Deer Creek Eventing November 2011

November 2011 Issue 3 1

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Deer Creek Stables Eventing

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Deer Creek Stables

November 2011 Issue 3

Welcome to November!

This month’s newsletter features the first of a three part series on alternative equine therapies written by Elaine Burn. Watch for a new column called Advice from Ariel as she offers helpful hints from the horses’ perspective. There’s equestrian news, October competition results, November rider exercises and a special pictorial section including the Spooktacular Horse-O-Ween and much more.

Here’s hoping this month finds you and your horse happy and well.

Enjoy…

November has arrived…

Welcome to November

Inside….

Progressing Through

Alternative Therapies

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2

4

5

6

Show Results/Advice for Ariel

Equestrian News

Transitions 14

Special Pictorial 7

Rider Exercise


Progressing Through

Alternative Therapies

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The first article in a three-part

series one horse woman’s

experience with equine

alternative therapies.

Alternative Therapies: An Introduction Part 1 of a 3-Part Series My father is a PhD chemist and

my mother taught High School

Chemistry, so I was raised in a

household where science was

King. It was instilled in me early

on that, if you can’t quantify

something through observation,

it just doesn’t exist. It was

perfectly natural that I set my

sights on becoming a

veterinarian, with a preference

for lab research and, in fact, I

did complete the pre-

veterinary program at Iowa

State with that goal in

mind. Then I discovered

advertising and I quit school

altogether, but that’s a

different story.

It wasn’t until I was in my 30s

when I had my first exposure to

alternative treatments for

horses. My eventing horse,

Rufus, went totally lame in his

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left hind leg one day. Stall rest

didn’t produce any relief and

we could find no evidence of

soreness in the joints or

muscles. Still, he just wouldn’t

put any weight on that leg and

it wasn’t getting any better.

After 6 weeks of trying these

traditional Western treatments

and diagnosis procedures, I

was seriously considering

retiring him when my good

friend, Roseanne, suggested I

try Chiropractic. Roseanne

herself was a testimonial to

acupuncture and chiropractic

which she used in lieu of

traction to heal a broken back

after a fall in the hunt field. An

amazing story, but I was still

skeptical. She asked me flat

out, “what do you have to

lose?” She was right, and we

made an appointment.

This was the mid 1990s and we

were lucky to have a

veterinarian who had also been

trained in chiropractic way up

in the hinterlands of Michigan’s

Upper Peninsula. Dr. Gayle

Hoholik started testing Rufus for

Contributed by Elaine Burn

Continued on page 3

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pain or reactivity up and down his

spine. She zeroed in on the

hindquarters and made an

adjustment to the sacrum

area. Moments later, Rufus walked

off totally sound. It was a

miracle! And from then on, I was a

believer!

I even took Dr. Hoholik’s advice

and tried something that sounded

even stranger – acupuncture! I

was really getting out of my

element now! But, she convinced

me to do it so the muscles around

the area she adjusted would heal

faster and relieve some of his

pain. It was amazing to see my

16.3H Thoroughbred stand

absolutely still as needles were

inserted, and then totally relax

during the treatment.

Many of the horses I had after

Rufus benefitted from my new-

found knowledge of alternative

therapies. Problems that I would

have assumed were just bad

behavior now prompted an exam

by the chiropractor to make sure

they weren’t pain-related. More

times than not, it was something

that treatment significantly

diminished or cured altogether.

Rufus was a pretty simple case –

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we caught it early and it only

required occasional follow-up

adjustments. This is probably

more the exception than the

rule, and that is certainly the

case now with my horse Willy,

whom I’m sure most of you

know at Deer Creek. He makes

for an excellent case study in

alternative methods including

chiropractic, acupuncture and

even essential oils.

We’ll start to share Willy’s story

next month, but in the

meantime, I think it’s important

to point out that, with

alternative treatments, it’s not

a matter of making a diagnosis

and then taking action, like

surgery or injections, to correct

the problem. Instead, it is

about using a series of

progressive treatments that get

to the root of the problem, but

which also take time and

patience. When your body is in

pain or suffers a traumatic

illness or injury, it expends

energy repairing the site of that

injury, protecting it with scar

tissue or by shifting weight and

stress to another body part,

and systemically trying to

adapt to the condition. So, in

order to really treat the root

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cause of the problem, each of

these defensive layers has to be

peeled back, treated and

rehabilitated.

This is both the blessing and

curse for these treatments, I

think. They can be more

successful in providing long-term

relief and health, but they

require time and effort. Owners

are often reluctant to commit to

what can be a long-term and

expensive course of

treatment. This is especially true

for horses in competition, as

these methods may delay their

ability to win that race or show

division for their owner.

Willy has been in treatment and

rehab for more than 1 ½ years

now, so you can conclude that I

believe the longer more

thorough road using alternative

therapies is worth the investment

of time, money and effort. I do,

and I believe he will be healthier

and happier and we’ll have a

longer time together in the show

ring together as a result. Only

time will tell, but the progress

we’ve made so far has been

phenomenal, and you’ll hear

more about that journey next

month.

Alternative Therapies Cont.


Ariel the Oracle brings sage advice directly from the horse’s mouth…

Apparently we had some complaints from our 4-‐legged friends last month

when the humans shared the horse’s stalls as a bathroom! The horses ask that

boarders please flush only tissue paper down the barn toilet. No paper towels,

feminine articles, etc…please! The horses were just a bit indignant.

From sources that will remain nameless (Diesel & Penny) the humans are

leaving their clothes, shoes and coats in the barn entry. They are tired of

hearing the other humans gripe about it, so please remember to put away your

belongings and help keep our barn tidy.

Show results continued on page 5

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Horse Trial Results for Deer Creek Riders

Greenwood Farm Inc, September 28th – October 2nd

Rider Horse Division Placing

Jennifer Burk Buster OTCH 16th

Heather Morris Robbie ONCH 17th

Alyssa Valentine Maddie NH 3rd

Jennifer Burk Spuddy NH 10th

Amy Haycox Sophie NH 11th

Sarah Nores Hully NH 13th

Braden Anderson Risky OBNCH 12th

Nicole Bergamini Irish BNR1 7th

Meadowcreek Park, October 15th – October 16th


Jennifer Burk Buster OT 7th

Alyssa Valentine Maddie ON 15th

Heather Morris Robbie JN 6th

Sarah Nores Hully JN 12th

Sarah Nores Cavada JBN 8th

Advic e f rom

Ar ie l


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3Mary Tish Phillips Buddy ST 2nd

Nicole Bergamini Irish ST 4th

Holly Hill, October 28th – October 30th


Sarah Nores Hully JNR 6th

Jennifer Burk Rageous BNH 4th

Rachel Herod Beau NSR HC

Fairfield Dressage Show – October 23d


Walty Smith Buddy Intro C 3rd

Latisha Baker Roman Intro B 4rth

Latisha Baker Roman Intro C 3rd

Angie Heflin Miss Bea Intro A 1st

Angie Heflin Miss Bea Intro B 3rd

Deborah Brown Hobby Training 1 1st

Deborah Brown Hobby Training 3 1st

Rachel Herod Beau Novice B 1st

Rachel Herod Beau 1st Level 1 2nd

Jennifer Burk Rageous Eventing C 1st

Jennifer Burk Rageous Training 3 1st

Equestrian News

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Historic Team Gold Medal for U.S. Eventing Team at the

2011 Pan Americans Games winning on their Dressage

scores

RELEASE: October 23, 2011 AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR:

Joanie Morris

GUADALAJARA, Mexico- In an unprecedented effort,

the U.S. Eventing Team stormed to Team Gold at the

2011 Pan American Games in classic style. All five

team members added nothing to their dressage

scores, to finish on 138.6 – a feat never before ahieved

in a Team Eventing Championship.

After winning the dressage, they jumped five

spectacular clear rounds on Saturday’s cross-country

course, for the first time in anyone’s memory and then

sealed the victory at Club Hippica with double-clear

show jumping.

“I would like to give a really special congratulations to

my team,” said Chef d’Equipe Mark Phillips. “Five

people finishing on their dressage score – that’s never

been done before in the history of our sport.”

Anchored by Buck Davidson (Ocala, FL), who led the

way on Absolute Liberty as the pathfinder for the U.S.

Team – he set a standard that the entire team

maintained for three days. It was a truly phenomenal

Shannon Brinkman Photo)

Continued on page 6

Continued from page 4


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effort and all four of them finished within eight

points of each other.

“We have really good horses, we were well-

coached, we have a great staff and we came

here with that mission - to put in personal bests,”

said Davidson. “And a big thanks to Mexico –

it’s been a great trip.”

Canada claimed the Team Silver finishing on a

score of 172.6 and the team from Brazil was

third with a score of 209.8.

Follow the U.S. Team at the Pan American

Games (photos, blogs and wall-to-wall

coverage):

http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2011Pa

Rider Pattie Wood submitted two core strengthening exercises from the Weight Watchers Healthy Living page for our November rider exercise. Thanks Pattie!

1. Opposite Extension What does it do? Strengthens

and stretches the lower back.

Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface.

Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under

shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to

sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns

with the rest of your spine.

Extend your right arm and left leg so they are level with

your shoulder and hip, respectively. Focus on lengthening

in a straight line. Hold for 10 slow counts; you'll feel a

stretch move from your fingertips through your spine, and

down to the tips of your toes.

Return to the start and repeat with your left arm and right

leg. Do 2 to 3 reps with each side.

2. Cat-Cow What does it do? Strengthens and

stretches the lower back and abs

Kneel on your hands and knees on a padded surface.

Place knees directly under hips and palms directly under

shoulders. Pull your abs in and don't allow your back to

sag. Tilt your head toward the floor so your neck aligns

with the rest of your spine.

Rider Exercises Equestrian News Continued


DC

S IN PIC

TURES

Deer Creek Stables


Welcome Chasity Chasity May came to DCS in

October and is currently leasing

Georgie. Chasity is a senior at

UTA with a double major in civil

engineering and industrial

mathematics. She was born in

Wichita Falls, TX but lived in

Minneapolis, MN for the several

years before coming home to

Texas. She is married with three

cats and three dogs! Chasity tell us that she got her first horse when she

was four. She grew up riding cutting horses, but discovered dressage in

her early twenties and fell in love with the sport. Her riding goals are to

relax and have fun- and maybe make it to second level along the way!

Welcome to DCS Chasity! Goodbye Footy

You may not have been

aware of it, but since it’s

beginning, Deer Creek

Stables was kept safe

under the watchful and

protective eye of our

loyal friend Footy. We will

miss his welcome wag and kind eyes. (Pictured on our first website was

Jaycee Heflin and Footy under the title of “Barn Managers”)

Goodbye Spuddy Spuddy was officially sold the first of October. He went to a 14 year old

girl who is very proud to have him. We will miss Spuddy, but Gail

promises to come out and feed carrots anyway!

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Deer Creek Eventing November 2011

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