Snakes???? Really??? Road to Fandango 2012

I hate snakes, always have, always will!  I was never really worried about snakes in Southern Idaho, it just never crossed my mind.  That is until my good friend Linda sent me a email about Merri sighting a couple on her door step, and that brought out the OCD nature in me...Oh boy now I have to worry about snakes....I do pack heat with snake shot, but I really only carry it when I get out at rest stops, because I am sure that Buffy would not appreciate me shooting off of her.  So, when I pulled into this rest stop, I had to snap this picture....

Oh well, moving on...we arrived to Oreana excited to be there!  We were alone so had lots of places to choose from, so I picked a nice area with trees.

I set up the highline, because Buffy prefers to be highlined.  I let a friend use the corral.  The wind was supposed to come up and a storm was on its way, So we decided to use one of Stephs corrals for the weekend.  Probably a good idea, because the wind was so strong it broke one of my tent poles!

When we arrived, the weather was nice           

Buffy got to wear her new fly outfit!

Buffy is very photogenic if not impressed!

It was Connies Birthday that night, so we were invited to share the company of others and celebrate her day!

The next morning dawned beautiful! 

The sunrise in the Owyhee's is spectacular!

Today,  Buffy spent the day lounging around, I helped Steph with some projects!

Well....it is time to go to bed, I did not see any snakes today, maby we will get lucky!!!



Always read your labels and listen to your horse....

My little princess is slim, and in the effort to provide her with enough calories to maintain a body condition score which will allow her to complete longer rides and multidays, I may have over fed her a bit...Now she is normally hot, but not goofy.  At MRRT, she became a goofy little monster, and I began to ponder why.  I am by no means an expert in anything, but I do know how to do research and I do understand the biology of how the horses body works. 
Buffy is the pickiest eater that I have ever seen, so that makes it an even greater challenge to find foodstufs that provide her with usable energy.  I have been feeding her Ultium by purina, but like a dummy, I looked at the claims with out analyzing the ingredients.
Here is the booklet, it is pretty and shiny, which is probably why I ignored the obvious..
http://horse.purinamills.com/stellent/groups/public/@purinasites/documents/web_content/ecmd2-0033339.pdf
But when you look at the ingredients you will see that molassas and alfalfa meal are at the top of the list of ingredients. 

Wheat Middlings, Ground Soybean Hulls, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Cane Molasses,

Dried Beet Pulp, Stabilized Rice Bran, Soybean Oil, Vegetable Oil, Ground Oat Hulls,

Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Lignin

Sulfonate, Salt, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Citric Acid, Dried Whey Solubles, Choline

Chloride, Iron Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Propionic Acid (A Preservative),

Thiamine Mononitrate, Sorbitan Monostearate, Anise Flavor, Fenugreek Flavor,

Calcium Pantothenate, Tocopherols, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12

Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate,

L Tryptophan, L Threonine, Calcium Iodate, Magnesium Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate,

Ferrous Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Manganous Oxide, Sodium Selenite.

Ruminant Meat- And Bone Meal-Free.
The literature provided by Purina indicates that Ultium is a dense food that gives quiet energy, I think that it is because beet pulp is at the top of the ingredient list.  They also recommend feeding a horse Buffy's size 6 pounds a day, I only gave her 4....It is well known that molassas and alfalfa contribute to anxiety and "hotness" in some horses, and evidently mine!  So I consulted the "Picket Creek Guru's", did some extensive research on my own and came up with the following plan.....I cut buffy's daily ration of Ultium by 2/3's so now she is getting 2 cups ultium/4 cups beet pulp/1 handful of rolled oats on days that I ride her.  On days that I do not ride she gets 1 cup Ultium/3 cups beet pulp/smaller handful of oats.  I also added some magnesium and vitamin b complex.  The B vitamins are very important and have many functions!  Among them helping to convert food to fuel and helps the nerve impulse function.  Another thing that I am exploring is another brand of feed.  Triple Crown Nutrition has several products that look promising to me, I have chosen thier low starch formula because it does not have any molassas or alfalfa, but contains fenugeek seed which horses seem to love!
http://www.triplecrownfeed.com/feeds/low-starch-horse-feed-formula-lowstarchhorsefeed
But although the literature states that it can be used to replace part of the forage ration, I do not intend to use it for that purpose...If her royal Buffiness decides to eat this new formula, I will begin to transition her over, which will further decrease the alfalfa and molassas, virtually totally eliminating them from her diet!!! I do see a big improvement in her attitude and look forward to no further "crowhopping" episodes!  Here is the carbohydrate break out for the various formulations of triple crown feed.  Another andvantage to this brand of feed is that they put probiotics into their formulations.

Carbohydrate Values of Triple Crown Horse Feeds /
Horse Food Products

Horse Feed and Form	WSC	ESC	Starch	Starch + ESC	NSC
Triple Crown 14% Performance Textured	6.3%	5.6%	31.8%	37.4%	38.1%
Triple Crown Training Formula Textured	8.4%	5.1%	14.4%	19.5%	22.8%
Triple Crown Complete Textured	8.8%	8.8%	11.8%	20.6%	20.6%
Triple Crown Senior Textured	5.3%	5.3%	6.4%	11.7%	11.7%
Triple Crown TLC Pelleted	8.4%	5.0%	8.3%	13.3%	16.7%
Triple Crown Growth Textured	8.3%	7.8%	5.6%	13.4%	13.9%
Triple Crown Low Starch Pelleted	3.1%	3.1%	10.4%	13.5%	13.5%
Triple Crown Lite Pelleted	4.8%	4.8%	4.5%	9.3%	9.3%
Triple Crown 30% Supplement Pelleted	8.0%	8.0%	1.8%	9.8%	9.8%
Triple Crown Safe Starch Forage Chopped	7.2%	4.3%	1.8%	6.1%	9.0%
Triple Crown Grass Forage Chopped	9.7%	8.1%	4.5%	12.6%	14.2%
Triple Crown Alfalfa Forage Chopped	9.9%	8.0%	4.7%	12.7%	14.6%

*Values determined by Equi-Analytical Laboratories, Ithaca, NY, reported on as sampled or as fed basis. WSC is water soluble carbohydrates, ESC is ethanol soluble carbohydrates, NSC is nonstructural carbohydrates and NSC = Starch + WSC. Select horse feeds and forage with low Starch + ESC values for horses to prevent laminitis, tying up disease (EPSM, PSSM, RER), prevention of Developmental Orthopedic Disease (DOD), calmer behavior and reduced insulin resistance for Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Equine Cushing’s Disease. Also, forages with high NSC values (fructans) are more likely to cause laminitis. All Triple Crown Feeds have fixed ingredient formulas, values reflect an average analysis of multiple feed samples.

We are going to Fandango is a few days, and are really looking forwar to our first multiday!

MRRT 2012

Well.....MRRT has come and gone, Buffy and I completed, but we both were pretty beat up!  I should have caught on that the week end would have less then optimal weather when we were getting ready and it started to rain.

I guess I should have gotten a clue when driving through Spokane the next morning in a wind and rain storm!  Thank goodness Buffy had her blankets on!  As we got closer to Ellensburg and ride camp, the weather cleared, but boy did the wind blow!  I did not realize that the ride camp was right next to I-90, in fact it was so close that the noise was in escapable!  Buffy did not want to get out of her trailer, but I conviced her that her corral would be much more enjoyable.  Buffy was so freaked out by the wind and noise that she had to be tied to the trailer inside of the corral to prevent her from running circles! 

Setting up the tent proved to be very difficult, I thought we would all take flight during the night!

Well, we did get kind of set up, the kitchen could not be used, because of the "hurricaine" like wind!
I took the dogs for a walk, and found this sign...I think these people mean business!

If you can just ignore the highway, the scenery was really pretty!

It was really cold at night, here is a picture of the ice on our table...

The ride meeting was very informative, they warned us that this ride was very deceptive in its simplicity, it was a relatively flat hard packed trail with cuts filled with rock.  We would ride to the river which was 17 miles down a 2% grade, go through a vet check, and back up the 2% grade to the 2nd vet check.  Dr. Jen warned us that the wind had a very drying and had a dehydrating effect on the horses, and we should be very carefull!  Little did I know......One of the highlights of this ride was when I sponsored a junior rider.  Julia and her game little mare were great company, and we supported each other along the way.  Julia's mother was there at the vet check for us with sandwich's and water...I was very greatful!
Buffy was very aggitated on ride morning, I know that I was in for trouble when she piaffed next to me during the initial vet check the evening before!
The morning dawned with a beautiful and welcomed sunrise, and guess what...No wind!!!!

Buffy was ready to go as usual, I was not however, amused with her crow hopping!

The neighbors watched, and wondered what all of the fuss was about!

Here is a picture of us waiting to leave...

It was obviously to me that I was not in very good shape, I had to have Garry and Julia's friend trot Buffy out for me, my knees would not allow me to do anything more than waddle!  Going into the last 8 mile loop, I was not sure that Buffy and I would be allowed to complete.  She normally pulses down immediatly, but this time it took 1/2 hour.  Dr. Dick said that she was ok though, and thought that part of the trouble was just the fact that it was the first ride of the season, in less than optimal conditions....We did complete though, we did a fair amount of walking, and Julia got first Junior...

Buffy and I were very tired and sore the next day on the ride home, as usual I learned alot....

One of the best parts of the ride's is the camping experience and seeing old friends and meeting new ones!

I was very happy that we were able to park next to our good friends Katrin and Katya...It is fun to share meals.

We left early the next morning, and on the way home stopped at the rest area near the columbia river, the water was very high and fast.

Buffy and I were glad to have the first ride of the year out of the way, I do not think that we will go back there next year.  I think that we will just go to Regina's..... where it feels like home!