Club Stuff

Musings from Karin   

Welcome to the first issue of the GCER newsletter for 2005.

Thank you to Lucy for producing the newsletter and to her and Jon for their work on our website, www.gcer.org.

The Board met March 1st to discuss the coming year and plans for the club. Our main focus is the endurance ride. We plan on it being as or more successful than last year. Of course, this really depends on the club members and their labor of love they bring to this event. Cherryl Holbrook is our ride manager (YEA!) and we will be waiting to hear what the ride needs from us.

We have two guest speakers lined up in the coming months, with more to follow. Dr Kent Oakley will speak to us in March and Dr. Langdon Fielding will speak to the club in May. We will be looking for some suggestions on speakers and we will also want some input about meeting at club members’ homes in the Summer. 

We are running an ad this month in the Auburn Journal, the Georgetown Gazette and the Grass Valley paper. It’s a short note to let potential members know who we are and where we meet.

It looks like a fun and exciting year and I hope to see a good turnout for our first meeting this year. If you haven’t paid your dues, this meeting will be a great time to write a check to GCER and join in the fun of Gold Country.

Karin Occhialini

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March Meeting

Tuesday 15th, 7 pm (6 pm if you want to eat ahead of the meeting) 
at Baker's Square, Auburn
Speaker: Kent Oakley, DMV

From the Loomis Basin website (http://www.loomisbasinlargeanimal.com/index.htm):

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Cathy Richardson recently interviewed Dr Oakley on “Horse Talk” 
on KFOK, Georgetown, LP-FM 95.1, the home of good taste. 
Here are some of the questions he was asked:

• Apparently, there are non-vets who float horses' teeth. Do you have any
  opinion on the extent of training they would have, and what are the reasons
  you'd recommend a vets' services as opposed to these non-vet "technicians?"
• The bit seat - is it necessary, or is it just something they "sell" you,
  and just what is it?
• Any benefit of using electrical equipment vs. the old garden hose and hoof
  rasp? If so, what are they?
• How often should you have your horse's teeth floated?
• What are some common signs a horse will exhibit when it's time to have some dental work done?
• As a trivia question, how many teeth does an adult horse have, assuming it'
  s a full set?
• This may sound like an odd question, but what, approximately, does an
  entire set of horse teeth weigh?
• Does a foal have any teeth when it's born? What are Milk Teeth?
• What special training, above and beyond vet school, do you have?
• What's your procedure when someone brings their horse in for general
  dentistry work. What we call "cleaning and flossing" for people.
• We've just had you work on three of our horses, ages 21, 19 and 7. As
  responsible horse owners, when should we bring them back?
• Is there anything we can do to keep our horses' dental health up to speed?
  Any special feeds or supplements?

Horse Talk airs every 3rd Saturday of the month at 8am-9am, 95.1 FM: www.kfok.org.

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Club Stuff

Please note that the new by-laws are on the GCER website, together with this year's meeting schedule. Jon Saunders has also put together a club roster with members' names, addresses, phone numbers, and (where possible) email addresses. Please check to make sure your details are correct - several of the email addresses seem to be out of date.

Club Dues:

• Dues for 2005:  Single = $15   Family = $25
• Jon Saunders will collect at the meeting, or they can be mailed to the club PO box: 
  P.O. Box 3412
  Auburn, CA 95604.  

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Stories

Mocha and Cheryl at Battle Creek endurance ride, July 2004

Mr. Mocha Brown is
Alive and Well
Cheryl Domnitch

It was a fantastic day for a ride at Spenceville. In fact it was a fantastic ride! Mocha and I were out for about four hours with a whole crew of people and horses, Cherryl Holbrook, Sue Bain, Marina Tweed, Monique and Peggy. 

The ride was not difficult, no major hills, and we walked more than half the ride. The trotting and cantering we did were near the end of the ride and Mocha gave me no indication that he was having a problem. Even thinking back to the days and hours leading up to the “event”, I cannot think of anything that was “out of sorts”.

We finished the ride and I took Mocha’s saddle off. I looked away to hang his saddle and when I looked back, I knew immediately that he was in trouble. I quickly commented to the others that there was a problem. Cherryl, Sue, and Marina had the immediate reaction of looking at me like I had two heads, because Mocha was fine during the ride, flying down the trails happy as a lark.

When they walked over to him and saw his head hanging down to the ground, the dull eyes and that he would not eat, they immediately agreed there was a problem. Mocha was colicking, something he has not done in the six years that I have had him. I am first thankful, that I know my horse well enough to know that something was wrong and he was not simply tired. While for many of you, this may seem second nature, but since Mocha is my first horse, I always wondered if I would know when something is wrong. 

I walked him for a little while, no improvement. Since he appeared well hydrated, we gave him banamine, no improvement. (Cherryl, just so happened to have some handy.) After an hour and no improvement, I decided to put him in the trailer for the one-hour trailer ride home. When we got home and I unloaded, things were only worse, he could barely stay standing. He would eat a little grass and then try to lie down or roll by tucking his hind legs under him. He clearly was in pain. His vet, Dr. Jason Shaver, arrived at our house at around 6:00 pm. Dr. Shaver worked with him for four hours, he was tubed, given a rectal exam, 10 liters of fluids, temperature checked, pulse checked, given sedatives and pain relievers, generally just a whole lot of poking and prodding. 

At about 10:00 pm, with no improvement and only worsening, Dr. Shaver looked at me and said, “Hmmm, Loomis or Davis?” A great vet, just not a man of many words.

So off to Loomis we went, with tube and catheter in place taped and wrapped around Mocha’s head. We started with ultrasound, x-rays, more fluids and more poking and prodding. The vet Dr. Langdon Fielding, told me that the ultrasound and x-rays really did not show any conclusive information, however, he believed the problem was in Mocha’s large intestine.

Dr. Fielding did a belly tap (drawing fluids from the abdomen, the color of the fluids is indicative of whether or not a stomach rupture is imminent, I think?). It was determined that I had a little bit of time to make a decision. Dr. Fielding sent me home.

Within a couple of hours after I got home (it's now 3:00 am), Dr. Fielding called and said I needed to decide if surgery should or could be done. As if I had any option! He told me that when they got inside he could call again and we could reevaluate based upon what they found, considering they couldn't see anything on ultrasound or x-rays.

At 5:30 am he called and said although the surgery was successful, in that they were able to poke a needle in his intestine to relieve the gas pressure, they found absolutely nothing wrong with him and could not identify the cause for the colic. No stones and only a slight kink in the large intestine that he said most horses work out of without surgery.

After the surgery, Mocha continued to have "colic episodes" as the vet called it, for another three days. It was awful to watch him still so miserable. I thought Mocha's time had come. Dr. Fielding and Dr. Shaver encouraged me to hang in there and on the fourth day Mocha turned the corner!

I brought him home the next day. He was so happy to be home, even if he was confined to his stall for 30 days. He was eating drinking, peeing, and, most importantly, pooping (who knew I could get even more excited about a little horse poop, then I normally am).

He was on banamine, Gastrogard, and some five-day wormer thing, just in case...since the vets just didn't know. Mocha thought the banamine and Gastrogard were OK, but when I gave him that wormer, he lifted me off the ground with the tube hanging out of his mouth. He was simply ravenous and not very happy that I had to control his food intake for several days at home. Within a few days he turned his butt towards me, when I went to put his halter on. Normally this really pisses me off, this day I let him get away with it! It was just a sign that he was feeling good.

Before this whole thing, I knew that I loved him, I just did not know how much or how important he is to me........I'm thrilled that he's hanging around for a while longer.

Oh and, so much for my year end work bonus! 

Update: I wrote this article at the beginning of December, shortly after the “event”. Now three months later, Mocha has new shoes on and he is ready to ride…I’ve been very hesitant, so we’ve been doing cavalleti to strengthen his funky back, and he’s been getting ponied at Empire Mine. Every time we break into a trot, however, that beautiful head of his is flailing all over the place with excitement…I can barely hold onto his lead line. I think he’s telling me that he is more than ready!

Cheryl

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How We Spent Our Christmas Vacation
or
Flatlanders Move to the Foothills
Karin Occhialini

When we moved to our property in Garden Valley this fall, we were aware that the barn was home to a few pigeons; four to be exact. Except for one incident of standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, we were content to share the barn with this small band of avians whose cooing in the morning hours always seemed a natural addition to the pastoral area.

Early in November, we noticed suspicious activity high in the rafters and I questioned whether there might be a nest tucked up. If there was one, it was built out of sight and more importantly away from our barn cats. Thelma and Louise were a gift(?) from Mike and Kristy Hartman. Side note; Mike and Kristy have supplied most of Placer County with barn cats, offspring from a feral cat that was finally caught and spayed this year. If you didn’t get kittens while she was a hotty, I think you’re now out of luck

I found out early in December, that yes, there was a nest and babies were being fed and nurtured, readying themselves for the big flight towards adulthood. Soon 2 babies were spotted peering over the edge of the rafters and I excitedly waited for the day their wings would carry them through the barn and out into the Sierra Foothills.

I arrived one afternoon to do some clean up in the barn and while passing by the stall the Thelma and Louis occupy, (yes they have their own stall) I noticed something lying right outside their door. We keep the stall closed with about an 8-inch opening so the cats can travel in and out, without allowing access to the dogs.

The something was a baby pigeon. Apparently he misjudged his virgin flight and had landed close to the “killing fields.” The cats had located him and dragged him to the entrance of their chamber of horrors and were now inside discussing how to get him through the door. He appeared dazed but unharmed and I knelt to pick him up to assess his injuries. Our lab, Sunka suddenly appeared at my side and quicker that you could say, “Lemony Snicketts”, engulfed the head of the bird in his mouth. Yelling, I bopped Sunka on the nose. He released the bird, but sadly, the damage had been done and the little feathered neck hung limply in my hands

Well, Mother Nature and a black Labrador work in mysterious ways and while I felt sadness for the loss of this life I was more in awe at the speed with which Sunka had, in a heartbeat, assessed, planned and executed his kill. I’m glad I’m his friend! I chalked it up to really bad luck for the baby bird and hoped the other baby would fare better. More importantly, I hoped he had witnessed his sibling’s poor choice of landings and would pick something farther and safer to land upon.

Alas, this was wishful thinking and a few nights later I arrived home from work to the news that Pete had plucked another casualty from the grasps of Thelma et al.

This one had sustained an injury to his wing and foot and again had been found outside the chamber of horrors in the barn. Unsure of what to do, we placed baby bird in a large dog carrier and left him for the night safe and protected from predators. We would form a plan the next day.

We placed food and water in the cage and decided to give him a couple of weeks to see if he would improve. 6 weeks later “Junior” had grown considerably, was hopping about and soon spreading his wings.

We decided to cage all other the animals and let Junior outside to see what he skills he currently possessed. 

Pete brought him outside and after watching him walk around, we decided to toss him up in the air and see what nature had in store for this little guy.

Junior lifted into the air and promptly fell to the ground. OOPS. This was going to take some time. We did notice that when Junior was on the ground, he followed Pete everywhere. After about 20 minutes of crash and burn, Junior was returned to the cage where he promptly ate seed and drank water. 

We went to San Diego for a few days and upon returning decided to continue flying lessons. Survival of the fittest be damned! We were going to make this work. This time, Junior lifted up, spread his wings and flew right into the side of the barn. Stunned, he wandered around and after a few minutes, we tried again. Crash, AGAIN. The next time he attempted a landing onto a fence rail and went right over the other side. Good grief, I was sure brain damage had been sustained and figured he would be with us for life. 

Not discouraged, Pete continued flying lesson 3 to 4 days a week. Sure enough, his wings became stronger and his skills slowly improved. He no longer flew into the side of the barn, but was able to land on the roof. However, he was still being tossed into the air and didn’t know how to initiate flight by himself, so Pete would climb on the roof, bring him down and start over. By this time Ashlee, our granddaughter was visiting and she would run and retrieve Junior after he landed. Since landings seemed to be going well, the next hurdle was to get him to fly on his own.

Pete decided that takeoff by example would be effective. He took Junior into the pasture, ran around flapping his arms with Junior by his side, while Ashlee and I stood at the rail cheering. Actually, Ashlee cheered, I hunched low sure that neighbors were peering into the yard stating, “Looking at that stupid flatlander running around flapping his arms.”

Laugh if they will, within two days, Junior was running beside Pete with wings spread. See evidence photo. Soon, he was lifting his little body up and spurred on by the roar of the crowd (Ashlee and me) went up, up and away to the nearest fence post. I neglected to mention that Junior’s mom had arrived to observe the training a few days before. After deciding his survival was certain, she pecked his head about 20 times and then stayed close by. Sure, now she shows up after the hard work was done. Soon Junior was flying with mom. We kept him in the dog carrier at night because of the cats, but after a week of confinement, gave him his freedom. Today, he is alive, well and flying with mom.  He has been accepted into the flock of four and Thelma and Louise are waiting for the next set of hatchlings.

Karin Occhialini

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Ride & Tie Is Going to Be Fun, Right?...
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull

Zini scarfing beet pulp while expressing fear and alarm at the rest stop on hw-99 on the way home from DVE

Last year's goal was Tevis. OK, the actual goal was to get a sound horse to the start line and I couldn't even manage that - pushing poor Provo too hard during conditioning and causing him to strain a tendon. Provo got the rest of the year off and I fiddled with the other two horses, trying to sort out Mouse's on-n-off unsoundness, and getting Zini ready for Death Valley. For the first time in five years I not only made it to DVE, but also managed to complete two LD rides for Zini's endurance career debut. So 2004 wasn't a complete wash out, achievement-wise.

Cognisant of the fact that I need to curb my enthusiasm - or at least direct it towards causing me injury rather than the horses - this week I decided that this year's goal would be to attempt Ride and Tie (R&T).

R&T was an idea I'd vaguely considered last year while training for Tevis. At that time I was doing more running (with the horse) than I ever had before. I wasn't very good at it and didn't even particularly enjoy the actual running part, but quite liked the buzz I got off it afterwards, as well as the satisfaction of managing to do something that I was really bad at. When I was about 14, my school decided to hold a cross-country race in the nearby woods. I came 62nd out of 64 entrants and thought the entire event completely sucked (I also hasten to add that the riding instructor at school did endurance riding and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to do that either).

Which brings me to this week when I was spurred into action by a timely email from Cheryl Domnitch inviting various lunatics... uh... I mean other potential R&T-ers to join up for a R&T practice this coming weekend. I hadn't run since last October when it started getting dark early in the evenings. At that time, I'd happily run 3+ miles down the canyon and feel pretty good at the bottom. Downhill I can do. Hmm.

So on Monday I started running again and ran 2+ miles during my lunch break at work in Sacramento. OK. So far, so good. 

I started to look at the R&T calendar and discovered that the first R&T event was at the Whiskeytown Chaser endurance ride up west of Redding in mid April. I've always wanted to go to that ride but never had a horse fit enough that early in the year, so it seemed like a good sign. The Whiskeytown R&T offers a 13 and a 24 mile course and of course, if we were going to drive all that way, we would want to do the 24 mile course, right?

On Wednesday, I ran the same loop as on Monday in reverse. This time by about the half-way point I was forced to stop and hobble for a bit as my shins hurt so bad. Shuffling along the last half mile of the loop I reconsidered the idea that the 13 mile course at Whiskeytown was actually pretty respectable, right? That success should be measured in the taking part of an event rather than how far we went...

On Friday I met up with my prospective partner, Gail Ziegler, so I could introduce her to our potential R&T horses. Gail seems like a good R&T partner as she has the exact same lack of drive and ego that I do when it comes to pushing ourselves, so won't hold it against me if we come dead last by several hours. Just what is the point of pushing ourselves? I mean, we're out here, aren't we? isn't that enough? On the other hand, Gail has also completed a respectable 20 mile race at Sly Park last September and continued to run all winter, so she's not only fit, she can go distance - and she's a good rider.

Thy name shall be “arabian”... Mouse in 2002, the last time she was fit...

Since Zini seems to think she's a lippizaner (you know that thing they can do where they leap in the air and kick their legs out behind them? Zini can do that), I put Gail on Mouse. Mouse managed to be good for a whole mile before she decided to have a hissy fit and rear on poor Gail. After that, we swapped and Mouse's Jekyll (or is it Hyde?) persona retreated back into the murky depths of her mind.

Because Zini already has her budding endurance career ahead of her and Mouse could never really see the point of going long distance, I'd really like to use Mouse as our R&T mount. There are various pros and cons to this. For example, Mouse will stand quietly for you to get on and isn't likely to step on you. On the other hand, she isn't 24 mile fit, she's liable to have a melt down, and I'm not even sure if she's sound. As for Zini's qualities - well, she can be as good as gold - "can be" being the operative words - she's sound, relatively fit, and would think it a blast to do. Her cons include sometimes being a bit too enthusiastic about activities (see above comment about lippizaners), there's a strong likelihood that she'd stand on one of us, and she has a tendency to be snarky towards other horses, runners, etc. Crabby b*tch is often a good description of her persona. 

So we'll see how things go tomorrow on our first official practice. Cheryl promises me that R&T is way more fun than running alone.

Lucy Chaplin Trumbull

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Why I Love My Horse
Humbly Submitted by Cathy Richardson

The subject horse is my 19-year-old Arabian gelding, Czaruska HCC. He stands a hair over 15 hands and is a dark bay with a small star. His nicker is the first I hear in the morning when I trundle up to the barn to feed. I recognize and delight in his morning sounds. I try to get in the first good morning by saying "Czzzaaruskaaaa, I love you!" before he sees me. Therefore, I assume his morning greeting is an answer to me.

Czar and Cathy during Tevis 2003. They reached Francisco's before Advil was no longer up to the task of keeping Cathy in the saddle.

The days we ride are special. Although he’s retired from competing in endurance rides, he’s always good for 20 miles on the trails, if my back holds out. The horse I love has a trot the size of New York State, and riding him is always Advil-intensive.

On riding days, he puts his sweet, albeit rather large, head into the halter, always anxious to be fussed over and invariably looking forward to a day on the trail. I tie him to the hitchin’ post and begin the ritual of grooming. To me, half the enjoyment found in riding a good horse is the additional bond you and your horse savor through a thorough grooming session. I start by cleaning his feet on the assumption that if something’s amiss there, you’ll save time by putting him away and grabbing another riding horse. Without fail, Czar always patiently lifts first his left front foot, then left rear, right rear and right front. Horses appreciate continuity, so we take the same foot-cleaning route every time. 

Having completed the foot care, I move to the brush or, depending upon the amount of mud he’s carrying, curry comb. I revel in brushing his strong, shiny shoulders, chest, back, rump. Moving now to the mane and tail (one simply cannot not ride a horse whose mane and tail aren’t properly attended to), I adore running the brush through his long, silky, black mane and tail. Even by Arabian standards, Czar possesses quite a crown of mane, and I often joke that he’s a tail with a horse attached. 

I stand back and admire him. "What a pretty boy you are, my love," and he looks at me with total devotion. He’s my horse, and he knows it. Always, I realize how blessed I am to now saddle this glorious creature and head off on an adventure, just he and I (well, the dog usually goes, but you get the point).

When I’m on his back, I feel like the luckiest person alive. Traveling our trails aboard our equine companions is like nothing else on earth. My mantra is: "I feel sorry for anyone who’s not me!" Or "us," when in company. 

Czar is full of life and vigor. I can only guess what he was like as a young horse. Seeing the world between his alert dark ears is magic. I can feel his strength through the saddle; when it’s raining, I feel his warmth through the saddle and delight in watching his steamy horse breath. 

Back at the barn, he nickers now for treats. Once untacked, he gets his grain and carrots and again looks at me with a certain appreciative glow in his wonderful eye, and I know life is good. 

Always look into your horse’s eye, before and after a ride. The expression in their depths is astounding. It’s also very grounding. When life slaps you around a bit, hug your horse and look into his/her eye. No psychiatrist could provide more wisdom or comfort.

When the last of the grain-induced lip-smacking is done, I put him back in the barn, always aware of the special sound a horse’s shoes make on the cement floor. Into the rows of stalls, off with the halter, and I watch him as he regally walks out, rolls and rejoins "his" herd. My smile is enormous. My love for this horse has no bounds. 

Our horses love us unconditionally, and loving them back is why we gladly share our world with them. Having these huge, fragile beings in our lives makes us complete. Horses have a special irresistible charm that worms its way into our hearts for as long as we’re on this earth. Aren’t they all wonderful, and don’t you feel sorry for anyone who’s not us?

That’s why I love my horse! 

Cathy Richardson

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The aim is to get the newsletter online on Friday before the meeting.