CBC; Mineral Supplement

[Kate Denisar <kdenisar@iss.net>]

As a relatively newbie to endurance, I have some question for those willing to offer their experienced opinion:

In the past four months, I have done tons of LSD with my Arab/Paso Fino cross, Spanky.  That quickly - his entire physique has changed.  He slimmed down from his big, bunchy, bulky muscles in to a slimmer, sleeker horse.  This is particularly noticeable in his butt.  Rather than the huge, round muscles, his butt is almost skinny.  His muscles are still very well defined.  I have also noticed in the past month that his cannon bones circumference seems larger.  I never knew that was a variable before and I plan to actually measure him tonight.  

I know these are all good things, but I am scratching my head over the speed of his transformation.  

Dr. Ken Marcella came out to the barn to check him over before the Liberty Run 50 and said that he looked fine.  I thought that maybe he needed better nutrition or maybe that his muscles were damaged this spring (he tyed up at a ride in April - fairly mild though).  Dr. Marcella said that it is probably all the LSD that is actually changing his muscle type, but again I am worried about the speed of his transformation.  He looks even leaner and sleeker since Liberty Run . . .

In response to my questions about nutrition, Dr. Marcella suggested that I put him an a mineral supplement that dovetails with his feed.  He currently gets about .75 lb of rice bran, 1 lb of Seminole Ultra Performance, and 2 lbs of Manna Pro All-Grain each day.  I started supplementing with Manna Pro's Sho Glo about 2 weeks ago.  He looks great, but I have noticed a huge behavior change.  He is usually very willing and pleasant.  In the past couple of weeks he has started rebelling.  I do not know whether to attribute that to the weather, his fitness, or the supplement.  A friend suggested that I experiment with the supplement by taking him off and seeing if his behavior improved and then slowly adding it back to his diet.

Since I am doing the River Run 50 next weekend, I do not want to start experimenting now.  I may just pull him off of the supplement entirely.  Opinions, anyone?

Kate and Spanky (you wanna see attitude - I'll show you attitude!)
 

_________________________________
Kate Denisar, Internet Security Systems
Professional Services and Training
(678) 443-6288, kdenisar@iss.net