The Worry List

One week from today, I will (knock wood) be riding at Old Selam, which is Idaho's longest-running endurance ride and one of my favorites.
​
Old Selam has been a ride of many "firsts" for me: 

• First ride I volunteered at before I even had a horse
• First 50 I ever rode (2008 on my Arab gelding Aaruba Sunset)
• First ride for my Barb mare Consolation (LD in 2009)
• First ride for my Arab gelding HHR Jammazon "Jammer" (50 miler in 2013)
• First ride for my Morab mare Redroc Jazzmyn "Minji" (50 miler in 2017)

This year, I hope to add two more:

• First 50 with my Sulphur Mustang-Arab mare CM Kasara "Starfish"
• First ride (just the LD) for my Arab gelding A Knight's Tale "Ledger"

But you know how it is. With firsts come worries.

Well, okay, ALL endurance rides come with worries! But firsts are the worst.

Instead of downing a handful of Xanax, I'm trying to identify the individual sources of my generalized anxiety. That way, I can strategize to mitigate them as much as possible, and maybe even get some sleep the night before.

So, here we go:

Worry #1: Starfish's Nervousness

Starfish is a cool horse.

​Just a tiny thing at about 14.1 hh, she's nicely built with a lot of her Sulphur Mustang half on display. Her gaits aren't fast or flashy, but they're smooth and surefooted. She'd be my first pick for a technical trail any day. Point her up or down anything, and she'll find a safe way to get from here to there.

Buuuut...you knew this was coming...she's also anxiety-prone. It shows up in her predilection for chewing ropes and bit shanks. As fence-walking. As inappetence when she's under stress. She rarely does those things anymore, but ride camp is a different animal! Keeping her settled and her tummy happy over 50 miles is a top priority.

Here's my plan:
​

• Administer daily preventative dose of UlcerGard (omeprazole) beginning the day before the ride.
• Buffer electrolytes with kaolin pectate. I experimented with putting this in beet pulp mashes and she didn't seem to mind it.
• Add GutX to beet pulp mashes. (She's on this as a daily supplement anyway.)
• Add Outlast to beet pulp mashes. (This is also part of her daily regimen.)
• Administer SmartDigest Ultra Paste in the morning and at the hold. (More on this in a moment.)
• Feed Outlast treats and graze along the trail.
• Offer some alfalfa alongside free choice orchard grass hay in camp, just like we do at home.

Why the SmartDigest Ultra?

​Well, I've found that when horses' tummies gets grouchy, they often respond rapidly to a dose of Equerry's Electro-Probiotic Paste. Within 15 minutes, their appetite returns and they resume life as usual. I've had this work in several horse, and I always keep a few tubes on hand. Naturally, I considered including it as a preventative in Starfish's race-day protocol. It doubles as an electrolyte source, too! BUT WAIT...the paste contains sodium bicarbonate.

"Horses engaged in protracted exercise should not be supplemented with any electrolyte product that contains bicarbonate!"
~ Nancy S. Loving, DVM

That's no bueno for an endurance event. As Nancy Loving, DVM, notes in her excellent book All Horse Systems Go, horses' blood becomes more alkaline as they sweat out electrolytes. Feeding bicarbonate exacerbates this alkalization, increasing risk of cramping, thumps, colic, and heat exhaustion. Yikes!

Maybe the Equerry's paste doesn't contain enough bicarbonate to matter, but I'd rather err of the safe side. So, I went looking for a product that offers similar probiotic and other stomach-soothing ingredients without the sodium bicarbonate (or any substances that would violate AERC's drug policy). I landed on SmartDigest Ultra Paste. The ingredient list compares favorably to the Equerry's paste in terms of probiotics, and it has even more soothing ingredients like pectin, kaolin, and l-glutamine. ​

Overkill? Maybe! But I'd rather be sure she's comfortable all day long.

Anyway, back to my worry list.

Worry #2: Ledger's Boots

Ledger is looking quite professional on our conditioning rides these days. He expresses no objection to my treeless saddle, biothane tack, Easyboot Gloves, or fetlock boots.

However, he is quite new to those boots. He had front shoes on until a couple weeks ago, and we're still putting the final touches on his booting situation. Ought-fives fit his hinds perfectly. Size 1s almost fit his fronts.

The problem with "almost" is that it usually isn't quite good enough for a long trail ride. The 1s stay on and, after some hoof touch-ups with my rasp, they aren't twisting anymore. However, they do have just a bit of a gap at the quarters that makes me wonder if we'll have trouble with them coming off once we throw in a few creek crossings and steep embankments. I'll keep working on the trim and bring along some athletic tape, just in case we need to wrap his hooves for a better fit.

We're also trying to figure out interference protection. He doesn't interfere badly, but he did knock himself in the front once before his shoes were pulled. For now, I'm putting fetlock boots (the kind designed for hinds) on all four, which looks a little odd but offers the protection on want in front.

​In the rear, I'm watching carefully to see whether his near-side boot rubs on an old wire scar that bumps up on the front of his fetlock. If it does...well, I'm going to have to get creative.

Worry #3: Behavioral Unknowns

Will they settle in camp? Will he eat while she's out on the trail? Will she get anxious at the start? Will he be racy? Will she cross mud? Will he cross water?

My mind could spin in these circles forever. Or, I could put as many tools in our toolkits as possible and know that even if we have some trouble, we'll be prepared to deal with it. I've been focusing a lot more on groundwork than usual -- running the horses through Clinton Anderson's Method properly, in order and without skipping anything.

My original reason for doing so was to lay a foundation on the ground for dealing with specific issues under saddle with Starfish. I wanted to have all the "buttons" installed to help me redirect her when faced with her nemesis: boggy ground. 

Those of you who really believe in groundwork know what happened, right? Yep. The new mindset (call it respect, or whatever) she absorbed from the groundwork all but eliminated her issues under saddle, without me ever having to confront those issues directly. Not surprising, really, but it still always seems magical, doesn't it?

Anyway, it's early yet and you never know what obstacles you'll encounter on the trail. Training and a happy gut short-circuit a lot of potential problems, but just in case, I found a 12-foot lead that is small and light light enough to bring along in my saddle bag. It works a lot better than my biothane rein with its little-bitty clips if I need to do a little groundwork mid-ride.

I'm definitely not above dismounting to deal with a sticky situation. I call it joining the I Choose Life Club. Ha ha.

​Some people worry about getting off because the feel it rewards the horse for bad behavior. Stacy Westfall addressed this in one of her podcast episodes. Her solution? "Get off more." The idea is that if you dismount frequently, regardless of the horse's behavior at the time, the horse won't associate the dismount with his behavior. Clinton Anderson's take is that as long as you deal with the behavior, it doesn't really matter to the horse whether you're mounted or on the ground.

All things considered, I think we're ready. Mostly ready? Ready! We've practiced vetting and trot-outs, climbed hills, watered at canal banks, dialed in diets, tested tack, and packed the trailer. Now, it's time to do our best and see what happens.

---