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This page is dedicated to our Cremello Stallion Sunny, Chance's Are Gold. We were contacted by Gary Pegg, an excellent trainer from Rainer, Oregon, back in October 07 showing interest in Sunny. He was looking for a new Endurance project. After riding him, there was no doubt in his mind that Sunny was the one. He started conditioning Sunny by riding up and down hills. It has been an uphill battle with Sunny because he needs to get over his being studly. After two months of intense conditioning he had his first multi horse trail ride January 1st, 2008. The pictures and stories of each ride are in order first being on the bottom and latest on top. Each ride's story gives information on what is expected of a horse during a trial. Gary is very informative and interesting.

A week ago I rode Sunny in the two day 100 at Klickitat Trek. The more I ride him the more I am impressed. The first day I arrived at the starting line a couple minutes past the hour. The rest of the horses had left in a pack so Sunny and I were able to enjoy a safe and sane start to our day. Sunny still isn't totally comfortable traveling by himself, however he has learned to relax and enjoy the trip. He travels along in a seven to nine mph rack that is very energy efficient for him and comfortable for me. We covered about fifteen miles at that rate, up the side of Mt. Adams, the last three miles on the relatively level dike beside an irrigation ditch. At that point we were over taken by the front runners of the one day 50. After two hours by himself Sunny was ready for company. I had my choice wear my arms out and waste Sunny's energy trying to hold him back or let him roll with the crowd at a speed I knew would diminish his reserves later. Letting him go seemed to be the lesser of the two evils, we covered the next 5 miles to the first vet check at 12 to 15 mph.

I thought Sunny might take longer to pulse down at the vet check than the other horses, which meant they would be able to leave after the half hour hold before we would. NOT, Sunny pulsed down simultaneously with the two lead horses in the 50 and sooner than one of the other 100 milers we caught up with at the vet check. I let the two faster horses leave after the vet check so as not to get Sunny wrapped up in their speed trap. By then Sunny had put on his game face, knew there were horse in front of us, but was willing to go 9 to 12 mph without a fight. We were passed by several other front running 50 horses and the other 100 miler in the ten miles before we got to vet check 2. Sunny was traveling easy, his heart rate rarely over 140 and usually in the 100 to 110 range. We breezed through the vet check, Sunny ate all his mash with gusto and had time to hand graze for another 35 minutes or so before our hour hold was up. The last 20 miles back to camp was mostly down hill, though there was one good climb at the 15 mile mark. Sunny handled it all with ease at that a 9 to 10+ mph clip. We passed several horses that had passed us earlier getting back to camp with an almost 9 mph average for the day. We were only 30 minutes behind the top five horses, all seasoned experienced competitors.

That is considerably faster than Sunny has ever done a 50, almost 3 mph faster than I wanted to go, it worried me a little that he might not have enough left for the completion. But he was so strong, and he does travel easier if you aren't trying to constantly slow him down wasting energy throwing his head and pulling on the bit. Back in camp, once he got his fill of feed he spent most of the night prancing in circles, nickering at the other horse. I'm pretty sure he covered another 50 miles without leaving the trailer. I was determined to slow down on day two, the goal after all was to be the first Tennessee Walking Horse stallion to complete an AERC 100 mile event, not to win the ride.

Day two started terrible. First I slept through my alarm, not waking up until ten to five, the start time. I jumped up and got Sunny his mash and grain before making myself a cup of coffee. Sunny casually munched his feed as I hurriedly got my tack together and groomed him. By the time he finally finished eating, and I saddled him up and did a ride by for the vet we were over a half hour late, and back in last place. This was Sunny's first experience going out for a second day and he wasn't entirely certain it was a good idea. We just flat walked the first three miles, giving his stiff muscles a chance to warm up before letting him pick up his pace. The trail to the first vet check was a duplication of the previous day. This time the front runners caught up to us at about 8 miles with 4 more to climb before the irrigation ditch. These were all fresh horses who hadn't run the day before. Sunny definitely has a stubborn streak when it comes to being passed. Fortunately these horses were traveling slower than the previous days, but still 12+ miles an hour up that hill was faster than we should have been going. We inevitably reached a compromise at 10, a speed I thought we might be able to recover from on the down hill. Once we started going back down the hill we caught up with a horse traveling at a more sedate 8 mph and Sunny was willing to slow down.

After the vet check we took another 15 mile trail to the second vet check which was back at camp. By now Sunny was starting to show the results of his fast pace. He was still strong and wanting to go, but his heart rate was elevated, indicating he was starting to reach the end of his rope. Places where he should have been 90 to a hundred he was 110, where he should have been 110 to 120 he was pushing 140. We stopped several times to graze where the grass looked especially lush. His appetite was good, he ripped mouthfuls of grass like he thought he would never get another chance. Another point of concern was his reluctance to drink from natural water. At the water sets he would tank up, but most of the water on these trails was available in the creeks, and up to this point, Sunny just wouldn't drink from moving water. Our ride to vet check 2 became a series of two mile walks, stop and graze until his heart rate came down, two miles, graze until his heart rate came down. At the vet check he once again passed all the criteria with flying colors. After the hour hold where he got a big tub of beet pulp and carrots Sunny was somewhat refreshed and ready for his last 15 miles.

At first I don't think he believed we were really leaving camp again. He soon fell into his comfortable little shuffle. All I wanted to do was keep his heart rate down, conserve energy and finish the ride. Before too long we caught up with another 100 miler that was traveling about the same speed we were, both of us were going for the completion so we traveled together taking turns leading, letting the horses take some comfort in companionship. Vet check 3 was at the 95 mile mark overall. A short 15 minute hold, I let Sunny pick through all the left over piles of grain, beet pulp, carrots and apples. When he tired of them he munched on what grass was left in the area. Five miles to go, nearly all downhill or level. We crossed the last creek with two miles to go, Sunny buried his head to the eyeballs and tried to drink the stream dry! He finally decided that moving water was pretty good stuff. The big drink gave him a second wind that carried all the way back to camp. Sunny was one tired pony, he pulsed down pretty good, but was tired enough he only wanted to canter the trot out, the vets made us do it over three times before the finally passed us through.

On the 21st we are going to enter Sunny in the 75 at Sun River, which is being held just outside the town of Trout Lake Wa. http://www.geocities.com/sunriverride/ Sharon will be riding him, so he will be carrying about 50 pounds less weight than he did at Klickitat and Prineville. If they both are still feeling good after 75 they will elevator to the 100. If you get real bored and feel like going for a drive you should come down and see us - until later - Gary

May 10th, 2008

Prineville Ride in Oregon

Annette,

To make a long story short, he earned his fourth completion in four starts. I rode him in the 50 as Sharon was off on a school visitation. Sunny did very well even with a heavy weight riding him. It took him until the field spread out after the first vet check to realize he wasn't riding with another horse which caused him some distress. We rode the first 25 at an average of 7 mph. That doesn't sound like much, but once you factor in all your stops for water, adjustments, allowing him to grab some grazing you will find one has to travel at 9 or 10 mph, with some stretches up to 15 mph to average the seven. The first 14 miles of the second 25 we kicked the pace up a little, even though we were traveling faster his metabolics were lower as he was becoming accustomed to being by himself and he wasn't wasting so much energy trying to impress the other horses. The last nine miles we slowed down considerably, not because he wasn't able to travel faster, more because I felt he needed more time learning to relax on a ride, take advantage of grazing and the water sets and in general catch a rest when one was available. This will pay dividends down the road on longer rides, when grazing and water management become a larger part of keeping the horse fit to travel. We ended up 21st overall, but only three minutes behind the 17th place horse, narrowly missing a top 20 finish. We completed in about 8 hours, an hour slower than I intended, but I can't be too disappointed, Sunny showed he was capable of a faster pace plus he learned to start taking care of himself. The Klickitat two day 100 is only two weeks away and we will be showing up with a fresh horse instead of a recovering one. Sharon will be riding him there, I feel our chances are gold to be the first Tennessee Walking Horse stallion to complete an AERC 100 mile event. Sorry for the poor pun, the devil made me do it!! If I get inspired I will try to write you the longer version later. - g

Thought you might enjoy this picture of Sunny coming in to the finish line last weekend at Milwaukee RR. He still had enough energy to break into a canter, Sharon is trying to keep him and his heart rate slowed down. The weekend of the 10th I'm going to ride him at Prineville. We have been starting a half hour after the rest of the horses leave camp, aiming for middle of the pack finishes while he gains conditioning, giving him a chance to get used to the rides without the pandemonium of 50 hot horse milling at the start and because the mare I am riding isn't ready to go any faster. At Prineville I am going to start on time then let him stretch out a little more and see how he does closer to the front runners. Sharon got a nice complement from Michael Peterson (the vet Sunny kicked at Home on the Range) on Sunny's good manners. Sharon has been working with him daily, hand grazing around the fields where the other stallions and mares are grazing. Teaching him to stay calm even when other horses are present, she is making good progress. - g

April 19th, 2008

Grizzly Mt. near Madras, OR

March 30th, 2008

Home On The Range Endurance Ride

Annette,

Just wanted to let you know how well Sunny did at HOTR. Despite the rather limited conditioning he received, his metabolic scores were superior to many seasoned veterans. I'm not sure how much you know about endurance protocol, so please excuse me if I seem too basic. Before, periodically during and after a ride the horse has to be inspected by veterinarians and judged fit to continue using predetermined criteria. During and after the ride the horse has to reach a particular pulse rate within 30 minutes of crossing the hold or finish line or they are disqualified. Most riders will get off their horse half a mile or so before the line, loosen the girth, remove the bit and do what ever they can to make the horse comfortable then walk in, leading the horse to give his pulse a chance to drop before they get to the line. The best conditioned horses will be pulsed down when they get to the line, if it takes ten minutes or less to pulse down most riders are pretty happy. Horses often come in with pulse rates of 80 or higher. Because of my leg I was unable to walk in, so we rode Sunny up to the pulse takers. His pulse rate was at or below the criteria of 60 beats per minute when we crossed the line all four times Saturday.

After pulsing down you still have to pass the vet check in order to continue. One of the indices used to track a horses condition is his Cardiac Recovery Index or CRI. In this test the vet first checks the horses pulse rate, then the rider or groom hand "trots" the horse out 110 feet and back while the vet looks for any lameness issue. Then sixty seconds after returning to the vet a second pulse will be taken. The ratio of the two pulses make up the CRI. A negative ratio, one where the first pulse is slower than the second is an indication the horse either tired, out of shape, over stressed, too hot or, more likely, a combination of these symptoms. Whatever the reason, the horse is unable to recover to his previous pulse rate within a minute of trotting 110 feet.

A CRI of say, 60/64 is considered pretty marginal. 60/68 will get you the "need to slow down and take care of your horse" speech. 60/72 is enough to require a recheck at the end of the hold if not an outright metabolic pull. An even CRI like 60/60 is better, but still nothing to write home about. A positive CRI, 60/56 is a good sign, the horse is fresh enough that it recovers further in that one minute break than it had up until that time. Again it is the ratio that is important the numbers themselves while representative on their own are secondary to the ratio. Coming into the pulse check a 48 is obviously better than a 60 which is way better than an 80. On the CRI though, a 60/60 is better than a 48/52 and a 64/60 is better than either. The key to a healthy horse is a lower second number.

In my previous experiences with first year horses is not to expect a positive CRI. The horse hasn't learned to rate themselves, they waste energy dancing around, get excited when separated from their riding buddies, the poking and prodding from the vet is unusual and gets them nervous... Mercedes, who has been the star of my stable up until now, and can be considered solidly in the upper tier of gaited horses, if not endurance horses in general, who won the sophomore horse and gaited horse of the year awards and carried me to a seventh place finish in the heavy weight division (most of those ahead of me rode two or more horses) in the Northwest region, and was tied for first Tennessee Walker in the nation last year didn't get her first positive CRI until midway through her second year of conditioning and competition. Many horses never get a positive CRI.

On the not so bright side, at the first pulse check he was acting like he was kicking at flies, though none were present. When we moved onto the vet check he kicked again, this time connecting with a veterinarian. The head vet Mike Foss, treatment vet Olin Balch and inspection vet Michael Peterson are all doctors I have considerable respect for and have spent many hours cultivating good relations with. Dr. Mike let us continue with a stern admonishment that any further at risk behavior would get us disqualified. I'm not so sure that if had been a different group of vets we would have been allowed to continue. I've seen disqualifications for less. Sunny was still a little antsy at the second check at 25 miles, but by the time we got done with 39 he could have cared less. It's not like we didn't suspect the mental aspects of Sunny's training would be the hard part.

April 19 we will compete at Grizzly near Madras Oregon. On the 26th we will be at Milwaukee Railroad, which is held at the Boyleston trail head about 5 miles east of Ellensburg on I-90. May 10 he will be at the Prineville ride in Oregon. All with Sharon riding him again. On May 17th I will ride him at Mt. Adams on the fifty. I will be going for a 6 to 7 hour fifty, which should be pretty doable. If I like how he did at Mt. Adams our next goal will be for Sharon to ride a two day 100, 50 miles a day, on him at the Klickitat Trek on May 31 & June 1. Again shooting for 6 to 7 hour completions. If all goes to plan we are going to enter him in the SunRiver 100 near Bend Oregon on June 21. No Tennessee Walking Horse stallion has ever completed an AERC 100 mile event, if we do our homework and practice good ride management Sunny will have completed two, and will officially be in the record books as the first.

The weather sure looks a lot more comfortable on the gulf coast than what we are getting here in the NW, I vaguely remember tee-shirts and the sun. This picture was taken yesterday on our New Year's ride. That is Annette's Sunny (Chances are Gold) in the middle, learning about steep hills and deep snow. On this exposed ridge the wind has blown most of the snow away, most of the ride the snow was about 2 feet deep. Gary