From Arizona endurance rider Stephanie Palmer-DuRoss:
Hadji Halef Omar and I have had another amazing year. We finished the 2009 ride season 1st place in the Southwest region lightweight division and 2nd place overall in the Southwest region. We were 2nd place nationally in the Pioneer award lightweight division, and 9th place nationally in mileage. Hadji and I completed 1360 miles, 26 rides with 100% completion. Almost half of those rides we finished in the top ten. I am so proud of my Hadji and how much he was still able to accomplish this year.
Hadji suffered a reaction from his vaccinations in mid-July. The reaction caused separation of the hoof wall called laminitis. My plan of going to Tevis had to be canceled. I was devastated. What surprised me the most was that because Hadji was barefoot I was able to catch the laminitis very early and treat it immediately. If Hadji had shoes on they would have masked the variation in his gait that initially alerted me to the problem. The telling wrinkles/ rings on his hooves showed up about a month later.
If I had ridden Hadji as planned at Tevis, the impact would have greatly increased the recovery time for the hoof to grow out healthy. Another benefit to Hadji being barefoot and conditioning him barefoot is his fast growing hooves.
With the knowledgeable input from Kirt and Gina Lander, I was able to shorten Hadji’s recovery time. I was having Hadji trimmed once a week by my trimmer Cyndi Rach to keep his heel down and take pressure off his toe.
Kirt was insurmountable in improving Hadji’s recovery by viewing my weekly photos and telling me and Cyndi how to adjust his trim accordingly. I want to thank Cyndi for her hard work; without her weekly trims, Hadji’s recovery would have been greatly delayed.
What we originally thought would take about 4 to 6 months before I could compete on Hadji was shortened to 2 months.
I also took Hadji to Bryson Ranch, LLC (equitherapyaz.com). Bryson Ranch is a facility that has a swimming lane for horses. They swam him daily Monday thru Friday, and had him in turnout. I left him there for 3 ½ weeks. Hadji needed movement for circulation without the pounding caused to his hooves in conditioning.
With the swimming, Hadji was able to maintain his conditioning, cardiovascular and muscles without impacting his recovery. Swimming him was amazing in increasing his circulation which sped up his recovery. When I brought Hadji home I was pleasantly surprised with the muscle tone in his back and hind quarters.
I was able to ride Hadji 2 days at Bryce Canyon XP the first week of September with a day off in between rides. I then took him in October to Grand Canyon XP and rode all 5 days.
We ended the year In November with a 2nd place finish in a 75 mile ride and finished top ten in a 50 mile ride the following day. I am so impressed with the improvement to my horse by going barefoot. This is the second year Hadji has competed barefoot.
The 2009 ride season is Hadji’s highest mileage year out of the 9 years I have competed with him. What is even more astounding is Hadji is 17 years old. I want to thank Kirt, Gina and Renegade® hoof boots for all their help and support. Without being barefoot I know Hadji would not be able to continue to compete at this speed and mileage at his age.
Thanks so much,
Stephanie Palmer-DuRoss
& Hadji Halef Omar
