Caradeno SO

[Lari Shea <larishea@horse-vacation.com>]

It's great how endurance folks care about our endurance legends!  To set
rumors at rest, let me tell you about Caradeno.  After completing about
2600 miles of competition  in 50 and 100 mile endurance races under five
riders since 1991, he has WON 7 big  races, came second on five more, and
placed in the top ten on 85% of his races.  Since I bought him in 1994, he
has completed twelve prestigious races, winning three of them, coming
second by a minute on two others, and placed in the top ten on all his
races except one on which I voluntarily stayed with my daughter, when her
horse coliced in the middle of a 100 miler.  Caradeno lost 2 1/2 hours of
riding time, but still placed 15th out of about 60 horses on the Swanton
Pacific 100.  

In 1996, Caradeno was primed to do the Race of Champions.  He was bathed,
braided, and blanketed to put into the trailer, then put into my outdoor
riding arena with Chardonnay, another ROC champion, so he wouldn't get
dirty overnight.   When I led him out the next morning, he was dead lame at
the walk, clearly the victim of a kick.  Dr. Bob Shugart suspected it was
on the outside of his right hind, on the side of the cannon bone.  I loaded
him up, since I was filled with diesel  and everything, and took him to Dr.
Kerry Ridgway's, where we were already planning to spend our first night on
the road.  Kerry couldn't determine what was the matter, or fix it.  So,
the next morning, I trailered him to Dr. Jamie Kerr's, who had sonographic
and radiographic equipment.  Jamie also couldn't determine the cause.  I
left Caradeno there, and drove on to the Race of Champions to volunteer to
help Susan produce the race, and to deliver Chardonnay, who top tenned.,
leased to Brazil.  Picked Caradeno up on my way home, still lame.  A couple
weeks later, after pasture rest, he was 100%.  Brook Sample, from
Australia, had leased him for the Kansas World Cup, and came 6 weeks early
to get to know his horse.  For the first 3 weeks, all was well.  Then
Caradeno had a "hitch to his 'git along".  We still put him in the trailer
to go to Kansas, hoping he'd recover on the way.  Not to be.  He vetted in,
much to my surprise, as he was clearly off on the right hind.  At the first
vet check, he was pulled, although very much better than he'd been the day
before, pre-race.   Hey, these things happen!   And Brook was a complete
gentleman and horseman, taking the vissisitudes of life with perfect
composure and concern for his horse.   The whole way back to California, he
continued to minister to his horse, massaging and walking and etc him as if
the big competition was yet to come.  After a few weeks off, Caradeno was
sound again, but I continued to have him monitered and treated, not knowing
for sure what had been the matter.  In the spring, Dr. Bob Shugart saw him
again, pointed out the outside splint that had developed on the right hind,
and reckoned that he'd been right all along......Caradeno had been kicked
by Chardonnay the night before loaded into the trailer.

The next year, Camilla Johansoon, an exchange student from Sweden, rode
Caradeno to a top ten finish on the Lake Wahsoe 100.  Later in the season,
Susie Morril from Oregon duplicated the feat by finishing top ten on a big
100 in Oregon.  She volunteered to ride him in the Cosequin Challenge when
I refused to lease him to a foreign rider who would not "obey" my
instructions to ride for a completion, not a top ten.  Unfortunately, Susie
and Caradeno pulled at 55 miles with a stone bruise on the left fore, in
good company, as only 22 out of about 80 some horses completed.  He was
left "back east" because an "off shore" buyer was interested in him at mega
thousands of dollars.  This person did not buy him, but you all read about
Linda Cowles' rides on him last fall......she really enjoyed the horse, and
told it like she felt it.   Caradeno spent the winter at my fiance's 150
acre paradise pasture in Pennsylvania.  This spring, folks emailed me about
buying him, and I offered a month long free lease to try him out, excluding
competition, at 10% of his previous asking price.  The prospective buyer
decided not to try him, after hearing through the "grape vine" that
Caradeno was questionably sound.  

My reason for writing this missive?   To let everybody know what's
happening with Caradeno, because this terrific horse doesn't deserve the
gristle of the rumor mill.  Will he stay sound forever?   I have no idea!
Is he capable of winning any given endurance race on any given day of the
year? YES!!!  Why am I selling him, instead of semi-retiring him for use at
my vacation ranch?  Because he is not happy on a "rent string".   For an
experienced, relaxed rider, he is a pussycat.  I ride him on a loose rein,
I mark trail with him, I saw branches above his head and let the limbs fall
on his neck.   Susie,  Camilla, and Linda do the same.  But if a novice
rider gooses him with a heel.......he's gone.  If a tense rider clutches
him with his knee.....he's gone.   My hope for Caradeno is to partner with
a rider who wants to experience what the BEST has to offer.  I want someone
to enjoy this  horse as much as he has the potential to be enjoyed.  

Lari



Lari Shea                          	      	http://www.horse-vacation.com
Ricochet Ridge Ranch	      		Riding Vacations on the Mendocino Coast 
24201 North Highway One	      	with lodging at unique B&B Inns;
Fort Bragg, CA 95437			International Riding Vacations
	       			Akhal Teke and Russian Orlov/cross horses
707-964-7669ph/ 707-964-9669 fax   	At stud: RRR Stolichnaya & RRR Russia


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