It's About The Horse

ElaineW · Member Joined: 03 Feb 2009 Posts: 1465

Loving the updates Marty!!!

Malcolm · Member Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Posts: 135

Nice one Marty! I was into endurance myself for a couple of decades off and on. Now some of my friends have taken it up as novices after riding on some long trails that made them famous before they started racing.

http://www.theadventurists.com/th...erby/tales-of-adventure/joe-barry

http://www.barryarmitage.com/

Mandy'sMarty · Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:55 pm Post subject:

My ride card shows that we arrived at the finish at 11:05am. I quickly dismounted and walked Mandy over to the vet box. I pulled her tack and temporarily set it all on a nearby hitching rail made from a huge tree. I then turned and saw a ride volunteer watching us to see if we were ready to check Mandy's pulse. When we first started competing in endurance, I would take Mandy's pulse myself to be sure we were ready for the official check. Now I have an intuitive feel of when she's ready to be checked. I smiled and walked Mandy over to meet the volunteer halfway. She first checked Mandy's respiration and then practically gasped “She's only at 10! She's incredible!”

In spite of arriving at almost a gallop, it appeared that Mandy had not really been working hard. Pulse was then checked and Mandy was right at 60, the required rate at which the completion time was to be recorded. The clock was then at 11:11am. Mandy's official completion time was recorded at 2:51 and we were in 14th place. We walked over to the vets who then checked Mandy's vital signs. Once again she scored all A's. Finally we did the 'trot out and back' to check her soundness. The attending vet commented on how classic and perfect her trot appeared. Mandy was then officially graded as “fit to continue”. With that we had achieved the official completion for the ride.

It's difficult to compare ride times from different rides. The weather conditions, temperature, humidity, terrain and footing can be so variable from ride to ride. Back in 2009 when we started this sport, we were using the entire 6 hour clock allotted to complete a 25 mile ride. We were also competing at Longstreet's Charge and the GERA Ride at Dawson Forest, both among the toughest venues in the southeast AERC region. Back then, Mandy was much heavier. At the 2009 GERA Ride, she weighed in at 1125 lbs. before the ride and at 1075 lbs. right after the ride. She was also carrying me and my tack at a combined weight of 200 lbs.

Last Saturday Mandy weighed in before the ride at 954 lbs., including about 40 lbs. of tack. After the ride she weighed 895 lbs. without tack. That's 180lbs. lighter three years later.

We completed the GERA Ride last June 18 in 4:13 and placed 30th. The Yellowhammer Ride last October 1 in 3:08 and placed 16th. The Raptor Run last October 15 in 4:04 and placed 6th. And now the Camp Osborn Pow Wow on February 11 in 2:51 and placing 14th.

The conditions at this ride were excellent. The footing was almost perfect for a barefoot horse. Hard-packed sand/dirt roads, soft cotton field roads, and soft sandy trails. The terrain was slightly rolling open forest and expansive cotton fields. At the end of the ride, Mandy's feet looked like they had been polished. Her frogs had become rock hard. They were very different from the feet that had been living in a relatively warm, moist north Georgia pasture a few days prior.

I was very pleased with Mandy's performance. We had elected to start the ride and pace ourselves with two horse/rider teams that we knew from previous conditioning rides. With the confusion regarding the runaway horse just before start time, the three of us crossed the start line at the back of the pack of about 44 teams. There were perhaps six teams behind us at the start. Mandy immediately asserted herself and let me know that she wanted to run faster than our companions.

We had chased down perhaps 25 teams in front of us by the time we reached the finish line...at a canter! And within about 5 minutes of finishing the race, she was officially monitored at only 10 breaths per minute.

Mandy demonstrated to me, in this ride, what she can do when allowed to run the race her way...barefoot. On this day, there were no worries about throwing that front left hoof boot whenever she canters. We never had to stop to replace, tighten or repair a hoof boot. And we never lost time because of those hoof boot issues.

The only issue that continues to slow Mandy is running the race by ourselves. She still needs another horse ahead of us or with us to keep her surging down the trail. Perhaps another year's experience of endurance rides will help her feel comfortable running alone with me.

_________________
Marty

We must be willing to let go of
The life that we planned
So as to have the life
That is waiting for us.

~Author Unknown

Mandy'sMarty · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:32 am Post subject:

For ten days before the Camp Osborn Ride, I checked the weather forecast. It's funny now to think that I was concerned then about the warm temperatures initially forecast for that weekend in Sylvester, GA. I wondered how Mandy would cope with warmer temperatures while she still had such a heavy winter coat. Trimming her winter coat was never an option. She lives outside on a hilltop pasture 24/7 and I knew she would need some insulation to keep comfortable until spring officially arrived.

Saturday ride temperatures probably never got out of the 40's. The wind became an issue as the day progressed. As arctic air swept into the south, the wind was blowing constantly at 18 mph and more. For a while, it felt like it was blowing at 30 mph...particularly when we were riding into the headwinds across those open cotton fields. My eyes were constantly tearing throughout the ride.

Saturday night the temperature plummeted into the 20's. Water buckets and horse apples froze. I wore several layers of fleece to sleep inside my down sleeping bag and I never did get comfortably warm in my tent. Meanwhile Miss Bodacious was warm and sound asleep all night.

Fortunately, at the last minute, I decided to bring Mandy's fleece cooler along to the ride. She rarely gets to wear it. During the 50 minute mandatory hold midway through the ride, I removed all of her tack except halter bridle and covered her with that cooler.

After the ride, I immediately covered her again with her cooler. She was now shivering in the big muscles of her hindquarters. I massaged those muscles and eventually she stopped quivering. For some reason I then took her cooler off while I fixed her a mash meal and replenished her hay.

After giving her a full post-race body check, I grabbed her cooler and prepared to toss it over her back. She quickly moved away from me and we then went around and 'round in circles under the high line where she was tied. I soon realized that she did not want to wear her cooler. Perplexed, I stood back and gave her a look...and then I 'got it'.

She wanted to use her winter coat, but it was not pliable and fuzzy. Her thick coat had been thoroughly soaked by sweat and now it had dried into a stiff and rigid covering. She was not able to effectively manipulate the hair in her coat to create the loft of trapped air heated by her body that would help insulate her.

I combed her coat out with a metal shedder tool. She immediately transformed herself into a red fuzzy plush horse. Mandy spent the night without wearing her cooler. I think every other horse I saw that night and next morning at ride camp was blanketed.

Mandy was happy as long as she had hay to munch on all night. That became a challenge as the night wore on and the winds increased. As the hay flakes dried out, they began blowing away like tumbleweeds. It took me awhile to figure out that the solution was to drop a full tied-up square bale...not to cut the baling string nor break the bale into flakes.

Mandy during the mid-ride mandatory hold.

Mandy resting immediately after the ride.

Mandy's stiff and sticky coat immediately after the ride. Right side.

Mandy's fluffy coat after being combed. Left side.
_________________
Marty

We must be willing to let go of
The life that we planned
So as to have the life
That is waiting for us.

~Author Unknown

bit · Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 4356 Location: Kansas

wish I could give you both a huge hug and a high hoof! Wow, you must be so proud! She looks great! Congrats, and I'm filing the "don't cut the bailing twine" thang.
_________________
"It was once said I should clear my head for one cannot ride a Thoroughbred. Hot they are. And too fast they be. Forever on the fly. But I stayed the course and have no remorse. I love my off the track racehorse!"

Mandy'sMarty · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:16 pm Post subject:

One of my specific goals for the Camp Osborn ride was to test Mandy's ability to run barefoot and to test the health of her right front foot.

Since Mandy's return to endurance competition last June, we have experimented with different forms of hoof protection, and no hoof protection, and with limiting her speed in order to keep her hoof boots from coming off during a race.

At the Yellowhammer Ride on October 1, we arrived with Gloves glued on all fours. As we were walking up to vet in before the ride, one of her front Gloves came off. The adhesive had not bonded properly because of the temperature drop during the application 35 hours prior. I pulled the other front Glove off, put my spare Epic on one foot and borrowed an old Epic for the other. Mandy lost the borrowed Epic somewhere during the second loop, completing that ride barefoot on one foot.

RF Medial Side View. Borrowed Easyboot was lost during Yellowhammer 2011 Ride. It had been shimmed
with vet wrap and duct tape to snug the fit. Mandy ran half of the LD ride on this bootless foot.

I ran Mandy in the Raptor Run Ride October 15 specifically because the course footing was described as "little rock and generally good footing".
It turned out to be one of the most challenging rides we've run, particularly due to the harsh, rocky footing. Mandy ran very well that day and showed me she preferred running barefoot. However, her feet were battered. Self-trimming was evident particularly where her front feet were flared with some hoof wall separation.

RF Lateral Side View. Photo taken 10/24/11, nine days after Raptor Run.
Remnant black Vettec Adhere glue visible on hoof wall.

The footing at last weekend's Camp Osborn Ride was excellent for running barefoot. Minimal native rock and no harsh, loose gravel roadbeds. Very sandy soil mixed with red clay on road beds. Rich loamy soil on forest trails and trails across cotton fields. Occasional sandy beds.
At the end of the ride, I checked Mandy's feet and was impressed with how polished they appeared.

Note the shape of her frogs on her front feet. The left frog is more open at the central sulcus. The right front frog is perhaps slightly taller and it is beginning to show some bending over. I believe that this is Mandy's way of protecting the internal structures of her right front foot.

I believe that Mandy's right front foot had been compromised for years before I found her. She says it was from an injury to her navicular bone when she was two. It left her with a tiny bone chip that began floating around in her hoof capsule the year before we met. Although it probably was re-absorbed within a year or so, it apparently set up a pattern for Mandy to avoid landing heel first. It wasn't until her founder rehabilitation of 2010/2011 that Mandy re-learned to trust heel first landings. Proper heel first landing stimulated her internal structures of that right front foot to repair and remodel itself.

A couple of months ago I started riding Mandy barefoot on the very rocky terrain and gravel roads at Dawson Forest. I speculated that her feet were more concave during the moist winter months and perhaps better able to avoid the impact of rocky footing. I wanted to help accelerate the conditioning of her feet and internal structures.

Research by Robert Bowker, VMD, PhD indicates that the healthier foot has a digital cushion composed of fibrocartilage rather than fat and elastic tissue. He believes it is created by the correct stimuli, i.e., exercise. I intended to accelerate this process by riding Mandy barefoot on challenging footing and terrain.

Mandy has been telling me that her right front foot has indeed responded to this recent conditioning exercise. She says the digital cushion of her right front started to transform almost a month ago, becoming more fibrocartilage and less fatty tissue. I believe the different appearance of her front frogs illustrates how she is using her right front frog for more support until that digital cushion becomes denser and more supportive internally.

Left Front immediately after the Camp Osborn Ride Feb. 11, 2012.

Right Front immediately after Camp Osborn Ride.
_________________
Marty

We must be willing to let go of
The life that we planned
So as to have the life
That is waiting for us.

~Author Unknown

PasoBaby_CarolU · Site Admin Joined: 31 Jan 2009 Posts: 9038

Quiet an interesting thread Marty. Looks like she did real well and her feet now look remarkable. You've done a great job with her.
_________________
Carol Nudell
Corazon de Oro Paso Finos

"The path to your horse's heart lies through your own."

Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots. - Words of Wisdom - Mhar

‎"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss activities; Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Mandy'sMarty · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Carol. It's been quite an education. Mandy is quite a teacher. The lessons never end.
_________________
Marty

We must be willing to let go of
The life that we planned
So as to have the life
That is waiting for us.

~Author Unknown

HopeMissouri · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:20 am Post subject:

Fascinating. Thank you for sharing the details!
_________________

becky b · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:21 am Post subject:

I have enjoyed every word of this thread. I hope you will keep it going with other adventures you and Mandy share. You two make a perfect pair!

ElaineW · Member Joined: 03 Feb 2009 Posts: 1465

Very awesome thread! I also enjoyed the posting!

whisperingwindfarms · Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:00 pm Post subject:

I just have tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for being such a guiding light in listening to her and letting her tell you what she needs. I am in awe of both of you!
_________________
Erin

Visit my Blog! http://havesavvy.wordpress.com/

CoolsLadyInRed · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:02 am Post subject:

Really enjoyed reading your adventure! I can't add much to what everybody said

_________________
beth

bit · Member Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 4356 Location: Kansas

Rode with a lady that owns morgans today, and bragged on you and Mandy. She puffed up pretty proud when I told her about you all. Says a lot for the Morgan horse!
_________________
"It was once said I should clear my head for one cannot ride a Thoroughbred. Hot they are. And too fast they be. Forever on the fly. But I stayed the course and have no remorse. I love my off the track racehorse!"

sandra smith · Member Joined: 01 Apr 2011 Posts: 50

What a story. Makes me think of a friend who did competitive rides. She had to give up riding at 82 yrs. She had a fall and fractured a vertebra. That wasn't during a competitive ride she was just pleasure riding at that time.
Her mare won the Vermont 100 mile 3 day ride twice. The first time only a year after nearly dieing from diarrhea!!!

My hat is off to anyone who does this. You really have to be dedicated!!! Marty looks great. Her feet especially. You've certainly done a wonderful job with her.

Too funny about her telling you about needing her hair fluffed up to keep her warm. They are so darned smart!!!

Sandra