Our 7 Step Strategy to Top Ten at Tevis - 4th Gear Here We Come

Easycare Blog - Full Article

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 by Kevin Myers

We set out with a goal ten months ago, and built the strategy around that goal. The goal was simple: to achieve a top ten placing at Tevis 2012. We thank Garrett Ford for his support and encouragement that we could train our horses to this level. Our reading list was 4th Gear by Dennis Summers.

The essential components were:

1. Impeccable hoof care. It all starts with the hooves - I believe that more and more each day. If the feet aren't right, you can't do well. We used Easyboot Glue-Ons on ride day.

2. Diet: the grass pasture has changed our horses for the better - and so has the space for them to run around and be stupid with each other (they're on 4 acres right now, but were previously on a pasture twice that size). We feed a good quality grass hay mix; a balanced performance feed and a multi-vitamin. If Far began to look too lean, we would add Amplify to his diet. Once the grass got going, it was more a question of how to keep the weight off them. We wanted meat over the ribs, but we wanted to see ribs when they breathed in, and to be able to feel them. Stoner actually went into Tevis at a higher weight than we wanted, but that did not seem to hurt him...

Read more here:
http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/bootlegging/our-6-step-strategy-to-top-ten-at-tevis-4th-gear-here-we-come