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Chatty
May 16, 2011 20:22:31 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on May 16, 2011 20:22:31 GMT 1
Hi Angela
Our vetting is very similar to endurance. Their heart rate is recorded, which must be under 64 bpm, if it is over that (sometimes horses get a bit excited!) it is taken 5 minutes later. The vet checks their legs, their back and that if they are wearing shoes they are well shod. He checks their mouths for signs of soreness then they are trotted up. The vet records anything untoward on his sheet. Unlike endurance, we do not have a record sheet and are not penalised if they pick up a slight injury. The vet does have the power to say the horse is not fit to start or continue. This does happen. I have the vetting instructions from this weekends competition which explain the process really well if you want them. Email me on lisamillie1@hotmail.com and I'll send them on.
We do not have back-up crew in Trec. The routes are often planned near or through streams and there is normally water available on route at checkpoints.
Loads of different obstacles. I'll list a few: Reinback between two poles without touching - walking sideways along a pole without touching - S bend - low branches - ditch - maypole - corridor - incline up - incline down - staircase up - staircase down - step up - step down - immobility - hedge - brush - tree trunk - ditch - water crossing - path crossing - mount - bending - footbridge - lots of these obstacles can be either a led obstacle or a ridden one. Organisers can also make up their own. At one event we had to ride under a line of washing! There are a maximum of 16 obstacles in a competition (this section called the PTV). Some of the obstacles may be found out on the orienteering phase (POR). There are a maximum of 10 points for each obstacle but if you don't do one you score 0 for it - for instance, many people do not jump. There is a time limit and penalties for being over.
The third phase is COP - Control of Paces. This is where the horse is first cantered as slowly as possible along a marked corridor (100 to 150 metres long normally) then walked back as fast as possible. This is timed and believe me you have to be pretty collected at canter and extended at walk to score any marks. If you step out of the corridor or break pace you score 0.
As you can probably hear, I am a complete treccie nut. I will travel hundreds of miles to take part, particularly in the orienteering. What area do you live in, maybe I will know of a competition occurring near you.
Lisa
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Chatty
May 16, 2011 22:52:40 GMT 1
Post by angelac on May 16, 2011 22:52:40 GMT 1
Hi Lisa Your keeness comes through and good for you. It is very inspiring. I am just getting going again with my Highland after an extremely wet windy winter up here in Orkney. Also rebuilding confidence as lost a lot through difficulties with my little cob.( Trying to address this too) I thought I would use part of my coursework to develop a plan I could use with Blair hence getting readyfor beginners Trec. I have made a start, but we have some way to go! TREC hasn't been on offer here, tho last year a little Intro event along these lines was held. Lots of the features but no Orienteering. I didn't have Blair then so went to help out. There may be another with orienteering this year. Also we may move to the Highlands in the next year or so which would widen possibilities. I believe there is a lot of this type of activity in Inverness shire. Main thing for me is to try and get the pair of us fitter so that beginner Trec could be a realistic goal. Am I right in thinking this type of ride would be about 12km? I have done the washing line thing before as part of a fun day. I was on a sweet very obliging little mare.It was fun. Well I'll finish here but thanks, probably will be back to ask you more. Meantime please do keep us posted with your rides. They are very interesting and I admire the way you get on and do it. I'v a feeling my rear wouldn't be fit to put in the saddle after a 6hr stint the day before. Take care and have fun Angela
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Chatty
May 27, 2011 11:31:34 GMT 1
Post by angelac on May 27, 2011 11:31:34 GMT 1
Hi Lisa All the best for your ride this weekend. Hope vehicle and weather are kind too. Have fun Angela
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Chatty
May 31, 2011 8:49:02 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on May 31, 2011 8:49:02 GMT 1
Hi Angela
We had an odd weekend really. The travel went without a hitch this time but still took 7 hours. The Tanat Valley is stunning with huge hills and small mountains all around us. I had been a bit worried about Chatty last week as she seemed a bit lack lustre and lacking in energy. I decided by Wednesday that the goodness had gone out of the grass and that she was lacking the calories needed to work so hard so I left her muzzle off. I also offered her some feed with a little salt added to prepare for the strenuous weekend.
She was extremely well behaved on the orienteering ride but tired very quickly. Within one km of the start it felt like we were going vertical up the side of a mountain and from then on I had to constantly push her on. By about 20km she had really had enough - she was exhausted. I then nursed her along (felt like I was carrying her really) until we reached the penultimate checkpoint at about 25km and retired. I was aware that tired horses are more likely to injure themselves and I was just feeling cruel by then. Luckily we were on a road at this time and the organizer kindly came and fetched us with a trailer.
Poor Chatty. She hadn't been drinking on the ride - odd because she normally does, I wondered if it was the different minerals in the water there - so she wasn't pooing properly either. She was very thirsty when we got back and drank two buckets of water. She still hadn't "been" by 9pm so I spoke to the vet who checked her over and advised enlarging her coral so that she had access to loads of grass as that would act as a natural laxative. Thankfully this worked by the morning.
I decided not to continue with the competition so had the vet check her over in the morning and took her home.
She seems fine in her paddock now and showing no injuries. I am hoping that her lack of energy was just down to lack of good nutrition and I'm in touch with a feed company to try and find something that will suit her. The bland foods that don't affect her behavior she turns her nose up at and will not eat them. I am aware though that she needs vitamins and minerals and need to find a way that she can have them.
Of course she may have been under the weather although she had no nasal discharge and had bright eyes. Her heartbeat was up from 28 to 44 at the initial vetting so maybe she was not quite right or possibly the long journey upset her.
Whatever, I will be keeping a close eye on her and if there is no improvement in her energy levels by the middle of next week I will be having her blood taken and checked.
On a good note - I checked our times against the published results and we were doing quite well - about halfway up the field - we are improving.
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Chatty
May 31, 2011 9:28:03 GMT 1
Post by picasso on May 31, 2011 9:28:03 GMT 1
Hi Chattysmum, well done for pulling out. Its difficult when you have travelled so far, and its cost so much. As you say, if she doesn't recover quickly, it'll be worth while to have some bloods done, just for the piece of mind. She may have a virus. i had this happen on an endursance ride once - the indicator is the higher than expected heart rate. I always used to ride with a heart monitor, do you?
Jane H
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ange
Full Member
Posts: 219
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Chatty
May 31, 2011 14:22:03 GMT 1
Post by ange on May 31, 2011 14:22:03 GMT 1
Hi Chattysmum -
I feed both of mine as laminitics (one has had this and one is just too fat) and have found a great, very low calorie 'feed' that seems to suit them both and addresses the vitamins/minerals aspect (although with low-calories it obviously won't add 'energy' as such) which is Top Spec Anti-Lam. It's so low in energy value its classed as a suppliment, but its in pellet form (like things such as Lo-Cal balancer, which I found pilled the weight on!!!) and (to me at least) smells much better! I feed it with their Top Chop Lite, and so far I've never had a nose turned up at it (and Penny, although greedy, is also quite choosy).
Cheers, Ange.
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Chatty
May 31, 2011 17:59:06 GMT 1
Post by angelac on May 31, 2011 17:59:06 GMT 1
Hi Lisa How disappointing after such a long drive, but I'm sure you did the right thing. Please let us know how you get on. The feed thing is so difficult isn't it ? My cob just sails along but Highland gets fat so easily while at the same time needing energy. I have heard of folk flavouring their horses water for a few days before a competition so that it doesnt taste different on the day but this may not be easy on a trec ride. Hope all goes well Angela
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Chatty
May 31, 2011 21:18:43 GMT 1
Post by nellie on May 31, 2011 21:18:43 GMT 1
Hi Lisa,
What a disappointment for you but also how worried you must have been! I do hope she's soon back to her normal self - I hope you will update us?
I do enjoy reading your posts, they are a window onto another world for me. You work so hard towards your competitions and it's lovely to see how you are progressing - aside from this weekend's "blip", but then, blips happen, don't they?
Good luck in your search for a suitable food for Chatty, that she also likes! I take it she didn't like the good, plain Simple System feeds? It's like trying to persuade my husband to eat vegetables!
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Chatty
Jun 1, 2011 12:07:24 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on Jun 1, 2011 12:07:24 GMT 1
Oh how funny Nellie - I loved the analogy with your husband.
I have ordered some feed from a company called Pure Feeds after being recommended by friends and a lengthy telephone conversation with their nutrition expert (let's hope anyway). It is being couriered to me today so I will be interested to see how she does on that. I have ordered two feeds, both with the same basic ingredients but one having more energy than the other. It was pointed out to me that feeding the medium energy level feed all the time may lead to storing the extra calories as fat but I do want to ensure she has the vitamins and minerals and trace elements contained in the feed all the time. Oh I hope she likes it!
Going to hack quietly around the block today to assess how she is feeling.
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Chatty
Jun 1, 2011 12:09:02 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on Jun 1, 2011 12:09:02 GMT 1
Thanks for the heads up on the feed Ange, I will bear that one in mind.
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Chatty
Jun 1, 2011 17:45:47 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on Jun 1, 2011 17:45:47 GMT 1
I am soooo relieved to be able to report that Chatty was eager to go out today and full of her normal energy. I feel a bit awful as I was obviously not giving her sufficient calories to enable her to do long distance work. Today, I went out intending to amble around for 45 mins but she was so enjoying herself that we stayed out double that. She felt supple and absolutely none the worse for her ordeal in Wales, thank goodness.
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Chatty
Jun 1, 2011 21:51:37 GMT 1
Post by huntingcharliehunt on Jun 1, 2011 21:51:37 GMT 1
Hi Chattysmum I risk sounding horribly repetitive, but I wondered whether you have considered trying simple systems? As you probably know Jane, who I think runs the company does endurance riding at a competitive level and only feeds this, plus they do an excellent supplement called total eclipse. They would be very helpful if you contacted them for advice. I have one cob who gets very silly on grain and he is perfect with this, and all my three hunt on it and have boundless energy and stamina, and are never silly or spooky. Forgive the intrusion if you have already tried it, or know of it and don't fancy it. Kind regards
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Chatty
Jun 1, 2011 23:46:09 GMT 1
Post by picasso on Jun 1, 2011 23:46:09 GMT 1
just my two pennorth - Chatty does not look short of feed in her pictures. She had a heart rate raised above normal, which would not be caused by less feed. It is more likely that she had a passing illness of some kind. I competed my previous horselong distance to 30 miles, making 9mph, on alfa only. No offence meant. PS I feed simple systems Total eclipse (when Cass is at home) with Hi Fi lite. Our other horses have lucie stalks and ruff stuff from simple systems.
Jane H
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Chatty
Jun 2, 2011 7:56:03 GMT 1
Post by chattysmum on Jun 2, 2011 7:56:03 GMT 1
Thanks everyone for your comments. I have spent quite a lot of money of Simple System, including Total Eclipse and she just would not eat it so it ended up in the bin. I tried adding apples and carrots, which she just picked out and mint which was supposed to make the feed more interesting (pot still in my tack room). I have two friends who absolutely swear by it but it's no good if they won't eat it. To be honest, they both add pony nuts to the feeds to make them more interesting. I do love the idea and principle of Simple System but it didn't work for us.
The initial vetting check was at the top of a hill and her HB was taken straight away. When I mentioned to the vet that her resting HB was normally 28, not 44, he thought it was probably the fact that we had just walked up a hill. Who knows. I am just relieved that Chatty is now ok.
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Chatty
Jun 2, 2011 17:17:18 GMT 1
Post by nellie on Jun 2, 2011 17:17:18 GMT 1
I am so pleased to hear Chatty is back to her normal chirpy self , your delight comes through. I can't wait to hear of your next adventure !
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