Ridecamp: RE: [RC] ARE THESE SUPPLEMENTS NECESSARY FOR MY HORSE TO BE IN COMPETITION

Allison:

My comments were not about what was being used or why it was
being used. My question was, why is the first question "will
it test?".

I acknowledge that supplementation can be beneficial.
However, the majority of questions most always are not in
direct regard to what are the benefits to the horse, but are
if I feed this stuff will it test.

To often the implications are, this will give me an
advantage I need but will I get caught if I use it.

To me that is not in the best interests of the equine. To me
the question is, if I need this supplement, why. Is the
necessity caused by over training where I can modify the
program and decrease the need or is it due to a sickness
where I should bypass competition until the horse is well.
Or perhaps it is a case of the horse really needing the
supplement as is our case with selenium.

To often the supplementation of horses is done on something
less than scientific basis.

You stated <<<I have spent the last year working with an
anti-aging specialist (I'm in
my 40's) to maximize my physical well being. Please note
those words; they are important.  MAXIMIZE MY PHYSICAL WELL
BEING.>>>

You think you have a problem now wait till you get to your
mid 70's as I am.

Bob

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Alison
Farrin
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 1:38 PM
To: ridecamp
Subject: RE: [RC] ARE THESE SUPPLEMENTS NECESSARY FOR MY
HORSE TO BE IN
COMPETITION


This thread has been working its way under my skin for
awhile, with its
implications that scientific understanding and efficient
utilization of
the processes involved in exercise and nutrition lead to a
horse that is
somehow competing on other than its own ability.   I have to
reply to
this from my own perspective as a middle aged, middle of the
road
athlete - and I personally don't use any drugs other than
tylenol/advil
when I've overdone it.

I have spent the last year working with an anti-aging
specialist (I'm in
my 40's) to maximize my physical well being.

Please note those words; they are important.  MAXIMIZE MY
PHYSICAL WELL
BEING.

20 year olds take this for granted.  40 year olds have to
work at it.
To do this, I have an exercise and conditioning schedule,
tailored to my
needs and increased as I get in better shape.
I also take a pharmacopoeia of supplements designed to put
back in my
body what it no longer makes because its older than it used
to be.
These include, precursor hormones, hormones, vitamins,
minerals, fish
oil, thyroid, condroiton and a few more I've forgotten.

After a year,
my cholesterol is lower
my body fat % has dropped 5%
I've thrown away my reading glasses
I can lift 2.5 times the amount of weight I started with.
I have more energy
I have more stamina
My skin is soft for the first time in 30 years, despite all
the time I
spend outside.
I'm not anemic for the first time in 18 years.
My doctor oohs and aahs over my bloodwork, which has also
apparently
regressed to a younger, healthier state.

There are NO DRUGS involved in this regimen.  Just the stuff
my body
used to make and doesn't anymore, or used to metabolize well
and doesn't
anymore, or never metabolized well in the first place.


If I am going to take my horse and make a competition
athlete out of
him, doesn't he deserve the same good diet and vitamins and
minerals and
proteins that I give myself?
Doesn't he deserve a diet tuned to his needs?  Doesn't he
deserve
supplements if his natural diet is inadequate to support the
workload I
am asking of him?

Carbo loading
BCAA's
joint supplements
aloe vera juice
and all the others I missed

all fall under the heading of MAXIMUM WELL BEING.

Some horses have the genetics to be phenomenal athletes and
just need
some conditioning.
Most horses have the potential to be much better than their
base, but
need the optimal diet, joint maintenance and extra sugar
during a race
to excel to the level the phenomenal athlete reaches on pure
genetics.
Both kinds of horses deserve the chance to be competitors.
Neither need
to compete on drugs.  But they each use different, legal
avenues to get
to the top levels of competition.  Science and technology
have gained us
windows into what is happening inside our horses.  We KNOW
so much more
than we did 20 years ago.  It gives us the chance to take a
medium
athlete and make him into a top athlete because we have the
tools to
figure out what is missing, in his diet, in his training, in
his
genetics that keeps him from attaining his best.  If we use
what science
has given us, that missing link often comes in powdered
form.  I could
probably feed a small dose of molasses and sugar and ground
cob and come
close to the medium chain complex carbohydrate that is Carbo
charge.
But if you think I come in covered in dirt now, what would I
look like
drenched in sugar and molasses as well?  Come on, some
things are meant
to make life more efficient.  Use them.  Don't whine that we
no longer
live in the dark ages.

This reply is not in reference to MSM, bute, or gastroguard,
all of
which are drugs, and just MHO, don't belong in competition.


Alison A. Farrin
Innovative Pension
Innovative Retirement Services
858-748-6500 x 107
alison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



At 12:02 PM 7/29/02, Bob Morris wrote:
>  "ARE THESE SUPPLEMENTS NECESSARY FOR MY HORSE TO BE IN
COMPETITION!"
>
>If they are not necessary, then why use them?

And if they are necessary, is your horse really healthy and
sound enough
to
be competing?  Is competing with drugs really  just a subtle
form of
abuse?


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