2013 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event

Looking at the Kentucky Horse Park’s schedule of events, there’s always something going on at the park; shows, demonstrations, and competitions of all shapes and kinds, not the least of which is the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event – easily one of my favorite events of the year!

Once again, Purina Animal Nutrition was proud to be a sponsor of the annual event. To kick of the festivities, we were treated to a course walk by Olympian and Purina Ambassador Kyle Carter on Thursday afternoon. Kyle took us on a tour of the cross country course with great insights into the strategy and approaches for each obstacle. While some obstacles have a few options to take depending on the rider’s objective, all of them are a challenge in and of themselves. Just walking the course is a huge effort so you can imagine what that translates to on horseback.

I’m not an eventer myself, but I’ve developed an immense amount of respect for what it takes to get a horse to compete at this level.  To go from calm focus on dressage day to watching them gallop through the lanes on cross country day is certainly a sight to behold only to see them come back on Sunday and jump through the stadium course with what looks like ease. Of course there’s nothing easy about a four star level event and it takes a monumental team effort to get there.

5 Tips for Preparing for a Visit from Your Veterinarian

In my years as an equine practitioner, I have found that having a good idea of the number of horses I will be seeing and the procedures I will be carrying out, and having the client be well prepared for our appointment, was invaluable in making the farm call run smoothly, efficiently and cost effectively.  Here are a few tips for how you can prepare for you veterinarian’s visit.

1. Prepare a list of all horses that need to be seen by the veterinarian.  Include any concerns or observations you may have about their health that you would like the veterinarian to pay attention to.  Next, make your appointment and notify the office as to the number of horses that need to be seen and for what.  This will ensure that the appointment slot allots plenty of time to address all issues and the veterinarian brings the right supplies, equipment, medications etc.  This kind of preparation will often times remove the need for further visits to finish up all of the work.  You may also want to have your horses’ medical records handy in case information about past veterinary visits is needed.