Busy weekend for the St. Andrews Equestrian program!

The St. Andrews Equestrian Program is full steam ahead this weekend! At home we are hosting back to back IHSA Western Shows Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at 10:00. Following up on the Hunter Seat team’s lead Coach Carla Wennburg is planning the western version of the BOB Derby. The BOB Derby will be similar to a trail class with some other fun activities. The BOB Derby is a fund raiser for IHSA National Championships next May in Raleigh.


The brand new horse trailer left for Raleigh this morning for its first trip with horses. Coach Lindsey Crowther is taking the show team to the Triangle Farms ‘C’ show and RLAK program director Megan Ellis is accompanying Red Ted and his rider Josh to the NC Special Olympics. Coach Ashley Duda is also going to Raleigh to show at some point, but knowing Ashley she has also managed to plan some practice time for the IHSA Hunter Seat Team! The dressage team will be working on the tests for the SAU IDA show scheduled for Oct. 22nd this afternoon.

Results of the NCSU IDA Show Sept. 25th

Champion Team – St. Andrews University
Reserve Champion – Averett University

Individual Results
First Level Test 1
1st Lindsey Agaliotis - 71.0345%
3rd Erin Hudson - 68.2758%

Training Level Test 2
1st Olivia Taylor – 68.9655%
5th Andrea Tito – 61.3793%

Intro C
1st Lauren Parker – 73.00% Reserve High Point Rider!
3rd Brianna Carter – 68.00%

Intro B
4th Hannah Firth – 65.00%
5th Katelee Johnson – 65.00% (judge split the tie)

Great Weekend for St. Andrews University!

The Equestrian Team had a great start to the competitive season this weekend with the IHSA Hunter Seat winning at home and IDA team winning at NCSU. The IHSA team had lots of support from friends, parents, alums and program supporters. This is just some of the people that stopped by to show their support.


• Alums visiting to IHSA - Rob Jacobs, Marianne Stark
• Bob Cacchione!
• Keith Wade stopped by around 9:15. “I’m on my way to the airport good to see the turn out”
• National anthem sung by Professor Bill McConnell
• Family members of Andrea Velez, Sami & Kali Cram, Kayla McBath, Tori Burkey. Paula Kramer, Hillary Todd, Caitlin Karolak, Alexandra Fullerton, Catherine McDowell.
• Announcer - Alum Mike Kryszak, Judge - Carol O’Brien Aiken SC

Bob Cacchione spoke during the lunch break.
“I am honored to be here today. Thank you to Peggy McElveen and the St. Andrews team for hosting the first and the last show of the season. You all will be taking part in hosting the IHSA National Championships at the Fairgrounds in Raleigh. I have been walking around talking to everyone and have been told by many parents that they will be there next May. If you make it to Nationals this year my hat is off to you, if you don’t qualify this could be the closest you will be to a National Championships. We have over 100 jobs that need to be filled, participating in these championships is something you can put on your resume. IHSA has sent 4 riders that have participated in the Cacchione Cup to the Olympics. The membership is currently 8,600 individual members and growing.

Every year IHSA raises the bar at the National Championships, knowing Peggy McElveen and Carla Wennburg I know we are in for something very special next May.”

Team Results
1. SAU – 44
2. NCSU – 37
3. Duke – 3
4. UNC – Chapel Hill – 29
5. ECU – 24
6. Coastal Carolina – 21

High Point Rider – Allie McGraw SAU
Reserve High Point – Kathryn Hall ECU

Individual Results

Open Flat A - 1st Kim Graves

Novice Flat A - 5th Catherine McDowell

Open Flat B - 1st Katie Hansen

Novice Flat B - 4th Tara Algeri

Open Fences A - 3rd Katie Hansen

Open Fences B - 2nd Kim Graves, 3rd Cat Stumberg

Walk, Trot, Canter A - 5th Brittany Powell

Novice Flat C - 6th Katie Mentzel

Intermediate Flat A - 3rd Sami Cram, 4th Keli Van Der Heuvel

Walk Trot A - 1st Shiloh Kozlowski

Intermediate Fences A - 2nd Kali Cram

Novice flat D - 4th Michelle Eld

Walk trot canter B - 1st Caitlin Karolak, 3rd Angie Cormack

Intermediate Fences B - 2nd Nikki Napoleone

Intermediate Flat B - 2nd Regina Barasch, 6th Kayla McBath

Novice Flat E – 2nd Park Hoey

Walk Trot Canter C - 1st Mia Dipillo, 3rd Hillary Todd

Novice Flat E - 1st Ali McGraw

Walk Trot B - 3rd Morgan Potts

Novice Fences A - 1st Ali McGraw

Walk Trot Canter D - 5th Paula Kramer

Novice Fences B - 1st Alexandra Fullerton

Walk Trot Canter E - 1st Cami Glaff

First IHSA Show for 2011 - 2012

The first IHSA show of the 2011-2012 academic year will be hosted by St. Andrews on Saturday. The show begins at 10:00 on Saturday morning with the finale class, The BOB Derby, at approximately 4:00. As one of the most competitive IHSA regions in the entire country, we have strong competition from many schools. The Knights have been working hard with afternoon and evening practices to prepare for this competition. Bob Cacchione, the President and founder of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association will be visiting with us from Friday through Sunday and will be at the show all day on Saturday. We are eager to start our competitive season which goes throughout the school year and culminates with the National Championship the first week of May, 2012. Teams competing Sat. Coastal Carolina, Duke, ECU, NCSU, Martin Community, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC- Wilmington, & St. Andrews.

Go Knights!

The Coaches are Preparing!

The barn is a busy place lately. The coaches have been running team practices for the IHSA and IDA teams. Friday Coach Duda was running a 3 ring circus with 3 horses on lunge lines with riders practicing without reins and stirrups. The IHSA hunter seat team have their first show at SAPC next Saturday! There is a work night planned for the 21^st and schooling all day on the 22^nd. Coach Dwelle held dressage practice on Friday and Saturday for dressage team members. Riders practiced their tests and worked on improving their feel and connection with the horse in preparation for an IDA show next Sunday at North Carolina State. Coach Wennburg attended a Board meeting at Colorado State this week, but barn manager Rachel Buckler stepped into to help the western team as their first shows are October 1^st and 2^nd at SAPC.  Megan Ellis is preparing some of the riders in the Ride-Like-A-Knight Therapeutic Horsemanship program for the Equestrian Tournament at the NC Special Olympics Sept. 30^th – Oct. 2^nd . Barn Manager Kellie Garrabrant has been preparing Red Ted for his journey to the Special Olympics by having him live in the round pen with a two horse trailer. Red Ted has a history of being difficult to load, but now he willingly walks on the trailer by himself!

2011 - 2012 Team Rosters

IHSA HUNTER SEAT ROSTER 2011-2012

Tara Algieri

Regina Barasch

Vanessa Bradley

Lacy Burke

Tori Burkey

Chandalyn Chrzanowski

Chelsea Clasper

Dara Corbett

Angie Cormack

Kali Cram

Sami Cram

Jameson Crandall

Mia DiPillo

Madison Edwards

Michelle Eld

Alexandra Fullerton

Cami Glaff

Kim Graves

Julie Griffin

Sara Hackney

Katie Hansen

Hanna Hinsrichmeyer

Park Hoey

Caitlin Karolak

Shiloh Kozlowski

Paula Kramer

Sarah Lishen

Kayla McBath

Catherine McDowell

Alie McGraw

Katie Mentzel

Nikki Napoleone

Bridget Newman

Courtney Nix

KP Poole

Morgan Potts

Valerie Robey

Hannah Platt

Brittany Powell

Jackie Rigsbee

Abi Skillman

Cat Stumberg

Hillary Todd

Keli Van Den Heuvel

Sarah Williams

Miranda Wright

IDA Roster 2011 - 2012

Lindsey Agaliotis

Brianne Carter

Casey Curtis

Hannah Firth

Erin Hudson

Sarah Jones

Katelee Johnson

Katherine Kaltenbach

Jenna Marten

Lauren Parker

Masha Peckham

Claire Pollard

Olivia Taylor

Paige Tillison

Andrea Tito

Callian Trujillo

IHSA Western Team Roster 2011 - 2012

Kali Cram

Tyler Gritzuk

Michelle Hustad

Kelsey Jones

Shannon Leggett

Erica LeSeur

Dugan McDermott

Rachel McGarvey

Katie Mosca

Jake Nix

Amber Powell

Brittany Powell

Kimmy Simonsen

Logan Teeter

Andrea Valez

Keli Van Der Heuval

Madison Webb

Liana White

Shelley Whittemore

Megan White

Vicki Wiese

Miranda Wright

2011-2012 Show Team Members!

Nicole Napoleone

Chandalyn Chrazanowski

Bridget Newman

Lacy Burke

Dara Corbett

Michelle Eld

Keli Van Den Heuvel

Kali Cram

Sami Cram

Alexandra Fullerton

Regina Barasch

Julie Griffin

Katie Hansen

Allie McGraw

Kayla McBath

Abi Skillman

Kim Graves

Paula Kramer

Catherine McDowell

Team Tryouts This Weekend!

This weekend is team tryouts for freshmen and transfers. In previous years all students have been required to try out for teams the exception being riders that competed at intercollegiate nationals in the previous year. This year the intercollegiate coaches Duda, Dwelle and Wennburg decided that last year’s team members did not have to try out for the IHSA hunter seat and western and IDA teams. This puts pressure on new students to fill the available slots on these three teams.


Another change for this year that the coaches felt was important for making the intercollegiate teams more competitive is that students may only compete on one intercollegiate team. The coaches agreed that riders need to focus on the competitive discipline of their choice. Riders are encouraged to ride in other disciplines during their lessons to broaden their horsemanship skills but competitively the coaches expect a single minded focus.

Support for team mates, excellent horsemanship, and a true understanding of the requirements of a sport are key for competitive success. The coaches are looking for riders dedicated to their sport, that are thirsty for knowledge and are willing to study their chosen discipline as well as practice it.

Good luck to everyone trying out this weekend!

Happenings at the barn since school started.

Staff Changes
Kellie Garrabrant has been promoted to Barn Manager for the entire facility. Kellie’s office is now in the Boarder barn, but she will be supervising horse care on both sides of the property.

Rachel Buckler SAPC 2010 has joined us as assistant barn manager working at the lesson barn. Since graduation Rachel has worked in Wisconsin with SAPC Alum Alison Koenig and at a teaching barn in Maryland. Rachel’s responsibilities include supervising the work study program.

Liz Dulski SAPC 2011 joins the staff as Barn Fellow. Liz works with Rachel at the lesson barn and also covers the Boarder/TH barns on Kellie’s day off. Liz will also be responsible for the community lesson program.

New Trailer
Exciting news Peggy and Dale picked up our brand new trailer yesterday. It is made by Gore in Whiteville, NC, six horse slant load with dressing room and it still has that new trailer smell!

Using Technology in the Classroom

Summer is winding down and the new school year right around the corner! Yippee! We get to meet lots of new people, reconnect with those that have been gone for the summer and start educating both in and out of the classroom.


For this fall I am going to experiment with technology in some of my classes. The goal is to help students use the ever evolving read/write web to further their education. I remember the days of coding “by hand” in HTML and navigating complicated FTP programs to publish to the web. Oh how things have changed!

Stable Management class will be interacting through a closed facebook group. The History and Theory of Modern Riding class will be making web videos of important theoretical concepts and Basic Riding Instructor Lab will be sharing information in a Wiki (History and Theory might end up there also.) I have some other ideas I am playing with which need a little more thought before sharing!

This is a really exciting time to be involved in education with so many free or low cost resources available to educators and students. The resources are really limited to your imagination!

Equestrian Program is now Twittering!

The Equestrian Program is now on Twitter! Follow us @StAndrewsEq

Horses Looking for Forever Homes

We are looking for homes for some of our horses. Some are retired, others are still working but are ready for a less hectic schedule and some are just not a good fit for our program but could be very useful in another setting. We are very selective about where our horses go when they leave SAPC and carefully screen anyone that is interested in giving a horse a forever home. If you are interested in learning more please send details of the type of horse you are looking for and the level of care you can provide to Jackie at dwellejm@sapc.edu.

Follow this link to see a listing of the horses.  Horses Looking for Forever Homes

Sarah Marsh's Therapeutic Horsemanship Story

by Sarah Marsh

I was first introduced to Therapeutic Riding as a freshman at St. Andrews when Liz walked up and said “You need to volunteer with the Therapeutic Riding Program.”


“Okay…what’s that?” Prior to coming to St. Andrews I had never been exposed to the world of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies, but I was quickly hooked. There is something that happens in a therapeutic riding lesson that is just magic. There is no other way to explain it.

I continued to volunteer in the therapeutic riding program throughout my time at St Andrews, graduated with a degree in business, and headed off into the working world. Five years later I was burned out. Though I had the opportunity to work for a couple great companies and learned a lot professionally during this time, I also learned about myself personally. We spend so much time and energy at our jobs that for me, a paycheck wasn’t enough. I needed to work somewhere that fed my soul, not just my bank account.

A wise friend who is a professor at the University of New Hampshire gave me the advice to figure out when I was happiest, and see how I could make that work. I realized that when I was happiest was when I was volunteering, specifically when I was volunteering with Therapeutic Riding Programs. So I began to pursue certification, and after that things began happening quickly.

Once I committed to making this change, I jumped in with both feet. Four months after enrolling in the certification class at UNH, I had passed my registered instructors exam. I sent out a resume on a whim, more to gauge what areas I needed to improve to be an attractive candidate to future employers than with any expectation that I would be hired. Two weeks later I accepted a job offer from Sagebrush Equine Training Center for the Handicapped in Hailey, ID. Two weeks after that I was driving across country to a job and a state I’d never seen. A week after that I was teaching full-time, 28 lessons a week! My head still spins thinking about that.

The next two years were some of the richest of my life. I worked as an instructor, the Volunteer Coordinator, and Assistant Program Director for Sagebrush. We operated four days a week and had about 130 riders per session. I learned so much being fully submersed in working full-time at a therapeutic riding program, but the most important lessons I learned were from my students.

I could share countless stories of perseverance, determination, and overcoming overwhelming odds to succeed. I was blessed to cross paths with some truly amazing people and for a few short years, I got to be a part of their stories. I learned to appreciate every moment, because you never know when your life can completely change in the blink of an eye. I learned that no matter what happens you can always find something to be grateful for, no matter how small. I had never experienced anything so humbling in my life.

I was eager to give back to these participants for all that they had taught me, and how better to do so than by becoming the best instructor I could be. I began preparing for Advanced Certification. I sought out any educational experience I could to learn more about the disabilities I most commonly encountered, about general teaching and learning principles, and anything I felt would enrich the services I was able to provide to my students. But something was still missing.

In the summer of 2010, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Marty Clements, a PT who was preparing to get certified in hippotherapy. She was assisting in a lesson with an adult rider with Multiple Sclerosis I had been working with for two years. It was one of those lessons that while it was enjoyable and while we were achieving measurable goals and objectives, it still left me feeling like I wasn’t doing enough, like I was letting her down because I couldn’t do more. The first time I worked with Marty it clicked – this was what was missing! Though she had not been utilizing horses in a therapy setting for very long, Marty was able to draw upon her knowledge and experiences to quickly evaluate where some of the participants main challenges lay and come up with exercises incorporating the horse and horse’s movements to help her address some of these areas. This was what I needed to give back more, to give back better than I was. I realized with a better understanding of the human body, how it ideally works, and how to address issues that may arise when it’s not functioning in the ideal state, I could help not only physically involved riders, but also have better tools to assist able-bodied riders as well.

So here I am a year later. I have left behind a job, riders, and a place I loved to keep pursuing this dream of doing more, of giving back better. I have moved to Bozeman, MT in preparation to get my doctorate in Physical Therapy. I am a volunteer instructor at Eagle Mount here in Bozeman and have been accepted at Montana State in the pre-physical therapy program so I can complete the needed pre-requisites. My goal is to be accepted into the Physical Therapy program at the University of Montana for the fall of 2014. It will not be a short road or an easy one. I am working two jobs to save to go back to school for an education I hope to have completed six years from now. Had you asked me three years ago before I started this journey if this is where I would be, I would have laughed. But I it’s not about me. I am doing this for the Anns, the Lilis, the Zacs, the Reannas, and all those I haven’t met yet. I am doing this because I have a responsibility and a need to give back to those who have taught me so much, those who have made my life better.

It always amazes me to look back and see where this journey started. I had the opportunity recently to experience that journey come full circle when I traveled to High Hopes in Connecticut for Advanced Instructor Certification. It was very special to me to get to see Liz again now that she is the Program Director at High Hopes. She started it all ten years ago by recruiting me to volunteer in the program at St. Andrews. Adding to the uniqueness of that moment was the fact that one of my evaluators was Lorrie Renker, the founder of the Therapeutic Horsemanship program at St Andrews. So in a long and round-about way, I owe this all to the Equine Program at St Andrews. You never know where donating an hour a week will lead…

Equine Business Internships

Laurinburg, N.C. – The Equine Business Management program at St. Andrews offers students hands-on experiences in both the equestrian and business aspects.


The ideal scenario of hands-on training was obtained this past spring when six Equine Business Majors tackled seven local internships.

Amber Powell, Erica Hill and Karen Gruninger did equine specific internships off campus in three diverse areas of the industry.

"I got to do a little bit of everything and they were very good about getting me involved,” said Powell of her internship with Gene Parker Farms, LLC, a breeding and showing facility in Orrum. “The value of this internship was that getting up at 5 a.m. is exhausting and it is a long day with hard work but the experience was priceless."

Powell felt so prepared by the experience that she has no doubt that she could move to another facility and step in.

"I learned how to do each of the processes and I feel like I could go to any breeding farm and step in right away,” she said. “This is how a business should be run. I also learned how crucial it is to get prepared and try to stay a step ahead. I would love to find a job somewhere like that."

Hill had a similarly successful at The T3 Ranch in Laurinburg.

"It was a great environment for me,” Hill said. “I thrived in the family atmosphere. It allowed for the refining of my skills and to refocus my steps for progression. It was not what I expected, and I had to do a 180 on my thinking.

“The learning here at St. Andrews forced me to partner with the horse and I took that to this internship,” she added. “I got the ranch on the track of education that moved them from a raw material location to a show level facility."

Gruninger worked with Carolina Horse Park in Raeford as well as doing an internship with the St. Andrews Equestrian Center as well.

"On schooling days at the Carolina Horse Park, I was in charge of theses events and collected paperwork and money, raised jumps in the ring and designing courses for some of the show,” Gruninger said. “I helped with the Southern Pines Horse Trials I and II. The first was for 300 local riders and the second is the first stop for the pro-rider tour with Olympic riders.”

Gruninger was able to network with those Olympic riders and others knowledgeable of the ins and outs of equestrian events.

"I did the administrative work that I hadn't ever experienced before,” she said. “I realized the value of teamwork. It was different knowing that no matter what, if something needed to get done, whether it was your normal skill set or not, we had to get it done. Organizing events I realized how important it was to do things but you hold on until the end. There is only so much you can do once the day arrives."

This helped Gruninger in her work with the St. Andrews Equestrian ANRC program.

“It included event entry, cleaning out the trailer, packing, and going down early for the ANRC to set up the barn so the horses could come straight off the trailer and go into the barn,” Gruninger said. "I learned the importance of effective communication before, during and after the events. I also learned about event entries. I have done my own entries before, but getting an entire barn together was definitely a learning experience."

Equestrian Program Director Peggy McElveen was highly impressed with Gruninger’s work.

“She has worked 12 – 14 hour days and done a fantastic job,” McElveen said. “She was the backbone of the team, planning horse feedings around competitive ride times, getting all the barn management done on time and knowing the rules of the competition to make sure everyone was in compliance. She was fabulous.”

Despite the success, Gruninger already knew that it is not the full-time direction for her future.

"I enjoy going to shows but it is not a full-time career choice for me,” she said. “I always knew what I wanted to do but one of the things I like about this program is getting to see all the facets of barn management."

Jenn Callahan also spent the semester working with the St. Andrews Equestrian Center events coordination, with hers specifically focusing on hunter seat clinics.

“I worked with the Scot Evans clinic with the ANRC team and the Sarah Good clinic helped prepare for the IHSA Zones," Callahan said. "I learned about the importance of organizing, scheduling, researching and promotion."

Through working with the other students and the staff with the events, Callahan saw an added value of the experience.

"I realized that you are never done learning,” she said. “A clinician can change one thing and the light bulb goes off."

Allison Brewer and Marissa Romaniello had parallel internships focused on publicizing the St. Andrews Equestrian Program to the world through web and social media outlets.

"My internship was to work around the equestrian website in the St. Andrews Communications Office,” said Brewer. "I learned the importance of strong communication, especially when you are working with someone. I did a lot of research and had to determine the most reliable sources because there are so many ideas out there. Time management was another key lesson and I realized this is something I need to improve on."

While Brewer was focused specifically on the website and video, Romaniello worked on the social media promotions more directly attached to the Equestrian center.

"I worked in marketing with a specific focus on social media,” Romaniello said. “We had a blank slate as this position was created for me. We started with a survey to determine where we should focus. "We created a schedule to provide our fans to get a taste of what we do here and we hope to get more participation in the future,” she continued.

Reposted from http://www.sapc.edu/PDF/2011/062011tebusinesinterns.php

Light Bulb Moments For Me!

I had two interesting rides today. I decided to ride Holly western to work on position. Carla has been riding her and she is a little more tuned up. Steering seems to be my greatest challenge as you really have to ride off of your seat and leg and not rely on your hands which I obviously do too much! So I spent most of my time practicing riding circles, squares and straight lines trying really hard to get Holly to go where I wanted without using the rein. A good self taught lesson for me, boring for Holly.


Astaire was my next teacher. He has had a couple of days off so I was excited to try out what Kris helped me with on Tuesday. Wow! What a difference! When I expected that every step be supple, balanced and connected and when I rode in self-carriage, I was able to sit the trot and perform balanced transitions. I realized that I had been allowing Astaire to be lazy with his work. Raising the bar really helped as I was able to ride him in a more connected frame which helped him balance more on his hind legs and not tip onto his forehand. Light bulb day for me! Looking forward to practicing my skills on Jake and Astaire tomorrow.

Relative Elevation!

Carla, Megan and I had a great lesson with Kris Hamilton today. Kris started out talking about relative elevation meaning putting the horse in a suitable frame for its training, conformation and age. We had a mixed group of horses Wind Song, (new dressage horse schooled to 4th level) Big John and Jake which really illustrated varying degrees of contact and frame for the small audience of barn workers and staff. Kris talked about suppleness and balance EVERY step. We were not allowed to accept poor quality, rushed, tense, not forward or tripping steps at any gait. This required us to be in self carriage ourselves, engaging our core muscles and using the lightest aids possible. Nagging was not permitted the softest touch was required and the cliché that Carla and I have been talking about for the last few days “less is more” again seemed so true!


All the horses were great. Carla and Wind Song did some lovely shoulder in, haunches in and half pass. Kris had Megan canter John around 3 or 4 times counting her strides and only using her leg on the 4th step. This was a great exercise for both of them and Megan soon had John cantering without his little bucky hop that he likes to do. Kris focused on my position which was exactly what I needed reminding about the importance of connection, keeping my hands connected to the horse’s mouth and showing me when my hip was not following enough causing my body to rock or twist. Very helpful, I am sitting up better since I started seriously riding again so the next step for me is to improve my balance so I can follow the horse at any gait, and not ride with reins that are too long and a dropped contact!

Follow up blood and urinalysis for Max

I am happy to report that Max’s kidney enzymes are back in the normal range indicating that his kidneys are functioning well. The previous levels were most likely due to the insult from the bladder stone. Urinalysis indicated that the inflammation was greatly reduced and cystitis resolved at least for the time being. After talking with Max’s Doctors and reading about the suggested procedure in veterinary texts I am going to hold off on having the second stone removed at least for now. It is encysted in the bladder wall so the greatest risk is from it getting larger. The last urine sample contained a lot of calcium carbonate crystals which are the building blocks of Max’s particular stone. Max will start on Vitamin C (30 grams) which may make his urine more acidic. Equine urine is alkali and contains a lot of calcium. The pH and the high calcium content set up conditions for crystal and therefore stone formation. Lowering the pH should help reduce the growth of the existing stone or the formation of additional stones.


Stone formation in horses is not all that common, researchers believe that the mucus produced by the kidneys protects against crystal formation. One article which really helped my understanding of the condition, symptoms and treatments came from Compendium Equine: Continuing Education for Veterinarians® it also has a couple of great pictures of a bladder stone both inside and outside of the body.

At this point I feel good about taking a conservative approach, Max’s Doctor at the vet school felt that body condition, appetite and overall condition would be good indicators of increased cystitis or movement of the stone. I may choose to do a follow up urinalysis in a month to see if the Vitamin C changed to pH, but if all goes well we will follow up every 6 months with blood and urine analysis.

So Max is hanging out with his friends at the Equestrian Center for the summer which makes us both happy!

Summer is my time to ride!

Max seems to be doing well, pretty much demanding attention at every opportunity. So today he was very happy that I needed to collect a urine sample which caused me to hang out with him for quite a while. He was not so keen on the blood sample being taken! These samples will be evaluated prior to him coming off the antibiotics and analgesic drugs in a day or two.


I am having a good time riding this summer. I usually have a project horse to play with over the summer break which I thoroughly enjoy spending the time doing ground work, earning their trust and usually spending a lot of time on elementary control and communication under saddle. This year I have two really nice, well trained horses to ride - Jake and Astaire. This is allowing me to work on myself for a change. Both of these horses give great feedback when you don’t do things right. I tend to tip forward and this just puts them on their forehand. I am finding that it takes quite a bit of core strength to maintain a good position with an open hip angle. Astaire really challenges riders as his trot is very bouncy even when he lifts and softens his back. Jake’s challenges are different, he looks to his rider for confidence and does his best work when he is ridden forward and confidently. Both these horses make you want to ride well to show them off which is a real treat for me! We are still spending a lot of time on the basics, relaxation, rhythm, suppleness etc. It is really fun to feel the partnership that is possible with a horse that has been well trained and knows his job when the slightest cue from your seat can create a balanced canter or a smooth leg yield.

Max continues to improve

Max continues to do well, he was very “tucked up” when he returned from the vet school but now looks like his round self again. He still drips a little urine when he exerts himself (like today when he decided he was tired of standing on three legs while Chad worked on the other one) but the amount is minimal and I did not need to wash his legs down this morning which is the first time since I bought him home.


So I had thought until now that Max had a low pain tolerance and was basically a wimp. This was based on his strong reactions to needles in any form for shots or to stitch up injuries. He has been known to strike with his front legs at the thought of a needle and has in the past tried to squish people against walls if they were trying to do anything that was the least bit uncomfortable. After the way he put up with the pain of a bladder stone and how he was so patient with the vets in Raleigh I have to change my opinion! I think that perhaps he has a high pain tolerance (no pain symptoms at all when he was passing the stone!) and that his behavior was learnt at some point in his life due to the way he was treated. He has a disfigured nostril which must have been quite dramatic when it occurred and would have required some kind of medical attention. So this incident has been enlightening and once again affirms the need to educate people how to handle horses so that a horse like Max, who only wants to please, does not develop dangerous behaviors because he was misunderstood and most likely mistreated at some point in his life.

Max is brighter today

Max is doing better today. NCSU called yesterday to check on him and wanted to make sure he was urinating OK. Well that can be pretty hard to monitor unless you actually just hang out with him for a few hours. So of course that is what I did today until he decided he was ready to pee. In the meantime he was pretty convinced that I should be grooming, grazing or otherwise entertaining him. Even putting a fresh bag of shavings in his stall had little effect. He really is much brighter today and was very interested in everything and everyone which is his normal behavior. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he will continue to improve.

Max Update

Tuesday’s blood work still showed signs of possible kidney failure and an ultra sound of the right kidney showed an increase in accumulated fluid. I believe the left kidney is was still too deep in the body cavity to be assessed. Given this news and after discussion with Max’s Doctor, we decided the best plan was to bring Max home and monitor his progress to see if this is a chronic condition (which is a possibility), Max’s norm or something that will improve or worsen over time.


I left early Wed morning to get to the Vet school by nine so that Max could travel when it was relatively cool (of course it was super hot yesterday). Discharge was pretty quick and his student and Doctor were very helpful answering my multiple questions and making sure I understood the care he needed when he got home. Rising sophomore Alexandra Fullerton was also at the Vet school doing an externship which was great as she kept Max supplied with apples during his stay.

We made it back to the Burg in time for Max to settle before I was scheduled to present the summary of my trip to the NAEAA conference to the equestrian staff, administrators and business faculty. After our brown bag lunch I was able to clean Max up and observe that he was pretty much back to normal. He came home on SMZs for the urinary tract infection, and Phenazopyridine which is an analgesic drug to help him feel more comfortable. One side effect of this drug is that it turns the urine bright yellow and everything the medication touches turn yellow including Kellie’s hands and Max’s teeth and tongue. Max’s student from the Vet school called me today to let me know the urinary culture came back and the SMZ’s should take care of the infection.

So Max is home, eating, begging for treats and acting pretty normal. The plan is to reassess his blood and urine before he comes off of his meds in a couple of weeks. The elevated kidney enzymes in his blood are an indication of kidney failure which maybe chronic and progressive and which has a poor prognosis. In the meantime the barn staff will be extra vigilant for any changes and Max will enjoy being spoiled more than normal – if that is possible.