Jen's Secrets to Endurance - Success Part 2

In the previous newsletter I featured Part one of this article by Barefoot Endurance rider Jen Clingly who has a string of 'firsts' to her name;
First Barefoot horse to complete 160km successfully in
Australia, First barefoot horse to win an endurance ride (1st across the line, 1st lightweight and Best Conditined) .
Jen continues with sharing her experiences as a rough guide to anyone considering going down the barefoot endurance road.

FEED
Keep it simple. Even though you are asking a lot of your horse especially at a competitive level, your horse has simple need and the more you complicate feeds or pump high protein, high sugar feeds the more set backs you’ll face. It took me ages to work out that rich Lucerne chaff made Zamir ‘ouchy’ on his feet.
Feed will impact on your horse’s feet. The feet are the first thing to show you. Check out the racehorses pumped to the eyeballs on high protein feeds and jilting about with mild laminitis.

KEEP IT WILD AND NOT TOO DOMESTICATED
A high performance barefoot horse is not just a horse without shoes. It requires a change in long standing beliefs about what is good horse keeping. It means keeping things simple and natural for the horse. The environment they live in will dictate the ability of their rock crunching hooves.

Zamir's front hoof after 140km at the Tom Quilty endurance ride.

Some of the things I have happening at home include:
1. Keep your horse running with his mates.
2. Diversify the footing. It aids in challenging and wearing the hooves more naturally. Gravel around their feeding areas and water trough helps keeps the hooves tough.
3.Moisture for the hooves
A good paddock will have a waterhole, pond, stream or like my place, a foot bath where the horses can step in while they drink or feed. Water conditions the hooves and keeps them hydrated. The periople shows you how hydrated the foot is.
4. never rugged unless it’s a freezing cold night after an endurance ride.
5. never stabled but have open shelter shed.
6. freedom to graze all day
7. meals served at ground level. Beverages the same.
Making the change to natural is a big call from what most of us have been taught about how to look after a horse. It is an adjustment to make, but one that cuts your horse keeping time to practically nothing and leaves you with more time for training and horsing around.

TOO MUCH TOO SOON –The valuable lessons I learned
My recipe for trouble included:
- Two rides back to back. Only 2 weeks apart - Zamir still a novice horse.
- Travel time to the ride was 4 hours. We returned home straight after the ride allowing no rest time for the horse to recover.
- Served rich green Lucerne hay in on the way home. (different feed from usual)
- Old Macs were worn for the 80km and not checked at the 40km leg. The conditions were muddy and at times up to fetlock deep. Mud compacted in the soles of the boot and because I didn’t take them off or rinse them through. The mud set like concrete and the result was concussive laminitis?
- After the long trip back home he got off the float and scoffed freezing cold water. – water founder?
- Stress accumulated from all the above and ignited a bad bout of mud fever

Note that Zamir got through the ride fine and with straight A’s. But the following aftermath was bad and he was sore and unable to move freely. He needed penicillin injections and painkillers. He suffered nose bleeds from the chemicals.
It was a frightening time because the vets couldn’t give me any answers. They advised an operation on the tendon to free the sesamoids. There was no relevance to this at all.
A good spell saw Zamir come right.
In regards to actual training and conditioning, I incorporate the following ….

WARM UP & WARM DOWN
Ease into all heavy work. Light trot for 10minutes before you start any thing more strenuous. Sometimes all I feel I do with my horses keep them in “warm up mode”.

HILL WORK
The terrain you live in dictates your training program and I am fortunate to live in the most beautiful riding country with every option of terrain at the doorstep except the beach. Hills and mountains are part of everyday work and they serve to develop the hind end of your horse and engages those back hooves to work and develop traction.
Down hill work strengthens the shoulders.
I never trot or canter my horse downhill – I tend to get off and walk or trot them myself. Saving my horses legs is really important and I think down hill work can lead to all sorts of problems.
Just another note - a horse gains as much training effect on the muscles and cardiovascular system training up hills as he would covering 3 times the same distance on the flat. Its good stuff, and important to incorporate into any training program because you will often encounter lots of hills in the Tasmanian endurance ride calendar.

ROCK WORK
I have never seen this one in the endurance training manuals but for the barefoot wonder horses it is imperative to expose your horse to gravel roads, forestry trails, rocky tracks, river beds and bitumen etc
Get your horse confident, surefooted and agile on all terrain.
Gradually extend time out on gravel, rocky trails and introduce short periods of cantering. When the horse is showing you his hooves are up to it – you’ll be galloping wildly and racing up gravel roads. Stuff I never did on shod horses.
If your not sure where your horse really is at with his ability to tackle the tougher going, test him on that terrain on the way home. More often than not the horse that is reluctant on the outset heads home flying without any care for what is underfoot.

HORSE CONFIDENCE
Until they are ready let them travel with a more confident leader. Time and experience will breed confidence. Bold brave horses are out there but even the submissive acquire a competitive edge which sees their ears back when another horse threatens to overtake them.
My other crazy recommendation in regards to confidence is train with a DOG. I have a mad arse fat black Labrador who follows us on training runs. She flies in and out of the bush, chases ‘fluffies’ into our path, and creates noise action and kaos. She has been perfect for desensitizing all my horses to things that can and will happen out on a ride.

MASSAGES AND THERAPY
To achieve the optimum working performance with your horse it is important to get them regularly checked. Muscle tension frequently causes poor performance or the beginning of more serious problems. Treatments like sports massage relieve muscle spasm, tension, sore muscles, lactic acid, improve the immunity system, reduces swelling and improves concentration.
I employ the services of an Equine Sports Therapist and ETR therapist to ensure the well being of Zamir. They complement my training style and the horse has never been better. Consideration should go into your horses well being. You need to find out what works best for your horse and you.

CROSS TRAINING
Getting your horse involved in other disciplines builds a great all rounder. They benefit from never getting bored with their work load and it gives them great focus.
Dressage complements endurance training as the horse has the advantage of mental education, and working their body in balance. As the horse becomes more balanced they use their limbs more efficiently. Dressage exercises also serve to strengthen muscles, tendons and funnily enough polish up their feet to a nice shine.
I have also taken Zamir on stints of mustering cattle in the central highlands and this gave him freedom and relaxation while still keeping him working and in top condition.

WILD TIMES
The fitter the horse I created, the more right-brained he became, and I had moments of big concern following a couple of rides where I started out the gate, spinning like a top trying to slow the speed he was keen to perform by disengaging the hind end and feeling like I was in a Ferrari doing donuts on the grass.
Zamir is agile enough to keep up the momentum and move us forward.
I found working on impulsion program (Parelli level 2), refining my “braking” technique and a more focused “pre-flight” check before the ride helped a lot.
Backing up and sideways brings us in tune most of the time.

MY FREE SPIRITED MATE
I am in absolute awe at the ability of this horse. At his consistently low heart rates, his quick recovery times, the traction, his wellbeing and soundness, his love of life and his love for me.
He is a true endurance horse, he knows the score, he reads the arrows, he indulges in food and beverage whenever he needs to without any restriction on his head, he is fast, agile and maneuverable on any terrain. Sometimes I really wonder if I need to go out with him, maybe a scarecrow dressed up like me would be sufficient.
If he is up the front he is always a strong contender for best conditioned – and he looks a million dollars following a ride cause he is not usually showing any tiredness, there is never any edema/swelling because, he is not dealing with the concussion effects of metal shoes on his feet or an elevated heart from the stress of concussion and lack of circulation and shock absorption.
He celebrates the start of every ride with childish exuberance and keeps reminding me of why I despise Arabs so much. He cannot contain his emotions well but I love that about him also.
Pre- ride the two of us are jittery fools and our energy feeds off each other. It is not good and can be down right dangerous. I am getting better and so is he.
To travel this far together builds the highest level of partnership and I can only wonder how hard it is for people to sell on their mates for money. Big decision I reckon.

Jen and Zamir

EVENT INFORMATION
January Camps – There are still some spaces available to learn while you holiday with your horse for the Kids and Adults 3 day camps starting on the 23rd and 27th of this month.

Here are some of the topics we will cover:

The instruction cost is $70 per day (including lunch & am/pm teas). You can camp on site with your horse (BYO electric fence yard & hay) and either cater for yourself or add an extra $5 per day for an evening meal (BYO breakfast).
Cabin accommodation is also available - POA to Mountainside - Ph. 63695226 - their rates are very affordable.
Observers are welcome too at $20 per day (incl. AM/PM teas) - BYO lunch or book ahead for catering.

Young Horse Starting – Are you studying Parelli Level 2 or similar? Would you like to start your own horse to be ridden under supervision, in a supportive environment? If you are interested and can let me know the most suitable dates for you this summer/autumn I can work something out that suits the majority of participants.
Phone or email Cynthia for more information (contact details).

New Product Reviews
Young Horse Training DVD by Cynthia Cooper.
By popular request I have finally finished producing the first in a series of DVD's I have planned.
Training Young Horses from birth to starting under saddle age was filmed at a workshop where I had all ages of young horses to demonstrate my training techniques with. From the first touch to catching, leading, hoof handling, worming, trailer loading and tying up - you will see 2.5 hrs of demos on this double DVD set. To read more and order your copy - click here.

Product Review: New G2 Old Mac Hoof Boots.
The next generation of these popular boots has been released and will please those needing a narrower fitting boot. They are lighter, sleeker looking and made from harder wearing material. Read more and see all the differences by clicking here.

New Book Review
Book Review: YOU CAN TRAIN YOUR HORSE TO DO ANYTHING – On Target Training: Clicker training and beyond by Shawna and Vinton Karrasch.
A fantastic training tool to learn that is ideal for motivating your horse. This positive reward system is easy to learn with the help of this book that includes lots of colour photos.
Click here to read the full review.

CLASSIFIED ADDS
Reluctant Sale - Pumpkin” Green Gentle Giant, Beautiful 8 year old, 16.1h dark chestnut thoroughbred, lovely movement, conformation & temperament, very sensitive and willing horse ready to bond with a trusting and loving leader Suit any discipline – just show him the way. Experienced and Loving Home Only. Ph. 03 62399757 / 0438 399756. Photos & video clip available.

For Sale - Good looking Reg. Purebred arab chestnut gelding, Crabbet blood lines, mature 15+hh, sound and healthy and ready to start under saddle. $3,000. Ph. Yvonne on 63 624261.

For Sale - Size 2 Old Mac boots in excellent condition. Used only once. $195. Ph. Toni on 63 834556.

FOR SALE- Emerald Valley Caspian. Purebred Reg Connemara gelding. 4 1/2 years old. 14hh. Black/dappled grey. Started by Geoff Harvey. Parelli games, walk, trot, canter, ties up, floats. Fantastic pony for someone with some experience. Perfect for lifelong partnership. Approved home only. Natural home preferred. $3000 Please phone Linda on 0418 149 971.

For Sale 1 pair Boa Horse Boots size 3.
with Gaiters (wraps to prevent rubs)
Had little use. Good Condition Retail price $250 SELL $150. Ph. Tara on 63 736145.

Wanted: A beginner without own horse would like to go through the basics with like person who would be willing to let me use their horse or horses with them.
I have done two workshops with Cynthia. Contact Simon on 0419 509 437, Perth, Tas.

Wanted to buy: Wintec pony pad. phone katrina 63 95 1242.

Give away to good natural home as a paddock companion, "Wilbur", low maintenance, easy care, good doer, sensible, gelding. 18 years old. Ph. Katrina on 63951242.

Wanted - anglo galloway for sale. Ideally 8 – 9yo, “educated” for trail riding. Priced up to $3000. Ph. Jane on 03 6424 6612 or 0419 554 047.

If you have an add you would like included in the next newsletter please email it to me by the end of February.

CALENDAR OF TASMANIAN EVENTS
JANUARY 2006
23rd,24th,25th – Kids 3 day camp with Cynthia at Golden Valley.
27,28,29th – Adults 3 day Camp with Cynthia at Golden Valley.
FEBRUARY
25th - Lilydale Lesson Day - Ph. Liz on 63 951590
MARCH
4th - Playday and Pony Pals - Ph. Steph. on 63 624474.
25&26th - Pete Ramey Hoof Trim Workshop- book with Jen Clingly on 63 695555.

Wallbrook Stud's Purebred Friesian colt born on Christmas Day. (photo by Nadeen)

Newsletter Update December 2005

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