Tassie First endurance ride back since EI

JILL SHEEAN - SASSAFRAS RIDE, 2/2/08

Well what a weekend.  Alot of laughs were had and tears were shead - but that is HORSES AND ENDURANCE for you!!

Overall I was  more than impressed with my boy - he was fast, fit and tried his heart out.  He came in 2nd middleweight with a time of 6hrs 3mins and got to compete for Best Conditioned. 

Unfortunately about an hour after best conditioned workouts he wasnt quite right and had a mild colic.  Heart rate was normal, temp, capilary, jugular, and gut sounds all normal at that time but he just wasnt comfortable.

I had the vet look at him and due to the fact that he was administered pain relief within 2 hours of vetting in I lost my place  - if another 18 minutes had past before he was given the shot he still would come 2nd LOL.    A little frustrating but as long as he got better I was happy.  That night he was stuffing his face with anything he could find and drinking normally again so was very relieved.

Arrived home today (sunday) and he is fully hydrated now and cantering around the paddock.  He has dropped absolutely no weight at all and even though we had a late disqualification due to his treatment I am still proud of his vet scores as he received all A's and 1'S except for one B at the end so he had all his vet checks with near perfect scores - so proud of him! 

We will see how he goes the next ride - there are a few things I will change for the more humid days and hopefully he will be great at Woodstock at the end of March!

He was ridden in 4 Bares.  A friend rode in epics - had one latch smash to pieces, one gaiter totally came off the boot and the boot flung off and is lost and another boot the gaiter broke as well - these were both brand new boots.  I have a suspicion the boot that came off was to big but I dont think the gaiter should have seperated from the boot???  I havent looked at the boot yet to see exactley what happened.  BUT she is still a boot convert and I think just needs better fitting! 

Good luck with the start of everyone elses seasons!

Comments

[Jackie Hooper]

Well done on what sounded like a great ride! Shame about the vet out, although as long as your boy is happy and healthy afterwards, that's all that matters :)

Re: the flying boots. I did a long, heavy duty trail ride last weekend and the horse I was riding was booted on all fours. The terrain was pretty rough and by the end of it I had smashed one Epic buckle and put a few holes through two gaiters, however all four boots stayed in place! I put this down to having a really snug fit. I would double check the fit of your friend's boots... And perhaps check too how your friend applies her boots? Sometimes if a person pulls on the gaiters to get the boot on, the inner gaiter material can pull away from edge of the boot (although it's not visible as the outside isn't torn, only the inside), hence once you get going there isn't much left attaching the gaiter to the boot. The outer material tears and bye-bye boot... If that makes sense...

All the best,
Jackie

[Amy Bray]

Hi Jill,
Just wanted to comment on the boots flying off. If your friend is not using the heel strap, this could be why the boots are shifting and ripping gators. I have a little Arab mare my daughter rides and she will rip a new gator in a heart beat the way she throws her feet at the trot. We had cut out the heel straps due to the difficulty of putting on her boots (it makes them VERY tight!). We now found out that she must have this strap due to the way she carrys herself. Try that and see if that helps.
Hope this helps.
Amy in NV

[Kylie]

hi Amy,

Thanks for that - she does have the heel strap in and unfortunately the person who fitted the botos did not size them correctly adn they were to big I beleive, so a new pair of boots lost on track down the drain :(