Sunland 50

Special THANKS! to Roxanne and her fine group of volunteers and veterinarians who helped put on a fabulous ride. My gelding Spider and I had a few choice words as we traveled into the fist vet check. He's a big boy and loves to go at his own pace (fast!) regardless of what I have to say about it!! Fortunately, ride management takes the horses' well being very seriously on this tough ride and they provided numerous water troughs in all the right places. The vet checks were stocked with all kinds of goodies for horses and riders and the support was incredible.

Upon my arrival at the first vet check, my horse reached criteria, but showed little interest in food or water. He was more concerned with the outbound horses. I felt uneasy about his behavior and made the decision to pull him. My boyfriend and dearest crew, Juan drove all the way back to camp to retrieve my trailer. In the meantime, I headed over to the veterinarian to have Spider checked out. I explained my concern to Dr. Hewitt and he examined my horse and said he didn't see a thing wrong with him, but understood that the decision was mine. I walked around and waited for Juan to return with the trailer and Spider was getting very upset that we weren't getting ready to go. He was stepping on me and walking circles around me and getting anxious. I took him back to Dr. Hewitt and he checked him over again and said, "I'm sorry young lady but this horse wants to continue and he looks great"! I told him and the volunteers that I couldn't continue because I had already sent my boyfriend for my rig. They all said, "Don't worry about a thing, we'll take care of him when he gets here. You go on and enjoy the ride!" It was so reassuring to have everyone's support. Dr. Hewitt had to make up another vet card saying that I was resuming the ride. He gave Spider all A's and we were off.

[Date Prev]	[Date Next]	[Thread Prev]	[Thread Next]
[Date Index]	[Thread Index]	[Author Index]	[Subject Index]