Joe Rich Ramblin

So far it's been ..interesting

2011-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

My son Jesse decided this year he wanted to ride endurance on his petite 11h pony - so we've been working on that. Our 1st outing of the year didn't go so well - Rock Creek 25 in May. It was wet wet wet- unfortunately my horse took a bit of a tumble, and I chose to RO at the midpoint. Sadly due to Jesse being 12, he and his supoer pony had to RO out as well. Our 2nd outing went much better. We

Omega 3 for the Endurance Horse

2011-01-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'd like to wish everyone the best in the New Year ! May your horse be swift and sure throughout the season~ Now onto business! Omega 3 for the Endurance Horse I find that KER is one of the best resources available today for the endurance horse owner and rider. They do the research and we are definitely the ones that benefit. One of the more interesting studies they have been working on

Arabian Silk - Horses of Endurance

2010-12-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

Arabian Silk - Horses of Endurance Gypsy Moth Productions. A post a tad off the beaten path today, as I've been meaning to write about this DVD for a week or so now. I ordered Arabian Silk in the beginning on November. Since I have absolutely zero skills in time management and was wanting to watch it RIGHT NOW!. I ended up emailing Christine Lazzarini, the producer. I must say, I

Vitamin E and the Endurance Horse

2010-12-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

The role of Vitamin E in the Endurance Horse. Endurance horses have a required need for fast recoveries, good body condition and overall health due to the specific demands of the sport. In order to achieve this, we as owners and riders need to stringently evaluate the horse diet and consider whether or not the horse's dietary needs are being correctly met. One of these dietary needs is Vitamin

Feed to Succeed:Supplements for the Endurance Horse

2010-11-24T10:44:00.000-08:00

I adore the Kentucky Equine Research Institute. Yesterday I attended a webinar by Dr. Kathleen Crandell, discussing the 10 major concepts of feeding the performance horse. I also had to admire her patience, as storms were causing her some (most likely) truly annoying technical difficulties. I'd still like to thank her for donating her time ! For many years, I found I'd settle down to read about

How Important is Your Pit Crew?

2010-11-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

I've rode many a ride and distance without any pit crew at all. However as life and the sport gets more competitive I find myself wondering exactly how important is your pit crew. Take the recent debacle in NZ, where riders were not permitted to

Glycogen Sparing Effect in Endurance Horses or Feeding Fat to the Endurance Horse

2010-11-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

There have been several studies done on the addition of fat to endurance horse diets. Fats can be useful in 2 ways. Up to 30% of a horses total diet can be fats, or 20% of concentrates. 10% total is the most common baseline that is followed, as higher percentages are sometimes refused by the horse due to texture and taste issues. Commonly fat has been added to a horses diet for 2 reasons.1. To

The Cost of Transport in an Extended Trot

2010-11-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

This is a more in depth commentary on my original blog post The Big Trot in relation to the Endurance Horse.A study: S. J. WICKLER, D. F. HOYT*, E.A. COGGER and R. MCGUIREEquine Research Center and Departments of Animal and Veterinary Science and *Biological Sciences,California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California 91768, USA.The thesis of the paper was done with a core group of

Ulcers in Endurance Horses

2010-11-09T08:43:00.000-08:00

One subject that seems to come up less often than others is the topic of ulcers in endurance horses. One vet I questioned, went so far as to say that 'If a horse has ulcers - he shouldn't be doing endurance.' Fair enough - I do understand the logic in the statement.However that outlook isn't addressing the formation of squamous ulcers or sores during a competitive event. In a recent study on

Cross Training the Endurance Horse.

2010-11-08T12:35:00.001-08:00

Cross training for human athletes has been practiced for a fair number of years, with dramatic results. The crossover to applying the same concepts to equines, comes with a varying set of results. One of the more practiced types of cross training consists of IHT (Intermittent Hypoxic Training) or High Altitude Training. IHT is an artificial way to achieve high altitude training, so they are

The Big Trot

2010-11-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Nothing says endurance like a line of horses moving down the trail with that big extended trot that is the face of the sport as we know it. But just how good is this gait. In my opinion, not so great. I'm not saying I have no intention of ever putting my endurance horse into an extended trot- but lets consider how hard a typical horse works. The reason I specify typical, is because most (not all)

Baby Steps.

2010-11-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

So I pulled Kodi (aka Apache Thunder Gunner) out last night after work. I've made a hesitant promise to myself to take advantage of the last few days of daylight, since daylight savings comes into effect this coming weekend. We had a quick brush, and a long free lunge before I climbed on. Mostly well... mainly walked around the ring. I started to ask him to trot, and oddly he ducked his head and

Step One.

2010-11-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

So while I'm fine with the riding bit, I have to admit - I'm in terrible shape physically to get to where I want to go. Therefor with great mental anguish, I have decided that I need to be as fit as my horse. *cry*Pilates 3x a week for strength. As well, I need to knock the mothballs off my stationery bike, and get peddling the other 2 days. I also need to stop smoking (sigh) I've smoked for so

First the background.

2010-11-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

My name is Claudia. I spent the first part of my rather casual endurance career riding a crazy homebred 1/2 Arab gelding named Akbar. I adored him. Sadly I lost him due to a pasture accident in which he broke his fetlock - and he was euthanized. I was devastated, that was it, I was done. No more horses for me. A short time later while having coffee over at a friends house, she pulled over the