiny.  In this case 1° is that little extra that makes all the difference.

Click here to read the entire article. 

I'm looking for another endurance horse

I'd like to find another horse that I can ride endurance on.  Please let me know if you know of anything that might work, or know of somebody that does.  I really only have one good competing horse right now with Chief.  Tigger bucked me off at the start of Cuyama and I'm not yet decided on if I want to keep working with him, or let Dave Rabe handle him, at least for awhile.  Rocky will need a few more months to fully recover from his hoof issues and then he probably won't be doing much endurance.  Zenos is going to become a pleasure trail horse/ornament next door with my neighbor soon.  He is recovering from a paddock injury (vets have been unable to diagnose or fix, not for lack of trying) and I just don't want him doing endurance--he will have a great home where he is going.  I'll still get to see him every day too!  Below is a list of things I'd like to have in a horse: 

Requirements:
Gelding
Arabian
at least 5 or 6 years old
no older than 10
sound
sane
good feet
some conditioning and training
not the dominant one in a group

Wish list:
Short:  14.2 or 14.3 range
Chestnut or Bay (though for a good horse, I'm color blind)
Ready to complete slow 50's

I don't mind paying a fair price for the right horse, and would be a good home.  I want a horse that can do conservative, steady mileage - I'm not interested in racing.  Karen

We've been shake, rattling and rolling here in Nevada!

There has been a huge increase in the number of earthquakes here in Northern Nevada.   Click here for a local news article on the topic - we had a magnitude 4.7 last night at 11:40 p.m., followed by another 50 aftershocks.  I'm south enough of Reno to not feel most of them.  I have one overly sensitive dog that doesn't like the shaking and I'm quite certain the horses know as well.  They tend to stay out in the open more. 

I just took these photos of Rocky today.  I love the ear in the first shot!  I'll post more later about his feet and how things are progressing after his founder episode earlier this year.  He's been on a diet - can you tell? 

Get a FREE virtual assistant!

I have used Jott in the past, and signed up to give Sandy a try out.  Why not, it's free?  I think I do pretty good already with my Google and Outlook calendars (especially now that they sync together, and also with my phone) and email notifications.  I like how Jott works and have found it very handy on a few occasions. 

So anyway - check out this article here. 

One of my other favorite productivity tools is Spinvox.  Spinvox will take your voice message and converts them into text for you - then will email or text message them back to you.  It is fantastic!  I can get my messages much more often this way when traveling as a text message is often more likely to get through than an email or a voice message.  Lots of times I used to get a message that I had a voice message, but then did not have a signal strong enough to retrieve it.  Spinvox eliminates that from happening. 

Work From Home & Pass The Gas

Currently, only four percent of the U.S. workforce works from home, but research shows that about 40% have jobs that could be performed at home. Our analysis shows that if they did, these new teleworkers could annually save 625 million barrels of oil (roughly equivalent to 80% of our annual Gulf Oil imports), reduce greenhouse gases by 107 million metric tons of CO₂, and save almost $43 billion at the pump. Each worker individually would save 26 work-days and over $800 — time and money now wasted commuting. That’s the equivalent of an extra 5 weeks vacation a year!

Check out the rest of this article here. 

I'm fortunate to be one of those that are able to work from --- well, wherever I happen to be.  Especially if I have an internet connection.  I think that it is a huge advantage both for myself and my employer.  Because I don't have a commute time (does 30 seconds count?), I actually spend more time working and being productive.  I save a ton of money because not only do I not need to drive anywhere most days, I no longer go out for lunch.  Everybody benefits.   In this age of technology, more companies should be looking into allowing their workers to telecommute. 

Are you thinking about trying barefoot for your horse?

I've been looking through a lot of my hoof photos.  It's really encouraging!  Along the way I've learned a lot about horses feet.  I'm glad that I have, it's been a good experience and while I don't consider myself an expert on the topic, I can at least tell what a healthy hoof should look like.  I am always open to learning more and actively seek out the opinions of others.  I am willing to try new things even when what I'm currently doing is working if I've been presented with enough evidence that it might work better.

Cheefy has a new baby brother!

Isn't he the cutest thing ever?  Click here for more photos.

Update:  Congrats to Wizard Arabians - here is a link to the new foal's pedigree.  Click to enlarge.   Chief and Zenos are both excited to have a new baby brother!  I'd love for him to stay chestnut, but he'll probably grey out.  I guess that's okay, I've grown somewhat partial to grey horses.  ;^)   Can't wait to find out what his name will be - I kind of like Crystal's Gem. 

Vinyl fencing sucks for horses!

About the dumbest thing we ever did was replace our wood fence with vinyl.  It's got to be among the worst possible material for containing horses in.  In the winter when things are frozen, the horses need only to roll and bump into a rail of the fence to have it shatter.  When that happens, the shards fly everywhere - check out these that I picked up today after I removed the manure from the paddocks and dragged the fields with the tractor - these pieces just keep popping up (plus some are from recent damage as well).  The pieces are so sharp you could use them like a knife.  Imagine the damage they could do to a horse if they were to be stepped on, or rolled on? 

In addition to the fence rails breaking, it doesn't take much for the fence posts themselves to crack and come apart.  I guess you know it's time to replace your fence when it's held together by duct tape, eh?  My neighbors fence (also vinyl) is also experiencing the same problems with the splinters, fractures and broken posts. 

If you are looking into getting fence for you horses whatever you do look at choices other than vinyl.  It is just not reliable long term.  Even having hotwire on the top rail doesn't stop the damage - horses are still going to roll and knock into it here and there.  We have already replaced the paddock cross fencing with metal pipe - now we will need to do the same with some other sections  before my horses start getting out - fortunately the areas with the most damage are still within an additional fenced in area. 

 

Amazing Human Athlete & Boa Technology

This is an almost unbelievable story about an amazing human -- a long distance runner who has run 50 marathons in 50 days in addition to some other incredible feats.  In the article he gives some advice for pushing athletic performance from the unthinkable to the untouchable.

Reading an hour a day could change your life

Here is a nice post on how reading can improve your life, from the Positivity Blog.  I admit to having always been a bit of a bookworm.  Even from a very young age I think I've probably averaged about two books a week.  There are times when I may only make a chapter or two a week, but then other times make up for it.  I also like audiobooks and find them fantastic for those long drives to rides! 

I have a book list on the right hand side of my blog that shows some of the books I've been reading or recently read.  Sometimes I forget to add new ones, especially if they are audiobooks, as I can really zip through those with all of the traveling that I do.  I am fortunate enough to have a local library system where I can check out audiobooks for free at the rate of four every two weeks.  I also get books from audible.com, another great source. 

Speaking of books - two nice books that I've read recently and recommend to any horse person:

1)  Too Proud to Ride a Cow, by Bernie Harberts.  Bernie has a great sense of humor!
2)  Soul of a Horse, by Joe Camp.  Here is my review of this book. 

Good Foot, Bad Foot - Can you tell the difference?

Can you identify a good hoof?  Do you know what a good hoof looks like? Do you know the difference between a 'good looking' foot and a 'sound' foot?  Is there a difference?

Click here to read the entire article by Journeyman Farrier Keith Seeley. 

Check out these cool webcams!

Click here to go to a website that has a list of live webcams on the marestare.com website.  There are several mares expecting and some that have already foaled.

Quotation on Patience

The greatest challenge to the development of patience is being able to wait for the tangible evidence that your efforts are paying off.  We have a fixed idea of what we want and what it will look like when it shows up.  We hold that idea so firmly that often we are unable to detect that the very thing we want has actually arrived.  If it does not look the way we thought it would, or if it does not feel the way we imagined it would, we are unable to detect its presence.   Iyanla Vanzant

You can enter the EasyCare $10,000 Hoof Boot Contest for FREE! It's not too late!!

Here are the standings from this years contest so far.  It's not too late to enter - if you are participating in AERC or AERC endurance rides of any distance, with two or four EasyCare boots on your horse you can enter!  There is no fee to enter and once you have completed a ride and submitted your results to EasyCare you will be eligible for discounts and special promotions.  Plus you might have the opportunity to win some $$ to help with your ride expenses this year!  Last year the top 25 riders also received horse blankets, so even if you aren't going to ride enough to place in the top ten you could still end up on the receiving end of some really great prizes and awards.  Click here to go to the page to download contest entry forms. 

The current leader in the contest is Terri Tinkham, riding Oliver, who is a Tennessee Walker.  They are doing really well this year and have completed 665 miles so far in the 2008 ride season.  Last year they placed in the top ten AERC National Mileage and finished 2nd in the EasyCare Hoof Boot Contest.  Here is a photo of Terri and Oliver from the Color Country ride. 

Hoof Building, Tips on Protecting and Building Sole Callous

Benefit Raffle for Dave Rabe

Here is your chance to help Dave and at the same time win some really cool items!  There are lots of ride entries here (you can pick which region you are interested in), as well as many tack and other horse related items.  Be sure to check it out and please tell your friends!  One ticket is $5, and 6 are $25.  More items are coming in too!  Many thanks to Susan Favro from Healthy as a Horse for getting this together! 

Click here.

Back from Color Country

Chief and I had a terrific ride at Color Country this last week.  It is a three day 155 mile ride in Hurricane, Utah. 

Many times over the weekend were we told that "they don't call it Hurricane for nothing".  Yep, it WAS windy --you couldn't see across camp at times.  Reminded me of the windstorm we had at Death Valley a couple of years ago. 

Turned out though that the first day of the ride in the wind was really very nice.  It kept the horses cool, and that was by far the easiest day of the ride.  We had a great time riding with Tigger and Dave Rabe.

The second day was also a nice day.  However, the wind had died down and it was getting warmer - almost too warm.  The horses both did well, and we took our time and enjoyed the day.  The sky was so blue that some of the colors almost seemed unreal next to the orange, red, purple and white colors that we rode through. 

After finishing on day 3, we were greeted warmly (moreso than normal) by the finishing committee.  Turns out that AERC was doing drug testing and lucky me - I won the lotto!  Yep, I was one of five lucky winners to be given the opportunity to donate two vials of blood from my horse.  Chief didn't seem to mind being a pin cushion after finishing what turned out to be by far the toughest day of the ride, and the hottest.  We had a really nice ride though, and Chief did great in the heat - it sure helps that he's dropped a few pounds and is a little thinner.  (though still not thin, for an endurance horse)

Updated EasyCare catalog off to the printers

The newest version of the 2008 EasyCare catalog is off to the printers.  It contains a few updates and will be available soon. 

To download a copy in .pdf, click here.

There are lots of products in there ranging from EasyCare hoof boots to items to help with natural hoof care as well as accessories like comfort pads and replacement parts.

There are also lots of great products for the trail horse and rider - everything from EZ ride stirrups to nice comfy sheepskin saddle covers to stowaway saddle packs, gear and a wide range of accessories. 

Don't forget that EasyCare offers a 30 day money back guarantee on new hoof boots - so you can shop with confidence.  Now is a great time to look into natural hoof care and weighing the benefits of keeping your horse barefoot and using boots when they are needed. 

Horse Quotation

Amazingly fast, incredibly strong, tirelessly proud, fantastically gentle, he is a huge dark beast that touches the hearts of all who meet him.

He has known joy and violence. Felt the warmth of children and the cruelty of abuse. He has nearly died saving lives and merely been killed by a drunken act. He has known the finery of grand estates and the filth of stinking slums. He has survived fire and flood, starvation and torment.

And nothing could break his spirit-or his great love.

This is HIS life.

He is called the horse.  - Anna Sewell

Are you E-addicted?

Here is an article to read if you'd like to find out!

Color Country Pioneer Endurance Ride

I'm on my way to the Color Country endurance ride today.  It is in Hurricane, Utah.  This is a really nice ride in great country.  We get to ride past dinosaur tracks as well as quite a variety of terrain.  One of the nicest ride photos I have of Chief was taken last year on this ride by Steve Bradley.  Here is a photo album of a previous ride.  This is one ride where I have ridden all of my horses on and it is so easy for me to get out there and shut my eyes briefly and remember all of the great memories I have of those rides. 

Speaking of Chief - we have been adding him to the EasyCare website in multiple locations with more on the way.  We created a character of him, called an "avatar", and have been having a lot of fun with it.  Be sure to check out the new talking Chief on various pages.  I'm not sure I would always really want to know what Chief would say if he could talk but I do know that he is very happy going down the trail in his hoof boots! 

2008 Cuyama XP Results

Here are the daily results from the Cuyama Oaks XP ride.  If you notice any errors please let us know asap.  Thank you! 

Photos from Cuyama.  The ride was extremely gorgeous this year.  The wildflowers were so colorful, what fun and how lucky we are to get to ride through them for hours with our best friends.  :) 

Next XP Ride:  Mt. Carmel, May 3-5, 2008, Mountain Region - Mt. Carmel, Utah.  Another really colorful ride.  Click here to see photos.

Info on the EHV-1 Outbreak in Canada

Click here to download the pdf of this information about a recent new type of EHV outbreak in Canada. 

Win an Easyboot Bag!

Only a week left in this blog contest to win an Easyboot bag.  These are useful for a lot of things!  This is the only way to get one of these right now too!  I used one at Cuyama to hold trail marking ribbons in when we went out to mark trail. 

Animals are 'stuck in time'

Here is an article from Science Daily titled:  Animals are 'Stuck In Time' With Little Idea Of Past Or Future, Study Suggests.

So what do you think?  I think the horses are really good with their 'clockwork' as in they always know when it's feeding time.  I try not to feed them at exactly the same time each time but do like to spread out two or more feedings a day at fairly regularly intervals - so they aren't going more than 8 hours at a time without food.

Now the dogs are a different story.  They also do seem to know when it's time for certain things.  Sometimes I think they know that it is the 'weekend', even though I am sure the concept to them is totally incomprehensible.  Yet when we have left them for extended periods (more than a day or two at a time) they seem to hold grudges.  They get over it, but sometimes I think they want to convey to us that they were quite upset that they got left behind and didn't get to go. 

Raffle to help Dave with expenses from accident

Susan Favro from Healthy as a Horse is helping put together a raffle to help Dave Rabe with expenses and getting back on his feet after his terrible accident a couple of weeks ago. 

If you would like to donate an item for the raffle, please contact either Susan or myself no later than April 9th so that it can be included and we can start selling raffle tickets.  Tickets will be able to be purchased directly from the Healthy as a Horse website and will sell for $5 each or 6 for $25.  Every cent collected will go directly to Dave. 

Once we have everything set up and the tickets available for purchase we will post more about it on the various internet lists as well as here in my blog.  This will go a long way to help Dave out and he will no doubt be surprised that so many people want to help him out.  Many have generously contributed to the B of A account that we started from donations collected at the Cuyama ride.  (THANK YOU!)   

Dave has done a lot to help out many, many riders as well as dozens of rides and ride managers over the years.  He is always going above and beyond to help with marking trail, clearing trail, hauling water, unmarking trail as well as always stopping to help anybody that needs help on the trail.  He has also helped countless riders with their Easyboots -- we will be sure that there'll be Easyboots (and several other EasyCare products) donated to the raffle.  Hope you will buy some tickets and win something! 

Chief Trotting in Hoof Boots

I made this video a couple of days ago with Chief.  He has been doing well so far this ride season and we're getting ready for the Color Country pioneer ride this next week in southern Utah.   

Charter Cable Outage & Cell Phones

On Friday afternoon our cable was knocked out due to an accident.  It affected 36,000 people, I was one of them.  No cable internet, or TV, and it even takes out my VOIP phone for work.  Fortunately it occurred at 4:45 p.m. so the workday was mostly over. 

I was able to finish up a few things offline Friday evening and one of them turned out to be pretty cool.  I've had my new phone for a couple of months now and am still learning about all of the cool things it does.  It does so much that it can be rather complicated at times and I still don't entirely have it figured out.  Last night I figured out how to do voice tags - so that I can activate it to call somebody by voice, and/or open a program by telling it to.  In order to do that I just have to push one button on the phone, or else one on my bluetooth headset.  Pretty cool! 

I have to admit that I am already getting pretty spoiled using this thing with the touch screen on it.  I've had a friend ask me to h