Events

Mondays
Jumping Fun Classes at Canterbrooke, (Ames)

Tuesdays
Riding Communication Classes at The Paddock (Truro) .

May 8-9
Clinic at Catalpa Corner

April 10 and 11
Clinic at Catalpa Corner.

June 4-6
Clinic and Schooling Show Catalpa Corner
(Iowa City)

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Waiver form

"Only way that horses will win is to sit there and spend time with them. Show 'em that you're trying to help 'em. Love 'em. Talk to 'em. Get to know 'em. Now that's what you gotta do. You love 'em and they'll love you, too. People might call me crazy, but that's the way it is."

-Eddie Sweat, groom for Riva Ridge and Secretariat

Training Log for Belle Stroburg

8/28/08 Took her out for a hack and she warmed up better than yesterday even. Maybe the cosequin is helping. She did excellently and had a great time.

8/27/08 Took her out for a hack. She warmed up a little better than usual and we had a nice ride with some work in all gaits.

8/26/08 lesson with Chely.

8/25/08 Took her out for a hack and she was excellent until on the way home when she decided that something in the pasture was pretty scary and so she jigged a bit on the way home. She was manageable and got over it and did fine in the last part.

8/20/08 Took her out for a hack. She was unsound at a trot, when I tried to catch her in the pasture, but she got better after a walk warmup on the ride. She was happy to go.

8/18/08 I took her out for a hack and she is about the same as far as soundness. She is game to go though and I wonder if the Thyrol L is kicking in, but we'll see how she is the rest of the week.

8/12/08 She warmed up nicely and offered trot and canter a little more willingly. I think she is starting to feel the effects of the cosequin. She is still unsound a bit at the trot, but I think we are on the right track. I had to follow up again today with the vet to get the prescription for Thyrol L called in. I guess I am not terribly impressed with her attention to detail. I hope she will improve.

8/11/08 Nice long walk warm up and then some canter work. She is not much improved for soundness, but game to go. It is still fairly early to see results, so I am unconcerned.

8/9/08 Took her out for a long walk, followed by some trot and canter work. She was very good and enjoyed herself. The Thyrol L is on order if Dr. Thompson called in the prescription as she indicated she would.

8/8/08 Took her out for a conditioning hack. After a long walk warmup, we had some trot and canter, which she seemed to really enjoy. She was well behaved.

8/7/08 I rode her on the trail. She is as lame as she was before, but it has only been a week since she has been on the cosequin. She did quite well on the trail. I called Dr. Thompson to ask her to phone in the prescription so that I can order the Thyrol-L so we can get that started ASAP.

8/6/08 After a call yesterday and today, I finally got through to her. She said the bloodwork indicates Equine Metabolic disorder. She recommends a low starch diet, Thyrol-L, exercise, the cosequin for the arthritis. I will call her tomorrow to get the prescription so that we can order the Thyrol L from Valley Vet, which will save some money over getting it from the vet school.

8/1/08 and 8/4/08 Checked on her and called the vet to see what the outcome of the blood test is. No word.

7/28/08 Lesson with Chely which went well. First canter and first ride outside the arena. Excellent. Goldie is quite unsound. The Cosequin arrived today and I will bring it to the barn to start administration tomorrow.

7/24/08 Lesson with Chely which went well. She had some solo trotting, a lot of sterring practice and learned "around the world". I ordered a new sidepull, reins, cosequin and some fly spray for her and Goldie.

7/22/08 Dr. Thompson was out at the barn when I was and just finishing up with a horse. She had time to look at Belle, so we did. She examined Belle and diagnosed her with Equine Metabolic Disorder, which can be thought of as Equine diabetes. This is a much better diagnosis than Cushings. She drew blood to confirm her diagnosis and will get back to me on that. The prescription is to continue with her conditioning to get her weight under control, move her to a low starch diet (Purina has a new Wellsolve product that will be perfect), and possibly putting her on thyrol L, which we will learn more about soon. Regarding the arthritis, she recommends Cosequin, which can be bought at Valley Vet. I've had horses on it before and seen good results. After the vet was there, I took her on a conditioning trailride, which she was wonderful on and worked up a good sweat. The vet will write up a full report and send it to you.

7/16/08 She is looking quite good, losing weight and feeling better. and moving better. I put the long acting fly spray on her today and took her out for a hack. She did excellently after the first two minutes in which she thought that she could be lazy, as well as eat grass at will. This is a result of having been in the camp for a week, where she was probably allowed to do such things. Easily fixed and she was an angel the rest of the day. I talked with the staff who indicated that she was a star for the camp. No surprise. It is time to look in to having her tested for Cushings and also talking to the vet about IM glucosamine shots. Let me know if you want me to schedule that. Also, I probably really only need to rider her twice a week to continue on her fitness. She is so good that I feel more than that is an unnecessary expense for you. I would like to get Chely on a twice weekly lesson schedule. I could do Monday and Wednesday early afternoon, say 1:30. Let me know if that is of interest.

7/9/08 I bought the 12-12 mineral block we discussed, along witha holder, and put them both in her stall. It will be interesting to see the rate at which she eats it.

7/2/08 I bought her some long-acting fly spray to help keep the bugs off her this coming muggy weekend. I put it on tonight. She smells like a citronella candle...

7/1/08 Lesson with Chely, which went well.

6/30/08 Took her on a ride in the woods and along the road. She is getting slowly fitter and more comfortable all the time. Her attitude is excellent.

6/27/08 Took her for a trail ride and road hack. She is starting to feel a lot better, the loss of weight and increased fitness is paying off. She was very good, though she did have her doubts about crossing a bridge. She got over it.

6/26/08 Took her for a ride along the road. It had rained, so the trails were really soft to ride, but that makes the gravel roads about perfect. However, she was sensitive on the rocks. She was just trimmed to that makes sense, but if she is going to be in consistent work, we may consider shoeing her, at least in front. We road mostly on the grass shoulder which was good with her. We had a lot of walk and some trot and canter. She is feeling better and was quite polite and fun to ride today. Her weight is coming along well.

6/25/08 Very warm and humid. Worked her a for a shorter time than usual because of it. With her weight being what it is, I don't want to overtax her in the heat. She handled it pretty well, though.

6/24/08 Lesson with Chely. Went well.

6/23/08 Goldie and she have been in a dry lot while I was gone for the week. They have both lost some weight, which is great. Took her for a slow trail ride with a lot of walking and a little trotting and some hill work. She feels a little more sound.

6/14/08 Went out and played "catch the horsie" much to her chagrine. I caught her, gave her a cookie, let her go, caught her, gave her a cookie, let her go, caught her, gave her a cookie, let her go. Not surprisingly, she got easier and easier to catch. For Belle, this was a fairly serious workout.

6/13/08 Mini lesson with young miss Strohberg (spelling of her name?) where we worked on grooming and a little on tacking up. Then worked Belle under saddle first at a walk for 10 minutes then 20 minutes of slow trot in an effort toward better fitness.

6/12/08 Took her to the vet school. Detailed papers from the vet are with Nancy. Belle was very well behaved for the trip. She's a peach.

6/11/08 Consulted with the vet and called Nancy to organize taking Belle in for radiographs tomorrow morning. The vet put Belle on oral antibiotics for her udder difficulty, which Belle does not appreciate at all. I had to twitch her to get it done, but she did accept it and she was eventually relaxed. I gave it to her tonight and will tomorrow morning and tomorrow night, but after that will have to find another to do it for her as I will be out of town.

6/8/08 They were in again, due to the rain and mud. She was quite tight at first, but got better and better with walking. I tacked her up with the sidepull (bridle without a bit) and saddle and went to the indoor. I got on and she was a perfect angel. We did 20 minutes of walking and she got better and better. Then we did some trotting and she is quite limited in her gait, but willing, well-trained and kind.

6/6/08 She was kept in due to the nasty weather outside. It isn't ideal for them to stay in so much, but it is the best that can be done under the circumstances. The first several steps out of the stall she was quite lame on her left front. By the time I led her 50 steps it was much improved, but still present. I checked her leg and hoof carefully and no obvious trauma or heat was present. I suspect arthritis. I took her to the indoor and worked her in hand and she did very well and the gentle movement helped her move better and better. She did quite well.

6/4/08 After grooming, for which she stood like an angel and allowed me to pick up all her feet, we went out to the indoor to work on some basic exercises. She did very well to the left and fine to the right. She has some good basics but has had little work on her right side. She is pretty unyielding in her body, but that is already improving. Worked on backing and getting her to relax in her neck and she gamely tried to cooperate with every request. Good mare.

6/3/08 She and Goldie were out with a group of horses in the D paddock. The two of them were trying to see how they were going to fit into the herd, some drama going on in the paddock, but nothing unusual. Belle was not interested in being caught, but not as devoted to moving away as Goldie was. It took about 5 minutes to catch her, for which she got a lot of praise. Belle's issue is trust, as you mentioned. I spent a good while grooming her today, which is a great way to gain trust. I also cleaned between her teets, where she had a lot of buildup, which is not uncommon, but gets itchy so horses like to have it cleaned. She also is "bagging up" as if she is going to give milk. You hadn't mentioned that she might be pregnant, so I am wondering if we should have the vet look at this too. A friend mentioned that some mares bag up in spring just as a matter of course. I have no experience in this regad. I'd suggest that when we have her on the list for her eye, we also have her teets checked.

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