Karen's Blog entry
I’m sure that Bo was happy to get back home after completing the 100 at 20 Mule Team. He sure appeared to come through the ride in really good shape. I think he had fun and I know he learned a lot! I was really pleased with his performance. I know that I rode him well within his limitations and could have asked for a lot more but I still feel as if he is just a baby starting out in this sport. He doesn’t even have a thousand miles yet. I want to use this time to build him up and keep him strong, sound and healthy.
I always take extra care post ride to make sure my horses have everything they need to recover well. I put a little more effort into it when they are doing rides like 100’s and multidays though it is mostly the same. The main thing is to keep the horse eating, drinking and moving around. As soon as I finished the 100 I got a nice wet beet pulp mash with Omolene 200 and electrolytes in front of Bo so he could eat while I got all of his tack off and got him cleaned up and blanketed.
I also offered Bo water with salt in it. There have been studies that show that a horse will recover faster when given salt water to drink post ride. Of course, I made sure that he had a choice of both kinds of water. You know how horses are always going for the salty sponge water at vet checks? They know!
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