# Racing Stripes ride report :)



## Horsesaplenty (Jan 9, 2013)

The ride went well.

We left on Thursday morning after packing the night before in the FREEZING cold. Got there around 2pm, got the trailer rear stuck and then, unloaded the horses and tied them to the trailer. Got to work on setting up paddocks and camp. That was mostly all we did on Thursday.

Friday found us itching to take a little ride out and see what the place was like. I found it really pretty. Lots of huge pastures (this is the Priefert Ranch) and some woods, but not where we could go into, larger hills to flatter lands. I enjoyed it. Luka was a bit of a stinker, hunching his back and giving me some crowhops and kickouts...I guess he felt very free in the new treeless saddle and with all the wide open space. We did about a 6 mile ride.

We had our ride meeting that night. Having the trail explaind to us, flag markers and what not. We headed off to bed since it was race day in the morning.

Saturday was beautiful, chilly with a breeze, but would warm up and be nice for the ride. We were suddenly woke by a horse calling and calling then some noise. We looked out and saw that my friends horse had got caught up in the electric fence tape and pulled her fencing down and pulling some of my fencing to the side, thus unhooking my gate handle from Luka's pen. I had a fence connector jumping from her pen to mine so that she could use my charger (she will get her own next time since fence problems have happened with her mare every time she uses a pen). Went ahead and got up since it was almost time anyways. Got Luka fed and prepped for the race at 8am. I ate a banana and he and I rolled out. He was still in high spirits and was feeding off the excitement. I had to get off and do some ground work with him to get him to listen. Got back on and hung back...then walked up with two of the people I came with (highly competitive) and the starter walked us out. When we got past the walkout, we set off at a decent pace. Luka was quite excited and kept trying to throw in some crowhops and kicks...was generally acting like a ****** for the first mile. I got off again and worked with him while everyone went on. A fellow came upon us and asked if I was okay, yep...Luka just needed and attitude adjustment . Russell Betts (the fellow) and I decided that we both had the same agenda for todays ride and would ride along together and see how the day went. 

It was a smashing success. Luka settled down by mile 3 and was working well. He and Aleka (Russell's horses) worked very well together. I got some nice comments about Luka and how he traveled and how I was handling him during the course. Luka drank and ate any chance he got which was awesome since on the first ride he didn't do it so well. We came into the vet check at mile 14, where Luka pulsed down within 1 minute and got only 1 B for gut sounds, but the vet remarked that he looked great. We headed to our camp to relax for a bit. He ate his slop and wanted more. I fed him three small sloppy mashes and all the hay he could shovel in.

I met Russell and Aleka back at the timer to check out for the 11 mile loop. We headed off and the boys were ready to go. Luka did stop a couple of times at the top of 2 hills and just looked around. It was kind of funny since we thought he was trying to park out and pee...but nope...just looking around.

We ran into Russell's wife twice on the trail (she was doing a 50 on her horse). We were passed by some people which Luka didn't get overly excited about (awesome) and he was okay leading or following which was great. We traveled most of the day at about 7.3- 8mph.

We got passed up by two of my friends (they had taken the wrong part of a trail-I paid attention to the ride meeting and my packet and the sign  ). They took longer to cool off and Russell and I passed them up at the hold area by the vet check-they were hurridly sponging and trying to cool their horses. 

We crossed the finish, then got off, walked our horses in while loosening their girths and taking off their bridles. We walked straight to the vet check and Luka was at 15. Within two minutes of seeing the checkout vet, he was at 13. The vet gave him all A's and joked, asking if he had actually raced at all. He was hardly sweaty and was trotting out so lively for the lameness check  . Don't worry...he can sweat like crazy, but it was such a nice day and so breezy. I was happy and we headed off to our camp to relax and eat. Luka was happy and eating like a piggy on hay, beet pulp/alfalfa cube mash and grass when I took him to graze for a couple of hours. He finally settled down for a rest a few hours later  

My friends horses were very tired looking and one of them didn't eat or drink for a few hours... 

We ended up in 12th place (Russell in 11th) out of 33 riders and were just 1-3 minutes behind the lower top 10 finishers  I wanted to be mid-pack and we were.

I love the new Sensation saddle so far. No rolling issues, no heat/soreness on his back and the only sweat marks were mostly where my legs and thighs had contact and a little bit on the top of either side of his spine.

An awesome ride and my horse did really great overall.

Here is the album http://s622.photobucket.com/user/selling-stuff/library/Racing%20Stripes%202-14


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Sounds like a great experience for you and Luka! 

Good for you for paying attention to what he needed and not getting caught up in the excitement of the ride. 

Looks like you got to see some pretty country (and how jealous I am that you can see ground and not just snow!!).


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## Eole (Apr 19, 2013)

It's fun to read about your ride, while I'm buried in too many feet of snow. Good job, sounds like Luka was more than ready for it. 

Question: do you give mash at home, or just at the ride? The reason I ask is I have easy keepers who thrive on just hay, plus a ration balancer (vitamins, proteins, minerals). I introduce "a little" mash daily a week before a ride, but I'm always worried that changing diet on ride day would upset the digestive system.

Nice looking saddle with the red pad. Was it comfortable to you too?


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## Horsesaplenty (Jan 9, 2013)

Luka almost always gets a mash because he's fed beet pulp and soaked alfalfa cubes. I keep it that way because I don't want to cause any upsets on race day. I just up the amount of beet pulp about a week before and continue it throughout the ride. I also switch from plain salt once a day to the Endurance kind 2 days before. 2 days before the race he gets a little more salt and an additional feeding of beet pulp/hydration hay (or alfalfa cubes) mash. Then the day before, I soak most of his hay (normally we are already at the ride a day and a half before), add the endurance salt, keep his extra feeding of beet pulp/hydration/alfalfa mash. I shoot to have all day Friday on the premises since I have to travel atleast 5 hours to the rides. Morning of he gets a little of his pelleted feed and the mash 2-3 hours before and at the vet check he'll get a little more pellets mixed with a soupy mash (it's a double concentrate feed and he only gets about 2 cups AM and PM, so I split the AM one in the morning and at the first vet check). When we are done, he'll get a few more smaller mash feedings-nice and wet-he actually slurps them up , soaked hay and then that evening he'll get his normal feed. He almost always has a softer stool a full day after starting the endurance salts. He'll have about 2-3 softer stools and then firms back up after that. I keep pretty good notes so this is a pattern I've seen. I do a similar regimine if we are doing a weekend training trip. (I only add the endurance salts if it's going to be a warm day otherwise I just up his regular salt a little). This is working for us so far and the mashes/beetpulp mixes seem to keep him hydrated and his gut moving well.


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## Smokeyhorse (Nov 25, 2013)

Thanks for the pictures, looks like y'all had a great time!👍
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Horsesaplenty (Jan 9, 2013)

Eole
The saddle is a treeless Sensation and it is very comfy in the seat. I do sit differently in it though so the inner top of my thighs/crotch area was a bit sore. That was to be expected, but my hips were not sore at all. I actually need to order one of these saddles and have a custom fit/trim done. I have their hybrid model coming that is cut two inches shorter at the leg flap which is supposed to put me in a better position. I'm sure it will also help my knees which I'm having issues with (ITband) and this saddle actually kept me pain free longer than my other saddle. Using the 'hard use' stirrup hookup took a little getting used to, but it kept my leg in a better position so that's actually good. If I decide to go with the custom options it should be much more comfortable for me. I am looking forward to getting the hybrid model in on trial. I will also be getting a different saddle pad. Most likely a Toklat with good inserts. He went really well in the Toklat woolback girth and had no issues with saddle slippage, but the current pad is actually too long for the saddle and his back. I just don't have the money for a new one yet and it's the best pad I have at this time.


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