MDDA CLASSROOM CLINIC ENJOYED BY ALL
By Jane Licht
The room full of participants
who attended the Midwest Distance Driving Association Classroom
Clinic on distance driving all seemed to enjoy themselves while gaining valuable
knowledge about competing in this sport. The
audience was attentive to about a dozen MDDA member drivers who also enjoyed
sharing their expertise and experiences through a wide range of presentations,
demonstrations and personal conversations. The
event was held February 28th at the WEST 20 Ranch and Saddle Company
near East Troy, Wisconsin.
MDDA president Wes Licht welcomed everyone to the event and
explained that the purpose of the organization was to educate members about
distance driving, to promote driving safety, and to have fun with their horses
and fellow drivers on the scenic trails throughout the state.
MDDA member Roger Houk explained the rules of the sport,
which are posted on the MDDA website – www.midwestdistancedriving.org.
He indicated the minimum age of horses for distance driving is
48 months and the pace is set between 5 and 8 miles per hour.
The horse must be able to meet the maximum recovery level of 68 beats of
the heart (pulse) and 68 breaths (respiration) per minute. At
the end of each drive, the competitors have 10 minutes to present their horse to
the vet for checking pulse and respiration (P&R) and a complete final
inspection.
Long time distance rider and event organizer Romona Radtke
explained the scoring sheet used by the veterinarians at the drives.
A thorough inspection of the horse, including a trot-out, is done to
establish a pre-drive baseline of information. Competitors
start with 400 points and then points are deducted on subsequent vet checks for
signs of sore muscles, fatigue, attitude, and poor recovery of P&R. The
veterinarian is the judge so it is wise to be kind and considerate to the
veterinarians at the drive who spend lots of time checking horses.
Wes talked about cart and harness preparation, and
necessary equipment to take along. His
list was similar to those used for other carriage events except that items like
sponges, collapsible buckets, and electrolytes are encouraged. Items
such as the spares kit, safety helmet, whip, halter and leadline, and
quartersheet or blanket are required and must be produced by the driver during a
safety check prior to starting the drive.
Veteran drivers Sandy Rudstrom, Connie Gray and Pauline
Stollenwerk talked about their conditioning programs.
Sandy said when she initially tried to get her husband Randy interested
in distance driving, he said he would never drive a horse.
But now, Sandy and her three daughters do most of the conditioning of
their six horses and Randy drives at all the MDDA distance driving events. The
Rudstrom women compete in distance riding events on the same weekends so it is
really a family event.
Connie Gray gave some practical advice for a conditioning
program. Horses with a lot of Arab
blood in them tend to have long, lean muscles and can dissipate heat quickly,
but any horse can be conditioned and successful in distance driving.
It just may take a bit longer. Connie
said to start slowly alternating walking and trotting and write down what you do
in a diary since you probably won’t remember it.
You gradually add either speed or length to your driving or riding
routine with your horse, but don’t add both speed and length at the same time.
Conditioning will improve the horse’s pulse, respiration
and endurance in several months but it will take a couple years to improve them
structurally. They will look fit
after a few months but it takes much longer to improve their skeletal system –
something that is really beneficial to the horse.
Pauline provided an unusual twist to conditioning your
horse. She feels that conditioning
should be fun and interesting. She
pulled out items from her pack such as CD’s that she plays on the road for her
and her horse Tony’s benefit, as well as a can of liquid refreshment and her
cell phone. Everyone had a good
laugh.
Jac Deweese gave an overview of what happens the day of the
event. He used overhead
transparencies of photos to illustrate what new participants can expect at their
first distance drive. He
recommended arriving early so that your horse can recover from the stress of the
trailer hauling. Competitors should
then report to the event organizers, register, and pick up the score sheet
necessary for the pre-drive vet check. He suggested hand grazing your horse when
you can to help with relaxation and digestion.
Romona Radtke, also gave a presentation on nutrition and
electrolytes. She said it is
important to give your horse lots of grass hay and/or good grass pasture.
She suggested using less grain and instead, get your horse used to beet
pulp that is soaked in lots of water in order to hydrate them.
You can mix grain in with the beet pulp to get them to learn to like it.
Romona uses hot water with the beet pulp in winter and cool water in the
summer. Because of a selenium
deficiency in our soils in the Midwest, it’s important to supplement your
feeding program with this mineral but only with recommended amounts since it is
toxic in large quantities.
Horses lose electrolytes as they sweat so you should begin
giving them extra electrolytes before the drive. You can use pre-prepared electrolytes or make your own.
You can add them to applesauce or yogurt to make them more appealing to
your horse and use either a syringe or syringe type of “gun” to get them in
the horse’s mouth. Always rinse
the horse’s mouth with water after giving electrolytes.
During an event, have hay and water in front of you horse at all times.
Romona said that on the distance drive, your horse is using
what you fed him the two days before the ride. She closed by saying that of all equine sports, distance
riding and driving is best as far as helping us really getting to know and
understand the emotional and physical needs of our horses.
After lunch, the group met in the large horse arena of WEST 20 Ranch and Saddle Company for a demonstration of pre, mid and post drive vet checks. Romona led the demonstration simulating a vet check using Gus, a driving horse from the Rudstrom family. Wes led the demonstration on harnessing and hitching safety, also using Gus and the Rudstrom’s meadowbrook carriage. Romona, Connie and Sandy assisted all the participants in checking pulse, respiration and gut sounds using three of the Rudstrom horses.
Final questions from the group were answered. Wes encouraged everyone to attend the MDDA Novice Ride/Drive event to be held April 24th near Lodi, Wisconsin. For more information, contact Wes at 608-838-8178 or email him – jlicht@sprynet.com .