The 2009 AERC (the national endurance club for the US) season has officially began. Farley, my 1999 (that would be a birthdate....) Arabian mare did herself proud at Death Valley 4 day LD ride and we start the season with 110 LD miles. She felt great the entire time, especially considering she had completed her first real endurance race - 55 miles - one month prior at Desert Gold in Monterey. The picture left is Farley and I completed day 3 at Death Valley, headed towards camp at Ballarat. I have great hopes for Farley, including (perhaps? maybe?) the Tevis. If she continues to stay strong this year, who knows? I have a 65 miler scheduled for 2/28/09. Here's the action plan:
1. Put weight on her. She was a BC of 5.5-6 2 months ago! what happened?! She's now a solid 4, which means I need 50 pounds on her. I floated her teeth 2 weeks ago and have been supplementing with beetpulp (and LMF gold when I ride) since December.
2. New saddle blanket. I have purchased a skito pad for her. It's a pricey endeavor (~150 bucks), but the Toklet woolback adds too much bulk under my leg (wide horse + wide twist saddle + bulky pad = unhappy mel...) and doesn't dry in between days at a multi day. So far I really like it. Here's a picture along with her new boots.
3. Interference fetlock boots for hinds. Farley demonstrated at DVE that she needs fetlock books for her hinds due to her taking large chunks when navigating miles over rough footing. I have had recommendations for Griffin boots (doesn't hold heat in), and so far I'm very pleased.I'll talk about Minx in the next post.....needless to say she is lame....AGAIN
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Just found your blog--can't wait to keep reading! My horse, Jasper, is also having a bit of a weight problem. Must be something in the air and/or water! Good luck! Also, vegetable oil with beet pulp is a very safe way to add calories to your horse's diet. Just acclimate to the oil slowly, as they can have a spot of diarrhea if you give too much too soon.
ReplyDeleteElly
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Thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteI love Beet pulp. I fed oil until about 6 months ago. Too messy and spoils in the heat (not that I would have that problem now). Right now I'm feeding a high fat feed (LMF gold) instead. So Beet pulp on the days they don't do anything and Beet pulp+LMF Gold on the days they do work. Seems to be working pretty well. I also got their teeth floated which I think will help. I took before and after pictures and will try and get a post up in the next month (once you can see improvement in the pictures) with what I did. Right now I'm feeding Beet pulp at 20% of TDR, I'm hoping to go down to 10% once they gain weight and are maintaining.
I think I'm on the right track. Minx (my hard keeper) is gaining weight nicely and is starting to get a good cover over her ribs. Farley is working a bit harder, but is gaining, albet more slowly. Farley is probably a 4.5 right now.... which I think is a fairly good result in 6 weeks of feeding, considering the amount of work she gets.